Final Jeopardy: World Landmarks (7-22-14)
The Final Jeopardy question (7/22/2014), in the category “World Landmarks” was:
Built for a World’s Fair in 1889, its visitors that year included the Prince of Wales & Buffalo Bill; it still gets 7 million a year.
Day 2 of the 2014 Teen Tournament and the players are: Jeff Xie, a junior from Edison, NJ; Selena Groh, a junior from Arlington Heights, IL; and Erin Christopher, from Lexington, KY.
Round 1: Erin found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Official Languages” under the $1,000 clue. She was in the lead with $2,800, $1,600 ahead of Jeff in second place. She bet $800 and she was RIGHT.
Liberia show
Jeff finished in the lead with $7,600. Erin was second with $6,200 and Selena was last with $2,600.
Round 2: Selena found the first Daily Double in “Inventors & Inventions” under the $1,600 clue. She was in second place with $3,000 less than Jeff’s lead. She bet $1,000 and blanked out so she was WRONG.
In 1895, he began sending & receiving wireless signals as far as 1.5 miles at his father’s home near Bologna, Italy. show
Jeff found the last Daily Double in “6-Letter Words” under the $2,000 clue. In the lead with $16,000, he was $4,000 ahead of Selena in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
By definition, this verb form operates as a noun & ends in -ing. show
Jeff finished in the lead with $19,000. Selena was next with $14,000 and Erin was in third place with $9,400.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
The Eiffel Tower opened for the public in May 1889 and received almost two million visits in its first year of operation alone. By 1900, the Eiffel Tower was receiving around 2,000 visitors a day. Notable visitors included Thomas Edison, Sarah Bernhardt, the president of the French Republic Sadi Carnot, and the Prince of Wales with his family, who were personally guided by Gustav Eiffel himself.
The then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was the eldest son and heir to Queen Victoria, who had recalled Lord Lytton, her ambassador to France, to make sure he could not attend. So the Prince’s visit was not as an official representative of his country. His eldest son was the one accused of being Jack the Ripper in some conspiracy theories.
For more interesting Eiffel Tower facts, see this page on Corrosion Doctor.org.
Erin came up with the London Eye (erected in 1999). She only bet $400 so she finished with $9,000.
Selena got it right and added $6,000 to her score to finish with $20,000.
Jeff left the L out of Eiffel so his answer was unacceptable but he didn’t bet anything so he remained at $19,000. It appeared that he thought he had lost by betting zero until he looked down and realized he left out that L. Then he shrugged and said “it doesn’t matter.”
So Selena Groh is the second semi-finalist. In the chat segment she talked about being a Nerd Fighter and her online group’s motto DFTBA — “Don’t forget to be awesome.”
Jeff is really looking good for a wild card spot. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
Jeff Xie — $19,000
Kat Deabill — $14,400
Erin Christopher — $9,000
2 years ago:: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “NEW OLYMPIC SPORTS”
This sport introduced in Summer 2000 plays out over a raised area 16 1/2 feet long & 9 1/2 feet wide. show
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well if Jeff does stop by, I just wanted to say when that Menlo Park clue came up, I was saying you better get that, Jeff!!
That’s in Delaware, right?
it’s a part of the township Jeff is from
Yeah, even I got the Edison- Menlo Park thing. Was just kidding. Ha!
Meant to pick those two earlier. So for the record: Kevin and Sydney.
Nobody had the buzzer in a visible position today but it did look like the girls tried to buzz in. Jeff beat them to it or it would have been one of those “Keats” moments.
Just came from J Board. Over there they are wondering if Jeff’s pen malfunctioned because he did have a partial tiny mark at the end of the word. He had plenty of time and was not rushing. He just stopped writing while the music finished. They really like him over there. They figured it wasn’t worth it for him to argue over a tecnicality. Hence his comment since he wagered zero.
Jacob: I’ve tried to search the Final Wager for qualifying-specific post and couldn’t find one (I didn’t watch the seven-step videos). Do you remember seeing one? If you have time (soonish) could you search: you have way more skill/luck that I in searches?
Oh and I am going to credit you with the two correct. That explanation does make the most sense.
Jeff commented on J Board that it was a technicality. From his view there was an “l” and he was surprised but did not feel it worth debating since it did not matter. Go over there and check out his comments. Not sure he will post here given the negative comments. A classy guy.
@VJ
i am not quite clear about the rules in a tournament (TT e.g.): if 2 players end up tied, would there be a tie breaking question to determine who is the “winner” and who would be the “wild card” but would both retain their money total? that would be logical but then again, j sometimes has unconventional rules. i would appreciate it , if could you clear that up for me (and us), please?
I don’t know. Maybe someone else can answer that.
Here’s a link to the recap of the match with the tie-breaker in the 2012 Teen Tournament
I know that they use tie-breakers. My next question would be: what if two wildcards were tied for the last position? That’s not too bad if they’re in the same game, but what if they’re not. Also, and I can’t tell you where (although I think I heard it on the Final Wager), whomever went into FJ with the larger (largest? Yikes!) amount, hold the tie advantage. If that is equal, I have no clue.
Back to original question (a good one to bring to light), I do believe that they would hold a tie-breaker between any leaders (there may be seeding arrangements made by winner, etc), however, they may revert to the FJ entering amounts for a tie between second and third.
Wow. Just watched the tie-breaker. Was really hoping it was like Campbell and the second with half (but bet all).
We were also wondering what happens if neither of the two tied knows the answer to the tie-breaker
You know that’s a good question because I’m sure that they would simply ask another question, I would wonder if they would actually show the first question.
as a p.s to kat’s bet yesterday: all she really had to bet was 5.201. it would be the utmost irony, if she would miss a wild card by 799 or less….. not only would 20.400 have been a pretty safe bet for a wild card, but if the 800 (or 799) she bet (unnecessarily) on top of her 5.201 would do her in – that would be a real bummer.
i wonder if kat’s 14.400 fromn yesterday will hold. why she bet anything is still beyond me,really incomprehensible. i hope that bet will not come back to haunt her!?
also i am somewhat surprised that only one got the eiffel tower (actually 2, the missing “L” was just a slip of the pen, maybe?) but the 19K should hold. i guess that jeff is right that it does not matter.
and erin? being off by over 100 years…buffalo bill would be the oldest person alive by now…..
Just in case you didn’t see my post from yesterday (written today): John, the word is uncomprehensible! Ha! [further explanation in yesterday’s post].
Thanks to Kathleen Sebelius, former US Secretary for Health and Human Services, we know the show was recorded March 2014. They displayed that info on the tv screen under the category “My Present Government Job” when her position came up as a clue. Maybe if more people resign we will be shown the taping date. Sorry. couldn’t resist.
Yeah, I’m too outspoken, and these are kids … BUT …
In my 50+ years of Jeopardy watching, I’ve never seen three stranger contestants. In the interviews, I couldn’t understand a word of what Jeff was saying and could hardly make heads or tails out of what Selena said. I expected an embarrassing session from Erin, based on her already observed behavior, and I got it, and then some.
Then after all the weird personality quirks, it all ends with — THE LONDON EYE?! — one of the wrongest of wrong answers in the history of FJ — and LEAVING THE “L” OFF EIFFEL?!
Writing down your FJ answer is a pivotal moment in one’s life. If ever one should be careful and precise, it’s at that moment. Yes, he didn’t bet anything, so he could have written down nothing — but since he wanted to show off that he knew the answer, why be so scatterbrained that you leave off a letter?
I never did like the Teen Tournaments, but this episode just flat out made me nervous.
In Jeff’s defense he has a speech impediment. Is it mature to make fun of someone with a disability? Come on man! You need to watch Keith Williams (the 2003 Jeopardy champion) video about teen tournaments and comments people should not be making about these teens. I’m sure you were an exception as a teen…PERFECT.
Perhaps, my cynical friend, Jeff thought at the last minute to tank one. Why not? He had nothing to lose. Further, he knew that although this may be a large moment in his life, it is to be eclipsed soon.
And come on, none of this was nearly as bad as the leader who went all-in for a three-way tie of zero.
Tom, please believe me that I am not trying to be mean, but I wonder if it’s not partially your hearing. Teenagers have higher voices and, probably most on the whole, do not enunciate well. I know that my Mother has a hard time with this. I guess, however, if you watched yesterday’ s show with no problems, this may not be applicable.
Thought Tom Clark should know this was a huge accomplishment for Erin. She’s used to being bullied, it’s just pathetic that adults think it’s okay to do the same as a bunch of middle school and high school kids would do.
As somebody who was constantly teased and made fun of by adults for the freckles I had when I was a kid, I just have to say that kids didn’t invent mocking and teasing — they learn it from adults.
There have been quite a few shows where adults promoted mocking and verbal abuse, like American Idol and the Weakest Link. Both seemed very mean-spirited to me.
Then there’s Jimmy Kimmel’s mean tweets segments that laugh at the tweets. Celebrities read mean tweets about themselves. Put your drink down when you watch them.
Today is Alex Trebek’s 74th birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!
Wow! He looks great.
yeah, he does.
Hey, I was amazed to find out the other day when I was doing The Great Ziegfeld that Luise Rainer is still alive — turned 104 in March!
It’s kind of crazy to think three years ago he was chasing a thief down a hotel hallway.
Solid game theory by Jeff. Selena had other options: if she really hated the category (which I guess is less likely in the teen tournament), staying on 14 is not that bad, but I would bet it all if any, because leaving 8 behind wouldn’t do it.
It’s a good thing that Jeff’s answer didn’t matter: I’d bet he would feel just Eiffel about it.
Dude. Come on.
It’s teen week. If one person laughs, it’s worth it. I know, If!
@Eric, you are quick on the uptake.
Somewhere there’s an optimum number to shoot for but it’s open to debate what that number is. Generally, my memory of the wild card cutoffs is that it runs close to the 15,000 level, and the number that I’d want to hit would probably be at least 15,500, thus I might stand pat at 16k.
19k and 14.4k are pretty high numbers for two days of tourney play, though. It’ll be interesting to see how this eventually plays out, and the degree of difficulty for the remaining FJs will likely be the major factor in determining the “height” of the cutoff number.
I don’t have more time now, but last year to wild card amounts were: 15, 13.8,19.6,18.2, and 20. The 15 came from a 12, so could/should have been a 24. The 13.8 from a 12.4, so 24.8. Also, the 19.6 was from an 18.8
So, as game theory advances, 18 may not do it.
Again, these numbers are only from last year.
Everyone, be careful with numbers, they tell you what happened, not necessarily what will happen.
Further, if everyone stayed at 12 or more, the 15 would not have made it: one went from 14.4 down. Of course, if the 14.4 stays, the 13.8 (from 12.4) would not have bet enough.
Wow! I thought for sure 2 contestants would get fj correct. Too bad Jeff left the L off.
Good game.
Yeah, technically it was only one correct, but maybe two correct with an asterisk is a better description of the situation.
By the way…
The “Eye of London” was opened in 1889, eh?!
😉
That’s excusable. I would have been clueless in the Katy Perry category. Teens would have making fun of me! Every time a clue came up in that category I was thinking “what?”
Erin was so nervous — I can’t recall ever seeing a more nervous player. Alex did try to help her relax a bit during the chat.
Josiah was nervous yesterday. Keith Williams has a good comment about that in his Final Wager video today about the July 21, 2014 game. Good for you Keith. Who would know what it’s like better than a Jeopardy champion? Go get them, Keith. Superb!
I’ll take a look at it after a while, Jacob. I didn’t see Josiah as nervous. He was okay till he fell behind, then he got over-anxious. Erin was nervous from the gate, like she had stage fright almost, even when she was ahead in the first round.