Final Jeopardy: American Plays (10-4-17)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (10/4/2017) in the category “American Plays” was:
The latitude & longitude given by the narrator of this 1938 play would set it in Massachusetts, not New Hampshire.
6x champ Austin Rogers took another giant leap yesterday with a $69K payday that brought him up to $257,700. Today his challengers are: Jay Hancock, from Ellicott City, MD; and Marguerite Moran, from Webster, MN.
Round 1 Categories: Welcome to Los Angeles – Authors: Born & Died – Timely Talk – Food & Drink – Classic Pop – A King James Bible
Jay found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Authors: Born & Died” under the $600 clue on the 8th pick of the round. He was in second place with $400, $2,800 less than Austin’s lead. He bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
Edgar Allan Poe’s tale began in Boston in 1809 & ended in this other “B” city in 1849. show
Austin finished in the lead with $6,200. Jay was second with $5,200 and Marguerite was last with $3,000.
Round 2 Categories: Lakes & Rivers – Their Married Names – 3 Straight Vowels – Plaque Buildup – Calculus – Dental Problems
Austin landed on the first Daily Double in “3 STRAIGHT VOWELS” under the $800 clue on the 2nd pick. He was in the lead with $6,600 now, $1,400 more than Jay in second place. He bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
In the NYPD its the rank just below captain. show
Austin found the last Daily Double in “Dental Problems” under the $1,600 clue, with 4 clues left after it. In the lead with $21,200, he had $12,000 more than Jay in second place. He bet $6,000 and he was RIGHT.
A guild of these tooth-pulling professionals whose name is from the Latin for “beards” began in France in 1210. show
Austin ran away with another one, finishing with $27,600. Jay was next with $10,000 and Marguerite was in third place with $7,000.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play, “Our Town,” opens up with the stage manager/narrator describing the setting: The name of the town is Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire—just across the Massachusetts line: latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes; longitude 70 degrees 37 minutes.” Wikipedia points out that those coordinates are in Massachusetts about 1,000 miles off the coast of Rockport.
New Hampshire’s History Blog puts a bit of a different perspective on it, noting that the inspiration for the play came to Wilder when he was staying at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, N.H., concluding that the coordinates are “close enough!”
Marguerite had no answer. She bet everything but a buck so she had a buck left.
Jay got it right. He added $4,500 to his score to finish with $14,500.
Austin wrote down “a taco.” He lost his $7,000 bet but won the match with the remaining $20,600. His 7-day total is $278,300.
A triple stumper from each round:
TIMELY TALK ($600) 4-syllable word for one ancient relic, or ancient times in general
3 STRAIGHT VOWELS ($2000) Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that this “without grace is the hook without the bait”
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Movie Characters”
Charlton Heston’s wardrobe in 1954’s “Secret of the Incas” inspired the clothes worn by this adventurous character 27 years later. show
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68 more please Austin! Ken must fall for the good of ratings
Seems as though none of the contestants are math wizards. VJ, have any of your kids ever studied calculus in high school? But I’m surprised that Austin won with that taco response, I think buzzy Cohen taunted Trebek with Saturday night live antics during his run so it’s similar to what Austin did. And oh, our town that play was it ever used in grade school in where you are?
@everyone, I just put a link to an article about Austin on Contestant News where they actually talked to him and he had a lot to say, starting with “I’m rich.” LOL!!!
@Lou, I think one of my kiddies took calculus. All I know on the subject is how to spell it. LOL. Jay couldn’t win because Austin had a runaway. I guess (I hope) if Jay had been able to beat Austin, he would have bet more. I was even wondering before the game if Austin’s big bets will inspire others to bet big. In that article I first mentioned he said he’s not reckless. He met his goal of what he wanted to win on his first game, so after that he decided to let it ride, so to speak.
Interesting that Austin had the wherewithal to write “taco” on the same day as National Taco Day when the show would air. Yes, I think he’s that smart. So far it’s obvious he has done his homework. VJ, aren’t the contestants told when the show will air?
@Jacob, I’ve read they are told when it will air, but idk if that happens before the game is taped, and I have heard of at least one time when the dates they were told were later changed. (I think it was a Teen Tournament).
I was saying to my daughter this morning that it might take an old-timer to beat Austin because he doesn’t seem to know too much old-timey stuff. I was not surprised that he didn’t get FJ today or that Jay did. (But that was more because Jay was good at lit than an old timer. LOL)
LINK: 10 more clues from the match
When invited to Jeopardy, you’re told the week of the airing, since they tape five shows in a day and no one except the defending champion contestants are drawn randomly. At the beginning of each taping, Johnny Gilbert announces for the tape, “Episode #XXX, taping date YYY, air date ZZZ.”
So, it’s a good idea to brush up. For instance, if you’re called in August to tape in September for a show airing sometime in the first week in December, it wouldn’t hurt to brush up on Pearl Harbor just in case, even though you won’t know which specific date you’ll be on.
Thanks for the info, Kevin 🙂
Calculus’ greek derivation is Pebble, not Stone, perhaps that should have been negged.
Seems like an incredibly easy FJ. I am really surprised it was not a Triple Get. “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder is a Pulitzer Prize winning play that I cited in the funeral eulogies for both my poor dear Daddy and poor dear Mother (who should both still be here — and my Mother was a longtime fan of JEOPARDY!).
How much longer is he gonna keep winning before November 6?
I hope he makes it to Thanksgiving Week.
I don’t know Richard, Austin Rogers was on the Tournament of Champions tracker with 7 day total $278,300. He will be on the Tournament of Champion tracker with Season 34 standings.
Steve Tamerius worked for Goodson in the 80s before going to Jeopardy!