Final Jeopardy: Poets (11-16-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (11/16/2023) in the category “Poets” was:
1793 reports of the killing of Hector Munro by a wild animal in India may have inspired one of this man’s best-known poems
The Champions Wild Card quarter-finals continue today with these three champs: Amy Bekkerman, a copy editor from Durham, NH; Tim Moon, an attorney from Los Angeles, CA; and Scott Plummer, a software developer from Golden, CO.
Round 1 Categories: Up Above – Pop Music – What the Dickens! – Jailhouse Rock – Dad, Gum It – We’ll Spot You a Letter
Amy found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “What the Dickens!” under the $600 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. She was the only one on the board with $400. Amy bet $1,000 and she was RIGHT.
This title character becomes a successful author & marries Dora Spenlow show
Amy finished in the lead with $5,000. Scott was in second place with $3,200. Tim was last with $1,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Sculpture – Robin Williams Movie Quotes – the Name of the Law – that’s Misleading – Bridge on the River – Kauai
Scott found the first Daily Double in “Robin Williams Movie Quotes” under the $1,200 clue on the 14th pick of the round. He was in second place with $4,400, $3,800 less than Amy’s lead. Scott bet it all and drew a blank so he was WRONG.
”Look at me, son, it’s not your fault” show
Scott got the last Daily Double in “That’s Misleading” under the $2,000 clue with 4 clues left after it. He was in second place with $3,600 now, $9,000 less than Amy’s lead. Scott bet $3,200 but came up empty so, again, he was WRONG.
Paintings seen along the sloping path for wheelchairs show
Amy finished in the lead with a runaway $12,200. Tim was in second place with $3,800. Scott was last with $2,800. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS WILLIAM BLAKE?
Brighton & Hove Museums’ website has a page with the full story of the unfortunate fate of 16-year-old Hector Sutherland Munro, a son of General Sir Hector Munro of Novar, KB, MP. It is because of his father’s position that the report of the tiger attack on young Hector and his subsequent death made big news in London in 1793. In 1794, William Blake published “Songs of Experience” which contains his famous poem “The Tyger”. While the clue says Hector’s ordeal “may” have inspired Blake, the Brighton article notes that it inspired quite a bit of literature and art. The National Army Museum has a picture of the ceramic tiger mauling a soldier mentioned but not shown on the first article.
OH, RUDYARD: The clue did not actually say the poet was a contemporary of the victim, so whether you chose Kipling because of India or Shere Khan, don’t feel bad. “Mowgli’s Song” from Chapter 6 of “The Jungle Book” sometimes gets included in Kipling’s poems.
Scott got it right. He bet $2,799 and finished with $5,599.
Tim went with Kipling. He bet and lost his whole $3,800.
Amy also went with Kipling. With a zero bet, she won the game with the $12,200 she already had. We’ll be seeing Amy Bekkerman again in the semi-finals.
A triple stumper from each round:
WHAT THE DICKENS! ($200) Charles Dickens called this decorated yuletide item a “pretty German toy”
SCULPTURE ($2000) In 1937 this British sculptor said that he associated the openings in his hole-y works with caves
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Priceless Objects”
It dates back to the “French Blue”, which was set in gold & suspended from a neck ribbon when Louis XIV wore it on ceremonial occasions show
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A glimmer of a Jeopardy! clue with a Blake-Kipling connection has been in the back of my mind off and on all day but I haven’t had a chance to look it up till now. And here it is (from the Feb. 28, 2019 All-Star game):
BRITISH LITERATURE: A chapter of “The Jungle Book” has this double-talk title, echoing the opening line of a Brit’s poem some 100 years prior
Tough but fair FJ. Figured it was Kipling and didn’t go any further. And I’ve never even kippled before.
Those two guys were up and down more than an elevator in the Empire State Building. The Robin Williams DD Scott missed wasn’t terribly difficult.
Someone probably should have known the decorated Christmas item, which of course is of German origin. I’m utterly out of touch with contemporary music, but at least I knew who does “Drivers License.” Shocked no one knew Charles Darnay’s lookalike. I’m pretty sure I walked over the Peace Bridge long, long ago, so that river was obvious. The two missed “Name of the Law” clues were difficult, but I remembered them.
This was certainly a new one on me. I’ve known Blake’s “Tyger” since high school and never heard of this connection. As for Kipling, I knew “Gunga Din” before the “Jungle Book” because the Cary Grant movie of the same name was featured on the Million Dollar Movie one Sunday when I was 8, inspiring my father to recite lines from the poem for days.
Notably, the image they showed for the Peace Bridge was from Canada. (Local bridge here)
Not impressed by these contestants, save one response: when Tim said “Aqua” for the Barbie clue, they did the original “Barbie Girl” almost 20 years ago. “I’m a Barbie girl/In a Barbie world/Life in plastic/It’s fantastic”
But, again, not impressed.
I hope William Weyser would say darn those daily doubles to Scott.