So yesterday Michelle defeated Gary, leaving him a one-time champ. Can she make it two? |
| Darren Abernethy |
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| Michelle Martin |
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| Judy Arginteanu |
At the first break, Judy looked dominant, having answered 10 right. She had 5200. Michelle and Darren each had 200. Michelle had gotten one right and one wrong, and Darren had gotten 3 right and 2 wrong. Just like yesterday, Mr. Trebek said he didn't want to stop that leading contestant.
Remember when I said that contestants are told Mr. Trebek prefers romantic anecdotes and those about tools? It showed today.
Michelle found the Daily Double of the round. We'd have been even happier had we known how the Daily Doubles would go in the next round. Anyway she'd gotten 3 right since the break and had 2400. Judy had gotten 5 right and had 8200. Darren had gotten one wrong and was in the hole 400. This was the clue in Portmanteaus, on which Michelle wagered 1000: "In 1949 Milton Berle hosted the first of these on the tube, for the Damon Runyon Memorial Cancer Fund." She got it right. How I wish she'd wagered it all.
I'm not sure what to make of this one in The Emmy for...: "Lead Actor in a Comedy, 2002: Everybody loved him." Like, was Michelle given a chance to make her response of "Raymond" more complete? Did she know his last name? I did, but I also said what Michelle did. Did you count yours right? Michelle negged on this triple-stumper too in the same category, but I got it easily: "Lead Actress in a miniseries or movie, 2012: Playing Sarah Palin was a 'Game Change'r." Darren otherwise did well in the category. At the end of the round, he'd gotten 4 right and had 1800 then. Michelle had gotten 2 right but the 2 wrong and had 4200. Judy still had 8200.
Judy found the first Daily Double of Double Jeopardy in Authors Against Adaptations. She'd gotten one right in the round and had . Michelle had gotten 2 right and had 5400. Darren still had 1800. Judy said "Oh my gosh" 4 times, including once after the clue was read and once after responding. She looked paralyzed. It reminded of what Donald Trump said to Marilu Henner on The Celebrity Apprentice when she hemmed and hawed about who she'd bring to the boardroom if she lost that task: "You've never thought about this before?!" Judy wagered 2000 on this clue: "Winston Groom's sequel to this book says, 'Don't never let nobody make a movie of your life's story.'" I read this book (the original, not the sequel), and got this one instantly. Judy got it but not instantly. I also got this triple-stumper in the same category, and yes, that was before Judy got half of it: "Bret Easton Ellis felt this 'American' book never should have been filmed, as it had an unreliable narrator."
When Judy found the next Daily Double in Signs & Symbols, she said "Holy cow," "Yikes," and "Oh my gosh" before wagering 3000. She'd gotten 3 right and one wrong since her last Daily Double, and had 13000. Michelle too had gotten 3 right and one wrong and still had 5400. Darren had gotten one right and had 2600. This was the clue, which was not a video: "Not a property, it's represented on the Monopoly board by a diamond ring." Judy and I knew this one, but she took longer than I did again just to enunciate it. Mercifully, we were done with Daily Doubles.
I'd have been surprised with all of Judy's time-wasting if we'd seen all the clues. Two were left covered. Unfortunately, Michelle negged on the last clue of the round, worth 2000, giving her less than half Judy's total. If she'd clammed on Raymond instead of negged, and if she'd wagered it all on her Daily Double, this game would not have been a lock either. Michelle did get 6 right though after Judy's second Daily Double, and she had 9400. Judy had gotten 3 right and had 20000. Darren had gotten 3 right and one wrong and had 3000.
The Final Jeopardy category was World Leaders. This was the clue: "In 1990 she became the first modern head of government to give birth while in office, to a daughter named Bakhtawar." I suspect many of us got this right. Darren got it but didn't wager anything. Michelle got it and added 3399. Judy got it and added 1000. We'll see her tomorrow. :-P
My Coryat today was 23000 (25200 without negs).