Here are today’s contestants:
- Andy Miller, a math professor from Nashville, Tennessee;
- Jill Frechette, a research data analyst originally from West Boylston, Massachusetts: and
- Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer originally from San Diego, California. Paolo is a one-day champ with winnings of $20,001.
Jeopardy!
AROUND NORTH AMERICA // SONGWRITERS // THIS OLD THING? // PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT // DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER // GEE, “OGRAPHY”!
DD1 – $800 – THIS OLD THING? – It was found in 1799 by a Frenchman named Bouchard or Boussard, whose name must’ve been written down in parallel texts (Andy increased his leading score by $3,000 to $6,800)
Scores at first break: Paolo $3,200, Jill $0, Andy $7,800.
Scores entering DJ: Paolo $6,600, Jill $1,200, Andy $8,600.
Double Jeopardy!
200 YEARS AGO // OSCAR-WINNING TITLE REFERENCES // I LOVE THAT FOR YURI // ENGINEERING // WRITERS AT REST // OVERLAPS
DD2 – $1,200 – OSCAR-WINNING TITLE REFERENCES – 1988: How a young Charlie Babbitt mispronounced his older brother’s name (Paolo took the lead, improving by $4,200 to $11,600 vs. $8,600 for Andy.)
DD3 – $1,600 – WRITERS AT REST – She may not be fully at rest in an English churchyard as vandals chiseled away the name Hughes on her gravestone more than once (Paolo added $3,200 up to $16.000 vs. $8,600 for Andy.)
Paolo quickly found both DDs in DJ and utterly dominated the round, rolling to a big runaway at $34,400 vs. $12,200 for Andy. Out of the running was Jill at -$400.
Final Jeopardy!
TODAY SPELLING COUNTS – The winning word at the first Scripps National Spelling Bee was this, a plant & genus with sword-shaped leaves now on the trophy
Both players were incorrect on FJ. Paolo dropped just $204 to win with $34,196 for a two-day total of $54,197.
Final scores: Paolo $34,196, Jill -$400, Andy $4,400.
That’s before their time: No one knew the Righteous Brothers hit that “hopefully didn’t sum up (the) relationship” of the married songwriters, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'”
Judging the writers: For this FJ, a category name such as PLANT GENUS ETYMOLOGY might have been helpful. Maybe even SPELLING BEE HISTORY. The category they did use tells us nothing about the actual subject of the clue. Also, the category implies that spelling is usually irrelevant for FJ, but we know that’s not the case if a misspelling changes the pronunciation.
Ken’s Korner: By interrupting the game for that “nepo babies” wisecrack, Ken sure put Yuri Gagarin’s daughter in her place (at least the laugh track thought it was funny). Also, after making it very clear that spelling counted for FJ, after both players missed, he might have considered spelling the correct response for the home audience.
Correct Qs: DD1 – What is Rosetta Stone? DD2 – What is Rain Man? DD3 – Who was Plath? FJ – What is gladiolus?