Final Jeopardy: American-born Authors (10-29-14)
The Final Jeopardy question (10/29/2014), in the category “American-born Authors” was:
In 1915, his reasons for naturalization included having lived and worked in England “for the best part of forty years”
Today’s co-champs are Bill Albertini who has a 2-day total of $38,750 and Jenica Jessen with a 1-day total of $19,200. The third player is Ryan Alley, from Alexandria, VA.
Round 1: Ryan found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Long Arm of the Law School” under the $800 clue before the first break. He was in the lead with $1,600, $1,400 ahead of Bill and Jenica who were in a second place tie. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
White House counsels John Dean & Kathryn Ruemmler went to this law school not far from Pennsylvania Ave. show
Ryan and Jenica finished in a tie with $6,000 each. Bill was in the red for $400.
Round 2: Matthew found the first Daily Double in “Mountains” under the $1,200 clue. He was in the lead with $9,600, $4,400 more than Jenica in second place. He bet $2,600 and he was RIGHT.
German words for “meadow” & “peak” combined to form the name we use for this Alpine mountain. show
Bill found the last Daily Double in “Initially Yours” under the $2,000 clue. He was in third place with $2,400, $15,000 less than Ryan’s lead. He bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.
This Dutch artist created more than 2,000 drawings & sketches like the one seen here. show
Ryan finished in the lead with a runaway $19,800. Jenica was next with $8,800 and Bill was in third place with $6,400.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
Henry James decided in 1914 to renounce his American citizenship and become a British citizen because he was disillusioned with his native land’s reluctance to enter World War I. He took the oath of allegiance to his adopted country on July 26, 1915, and sent the part of his application that embodied his “reasons” to his literary agent, James B. Pinker, the next day, stating that he had no objection to it being made public:
“Because of his having lived and worked in England for the best part of forty years, because of his attachment to the country and his sympathy with it and its people, because of the long friendships and associations and interests he has formed here — these last including the acquisition of some property; all of which things have brought to a head his desire to throw his moral weight and personal allegiance, for whatever they may be worth, into the scale of the contending nations’ present and future fortune.”
James died the following year on February 28, 1916. His earthly remains were returned to America and he was buried in the James family plot in the Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Bill got it right. His $6,398 bet brought him up to $12,798.
Jenica thought it was T.S. Eliot, who was a mere 25 when he emigrated to England in 1914. (He was naturalized in 1927). That cost her $4,000 and she finished with $4,800.
Ryan also thought it was Eliot but he only bet $200 so he won the match with $19,600 and we have a brand new champ.
Ryan Alley is a patent attorney. During the chat, Alex Trebek asked him to describe the weirdest invention he had come across in his work but he wisely declined and mentioned an invention that uses operating nuclear reactors to create cancer therapies.
2 years ago:: TWO of the players got this FJ in “The Constitutional Convention”
New York’s delegates were John Lansing, Robert Yates & this Founding Father, the only one of the 3 who signed. show
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and so far we had 2 runaways and 1 tie this week. we shall see if that trend continues thursday…
well, as anticipated, bill got it right. otherwise a total flop.
as far as “matterhorn” is concerned.
my native language is german and i had to RESEARCH “matter” for “meadow”. “matte” was used in the 16th century and before and then only in small parts of switzerland. MATTE in german is a mat, like the one you do yoga on. i had to look at the clue for about 30 seconds before i got it, and only because it is really (in)famous. to call “matte” or “matter” german for “meadow ” at least a very long stretch, a knuckleball if not outright misleading. it’s like you use a middle english word to arrive at a modern english word.
fortunately it did not matter (no pun intended) and you were right about t.s., vj!!!! you are psychic!
only the english professor got it, the other 2 went with t.s. eliot.
it seems that runaways and ties seem to become the fashion….?
also, “peak” is NOT the translation for “horn” “peak” is either “spitze”, maybe “hoehe”. “Horn” in german is the same as in english, either something you blow/toot, or the horn of a bull, even the horn of plenty is “fuellhorn” in german.(= full horn). you could say a horn has a “peak” at the end, also a stretch… seems some language lessons are needed by the researchers and/or clue writers here.
in any event, congrats to ryan and he was wise to bet only 200 and did not go for the possible 2.200. i guess the phrasing “american born authors” scared the bejesus out of him and jenica!