Final Jeopardy: Novelists (10-31-19)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (10/31/2019) in the category “Novelists” was:

In a 1952 novel, he wrote, “But there were dry years too, and they put a terror on the valley. The water came in a thirty-year cycle”

3x champ Steve Moulds, a playwright from Louisville, KY, has now won $85,603. In Game 4, his challengers are: Miriam Manber, an attorney from New York, NY; and Andrew Thomson, a journalist from Ottawa, Ontario.

Round 1 Categories: Hobbies – New Testament Quotes – Color Television – Mountain States – You’ve Hit the Daily Double – Bet It “All”!

Miriam found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Hobbies” under the $1,000 clue on the 16th pick of the round. She was in second place with $1,800, $1,200 less than Steve’s lead. She made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.

At the Merseyside Maritime Museum Des Newton would delight kids by showing how to make these impossible-seeming models. show

WHAT ARE SHIPS IN A BOTTLE?

Steve finished in the lead with $6,400. Miriam was second with $3,800 and Andrew was last with $1,400.

Round 2 Categories: The Best Laid Plans – Movie Challenge – The Syndrome Syndrome – “H”istory – Fictional Flags Flying – Strong Language

Andrew found the first Daily Double in “‘H’istory” under the $1,200 clue on the very first pick. The scores were the same as above. He bet the $2,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.

This defensive barrier was in use until almost the end of Roman rule of Britain. show

WHAT IS HADRIAN’S WALL?

Steve found the last Daily Double in “Fictional Flags” under the $1,600 clue, with 10 clues left after it. In the lead with $12,400, he had $4,600 more than Andrew in second place. He bet $4,000 and said Bugs Bunny. That was WRONG.

After arriving by submarine, this character claims the South Pole with a black flag bearing a gold “N” show

WHO IS CAPTAIN NEMO?

Andrew finished in the lead with $13,400. Steve was next with $12,000 and Miriam was in third place with $8,600.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS JOHN STEINBECK?

The quote in the clue comes from Chapter 1 of Steinbeck’s 1952 novel “East of Eden” which begins with the narrator’s description of the Salinas Valley where he grew up. He talks about “the rich years when the rain was plentiful,” then brings up the dry spells so severe that some people sold out for nothing and left the area. But of those who stayed, he says: “it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years.”

From 1998: READ THE BOOK, SAW THE FILM ($600) Elia Kazan directed this author’s script of “Viva Zapata!”, but had someone else adapt his “East Of Eden”

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Miriam got it right. She bet $8,500 and finished with $17,100.

Steve started out right with “Ste” but changed to Camus. He bet and lost it all.

Andrew was right, too. He bet $10,601 and won the game with $24,001. Andrew Thomson is the new Jeopardy! champ.

A triple stumper from each round:

COLOR TELEVISION ($1000) Inspired by stories of G.K. Chesterton, this show features a Catholic priest with a knack for solving mysteries in an English village

FICTIONAL FLAGS FLYING ($2000) In “Nostromo”, this author describes the flag of Costaguana as red & yellow with 2 palm trees

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “U.S. History”

Only 4 men have been both VP & President & served in both houses of Congress; 2 of them shared this last name. show

WHAT IS JOHNSON?

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