Final Jeopardy: Old Books (1-21-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (1/21/2026) in the category “Old Books” was:
This 1653 work includes information on the care & use of proper equipment including lines, floats & rods
Quarterfinal 3 of the 2026 Tournament of Champions features: 4x champ, Bryce Wargin, a product surveillance coordinator from Kansas City, MO; 2x champ, Cameron Berry, a data analyst and college administrator from Brighton, MA; and 5x champ, Ben Ganger, a data analyst from Goshen, IN.
Round 1 Categories: 19th Century America – Major League Soccer – Now See Here! – Fictional Females – Old Hard Cash – “Ful” Start
Ben found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “19th Century America” under the $800 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. He was in the lead with $1,000, $200 more than Bryce in second place. Ben bet $1,000 and guessed quartz. That was WRONG.
Deposits of this mineral were discovered around 1815 in Ticonderoga, New York, leading to a whole new industry show
Bryce and Cameron were tied in the lead with $2,800. Ben was second with $800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Let’s Go to the Science Museum – Island Countries – Playing Some Classical Piano – Documentaries – First of All – How Dare You
Cameron found the first Daily Double in “First of All” under the $1,200 clue on the 11th pick of the round.
He was in the lead with $7,600 now, $5,200 more than Bryce in second place. A reversal (see below) brought Ben’s score up to %???. Cameron bet $4,400 and took a shot at it with Victorinox. That was WRONG.
In 1868 this company named for 2 men made the first Swiss wristwatch, for a countess; men preferred to keep white-rabbiting show
Ben got the last Daily Double in “How Dare You” under the $1,600 clue on the 15th pick of the round. In second place with $4,800 now, he had $400 less than Cameron’s lead. He bet $4,800 and guessed invalid. That was WRONG.
Though no one knows the origin of this 3-syllable word for “fool”, one theory involves a familiar Latin phrase meaning “not so sound mind” show
Cameron finished in the lead with $8,800. Bryce was in second place with $5,200. Ben was last with $2,000. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “THE COMPLEAT ANGLER”?
English author Izaak Walton published “The Compleat Angler” in 1653, popularizing fishing as a leisurely pursuit as opposed to work or a sport. The book became so popular, it has been reprinted more times than you can shake a fishing pole at, as this video explains.
Did you know? Although “compleat” was originally ye olde spelling of “complete”, it took on a different definition thanks to Izaak Walton.
Ben tried “The Art of Fishing”. He bet nothing so his score remained $2,000.
Bruce went with a simpler “On Fishing”. He lost $4,999 and finished with $201.
Cameron thought “The Ideal Fisherman” might work. He lost his $1,601 bet but won the game with the remaining $7,199. Cameron has now gone from 1 win in regular play to 1 win in Champions Wildcard to a quarterfinal win in the ToC. Now, that really is wild!
Reversal: PLAYING SOME CLASSICAL PIANO ($1200) This Canadian set a new standard for Bach piano playing with 2 versions of the “Goldberg Variations”, in the 1950s & ’80s – Ken was looking for a Glenn Gould response so he rejected “Gold” from Ben and Cameron got it. The judges found out that Glenn’s last name was originally Gold, so they gave Ben a thumbs up and $2,400.
A triple stumper from each round:
OLD HARD CASH ($1000) A valuable sestertius coin from 64 A.D. bears images of Emperor Nero & this Roman seaport completed during his reign
FIRST OF ALL ($2000) He was living in Bruges in the 1470s when he produced the first book printed in English
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “1980s MOVIE CHARACTERS”
Oliver Stone, screenwriter of this 1983 movie, named its main character to honor the Super Bowl-winning QB from 1982 show
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I had a pretty rough time tonight until Final, which I knew in half a heartbeat as soon as I saw floats and rods. I could swear they’ve used that book before–maybe one of the archivists can verify. Missed all the DDs but knew the cookbook author and of course the NYC fish market.
Wow, I feared that Ben was going to dig himself deep into the red, but he then made a comeback. Anyways, I went with ‘The Farmers’ Almanac’ for FJ. Yes, I was aware that ‘The Farmers’ Almanac’ didn’t come out until much later (like some 150 years+). Yeah, ‘The Compleat Angler’ was so popular that none of the contestants came up with it, and neither did I. Quite obviously, the FJ was a tough one.
Wow these questions tonight were really hard. I did terrible the second round.
Like the 1/08/25 episode, I should have stuck with my initial thought. In that 1, I was gonna go with Sam Cameron, but I found a picture of Ferdinand Percentie on stage with Drew Goins and Enzo Cunanan, and I changed from Sam to Ferdinand. Turns out the picture was from a rehearsal game, and Sam won. Today, I was gonna root for Cameron Berry, but seeing as how I was hoping that an automatic Semi-Finalist would win this year’s Champions Wildcard, unlike last year, and it didn’t work out, I changed to Ben Ganger, because he had 4 runaways in a row, and Ben, I’m sorry to say this, but darn those Daily Doubles. Maybe, the 3rd time I change my rooting interest will be the charm.