Final Jeopardy: Wonders of the Modern World (4-6-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (4/6/2020) in the category “Wonders of the Modern World” was:
Nicknamed “The Big Ditch”, in 2014 this Modern Wonder celebrated its 100th anniversary
Today is the first quarter-final of the 2020 College Championship. Competing today: Marshall Comeaux, a sophomore (Univ. of Texas at Austin); Emma Farrell, a senior (Carnegie Mellon); and Sirad Hassan, a senior (Princeton).
Round 1 Categories: Presidential Nicknames – TV of Today – College Etymology – Mammals – Alphanumerics – E-college-y
Emma found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Mammals” under the $800 clue on the 17th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $4,000, $3,200 more than Marshall in second place. She bet $2,000 and she was RIGHT.
The mnemonic device “D” has one hump, “B” has 2 helps us remember these 2 types of camels. show
Emma finished in the lead with $9,400. Marshall and Sirad were tied in second at $1,000 each.
Round 2 Categories: I’m Your New Personal Trainer! – College Tales – Official Language in Common – Celebrity Lecturers – Art History – What Do You Stand For?
Marshall found the first Daily Double in “Official Language in Common” under the $1,600 clue on the very first pick. The scores were the same as above. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT, and no longer in a tie with Sirad.
Burundi, Switzerland show
4 clues later, Marshall landed on the last Daily Double in “What Do You Stand For” under the $2,000 clue. In second place with $800, he had $7,400 less than Emma’s lead. He bet the $2,000 allowance this time and he was RIGHT.
The last name of this British mathematician is the “T” in CAPTCHA, a computer security test. show
Emma finished in the lead with $12,200. Marshall was next with $8,800 and Sirad was in third place with $2,600.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS THE PANAMA CANAL?
This is from a 1913 article in “Our Navy” when the Panama Canal was cut through: “With the cost of 1,192 men violently killed; 5,718 dead of disease and $375,000,000 in money the United States in nine years has succeeded in joining the Atlantic and Pacific, by the shortest possible route. The work is so much more stupendous than any other engineering feat ever attempted that there is nothing in the world history to which it can be compared.” The Panama Canal formally opened on August 15, 1914. Apparently, the centennial celebration wasn’t quite what had been hoped for.
WorldAtlas.com ranks the Panama Canal as No. 1 of The 7 Wonders of the Modern World.
Sirad wrote down “No Man’s Land.” She lost her $2,500 bet and finished with $100.
Marshall got it right. He bet $8,799 and finished with $17,599.
Emma came up with the Hoover Dam. She lost $5,401 and finished with $6,799. So the first semi-finalist spot went to Marshall Comeaux.
A triple stumper from each round:
WHAT DO YOU STAND FOR? ($1600) Used in the kitchen, EVOO stands for this
I’M YOUR NEW PERSONAL TRAINER! ($2000) Plank is an example of this type of exercise in which the muscles are static; now drop, but don’t give me 20!
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “20th Century Presidents”
He took the oath of office twice 14 months apart. show
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Hook Em Horns, Marshall! Congratulations on becoming a Semi-Finalist.
There’s a Daily Double rule:
In the Jeopardy! Round: You have to risk $1,000 if you have less money or the same amount
In the Double Jeopardy! Round: You have to risk $2,000 if you have less money or the same amount
That is not a rule, Richard. It’s an option
Sorry. What I meant to say was: Once a contestant finds a Daily Double in the Jeopardy! Round and has less than a $1,000 you should risk $1,000. In the Double Jeopardy! Round, if a contestant has less than $2,000 to wager, you should risk $2,000.
Well, that depends, doesn’t it? If I was below the maximum allowance and I got the Daily Double (no matter what round) and the category was Math or Science — no way, Jose
Congratulations to Marshall but this wasn’t a great start. I thought Emma could have secured herself a wildcard spot.
Semi-Final and Wild Card results as of 4/6/20:
Semi-Finalists:
Marshall Comeaux (University of Texas at Austin): $17,599
Wild Cards:
Emma Farrell (Carnegie Mellon University): $6,799
Sirad Hassan (Princeton University): $100
I don’t believe it. It’s been up and down. Emma took the game with the big lead, Marshall and Sirad couldn’t catch her in the first round. Now Sirad couldn’t get things going while Marshall worked hard to catch Emma. Now she lost most of her money in Final.
This is not a great start. Emma may be missing out on a wild-card spot. I’m surprised someone got this Final right.
If Marshall risked $2,000 on his first Daily Double he would’ve had $9,800.
Yes, I was surprised myself but mucho congrats to Marshall on that. I just didn’t think they would zero in on that particular bit of history in 30 seconds.
Why did he risk $1,000 instead of $2,000 on his first Daily Double?
idk, Richard. Maybe he always wanted to say “true Daily Double” if he got on the show
Hard to say, but possibly because he had $1000 and didn’t want to go into the red if incorrect.
Also, I’ve noticed over the years that the kids bet conservatively on DDs compared to the adults.