Here are today’s Invitational Tournament contestants:

– Drew Goins, a journalist from Washington, D.C.;
– Karen Farrell, a professional lecturer of international affairs from Chesapeake, Virginia; and
– Long Nguyen, a retired engineer from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jeopardy!

LANDLOCKED IN // WORDS WITH A SILENT LETTER // I’M CLEANING OUT THE GARAGE // GREEN STUFF // ALL SORTS OF ENTERTAINMENT // POEM ADD A LETTER

DD1 – 600 – POEM ADD A LETTER – Keats looks back on an unfortunate day as a line cook in Athens when his hand blistered after touching a hot gyro plate (Karen added 1,000.)

Scores at first break: Long 2,600, Karen 2,400, Drew 3,000.

Scores entering DJ: Long 5,600, Karen 3,600, Drew 4,600.

Double Jeopardy!

THE COMEBACK // MAPS & GLOBES // OPERA // BRITSPEAK // CELEBRITY COLLECTIVES // ARE YOU KNOT ENTERTAINED?

DD2 – 1,600 – MAPS & GLOBES – Lines of latitude are also called these, from their geometric layout; you’re just about standing on the 34th (From the lead, Long doubled to 14,400.)

DD3 – 1,200 – OPERA – Maidens guard the title object of this opera, the first of the “Ring” cycle (Long retained first place after dropping 5,000 to 9,400.)

Long doubled from the lead on DD2, but took a step back on DD3 and the game was competitive into FJ with Long at 15,800, Drew with 12,200 and Karen at 10,000.

Final Jeopardy!

WRITERS – The winner of 3 Pulitzer Prizes in 2 different categories, he called his home in Conn. “the house the bridge built”

Only Long was correct on FJ, adding 5,001 to advance with 20,801.

Final scores: Long 20,801, Karen 10,000, Drew 3.

That’s before their time: No one knew the classic cartoon alliterative companion to Looney Tunes is Merrie Melodies.

Clue selection strategy: The three DDs lasted for a total of five selections between the first two rounds.

Correct Qs: DD1 – What is “Ode on a Grecian Burn”? DD2 – What are parallels? DD3 – What is “Das Rheingold”? FJ – Who was Thornton Wilder?