Final Jeopardy: Cabinet Positions (1-20-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (1/20/2020) in the category “Cabinet Positions” was:
Of the 4 jobs in George Washington’s cabinet, the 2 that have been filled by women in the 230 years since
New champ Dennis Coffey, a bartender from Old Orchard Beach, ME, won $21,601 last Friday. In Game 2, he is up against: Matthew Neff, a CFO from Chicago, IL; and Traci Mack, a media executive from Campbell, CA.
Round 1 Categories: Literature: the Subtitle – Holidays Around the World – Emmy Winners for Best Actress in a Drama – Niagara Falls – Slowly I Turned – “Step” by Step
Dennis picked Niagara Falls to open the round and you could tell by the way he said it that he knew the Abbott and Costello skit containing the names of those last 3 categories.
Matthew found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Literature: The Subtitle” under the $600 clue on the 15th pick of the round. He was in second place with $1,200, $1,800 less than Traci in second place. He bet it all and he was RIGHT.
“Or, the Parish Boy’s Progress”, which included picking a pocket or 2. show
Matthew finished in the lead with $5,000. Dennis and Traci were next, tied at $3,000 each.
Round 2 Categories: French Arts & Culture – Hidden Treasure – Libraries – Second City Alumni – The Americas Before Columbus – Come to Your Census
Dennis found the first Daily Double in “Americas Before Columbus” under the $1,600 clue, with 8 clues to go after it. He was in third place with $6,200 at this point, $8,800 less than Traci’s lead. He bet $3,500 and he was RIGHT.
In 1500 B.C. people in Central America were processing rubber in a way similar to the process discovered by Goodyear. show
3 clues later, Traci landed on the last Daily Double in “Libraries” under the $800 clue. In the lead with $16,200, she had $6,500 more than Dennis in second place. She bet $1,000 and she was RIGHT.
For her work with libraries and literacy, a promenade outside a library at SMU is named in honor of this First Lady. show
Traci finished in the lead with $17,600. Dennis was next with $10,100 and Matthew was in third place with $7,800.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
George Washington’s cabinet consisted of these 4 posts: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War and Attorney General. Since then 3 women have held the position of Secretary of State: Madeleine Albright, Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton. To date, Janet Reno and Loretta Lynch have served as Attorney General. Sally Yates was Acting Attorney General from 1/20/17 to 1/30/17.
FJ! from 11/14/2011: THE PRESIDENTIAL CABINET: 7 women have been the Secretary of this, the most for any department in the president’s cabinet
Matthew went with Secretary of State & Treasury. He lost his $7,600 bet and was left with $200.
Dennis got it right. He bet $7,501, finishing with $17,601.
Traci had Secretary of State & Speaker of the House. She lost $2,601 and finished with $14,999. That meant Dennis Coffey remained champ. His 2-day total is $39,202.
A triple stumper from each round:
LITERATURE: THE SUBTITLE ($1000) Robert Pirsig’s 2-wheeled traveling tale: “An Inquiry into Values”
SECOND CITY ALUMNI ($800) One notable alum is this actor who starred on “M*A*S*H” & directed 32 of its episodes
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “World City Names”
Novosibirsk, the 3rd-largest city in Russia, translates as this “City”: the 1st word for its more recent founding, the 2nd for its location. show
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Ivy Baker Priest was Sec of Treasury from 1953-61. Somebody screw up?
@Jim, she was Treasurer. On the wikipedia article for that post, it says at the top “Not to be confused with United States Secretary of the Treasury.”
Funny that Rice came to my mind before Albright and Clinton, who you would think would be easier to recall, having been the first and last female secretaries of state. It might be because the Battle of the Decades Final Game 2 Final Jeopardy clue, asking for the two bachelor Secretaries of State, is lodged deeply in mind.
Oh, the opponents were so close but still Dennis made a comeback today and won. Traci pretty much made a runaway today so it was a valiant effort on her part. Overall it was quite a match today. He started off slowly but found his groove VJ, definitely strong opponents for Dennis.