Andy here with a recap from the final semifinal!
Keep posted here at 7:00 PM Eastern on July 31 (6:00 PM Central, 5:00 PM Mountain, 4:00 PM Pacific), where I'll post a link on the blog to our special Google Hangout event for Day 1 of the finals!
ETA: Here it is!!!
Wednesday's semifinalists:
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Sam yawned; Alex caught him! Sam said he was just nervous!
J! round categories:
WHAT DO YOU WANT ON YOUR PIZZA?
COUNTRY NICKNAMES
IN THE DICTIONARY
POP CULTURE
MYTHOLOGY
VACATION!
Sam and Alan got off to the best start over the first 15 clues in the round (COUNTRY NICKNAMES, MYTHOLOGY, POP CULTURE)! Scores at the first break:
Alan $3,600
Sam $3,200
Kat $1,200
At Santa Monica Pier, Kat had to run down a seagull who attempted to steal her bag!
Sam played Aldolpho in a seventh-grade production of "The Drowsy Chaperone", "the Latin womanizer"; he said the part felt like him when auditioning. Cue uproarious laughter from the audience!
Alan went to the Galapagos; he went snorkelling with sea lions!
Back to the game, IN THE DICTIONARY $800 had a Daily Double. Sam got to play it, but it was a video. Ugh. Scores:
Alan $4,200
Sam $3,800
Kat $1,200
Sam went for the True Daily Double! His clue: The picture seen here might accompany the entry for this word found under the letter "p" Sadly, Sam went for "parade" and fell to $0.
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Sam did well to rebuild some of his score by the end of the round, but he was in third place! Scores after 30:
Alan $7,200
Kat $3,000
Sam $1,400
DJ! round categories:
QUOTATIONS
GIMME SOME MATH!
TV THROWBACK
CREATIVE WRITERS
THE LAW
DOUBLE Ws
Kat did quite well in TV THROWBACK to bring her score pretty close to Alan's! But Alan's supreme skill in MATH gave him a big lead again!
THE LAW and CREATIVE WRITERS had one Daily Double each; they were the last two categories touched as well! Sam got to play the first Daily Double in the round, at the bottom of LAW! Scores:
Alan $17,600
Kat $12,600
Sam $5,000
Sam bet $5,000 again. Good guy. His clue: Marbury v Madison marked the first time that a federal law had been ruled this 16-letter term. His correct response doubled his score!
His mistake though -- going to $400 in CREATIVE WRITERS! It meant that Kat got to play the final Daily Double, under CREATIVE WRITERS $1600! Scores:
Alan $17,600
Kat $13,000
Sam $10,000
Only the $2000 clue remained. If I'm Kat here I bet $6,700. She bet just $2,600. Her clue: He created Edmond Dantes but based him on falsely accused Francois Picaud. Kat had no answer and fell to $10,400.
Scores going into Final:
Alan $19,600
Kat $10,400
Sam $10,000
FJ! category: GREAT MOMENTS IN 19th CENTURY SCIENCE
FJ! clue: Matthias Schleiden found plants are made up of these; at dinner, he told Theodor Schwann who said, "Hey, so are animals"
Sam 10000 + 10000 = 20000
Kat 10400 + 10399 = 20799
Alan 19600 + 1201 = 20801
So, Alan's our finalist! He'll play two more games! Remember to check out our Hangout in a few hours!
Keep posted here at 7:00 PM Eastern on July 31 (6:00 PM Central, 5:00 PM Mountain, 4:00 PM Pacific), where I'll post a link on the blog to our special Google Hangout event for Day 1 of the finals!
ETA: Here it is!!!
Wednesday's semifinalists:



Sam yawned; Alex caught him! Sam said he was just nervous!
J! round categories:
WHAT DO YOU WANT ON YOUR PIZZA?
COUNTRY NICKNAMES
IN THE DICTIONARY
POP CULTURE
MYTHOLOGY
VACATION!
Sam and Alan got off to the best start over the first 15 clues in the round (COUNTRY NICKNAMES, MYTHOLOGY, POP CULTURE)! Scores at the first break:
Alan $3,600
Sam $3,200
Kat $1,200
At Santa Monica Pier, Kat had to run down a seagull who attempted to steal her bag!
Sam played Aldolpho in a seventh-grade production of "The Drowsy Chaperone", "the Latin womanizer"; he said the part felt like him when auditioning. Cue uproarious laughter from the audience!
Alan went to the Galapagos; he went snorkelling with sea lions!
Back to the game, IN THE DICTIONARY $800 had a Daily Double. Sam got to play it, but it was a video. Ugh. Scores:
Alan $4,200
Sam $3,800
Kat $1,200
Sam went for the True Daily Double! His clue: The picture seen here might accompany the entry for this word found under the letter "p" Sadly, Sam went for "parade" and fell to $0.

Sam did well to rebuild some of his score by the end of the round, but he was in third place! Scores after 30:
Alan $7,200
Kat $3,000
Sam $1,400
DJ! round categories:
QUOTATIONS
GIMME SOME MATH!
TV THROWBACK
CREATIVE WRITERS
THE LAW
DOUBLE Ws
Kat did quite well in TV THROWBACK to bring her score pretty close to Alan's! But Alan's supreme skill in MATH gave him a big lead again!
THE LAW and CREATIVE WRITERS had one Daily Double each; they were the last two categories touched as well! Sam got to play the first Daily Double in the round, at the bottom of LAW! Scores:
Alan $17,600
Kat $12,600
Sam $5,000
Sam bet $5,000 again. Good guy. His clue: Marbury v Madison marked the first time that a federal law had been ruled this 16-letter term. His correct response doubled his score!
His mistake though -- going to $400 in CREATIVE WRITERS! It meant that Kat got to play the final Daily Double, under CREATIVE WRITERS $1600! Scores:
Alan $17,600
Kat $13,000
Sam $10,000
Only the $2000 clue remained. If I'm Kat here I bet $6,700. She bet just $2,600. Her clue: He created Edmond Dantes but based him on falsely accused Francois Picaud. Kat had no answer and fell to $10,400.
Scores going into Final:
Alan $19,600
Kat $10,400
Sam $10,000
FJ! category: GREAT MOMENTS IN 19th CENTURY SCIENCE
FJ! clue: Matthias Schleiden found plants are made up of these; at dinner, he told Theodor Schwann who said, "Hey, so are animals"
Sam 10000 + 10000 = 20000
Kat 10400 + 10399 = 20799
Alan 19600 + 1201 = 20801
So, Alan's our finalist! He'll play two more games! Remember to check out our Hangout in a few hours!