Final Jeopardy: Geography Mnemonics (1-17-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (1/17/2023) in the category “Geography Mnemonics” was:
MIMAL, sometimes said to be the silhouette of a chef or elf, stands for Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, these 2 states
New champ Katie Palumbo, a museum interpreter from Amawalk, NY, won $23,100 yesterday. In Game 2, her challengers are: Vince Bacani, a risk manager from Montreal, Quebec; and Stephanie Pakula, an aerospace engineer from Cambridge, MA.
Round 1 Categories: The Real Real Housewives of… – “I” on Art – All About Hair – Summing up the Spielberg Movie – Double Vowels Next to Double Consonants – During the Liz Truss Weeks
Katie found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “The Real Real Housewives of..” under the $800 on the 16th pick of the round. She was in last place with $1,200, $2,600 less than Vince’s lead. Katie made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.
…New York enjoy this 1,046-foot art deco skyscraper designed by William Van Alen & built between 1928 & 1930 show
Vince finished in the lead with $7,000. Katie was second with $6,200 and Stephanie was last with $1,400. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: A Little World History – 1980s Bestsellers – 3 Letters, 2 Meanings – International Food & Drink – Emmy Winners – Sciencey Stuff
Vince found the first Daily Double in “3 Letters, 2 Meanings” under the $1,600 clue on the 18th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $15,400, $5,200 more than Katie in second place. Vince bet $5,000 and said cry. That was WRONG.
A body of water, or a deep, drawn-out howl show
Katie got the last Daily Double in “A Little World History” under the $2,000 with 6 clues left after it. In the lead with $13,000, she had $600 more than Vince in second place. Katie bet $6,000 and she said Charlemagne. That was WRONG.
He reunited the eastern & western Roman empires in 324 A.D., & the new capital soon bore his name show
Vince finished in the lead with $14,000. Katie was second with $7,400 and Stephanie was last with $1,000. 2 clues worth $1,200 were not shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT ARE ARKANSAS & LOUISIANA?
The acronym MIMAL is a mnemonic device intended to help remember the names of the 5 states that border the west bank of the Mississippi River, to wit: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. As the clue says, the figure created by an outline of those states is said to resemble an elf or a chef. The chef comparison can be extended to the states of Tennessee and Kentucky. The chef then appears to be cooking up some chicken. If you find this topic fascinating, the above video has some additional tips for remembering U.S. states.
If you are already a whiz on the U.S. states, you can see if you get 100% on this Sporcle quiz.
Stephanie thought it was Alabama & Louisiana. She lost $899 and finished with $101.
Katie had the same response as Stephanie. She lost $5,000 and finished with $2,400.
Vince went with Louisiana & Illinois. That only cost him $1,000 and he won the game with the remaining $13,000. Vince Bacani is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
SUMMING UP THE SPIELBERG MOVIE ($1000) Young cinema lover Sammy represents cinema lover Steven Spielberg
1980s BESTSELLERS ($1600) This bestseller from Dr. Seuss was billed as “a book for obsolete children”
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Famous Animals”
When she first came to the world’s attention in 1957, she was dubbed “Muttnik” by U.S. journalists show
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Speaking for myself I think it is unfair to criticize contestants from Massachusetts, New York, and Canada for missing today’s fj. It is not as if Arkansas is on anyone’s radar lately. The last time it was probably on most people’s radar was when Bill Clinton was President. The fact that we had to memorize the USA map in elementary school does not mean it’s on our minds as adults daily. Some people continue to study it as a hobby such as using Sporcle which VJ provided a link to today.
Furthermore, I don’t know if contestants are told before the game when the show will air. If they were told they may have had Alabama on their mind because of the MLK holiday and an earlier clue that alluded to him in the game. I give them credit for at least not writing Alaska or Arizona. 😂
A very uneven show, in light of the stumpers, missed DDs, and FJ. The giant-killer went down, and even a correct FJ would not have saved her.
The Spielberg movie, the Pizarro city, and the last DD were not difficult. I’d seen the diagram of the chef on Facebook in the past, but for anyone who hadn’t, it was simple geography to go south from Iowa and name the A and L states.
@Howard, my brother has lived in Texas for a lot longer than I have (orig. from NJ) and he went with Alabama. “What”, I exclaimed, “didn’t anyone ever get you a fruitcake from Texarkana?” 🤣🤣🤣
We had a good laugh over that because several years ago, someone sent me one and I gave it to him. (I hate fruitcake!)
Well, that was a rather lower scoring affair. The players didn’t strike me as very erudite. That second DD in DJ, I thought, was easy. What, should they have put “Byzantium” or Christian emperor into the clue?
I’ve never heard of MIMAL, but, I got it. I even said that someone would say “Alabama”.
Oh well. I do hope the Canadian fellow can string a few together!
I thought the final was kinda easy. The states all border each over going from North to South.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
And we got another triple stumper as today’s final was also a tough one.