Final Jeopardy: Chemical Symbol Wordplay (10-14-19)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (10/14/2019) in the category “Chemical Symbol Wordplay” was:
Fittingly, the symbols for the 4 elements in sodium citrate, which can make cheese melt easier, spell this 5-letter food
New champ Susan White, a bookseller from Norwich, VT, won $8,700 last Friday. In Game 2, she is up against: Anthony Pinggera, a civil rights lawyer from Los Angeles, CA; and Erin Barry, a Ph.D student from Maplewood, MO.
Round 1 Categories: Bayou Trap-istry – Let’s Live Abroad – I Read It in the World Book – Speak Softly – & Carrie – A Big Statistic
Anthony found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Bayou Trap-istry” under the $600 clue on the 18th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $6,200, $3,400 more than Erin in second place. He bet $3,500 and he was RIGHT.
The State of Louisiana says these reptiles over 4 feet can be considered a nuisance & will give you the name of a hunter. show
Anthony finished in the lead with $9,100. Erin was second with $4,800 and Susan was last, at negative $600.
Round 2 Categories: The Many Buildings of I.M. Pei – Love Songs – The Treaty Says So – American Poets Laureate – 5 Days in October – “V”-8
Erin found the first Daily Double in “American Poets Laureate” under the $1,600 clue on the 13th pick. She was in second place with $9,200 at this point, $4,300 less than Anthony’s lead. She bet $4,000 and guessed New York City. That was WRONG.
In 1998 Lawrence Ferlinghetti was made this city’s first Poet Laureate. show
Susan found the last Daily Double in “Buildings of I.M. Pei” under the $1,600 clue, with 3 clues left after it. In third place with $6,200, she had $8,100 less than Anthony’s lead. She bet $1,000 and she was RIGHT.
2 of I.M. Pei’s early designs to be built were at an airport & a presidential library both honoring this man. show
Anthony finished in the lead with $15,500. Erin was next with $12,400 and Susan was in third place with $7,200.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
Trisodium citrate, often referred to simply as sodium citrate, consists of sodium, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The chemical symbols spell out Na-C-H-O. I have no idea who first noticed that connection, but The Chemical Company can tell you all about its use with cheese and other food products . According to these Nacho Fun Facts, and other sources, “Nacho” was actually the nickname of Ignacio Anaya, who invented the snack in 1943.
From 7/10/2019: MNEMONICS $1000: buzzfeed.com listed “Prime ministers can’t eat any nachos” for Canada’s time zones: Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, Atlantic, this
Susan got it right. She added $2,100 to her score and finished with $9,300.
Erin got it, too. Her $8,000 bet brought her up to $20,400.
Anthony wrote down “Nancy.” That cost him $10,000 so he landed in third place, and that made Erin Barry the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
& CARRIE ($400) Andie MacDowell played Carrie, the American girl who captures Hugh Grant’s heart, in this 1994 film
AMERICAN POETS LAUREATE ($800) This “Chicago” poet was Illinois’ poet laureate in the last years of his life from 1962 to 1967
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Big Business”
In 2000 this company reported revenues of more than $100 billion; in 2001 it was bankrupt. show
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I know I am probably the only one in America who has an issue with this answer. Or rather I actually have a problem with wording of the question.
If they had said “5 word SNACK” I would have been okay with it. But I strenuously object to calling NACHO a FOOD. And there are NACHO(s), there is not A Nacho.
Yes, I know it’s nit-picky and dumb and one should have better things to do with ones time. But the Etymologist Beast that I keep in the cage in back of my mind has been roaring ever since 7:27pm PDT 10-14-19.
@ThatHarrisWoman, you’re certainly entitled to your pov on it, but speaking of etymology, the Online Etymology Dictionary has an entry for “nacho” as a singular noun. They call it a dish. One of the articles I saw yesterday said the snack was originally called “Nacho’s Special” (in Spanish). Here’s an article from last August when they had a google doodle honoring Nacho.
As for “snack” as opposed to “food,” I think they purposely left out snack (a dead giveaway). Think of it — they probably started out with “snack food”
I didn’t see the show, but I just read the recap, and am stupefied that someone from LA, and a lawyer no less, could not think of a melted cheese snack, beginning with N and containing 5 letters. If he had $15K going in, he obviously was no dummy.
I’ve heard of the nacho snacks but Nancy? That has got to be the funniest response I’ve ever heard from Anthony. Although congrats to Erin on her win and to Susan on getting final right. Furthermore, if Nancy Drew was a response to a clue on final I think that would have worked, wouldn’t you agree VJ? The clue here specifically asked for a five word snack and not a name of a girl.
idk, Lou, maybe Anthony has a friend or relative named Nancy and since he couldn’t think of how to finish that off, he went with that. I thought the funniest answer today was “underwater welder” to the most dangerous occupation clue. That had the audience laughing, too.
LINK: 10 more clues from the game