Final Jeopardy: Phrases of the 1950s (10-30-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (10/30/2020) in the category “Phrases of the 1950s” was:
A 1954 book review said of this colorful 2-word term, also applied to the post-WWI era, “the underlying hysteria lives on”
New champ, Carmela Chan, a biotech researcher from San Diego, CA, won $24,801 yesterday. In Game 2, she takes on these 2 players: Chris Shim, a med student & marine officer from Elk Grove, CA; and Jon Posen, a speechwriter originally from New York, NY.
Round 1 Categories: Happy Halloween! – All that Jazz Lingo – 2-Word Science Terms – Describing the TV Show – Historic Bells – a Virtual Tour
Chris got the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Historic Bells” under the $400 clue, with 9 clues left after it. He was in the lead with $4,000, $1,200 more than Jon in second place. He bet $1,200 and came up with Notre Dame. That was WRONG.
It first rang in 1859, cracked later that year and was refitted with a lighter hammer. show
Jon finished in the lead with $4,400. Chris was second with $3,400 and Carmela was last with $2,400. The first 2 clues in “Happy Halloween!” went uncovered.
Round 2 Categories: Fiction – Famous Margarets – Movie Sequels – Differ by a Letter – if You Lived Here – Be Home Now
Carmela found the first Daily Double in “Differ by a Letter” under the $1,600 clue on the 15th pick. She was in second place with $8,800 now, $1,600 less than Jon’s lead. She bet $5,000 and she was RIGHT, but not with the response they were expecting!
A place to throw back some drinks & a large natural underground chamber. show
5 clues later, Jon landed on the last Daily Double in “If You Lived Here” under the $1,600 clue. In second place with $11,600, he had $2,200 less than Carmela’s lead. He bet $4,000 and said “What is where Papillon was?” True, but WRONG.
Around 1900, if you were living on this island 10 miles off French Guiana, better hope you were a guard & not a prisoner. show
Carmela finished in the lead with a runaway $14,200. Chris was next with $4,600 and Jon was in third place with $4,000. 5 clues worth $5,600 stayed on the board in this round.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “RED SCARE”?
I found this item on Kirkus Reviews. Given that it was written by Robert K. Murray, a 20th century history professor and author of “Red Scare”, it appears to be a press release rather than review. In his book, Murray compares the Red Scare of 1919-20 to the Red Scare of 1952-54 and asks the question, “Do we ever learn from history?”
Also, have a look at this list of “Red Scare Filmography” on the University of Washington’s site. Of couse, it does not include comedies like “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming! (1966), songs like Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man” (1966), or TV series like “The Americans” (2013-2018).
Jon got it right. He bet and $3,999 and finished with $7,999.
Chris got it, too. He bet $4,599 for a $9,199 finish.
Carmela went with “yellow journalism.” She lost her $1,800 bet but the $12,400 she had left was plenty to win today! Her 2-day total is $37,201.
A triple stumper from each round:
A VIRTUAL TOUR ($400) You’ll “find” that you can virtually explore this Space Shuttle, inside & out, at a Smithsonian hangar in Virginia
($2000) If you lived here (image) from 1808 to 1814, you were this Romantic poet; think the one who grew up rich
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “European History”
Legend says this, weighing 336 lbs., came from the Holy Land & Kenneth MacAlpin brought it to Perthshire c. 840 show
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Oh, poor Jon. He either didn’t know or (more likely, since he quoted “Papillon”) forgot Devil’s Island, a very gettable DD.
It cost him the win, ultimately. He’ll remember it now and forever.
“Red Scare” stumped me; I never associated it with post-WWI.
It’s a shame that forgetting his phrasing cost Chris the game. That will probably haunt him for a while.
Alex sounded like a disappointed professor. “Both of you made the same mistake. You neglected to phrase your response in the form of a question.”
Only Jon was wrong and Chris was right.
“Alex sounded like a disappointed professor.” Alex always sounds like that to me, when contestants make mistakes.
2nd DD right response—what are the odds??
omg! I was totally vindicated today when that Mr. Exotic clue turned out to be a triple stumper. They nevah hoid of him before this month either! 🤣🤣🤣 I was kidding when I wrote the Nevah Hoid of Oct. post, when I said the stuff I read on Page Six might turn up on Jeopardy! someday. Never expected it would in the same month.
Now I’m gonna have that Carole Baskin Tik Tok song playing in my head again
I was not really familiar with red scare, but still Chris could have beaten carmela if he didn’t mess up on one of the clues that wasn’t formed in a question.
Actually, VJ, it wasn’t all of the contestants that got FJ! right, it was two of the contestant got FJ! right and that was both male players. But it didn’t matter because Carmela missed but she won anyway.
lol, Kevin, I knew that and idk why I typed ALL, but thanks for the heads up 😁
Happy Halloween! (cackles)