Final Jeopardy: Mottoes (6-5-15)

The Final Jeopardy question (6/5/2015), in the category “Mottoes” was:

Though the two men were very different, this 4-word motto came to represent both Oscar Wilde and Louis B. Mayer.

New champ Addison Godel dominated yesterday’s game and won $24,400. Today his challengers are: Chris Wonderly, from Kansas City, MO; and Jean Koff, from Atlanta, GA.

Round 1: Jean found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Pulitzer Prize-Winning Biographies” under the $600 clue, with just 2 clues left after it. She was in second place with $4,000, $400 less than the lead held by Chris. She bet $1,500 and thought it was Sojourner Truth. That was WRONG.

Forrest Wilson’s 1942 winner “Crusader in Crinoline” tells the story of this 19th c. abolitionist & author. show

Chris finished in the lead with $4,400. Addison was second with $3,600 and Jean was last with $3,500.

Round 2: Chris found the first Daily Double, a video, in “The Great Depression” under the $1,600 clue. He was in second place with $7,200, $800 behind Addison’s lead. He bet $1,000 and he was RIGHT.

Across the nation, shantytowns appeared and were known derisively as these for the man many blamed for the Depression.
Daily Double #2
 
show

Chris found the last Daily Double, another video, in “Where the Buffalo Roam” under the $800 clue, with 3 more clues to go. In the lead with $13,400, he had $5,400 more than Addison in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.

In the 1800s, the giant bison herds that roamed North America were hunted almost to extinction. Fortunately, in 1902, the U.S. Army brought 21 buffalo to this National Park where they now number in the 1000s. 
Daily Double #3
show

Chris finished in the lead with $16,400. Addison prevented a runaway on his last correct response and came in second with $8,400. Jean was in third place with $5,900.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS “ART FOR ART’S SAKE”?

The MGM motto that appears on the studio’s logo is actually three Latin words: “Ars grātiā artis”, but the cluewriters wanted it in English to tie it in with Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Actually, Wilde didn’t use the phrase in his preface to the book, he just made a defense of sorts against the public’s perception of his novel as immoral: “The novel begins with one of the most famous expressions of Decadent thought; a short preface in which Wilde maintains that “There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” and “All art is quite useless.” Wilde thus places himself firmly on the side of Decadent Aestheticism which championed l’art pour l’art, or, ‘art for art’s sake.'” (from Boheme Magazine). Wikipedia’s page on “Art for Art’s Sake” credits French dramatist Théophile Gautier as the first to adopt the phrase as a slogan.

More: What do you get when you cross Oscar Wilde with Louis B. Mayer and Albert Lewin? Find out at the Claude Rains Fan Club.



Jean couldn’t come up with anything. She lost her $2,501 bet and finished with $3,399.

Addison drew a blank, too. He lost his $8,001 and wound up with $399.

Chris wrote down “I’m an Oscar, Ma.” He only bet $500 so he won the match with $15,900 and he is the new champ.

FJ Results: 6-5-15

Chris Wonderly is a visual information specialist. He works for the National Parks Service (yes, that’s why you saw that big smile on the Yellowstone DD). During the chat, he talked about the year he lived and worked in Death Valley. The hottest day he experienced was 129°.

2 years ago:: ALL of the players got this FJ in “19th Century Names”

This French engineer once asked, “Why should we disguise the industrial nature of iron, even in the city?”. show

We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.

Share

You may also like...

16 Responses

  1. Robert Anderson says:

    Did the English version ever “come to represent” L.B.Mayer? All I know is MGM’s Ars Gratia Artis, and that’s 3 words. Of course the motto in reference to Mayer is the reverse of his real philosophy.

    • Tom Clark says:

      I agree with your reservations about this really bad FJ. First of all, the motto represented MGM, not Louis B. Mayer. And as you said, it was in Latin and in three words. And it was fake. But so was Oscar Wilde, in his own way.

  2. elijahjt says:

    Yeah, I totally couldn’t stop thinking of the Oscar Mayer weiner song.

  3. doris s says:

    Congratulations Chris!
    Also to Eric and VJ for the correct prediction.
    I wonder how often the players today saw a movie with the MGM lion and the “Ars Gratias Artis” ribbon?? Probably never bothered to translate it.
    Funny enough I am reading a biography about Oscar Wilde right now, so this was really easy for me.
    Have a great weekend everybody!

    • Used To Be a Jeopardy Fan says:

      Doris, I translated it, but this was still the worst FJ clue ever, because the four words “Arts for Art’s Sake” were NEVER EVER associated with Louis Mayer. The three Latin words were. The FJ clue was NOT “These four words are the English translation of the Latin phrase that came to represent Louis B. Mayer”. These writers should be fired. They had a $200 clue that was impossible and they had the easiest Daily Double in history — identifying Yellowstone Park on a map after being told that it was a national park. There have been over 20,000 Jeopardy contestants in the history of the show, and every single one of them would have answered that one correctly. The show has gone downhill. There are stupid or misleading clues every show.

  4. jacob ska says:

    LOL. Congrats vj, Eric.

    @Eric, fantastic trend this week…3 correct predictions.

    Congrats to new champ Chris. Good showing.

    • Leena says:

      Thumbs up to yours truly! *HINT: NOT ME!:}*

    • Eric S says:

      Thank you Jacob! I think we both know that I’m way happier about my Blackhawks prediction!
      I mean, who says it doesn’t pay to attend Jeopardy! tapings? Haha. Just kidding.

    • jacob ska says:

      Btw, shocked at the triple stumper on the Spirit of St Louis. Charles Lindbergh must be rolling over in his grave. :-[

  5. Leena says:

    TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE KIDS
    WARNING: THEY MAY BE JEALOUS AFTER READING!!

    Did your child start summer break today :}?
    Mine did, and hubby is happy, because he doesn’t have to drive him to school (in the 2014-15 year)! Sorry to those of you annoyed with the fact that in this comment, there is lack of topic. But hey, I had to bring it up!

  6. VJ says:

    High fives, Eric. I got on the right line today. 🙂

    On the poetry category, no poetry lovers there. Even if you only read Prufrock once, you don’t forget those lines with Michelangelo because it’s funny.

    And speaking of funny, I was just thinking about Vachel Lindsay on the day they had the Guiteau FJ because Lindsay wrote two poems, one about Lincoln and one with JWB in hell (A Curse for the Saxophone)

    • Leena says:

      A same timer! Pretty rare for me nowadays.

    • Eric S says:

      Always room for you to join me, VJ!
      lol. How’s that for being a magnanimous guest!
      The only problem with predicting the triple stumper is wishing you were wrong.

  7. Leena says:

    We gonna start a carousel of champs to wrap up 31 (not saying that they’re bad, because well, it is plain luck. Just like Ken Jennings had over 70 times! EH?)?