Final Jeopardy: Historical Geography (12-26-18)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (12/26/2018) in the category “Historical Geography” was:
Most of the land fighting in the First Punic War between Rome & Carthage was on this island
New champ Richard Koehler, a data scientist from Wilmington, DE, won $18,001 yesterday. In Game 2, his opponents are: Jon Barber, an investment professional from San Francisco, CA; and DeAnn Hale, a stay-at-home mom from Eagle Mountain, UT.
Round 1 Categories: TV by the Numbers – Heteronyms – Family Ties – Glasses – State Stuff – Death on the Nile
Richard found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Family Ties” under the $1,000 clue, with just 3 clues left after it. He was in the lead with $7,200, $4,400 more than Jon in second place. He bet $3,000 and tried “Crime and Punishment.” That was WRONG.
Ivan’s repudiation of God looms large in this Dostoyevsky work. show
Richard finished in the lead with $4,600. Jon was second with $2,800 and DeAnn was last with $2,200.
Round 2 Categories: Movie Soundtracks – American History – “W”riters – They Make That – Some Filler – Around the World at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Jon found the first Daily Double in “Metropolitan Museum” under the $1,600 clue, with a dozen clues still to go. He was in the lead with $11,600 at this point, $2,200 more than DeAnn in second place. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.
Italian artist Antonio Canova created a model of Neoclassical beauty with his sculpture of this Greek hero, sword in one hand & in the other, Medusa’s just-severed head. show
Jon got the last Daily Double in “American History” under the $1,200 clue on his very next pick. He had $15,600 now and $6,600 more than DeAnn. He bet $1,000 and guessed Georgia. That was WRONG.
In 1925 John T. Scopes was put on trial, convicted & fined for teaching evolution in this southern state. show
Jon turned the game into a runaway on the $2,000 Met clue, finishing with $18,200. Richard and DeAnn were tied at $8,200.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS SICILY?
At the start of the First Punic War (264-241 BC), Carthage “controlled most of Sicily, except for the city-state of Syracuse in the south-eastern corner of the island. Since Rome controlled the entire Italian peninsula, and Sicily is less than two miles from Italy, it was only a matter of time before these two empires clashed…. Rome won the first Punic War …and Rome took control of all of the Carthaginian lands on the island of Sicily.” (From Mister Giotto’s page on The Battle for Sicily. There are maps and stuff — even some java games!)
From 1990: HISTORY ($200) In the first Punic War, the troops of his father, Hamilcar Barca, were defeated by the Romans in Sicily
Richard got it right. He bet everything, bringing him up to $16,400.
DeAnn picked Crete. She lost her $8,198 bet, leaving her with $2.00.
Jon got it right, too. He bet $1,799 and won the game with $19,999. Jon Barber is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
TV BY THE NUMBERS ($600) The reboot of this sitcom features a Cuban-American family & Gloria Estefan giving a Latin flair to its theme “This is It”
MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS ($1600) This director of 1978’s “Halloween” adapted the film’s iconic theme song for the 2018 sequel with son Cody
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Fictional Places”
This land is described as “all that lies between the lamp-post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea” show
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In the film version of the Brothers Karamazov, Dmitri, Ivan and Alexei were played by Yul Brynner, Richard Basehart and Captain Kirk 😀
LINK: 10 more clues from this match
Shatner was 27 when the movie was shot….
In 2001, he played the villain mayor in Osmosis Jones.
John Barber’s $4,000 DD helped him, $1,000 DD did not, and a squeaker of a $2,000 clue turned this game into a runaway. So, again, the tables have turned.
Well at least we know Jon and rick are strong in geography though the daily doubles were not in their alley today. Furthermore, I would love to see Jon string more wins together before the New year begins. Also wasn’t The scopes monkey trial a final jeopardy question in a previous game VJ and John? I remember seeing that when a previous contestant got this. What war did Crete get involved in?
@Lou
Crete had quite a violent history.
698 BC Roman rule
300 AD 1st Byzantine rule
820 AD Arab rule
960 AD 2nd Byzantine rule,
1212 AD Venetia (for over 4 centuries)
1669 AD 3rd Byzantine conquest
1898 AD finally state of Crete
The Scopes trial was a FJ 5/2017, but in regular J it came up twice this year.
Looks to me that in today’s game at least 2 players paid attention in geography/history class(es) or they just know through which island the shortest line between Tunisia and Italy goes. Even DeAnn was at least in the Med.
Congratulations to Jon, we’ll see if HE can string some wins together before the year is over. But good for Richard as well that he got it. By coincidence Etna had an eruption just a couple of days ago, followed by hundreds of earthquakes, some heavy with a dozen people injured, some seriously.
We have a pretty good solving rate for FJ so far this week 3 (Mon, easy), 2 (Tue somewhat difficult) and 2 today, and we know what European geography mixed with history usually does to the players. The DDs….not so much success lately after Monday.
In the U.S. we were never taught Geography, Napoleon, the French Revolution, or Art History. When I graduated college I didn’t know the difference between a Chagall and a Renoir. The good news is that I learned how to read so I taught myself those subjects and others.