Today’s players in Champions Wildcard are:

• Brian Adams, a retired public educator from Big Bear Lake, California;
• Jilana Cotter, a senior data analyst from from Dade City, Florida; and
• Dave Pai, a field application scientist originally from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Jeopardy!

IT’S GONNA BLOW! // CALL OUT THE BOB SQUAD // MESSAGE IN A BATTLE // HAIKU ABOUT THE POET // HIGH-SCORING SCRABBLE WORDS // KISS MY GRITS!

DD1 – $800 – MESSAGE IN A BATTLE – The English crushed the Highland clans at Culloden Moor in 1746; message to this would-be king: Stop pretending! (Dave dropped $1,000.)

Scores at first break: Dave $3,800, Jilana $1,000, Brian $800.

Scores going into DJ: Dave $5,600, Jilana $1,800, Brian $1,600.

Double Jeopardy!

TO THE EXOPLANETS! // AT THE ANCIENT ROMAN CINEPLEX // A “LA” CARTE // WHAT A BODY // POTPOURRI // ODD 4-LETTER WORDS

DD2 – $2,000 – TO THE EXOPLANETS! – In 1995 astronomers confirmed the first exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star, in this “equine” constellation (Dave dropped $3,200.)

DD3 (video) – $2,000 – A “LA” CARTE – It’s the celebrated region in Spain that’s shown here (pictured is a landscape featuring three windmills – Jilana added $2,900.)

Scores going into FJ: Dave $11,200, Jilana $11,500, Brian $5,200.

Final Jeopardy!

MUSIC & LITERATURE – John Steinbeck called this “one of the great songs of the world” & wanted the music & lyrics printed in one of his novels

Only Jilana was correct on FJ, adding $10,900 to advance with $22,400. Note that Brian missed because he left out a letter in the last word that changed the pronunciation, and that if Dave had been correct and bet everything, there would have been a tiebreaker clue.

Final scores: Dave $10,800, Jilana $22,400, Brian $0.

Correct Qs: DD1 – Who was Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward, the Pretender)? DD2 – What is Pegasus? DD3 – What is La Mancha? FJ – What is “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”?