Andy here with the first recap of the week!
First up, there was some controversy in some corners of the Internet on Friday, regarding Final Jeopardy!:
Friday's Final: The title princess of this game, which launched a best-selling franchise, was named for F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife.
As you may have heard, two contestants (Toby and Ken) negged with simply "Zelda". "Zelda" is not the name of the game. Jeopardy! is very specific when it comes to titles - and you must have the right title. No highway robbery here, in my opinion -- and I hope that I don't see Toby return, as that would take the spot away from a more deserving person onto the show.
Mark Japinga is a 2-day champion now, trying to make his way onto the ToC list! This week's contestants:
Alan Baltis, Lakewood, OH
John Clarke, Vancouver, BC Canada
Amanda Farrish, Vernon, CT
Mark Japinga, Washington, DC
Bradley King, New York, NY
Matthew Mahan, Hooksett, NH
Berek Marcus, Northborough, MA
Cal Mason, Arlington, MA
Kerri McCoy, Jersey City, NJ
Deborah Stowell, Saint Charles, IL
Jeffrey Wachs, Irvine, CA
Monday's challengers: Deborah Stowell and Bradley King!
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J! round categories:
1983--30 YEARS AGO (yes. I can do math. I don't need to be reminded of the number of years ago my birth year was.)
NATURAL WONDERS
VWLLSS
OTHER JULY OBSERVANCES
HIGH
"MIGHTY"
Surprising Triple Stumper at 1983 $400: This Polish electrician won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1983 $800 had the Daily Double, and it was Mark's! Scores were:
Bradley $600
Deborah $0
Mark -$400
Mark bet $1,000. His clue: German con artist Konrad Kujau faked these to fool the world (for a while in the spring of '83). Mark's response of "elections" put him at -$1,400. Mark did get his score back up out of the red by the first break. Scores at the first break were:
Deborah $2,000
Bradley $600
Mark $0
Mark's grandmother was a guest of his in the audience this week!
Coming out of the break, all 3 players had luck on the buzzers and the game moved at quite a brisk pace! Mark had the most luck, running VWLLSS right at the end of the round, breaking the game open a little bit after the J! round! Scores were:
Mark $6,000
Deborah $3,000
Bradley $2,800
DJ! round categories:
BOOKS' BEGINNINGS
50 SHADES OF GRAHAM
TREES
FROM A TO E
TV TITLE GUYS & GALS
IT'S CHOPPER ALEX WITH TRAFFIC
Bradley started at the $800 level, ostensibly Daily Double hunting, but he inexplicably went to $400 immediately following.
Meanwhile, Mark had buzzer success as the Daily Doubles played hide-and-seek quite well from the contestants, in spite of Deborah's complete indifference to finding them! Needless to say, Mark found the first of them, under FROM A TO E $1600. 5 clues remained on the board (TREES 12, 16, 20, A TO E 20, TRAFFIC 4), including a Daily Double! Scores were:
Mark $18,400
Deborah $10,600
Bradley $5,600
(My line here: Bet big here -- around $7,500 -- where there's a constraint as to what the answer is. Following that, go to TREES $1200, figuring the Daily Double is more likely to be there, take it out with a small bet, and then worry about the final 4 clues from there!)
Mark chose to bet $3,000. His clue: It means to make a food or drug impure by adding inferior ingredients. Mark struggled with this, and his score fell to $15,400.
The final Daily Double wasn't at $1200 -- it was at $1600. It was Mark's, though, with just the $2000 clue left.
Scores:
Mark $17,000
Deborah $8,600
Bradley $5,600
I'd bet exactly $4,300 here. Mark didn't do the math right and bet just $2,300. His clue: This "Chestnut" is scientifically known as Aesculus hippocastanum. Another headshake from Mark put him at $14,700. He did get the final clue to put the scores going into Final at:
Mark $16,700
Deborah $8,600
Bradley $5,600
FJ! category: OPERA
FJ! clue: This 1871 opera is set in Memphis & Thebes, & along the banks of the Nile
Bradley 5600 + 5599 = 11199
Deborah 8600 + 8101 = 16701
Mark 16700 + 501 = 17201
Mark's now a 3-day champion, $76,700!
ToC update:
1. Jim Coury (May 2013 College Champion)
2. Ben Ingram $176,534 (8 wins)
3. Drew Horwood $138,100 (8 wins)
4. Andrew Moore
$137,803 (6 wins)
5. Joshua Brakhage $103,205 (5 wins)
6. Rebecca Rider $101,600 (5 wins)
7. Mike Lewis $102,800 (4 wins)
8. Mark Japinga $76,700 (3 wins)
9. Adam Holquist $76,299 (3 wins)
10. Sara Garnett $75,403 (3 wins)
11. Salvo Candela $66,195 (3 wins)
12. John Anneken $60,112 (3 wins)
13. Tim Anderson $56,001 (3 wins)
First up, there was some controversy in some corners of the Internet on Friday, regarding Final Jeopardy!:
Friday's Final: The title princess of this game, which launched a best-selling franchise, was named for F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife.
As you may have heard, two contestants (Toby and Ken) negged with simply "Zelda". "Zelda" is not the name of the game. Jeopardy! is very specific when it comes to titles - and you must have the right title. No highway robbery here, in my opinion -- and I hope that I don't see Toby return, as that would take the spot away from a more deserving person onto the show.
Mark Japinga is a 2-day champion now, trying to make his way onto the ToC list! This week's contestants:
Alan Baltis, Lakewood, OH
John Clarke, Vancouver, BC Canada
Amanda Farrish, Vernon, CT
Mark Japinga, Washington, DC
Bradley King, New York, NY
Matthew Mahan, Hooksett, NH
Berek Marcus, Northborough, MA
Cal Mason, Arlington, MA
Kerri McCoy, Jersey City, NJ
Deborah Stowell, Saint Charles, IL
Jeffrey Wachs, Irvine, CA
Monday's challengers: Deborah Stowell and Bradley King!
J! round categories:
1983--30 YEARS AGO (yes. I can do math. I don't need to be reminded of the number of years ago my birth year was.)
NATURAL WONDERS
VWLLSS
OTHER JULY OBSERVANCES
HIGH
"MIGHTY"
Surprising Triple Stumper at 1983 $400: This Polish electrician won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1983 $800 had the Daily Double, and it was Mark's! Scores were:
Bradley $600
Deborah $0
Mark -$400
Mark bet $1,000. His clue: German con artist Konrad Kujau faked these to fool the world (for a while in the spring of '83). Mark's response of "elections" put him at -$1,400. Mark did get his score back up out of the red by the first break. Scores at the first break were:
Deborah $2,000
Bradley $600
Mark $0
Mark's grandmother was a guest of his in the audience this week!
Coming out of the break, all 3 players had luck on the buzzers and the game moved at quite a brisk pace! Mark had the most luck, running VWLLSS right at the end of the round, breaking the game open a little bit after the J! round! Scores were:
Mark $6,000
Deborah $3,000
Bradley $2,800
DJ! round categories:
BOOKS' BEGINNINGS
50 SHADES OF GRAHAM
TREES
FROM A TO E
TV TITLE GUYS & GALS
IT'S CHOPPER ALEX WITH TRAFFIC
Bradley started at the $800 level, ostensibly Daily Double hunting, but he inexplicably went to $400 immediately following.
Meanwhile, Mark had buzzer success as the Daily Doubles played hide-and-seek quite well from the contestants, in spite of Deborah's complete indifference to finding them! Needless to say, Mark found the first of them, under FROM A TO E $1600. 5 clues remained on the board (TREES 12, 16, 20, A TO E 20, TRAFFIC 4), including a Daily Double! Scores were:
Mark $18,400
Deborah $10,600
Bradley $5,600
(My line here: Bet big here -- around $7,500 -- where there's a constraint as to what the answer is. Following that, go to TREES $1200, figuring the Daily Double is more likely to be there, take it out with a small bet, and then worry about the final 4 clues from there!)
Mark chose to bet $3,000. His clue: It means to make a food or drug impure by adding inferior ingredients. Mark struggled with this, and his score fell to $15,400.
The final Daily Double wasn't at $1200 -- it was at $1600. It was Mark's, though, with just the $2000 clue left.
Scores:
Mark $17,000
Deborah $8,600
Bradley $5,600
I'd bet exactly $4,300 here. Mark didn't do the math right and bet just $2,300. His clue: This "Chestnut" is scientifically known as Aesculus hippocastanum. Another headshake from Mark put him at $14,700. He did get the final clue to put the scores going into Final at:
Mark $16,700
Deborah $8,600
Bradley $5,600
FJ! category: OPERA
FJ! clue: This 1871 opera is set in Memphis & Thebes, & along the banks of the Nile
Bradley 5600 + 5599 = 11199
Deborah 8600 + 8101 = 16701
Mark 16700 + 501 = 17201
Mark's now a 3-day champion, $76,700!
ToC update:
1. Jim Coury (May 2013 College Champion)
2. Ben Ingram $176,534 (8 wins)
3. Drew Horwood $138,100 (8 wins)
4. Andrew Moore
$137,803 (6 wins)
5. Joshua Brakhage $103,205 (5 wins)
6. Rebecca Rider $101,600 (5 wins)
7. Mike Lewis $102,800 (4 wins)
8. Mark Japinga $76,700 (3 wins)
9. Adam Holquist $76,299 (3 wins)
10. Sara Garnett $75,403 (3 wins)
11. Salvo Candela $66,195 (3 wins)
12. John Anneken $60,112 (3 wins)
13. Tim Anderson $56,001 (3 wins)