Final Jeopardy: The Oxford English Dictionary (11-11-14)
The Final Jeopardy question (11/11/2014), in the category “The Oxford English Dictionary” was:
As of 2013, this 3-letter verb common in sports, theater & politics has the largest entry in the online OED.
The second quarter-final match of the 2014 Tournament of Champions features: Arthur Chu (11x $297,200); Andrew Moore (6x $137,803); and Rani Peffer (5x $68,701).
Round 1: Andrew found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Literary Awards” under the $1,000 clue. He was in a tie for first place with Arthur. They both had $2,600, $2,000 more than Rani. He bet $1,000 and he was RIGHT.
Though dead almost 20 years, she won a 1982 Pulitzer for her “Collected Poems”. show
Arthur and Andrew tied for the lead with $4,400. Rani was next with $2,600.
Round 2: Andrew found the first Daily Double in “The Caspian Sea” under the $1,600 clue. He was in the lead with $5,600, $400 more than Arthur in second place. He bet $2,000 and guessed Georgia. That was WRONG.
The Caspian’s southern shoreline borders this country at the foot of the Elburz Mountains. show
Arthur found the last Daily Double in “All the President’s Children” under the $1,200 clue. In the lead with $15,200, he had $10,800 more than Andrew in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
In 1999 People Magazine said his “death left unbearable pain, unfulfilled promise.” show
Arthur finished with a runaway $21,000. Andrew was next with $5,200 and Rani was in third place with $3,800.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
“It took Peter Gilliver, the O.E.D. lexicographer working on the letter R, more than nine months harnessed to the duties of what Samuel Johnson once called “a harmless drudge” (plus many more months of preparatory research) to work out what he believes are all the meanings of “run.” And though some of the senses and their derivations try him — Why does a dressmaker run up a frock? Why run through a varlet with a sword? How come you run a fence around a field? Why, indeed, run this essay? — Mr. Gilliver has finally calculated that there are for the verb-form alone of “run” no fewer than 645 meanings. A record.” (NY Times: A Verb for Our Frantic Times)
Rani got it and bet $3,799. She finished with $7,599.
Andrew thought it was “win”. He lost $5,199, everything but a dollar.
Arthur also got it but didn’t bet anything because he already had that second semi-final spot sewn up.
You have to hand it Arthur. He stayed cool, calm and collected and didn’t take many guesses. We’ll have to start our wild card list tomorrow.
And we think this is a first — Jeopardy! shares what the players and Alex chatted about after the game.
2 years ago:: ALL of the players got this FJ in “Born & Died”
He was born in 1728 in Yorkshire, England & died in a skirmish February 14, 1779 in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii. show
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I’ve asked this before and got no responses, but I’ll ask it again.
What’s the logic behind betting everything but a dollar? Both losers did it today.
Since in this case the whole point is accumulating as much as you can in order to qualify for a wild card spot, how would Rani feel if she ended up missing it by one dollar? And in Andrew’s case, what good does that dollar do him? Is it just so he won’t have to say he finished with zero? I don’t get it, but I can’t help thinking there’s some logic behind it that I’m not seeing. Could someone enlighten me?
Maybe nobody answered because they don’t know, Tom. I don’t. My opinion, if you’re interested, is what you said — just so they won’t have to say they finished with zero. I don’t see any logic in it in a game like this where you already know the $1 isn’t going to help you win $1,000 more than someone who bet it all and got FJ wrong.
that’s exactly what i asked my friend who was watching the show with me! is she going to frame that dollar? stranger things have happened than missing a wild card by a buck. i guess some people just can’t stand the possibility to have a zero in front of them??
even if both non winners score higher than rani, she would still be #4, no? yesterday
we had ben as winner and rebecca with 11.600. so rani would grab the 4th one. what will happen on thu and fri is a different matter, by the end of tomorrow rani will still be in, no matter what. she and rebecca are the only one with money (disregarding the 1 buck), so if both non winners tomorrow end up with more than a dollar, rebecca,rani and the 2 non winners from tomorrow, wednesday,would hold the wild card spots,probably temporarily. right,vj or am i making a mistake here?
Maybe she will be No. 4 on Friday, John, but I’m figuring I will only have 3 on my list tomorrow, because I wasn’t planning on including Andrew ($1) or John ($0). We’ll see.
yeah, you never know. rani’s amount might hold, or may be shattered. she might also miss the wc by 1 dollar…..
Congrats to Arthur.
I’m saddened to see Andrew perform so poorly today. He was one of my favorites heading in. I loved him when he was first on.
Yes, I agree, after I saw how Andrew was getting rattled, I was still hoping he could score a wild card.
In Andrew’s original appearances he was unbeatable until his 7th and last appearance, which I didn’t really like, and today somehow, because of Arthur Chu being very impressive, Andrew Moore was manhandled on the buzzer, which from personal experience is very frustrating.
For those on CotD “rbi” means “run(s) batted in.” When I play tennis, I run a lot was my other hint.
In sports most athletes run. In theater a play will run on broadway for example. In politics candidates run for office. Hence, the comment by vj about Rick Perry.
Too many triple stumpers in this game made it a clear runaway for Arthur Chu. He played very carefully.
yeah, to think they didn’t know George Reeves! It’s ironic, if not sad, when you consider how much Reeves resented the Superman role when he wound up stereotyped by it.
“Faster than a speeding bullet…’
2 down, 3 to go! And after tomorrow’s game featuring Julia Collins, Joshua Brakhage and Jim Coury. 2 of our 15 champions are gonna be packing their bags and my hunch is that those 2 will be Andrew Moore with $1 and John Pearson with no money.
your tennis reference got me to guess “set”. the rbi then made it run. i think “set” may not far behind “run” in terms of entries, maybe even second?
how about the tennis game on maui?