Final Jeopardy: From Real Life to Fiction (1-22-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (1/22/2025) in the category “From Real Life to Fiction” was:
These 2 British authors based characters–Dikko Henderson & Old Craw–on Richard Hughes, journalist & double agent
In the last match of the Champions Wildcard semifinals, the contestants are: Marko Saric, a math professor from Chapel Hill, NC; Mehal Shah, a software engineer from Seattle, WA; and Paul Clauson, a tax analyst from Madison Heights, MI.
Round 1 Categories: Women Through the Years – Literally Literature – Fortune Global 500 Companies – Not to Be Confused – School of Music – It’s a Verb! It’s a Noun!
Mehal found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Literally Literature” under the $600 clue on the 5th pick of the round. At $2,600, he was the only one with any money to bet. Mehal put it all on the line and he was RIGHT.
This 1890s short story ends with “Never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.” show
Mehal finished in the lead with $7,400. Marko was second with $3,000 and Paul was last with $2,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Salty Bodies of Water – Insects in High & Low Culture – Anatomy – Prefixed Pairs – Whatcha Watchin’? – Chapel Rome
Paul found the first Daily Double in “Prefixed Pairs” under the $600 clue on the 1st pick. The scores were the same as above. Paul made it a true Daily Double and couldn’t come up with anything so he was WRONG.
One millionth of a 60th of a minute & a small region with its own pattern of weather show
Paul got the last Daily Double in “Insects” under the $1,600 clue on the 19th pick. In 2nd place with $4,800, he had $13,000 less than Mehal’s lead after Mehal gained $4,000 on a reversal (see below). Either way, Paul knew he had to go all in and, this time, he was RIGHT.
In a Rimsky-Korsakov opera, this piece of music conveys when a prince is transformed into a certain insect (by a magical swan!) show
Mehal finished in the lead with $19,800. Paul was next with $12,400 and Marko was in third place with $5,800. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO ARE IAN FLEMING & JOHN LE CARRÉ?
Ian Fleming, creator of the fictional spy James Bond, also created a character called Dikko Henderson for his 1964 novel “You Only Live Twice”; John le Carré, creator of the fictional spy George Smiley, also created a character called Old Craw for his 1977 novel “The Honourable Schoolboy”. Both characters were based on Australian journalist Richard Hughes (1906–1984), a war correspondent during WW2 who worked afterwards in Japan and Hong Kong. He was believed to be a British spy and possibly even a double agent. The last 2 paragraphs of Hughes’ bio on the Australian Media Hall of Fame make note of the Fleming and le Carré tributes.
If you’re not that familiar with the spy genre, THE GOATs: 12 ICONIC SPY NOVELISTS will help you out. Of course it may have been more helpful to see it before the show– le Carré and Fleming head the list!
Marko got it right. He bet it all and doubled his score to $11,600.
Paul went with Fleming and Tolkien. He lost $2,500 and finished with $9,900.
Mehal had Fleming and Stevenson. He lost $6,001 but won the game with the remaining $13,799. So for the next two days, we will watch Mehal Shah, Will Yancey and Drew Goins vie for the top 3 Champions Wildcard prizes: $100K, plus a ToC berth; $50K; and $25K.
Reversal: ($2000) Music with multiple melodic parts sounded together & having more than the usual number of digits like bluesman Hound Dog Taylor – Mehal got nixed on polydactyl & polyharmonic because Ken’s card said polyphony. The judges okayed Mehal’s version.
A triple stumper from each round:
SCHOOL OF MUSIC ($800) She was about to graduate when “Foolish Beat” hit No 1, making her the youngest artist to write, produce & perform a No. 1 hit
WHATCHA WATCHING? ($1600) The “Sex & The Evans Family episode of this ’70s sitcom; hilarity ensues when J.J.’s mom & dad find what they thing is his sex manual
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “LANDMARKS”
Pskov & Nizhny Novgorod are 2 of the cities that have a fortress called this show
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“2 British authors” could be tricky since one of them uses a pen name that sounds French
Wow! I thought Mehal would be the one to get FJ! I could only get 007 myself. Congrats to them all. Mehal for winning, Paul and Marko for a valiant efforts despite setbacks.