Final Jeopardy: Famous Trials (10-31-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (10/31/2025) in the category “Famous Trials” was:
A lawyer in a 1933 trial called this novel “tedious and labyrinthine and bewildering”–& he was arguing on its behalf
New champ Christopher Tillman, a pastor from Plover, WI, won $16,000 yesterday. He’s playing Game 2 on Halloween and he’s up against: Siobhan Hickey, a grad student from Frederick, MD; and Robbie Ellis, an orchestra manager & composer from Chicago, IL.
Round 1 Categories: All Kinds of Scary Books – Costumes – Pump Kin – Braaaaaains – “Trick” or “Treat” – Halloween On-Screen
Siobhan found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Braaaaaains” under the $600 clue on the 8th pick of the round. She was in second place with $800, $1,400 less than Robbie’s lead. Siobhan bet the $1,000 allowance and she was RIGHT.
Chemical & electrical messages pass between your billions of neurons via these junctions; time to fire on all of them now show
Robbie finished in the lead with $4,800. Christopher was second with $4,400 and Siobhan was last with $1,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: The 1980s – World Geography – Paint & Sip – Commencement Speeches – Women of Country Music – 2-Letter Responses
Siobhan found the first Daily Double in “World Geography” under the $1,600 clue on the 7th pick. She was in last place with $4,200 now, $2,600 less than Christopher’s lead. Siobhan bet $$3,000 and tried Washington, D.C. That was WRONG.
After its founding in 1822, this capital was divided into 2 sections, one for freed American slaves & one for locals show
Siobhan got the last Daily Double in “Commencement Speeches” under the $1,600 clue, with 9 clues left after it. In second place with $6,000, she had $3,600 less than Christopher’s lead. Siobhan bet $3,500 but wasn’t sure enough to hazard a guess so she was WRONG.
In a 2014 address at Middlebury College, she spoke of “42 hours, jellyfish, sharks, Gulf Stream eddies” show
Christopher finished in the lead with a runaway $10,800. Robbie was next with $4,400 and Siobhan was in third place with $3,300. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “ULYSSES”?
“The Little Review” serialized James Joyce’s novel “Ulysses” in 1921, a year before its publication in Paris. The 13th chapter contained explicit material that led to a successful obscenity prosecution against the magazine publishers. The novel was banned in the USA until 1933 when Random House founder Bennet Cerf and attorney Morris Ernst worked together to have “Ulysses” declared a classic in court. When they won the case, James Joyce said “One half of the English speaking world surrenders; the other half will follow.” The U.K. did just that in 1936.
If you haven’t read “Ulysses” and are a bit intimidated by the “tedious and labyrinthine and bewildering” description, perhaps Salmon Rushdie’s 20-second recap will help.
Siobhan thought it was “Lolita” (1955). She lost $3,298 and had 2 bucks left.
Robbie went with the Wizard of Oz (1900). That cost him $2,201 and left him with $2,199.
Christopher came up with “Catch-22” (1961). He bet $1,200 but won the game with the remaining $9,600. Christopher’s 2-day total is $25,600.
a triple stumper from the each round:
BRAAAAAAINS ($1000) The immune system attacking healthy brain tissue in error can cause this swelling of the brain; behavioral changes may occur
WORLD GEOGRAPHY ($1200) The Tsushima Strait at the southern end of this peninsula was the site of a great naval battle during the Russo-Japanese War
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “BRITISH HISTORY”
At Leicester Cathedral in March 2015, the Archbishop of Canterbury led a religious ceremony for this deceased English monarch? show
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I was 2/3 on DD but missed FJ. Diana Nyad was the keynote speaker at my work conference one year, and was just horrible. It was the worst, until Bob Woodward userped the title.
As to Final, I didn’t have a good answer, so I said “Atlas Shrugged”. Only thing from Joyce I’ve read is “Dubliners”, and, at that, almost 40 years ago.
And, belated Happy Birthday, buddy!!
Correction: The Little Review serialized Ulysses from 1918-1920, ending in August 1920.
just for the record, I didn’t make that up. The source, which I linked to, is the Library of Congress.
Here’s another 1921 reference from Wikipedia: “The Little Review continued to publish Ulysses until 1921 when the Post Office seized copies of the magazine and refused to distribute them on the grounds that Ulysses constituted obscene material.”
Missed the whole show again. Got 1st/3rd DDs, didn’t know the 2nd, said Brazzaville, Congo for some reason. Wrong, but closer than Siobhan’s stab. The year and difficulty of the novel led me immediately to “Ulysses.” Someone should have known that. At least 2 of their guesses were weak. (No, I’d never deign to read it.) No one knew the story of the woman in the shower? Cal AF base pretty well known. Alliterative drink not difficult. Definitely remembered Loretta’s kid sis.
From what I can infer from the recap, this wasn’t much of a sharp crew.
I think some of the material is great for older viewers, but it’s definitely before the players’ time, as Alex used to say
I try to see some of these stumpers through the eyes of my kids. My oldest was born in the mid 70s. My youngest in the early 90s. The oldest definitely would’ve known the woman in the shower title, but not the youngest. The oldest might have known the famous song by Loretta’s sister but not her name. The youngest wouldn’t know the song or her name.
Same here: born between 1977 and 1992. (And I turned 75 Friday). Truth be told, 4 of the 5 are not well-educated, and none of them is especially proficient at trivia and facts. My eldest does know a lot about different genres of music from 80s onward, a sore spot for me.
Happy belated birthday, Howard. I asked Nikki about Loretta Lynn’s sister and she said she doesn’t even know who Loretta Lynn is. But actually, she doesn’t know she knows because she’s seen the Loretta/Conway duet “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly”
Happy Halloween VJ! This has been a great Halloween for Christopher. So far in every game, he has won without finding any of the daily doubles.
Happy Halloween Kevin!! I hope you and everyone has a boo-tiful time and a great costume.👻
I’m not going trick or treating but I’m sure 2 of my descendants will share their goodies with me 🍭