Please welcome the players for the first game of the 2022 ToC finals. The first player to win three games will be crowned ToC champion.

• Sam, a associate professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School, who remembers the Art Fleming days, “when ferns covered the Earth”;
• Andrew, a software developer, rented a cabin in the woods and is “chasing that peaceful feeling”; and
• Amy, a writer, met Billie Jean King at the U.S. Open.

Jeopardy!

AT THE MALL OF AMERICA // THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE // TOP OF THE MORNING! // SHARK TANK // STREAKERS // FROM “D” TO “O”

DD1 – $800 – THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE – You can go from “A” to “Z” crossing the 660-mile border between these 2 southern African countries (Andrew doubled to $3,600.)

Scores at first break: Amy $1,400, Andrew $4,400, Sam $3,000.

Scores going into DJ: Amy $5,000, Andrew $4,200, Sam $4,800.

Double Jeopardy!

YOUR U.S. HISTORY TEST // PRIMED FOR PRIME NUMBERS // POETRY // FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASES // WE’RE IN IT // THE LONG HALL

DD2 – $800 – POETRY – “Thou singest of summer in full-throated ease”, Keats wrote in “Ode to” this creature (Andrew bet “all the beans” and doubled to $15,600 vs. $12,000 for Sam.)

DD3 – $1,600 – FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASES – A criminal who is caught red-handed is caught this way, “while the crime is blazing” (Sam dropped $6,000 from his score of $13,200 vs. $16,800 for Andrew.)

Andrew took the lead away from Sam by doubling up on DD2, then Sam missed DD3, so going into FJ it was Andrew at $18,800, Amy with $14,600 and Sam at $12,000.

Final Jeopardy!

GEOGRA-FLEE – In July 2022 the ousted president of this country fled west across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives

Andrew and Sam were correct, with Andrew adding $10,401 to earn a check mark on his podium with $29,201. Note that Sam wagered $0 on FJ, a play that would have been successful if both opponents missed.

Final scores: Amy $4,600, Andrew $29,201, Sam $12,000.

Tournament game score: Amy 0, Andrew 1, Sam 0.

Odds and Ends

Triple Stumpers of the day: No one knew the State of Washington’s “eponymous” outdoor clothing store Eddie Bauer, or could identify then-and-now photos of Nixon-era figure John Dean.

This day in Sam’s Town: With control of the board in round one and a single clue remaining, Sam commanded, “Bring it!’

One more thing: Ken introduced this round of the tournament as “best-of-seven”, but it’s not, at least as it is commonly understood. It can run a maximum of seven games, but it’s first-to-three.

Correct Qs: DD1 – What are Angola and Zambia? DD2 – What is nightingale? DD3 – What is in flagrante delicto? FJ – What is Sri Lanka?