Final Jeopardy: 1950s Literature (7-8-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (7/8/2025) in the category “1950s Literature” was:
At the start of this tale, the title character is reminded he went turtling off the Mosquito Coast
3x champ Scott Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, NJ, has won $96,001 so far. In Game 4, his/her challengers are: Dan Puma, a salesperson from Chicago, IL; and Elise Canup, an advertising producer from Richmond, VA.
Round 1 Categories: Notable Names – Hot Time in the Old Town – That’s Honorific! – Days in Tech History – Those Are the Lyrics?! – Multiple Meanings
Elise found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Hot Time in the Old Town” under the $400 clue on the 15th pick of the round. She was in last place with $1,800, $3,400 less than Scott’s lead. Elise made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.
This city’s history museum displays a nearly 7-ton metal blob of nails & other hardware melted in a store basement in 1871 show
Scott finished in the lead with $7,600. Elise was second with $4,200 and Dan was last with $3,400. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Best-Self-ers – State Oddity – Hollywood Hodgepodge – “X” – Marx – The Spot
Dan found the first Daily Double in “State Oddity” under the $1,600 clue on the 1st pick of the round. The scores were the same as above. Dan made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
Most of Arizona used this 20th century innovation from 1918 to 1968, but scorns it now show
Dan got the last Daily Double in “The Spot” under the $1,200 clue on the 5th pick. In second place with $8,400 now, he was only $800 behind Scott’s lead. Dan bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT again.
Back in 1878 American astronomer Carr Pritchett noted the color of this storm, the largest in our solar system show
Scott finished in the lead with $23,200. Dan was second with $18,200 and Elise was last with $2,200. All clues were shown.
ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA”?
“The Old Man and the Sea” is a 1952 novella by Ernest Hemingway which takes place primarily in and around the Gulf Stream off the northern coast of Cuba. The Mosquito Coast is an area along the eastern shores of Honduras and Nicaragua. Turtling on the Mosquito Coast comes up in Chapter 1, in the course of a conversation between Santiago, the titular old man, and Manolin, his young protégé.
Listen to the part where Manolin reminds Santiago about his turtling days on the Mosquito Coast.
Elise bet $2,000 and finished with $4,200.
Dan bet $5,001 and finished with $23,201.
Scott bet $13,201. He won the game with $36,401 and no help from the Daily Doubles. Scott’s 4-day total is $132,402. Impressive!
A triple stumper from each round:
HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN ($1000) Dating to Roman times & host of a World’s Fair 2 millennia later, it’s been called “the Iberian oven”
BEST-SELF-ERS ($800) This author pulled off a posthumous publicity stunt: making fans wait for his memoir until 2010, the centennial of his death
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “OLYMPIC TEAMS”
A city of about 2.5 million people, since 1984 for political reasons it has been in the name of an Olympic team show
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE SHOW OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!
We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.
I was 3/3 on DD and got FJ. I came up with it about a 1/3 of the way into the music, but then wondered if it could be “The Incredible Mr. Ripley” (and I think I have the title wrong, at that). However, there wasn’t enough time to me to have changed my imaginary written response, so I stayed with the first one!
I’m happy with the more competitive shows!
The posthumous publicity stunt author died in 1910. Perhaps, I read the clue wrong, but it sure seems to say 2019 was the centennial of his death. Anyone else notice this?
Thanks for pointing that out, Stephen. 😁 The clue did say 2010. I typed it wrong. (I was suffering from lack of sleep yesterday!)
I fixed it and the reason I edited your comment is because we’re not supposed to reveal the answers to the stumpers in the comments.
Well, that was quite the contest. Dan seized the lead thanks to the DDs, but a few goofs and Scott’s rally took him down. I got Final right away, somehow, without ever having read the book. The knockdown battle resulted in a huge payoff. Both guys wagered properly. In the first round, I found most of the $1000 clues easy, very unusual.
Got the posthumous author; the wall/blood vessel decoration. Not many stumpers tonight, same as last night. We’ve had some strong players lately, maybe laying rest to the theory they saved the weakest for last.
According to my closed captions, Dan got away with “Daylight Savings Time” when it’s accurately Daylight Saving Time. We know how anal they can be about pronunciation (e.g. xanthan gum, not xantham gum).
Howard, apparently this is one hair they chose not to split. J-Archive shows “Daylight SavingS” being accepted multiple times.
Also, this is not the first time you noticed that happening. You commented on it in March of 2022!
I never read the book, either!
Great minds, and all that!
With that 4 day total, Scott is now 100 percent locked for Tournament of Champions 2026. He has the highest 4 day total this season.