Ramona the Brave

     This morning as I was reviewing my Twitter timeline, I came across this:

The Kindle edition of LMG will be FREE tomorrow (12/29) and Tuesday (12/30)! Please share this with everyone you... http://t.co/siXTmugOWX
— John Pearson (@learnmegood) December 29, 2014

     You're welcome!
     See the link at the bottom with last year's top posts? I'm doing that again, but I'm saving the list to be our 1000th post. Whenever that may be.
     By the way, I notice this weekend's rerun was an episode I saw in person! I spoke briefly to both challengers outside the studio but not since then. We weren't doing Hangouts at the time, or I'd have been all over everybody.
     On Friday, Vaughn Winchell won for the first time. (Check him out in our most recent Hangout!)

Ramona Bartos

Vaughn

Thomas Todd

     Did Trebek's voice sound funky to you today?
     I did not feel like tracking my Coryat today, but I probably would've rung in on this triple-stumper in Novels by Chapter: "The first of the 3: 'The Breaking of the Fellowship.'" Vaughn and Thomas negged on it! Vaughn looked kind of mad, I thought, but he found the Daily Double soon in the same category.
Vaughn 200 (One right and one wrong)
Thomas -200 (One right and one wrong)
Ramona 0
     Vaughn wagered 1000 on this clue: "The first of a 'saga': 'Blood Type.'" Vaughn didn't know, but I'd have gotten this right. Poor Vaughn negged on the next clue too, a triple-stumper! At the first break:
Vaughn 1200 (5 right and one wrong)
Thomas 1000 (4 right)
Ramona 200 (One right and one wrong)
     Three clues were covered at the end of the round.
Vaughn 3200 (6 right and 2 wrong)
Thomas 2400 (3 right)
Ramona -200 (One right and 2 wrong)
     I can't remember a worse-sounding category than The Brit on the Banknote, but Ramona started there! Thomas and Vaughn stuck with it! Vaughn found the Daily Double there.
Vaughn 5200 (2 right)
Thomas 2800 (One right)
Ramona -200
     Vaughn wagered 1400 on this clue: "In 2017 this author will replace Charles Darwin on the tenner with an adaptation of a portrait by her sister." I got this right but Vaughn was wrong.
     I'm serious - I just read about this movie last night in Pat O'Brien's I'll Be Back Right After This: My Memoir: "This 2003 Razzie winner starred Oscar winners Al Pacino & Ben Affleck." I might have gotten it anyway. Who knew Al Pacino was in it? The category was Worst Picture of the Year Razzie Awards. Thomas did well in this category, but that was a triple-stumper! By the way, O'Brien is following me on Twitter now! And he retweeted this one of mine:

@POBPATOBRIEN Reading your memoir. Couldn't agree more that John McEnroe is "the greatest analyst...not just in tennis...ever."
— Jeanie Kenkel (@vamosdavid) December 28, 2014

     Incidentally I get to see McEnroe when he comes to Lincoln next year.
     Ramona found the second Daily Double of the round in Art & History. Oh no, it's a video.
Vaughn 11800 (6 right)
Thomas 10800 (12 right and 2 wrong)
Ramona 6600 (5 right)
     After Ramona selected, Trebek said there was less than a minute left. But there was only one clue on the board! Ramona wagered 4000 on this clue: "Thomas Hovendon depicted an 1859 scene from U.S. history in the last moments of this man."

     Ramona was right. Thomas got the last clue worth 2000 wrong, and Ramona got it right! Boy was Trebek stoked for her. The Final Jeopardy category was Book Dedications. Trebek said it was a brand-new category for them. This was the clue: "The 1853 dedication of '12 Years a Slave' was to this woman author'whose name...is identified with the great reform." Come on now. Anyway, Thomas of course was right, and he added 4000. Vaughn was right too and added 5801. Alex's pet, Ramona? She was wrong!! She lost 12497. Okay, I'd like to find her for a Hangout. Vaughn moves on!
 
One year ago: The top 9 posts of the year, plus honorable mentions
Two years ago: Bar-ack!
Three years ago: Mixing it up
Four years ago: A trivia bug appearing on Jeopardy! today