Final Jeopardy: Places of Disaster (2-3-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (2/3/2025) in the category “Places of Disaster” was:
In 1883 an old sailor didn’t know what its name meant but believed the natives “named it from the sound”
Here is our last group of quarterfinalists in the 2025 Tournament of Champions: Champions Wild Card 2nd place winner* Drew Goins, a journalist from Honolulu, HI; 4x champ Amar Kakirde, a policy analyst from Lake Hiawatha, NJ; and 3x champ Lucas Partridge, a school counselor from Las Vegas, NV.
*Drew Goins as the alternate is taking Lisa Ann Walter’s place in the ToC because she had a schedule conflict
Round 1 Categories: The Man, the Myth, the Legend – Kid Stuff – Just Take the W – Voyaging Through History – Nicknames – Better Luck Next Time
Amar found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Voyaging Through History” under the $800 clue on the 8th pick of the round. He was in second place with $1,400, $1,000 less than Drew’s lead. Amar bet it all and he was RIGHT.
Magellan’s flagship on his epic journey had the Spanish name that honored the Father, Son & Holy Spirit show
Drew finished in the lead with $5,400. Amar and Lucas were tied in second with $3,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Anagrammed Nuclear Physics – Brand Names – Wetlands – 5-Syllable Words – Subtitles of Books – Ancient Rome in the Movies
Drew found the first Daily Double in “Anagrammed Nuclear Physics” under the $800 clue on the 12th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $15,400 now, $10,400 more than Lucas in second place. Drew bet $5,400 and he was RIGHT.
Process of increasing the proportion of U-235 compared to U-238: ninth cream show
On his next pick, Drew got the last Daily Double in “Subtitles” under the $800 clue. In the lead with $20,800, he had $15,800 more than Lucas in second place. Drew bet $2,800 and he was RIGHT.
The subtitle of “Frankenstein” was “The Modern” this, no mythtake show
Drew finished in the lead with a runaway $31,200. Lucas was second with $7,400 and Amar was last with $6,600. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS KRAKATOA?
I didn’t really have much hope of finding a source for this clue this morning, but it was easier than I thought. Et voila: “Krakatoa in Eruption”, a 10/3/1883 article in the Baltimore Sun on Newspapers.com, is about a 10/2/1883 interview with P.T. Wupper, captain of the German ship Herschell. Wupper describes what he saw when his ship sailed by Krakatoa island on May 20th, “months ahead of the great eruption” in October 1883. The info in the clue comes from the last paragraph:
An old clue: THE BIG BANG THEORY ($200) The 1883 Krakatoa eruption was heard 3,000 miles away; that’s like hearing something in L.A. when you’re in this Rhode Island capital
Amar got it right. He bet $6,599 and finished with $13,199.
Lucas didn’t have a response. That cost him $1,989 and left him with $5,411.
Drew also got it right, with enough time to add profuse thanks to Lisa Ann Walter. Drew bet $808 and won the game and the semifinal spot with $32,008. The semifinal list is now complete.
A triple stumper from each round:
VOYAGING THROUGH HISTORY ($1000) In 1802 this German climbed Mount Chimborazo & his study of currents off South America led to one being named for him
WETLANDS ($1200) Zambia’s Bangweulu Wetlands are home to the black lechwe, a relative of this antelope that fittingly has water in its name
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “INVENTIONS”
1917’s “Elements of Trench Warfare” said this Old West item was “difficult to destroy” & “difficult to get through” show
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Outstanding job by Drew. His final wager was Hawaii’s area code.
Not shocked no one knew the Liberty player or the Yankees’ hated rival. Those and the Texas legend are about the only stumpers I knew. Goofed up the Aniston product by juxtaposing the consonants.
Wow, talk about a runaway. Drew blew right past the other two contestants, and left them miles away. Hmmm….I never heard of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption in Indonesia, but one learns something new every day. Anyways, it was another great game!
The other note about that final is that there was a movie called “Krakatoa, East of Java” which was ridiculous because Krakatoa was, in fact, WEST of Java.
It wasn’t that great of a movie either.
It was kinda funny that they had a Jack Palance clue today. I just had the 1999 Treasure Island movie on yesterday where Jack played Long John Silver. It’s free on the ROKU chanel.
The RLS novel is another one that shows up a lot for the year 1883. It’s too bad RLS died so young. If he had made it to age 68, he would have seen his novel made into a silent film. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
And this weekend I watched Contempt, Jack Palance played a movie producer in it. Didn’t care much for the movie, though.