Here are today’s contestants:

• Michael, a marketing manager, ran out of luck when travelling with an expired passport;
• Vanessa, a college instructor, has well-traveled furniture; and
• Mattea, a tutor, thanks her high school coach for her confidence. Mattea is a four-day champ with winnings of $104,600.

Jeopardy!

A EUROPEAN CAPITAL TOUR // PURPLE REIGN // IT’S A FACT // IN MOM’S FREE TIME // 2-WORD ANIMAL EXPRESSIONS // SYMPHON”E”s

DD1 – $1,000 – A EUROPEAN CAPITAL TOUR Something to sink your teeth into… a signed document by Vlad the Impaler in 1459 is the first written appearance of this capital (After being advised he could wager up to $1,000, Michael won $400 on a true DD.)

Scores going into DJ: Mattea $7,000, Vanessa $600, Michael $5,200.

Double Jeopardy!

U.S. GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY // THE ORIGIN TRAIL // CHEMICAL ELEMENTS // METAPHORS // LITERATURE // DOUBLE PRESIDENTIAL NAMERS

DD2 – $800 – LITERATURE – With works like “Redgauntlet” & “Kenilworth”, this U.K. author created the historical novel in the 19th century (Vanessa lost $2,000 from her third-place score of $3,400 vs. $9,000 for Mattea.)

DD3 – $2,000 – CHEMICAL ELEMENTS – Atomic number 100, this radioactive element is named for the scientist who directed the first controlled fission chain reaction (Michael took the lead by adding $5,000 to his total of $6,800 vs. $10,200 for Mattea. At that late stage of the game, Michael would have been better-served to bet it all rather than leave Mattea within one correct response of first place.)

Scores going into FJ: Mattea $10,200, Vanessa $2,600, Michael $12,600.

Final Jeopardy!

WORDS OF THE YEAR – Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2021 was this 3-letter one, short for a word that goes back to the Latin for “cow”

Only Mattea was correct on FJ, adding $2,400 to win with $12,600 for a five-day total of $117,200.

Odds and ends

Presidential pop culture problems: In a category where the clue subjects had the first name of one President and the last name of another President, and they provided the numbers of both, no one knew “Cool Hand Luke” and “Naked Gun” actor George Kennedy, or star on the saxophone Grover Washington, Jr.

Judging the producers: They had Ken deliver a rather long-winded introduction, then wound up with five leftovers at the end of DJ. That’s $7,200 in unseen clues in a game where only $2,400 separated the top two players going into FJ. I also don’t recall hearing a one-minute warning.

Correct Qs: DD1 – What is Bucharest? DD2 – Who was Sir Walter Scott? DD3 – What is Fermium? FJ – What is vax?