Final Jeopardy: World Politics (2-7-14)

The Final Jeopardy question (2/7/2014), in the category “World Politics” was:

When these 2 men swapped jobs in 2012, their country’s media described the move as “castling.”

It’s the last day of this month’s Battle of the Decades. The last 3 competitors are: Bob Verini (1987 TOC champ) from Los Angeles, CA; Jerome Vered, (1992 5x winner) from Los Angeles, CA; and Tom Cubbage, (1989 college champ and TOC champ) from Washington, DC.

Jerome found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Stock Symbols” under the $600 clue. He was in third place with $600, $1,400 behind Tom in the lead. He said he just got out of the hole so he might as well go for the $1,000. “What can happen?” He took a guess at the answer with “BUY” but that was WRONG.

This verb is the 3-letter stock symbol for Sotheby’s. show

WHAT IS BID?

Bob finished in the lead with $5,800. Tom was second with $2,600 and Jerome was last with $1,000.

Bob found the first Daily Double in “1980s Books” under the $1,200 clue. He was in the lead with $7,800, $5,200 ahead of Tom in second place. Referring back to the chat and a big DD that Bob talked about losing, Alex egged Bob on to make this a true Daily Double. “Yes, I could, you rascal,” Bob laughed, but even though he was obviously confident in the category, he only put $3,000 on the line. He was RIGHT.

Drug-fueled debauchery in New York city takes up much of this Jay McInerney debut novel. show

WHAT IS “BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY”?

Jerome found the last Daily Double in “First Ladies’ Fathers” under the $2,000 clue. Now in second place with $6,600, he had $4,200 less than Bob’s lead. Alex pointed out his ability to take the lead with a big bet, but Jerome also went with $3,000. This time it was a good thing because he went with Elizabeth (Kortright) Monroe, and that was WRONG.

William Bolling, a Virginia judge. show

WHO IS EDITH WILSON?

Bob finished in the lead with $14,000. Tom was next with $13,000 and Jerome was in third place with $8,400.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO ARE DMITRY MEDVEDEV AND VLADIMIR PUTIN?

When the Russian President and Prime Minister switched offices, it was compared to a chess tactic where a rook and a king swap places. In The Kremlin has castled and Putin is still king, Ian Bremmer said: “Even with this switcheroo, little will change about Russia’s, which is to say Putin’s, stance on foreign or domestic affairs. Despite years of inspired reformist speechifying from President Medvedev, little has changed in the ossified Russian bureaucracy. That speaks to his true, limited, authority.”

Jerome got it right. He added $1,600 and finished with $10,000.

Tom also got it. His $3,801 bet brought him up to $16,801.

Bob didn’t come up with anything. He lost $12,001 and wound up with $1,999, and Tom won the match.

Wow! That’s all there is to say about that. We truly thought they would all get it but sometimes, contestants just draw a blank and it looks like that’s what happened to Bob.

So Tom Cubbage, Mark Lowenthal, Tom Nosek, Chuck Forrest and Leszek Pawlowicz will all advance to the semi-finals coming up in May.

Next week the College Tournament begins.

Jeopardy Calendar Clue of the Day: Bodies of Water ($2,000)

This strategically important channel connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. show

WHAT IS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ?

We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.