Final Jeopardy: Supreme Court Justices (11-26-24)
The Final Jeopardy question (11/26/2024) in the category “Supreme Court Justices” was:
Born to immigrant parents, in 1916 he was the 1st Supreme Court nominee to undergo public Senate confirmation hearings
New champ Kevin Laskowski, an Episcopal priest from Falls Church, VA, won $15,200 yesterday. In Game 2, his challengers are: Ryan Smith, a writer orig. from Pasadena, CA; and Samantha Altschuler, an academic dean from Brooklyn, NY.
Round 1 Categories: Queen Victoria – In the Navy – It’s a Fake! – Pigeon Facts & Lore – Movie Amusements – Not if I “CU” First
Samantha found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Queen Victoria” under the $600 with 2 clues left after it. She was in last place with $3,800, $2,800 less than Ryan’s lead. Samantha bet $1,500 but couldn’t come up with an answer so she was WRONG.
In 1857 the Queen awarded the first Victoria Crosses for Acts of Valor during this recently ended war show
Ryan finished in the lead with $6,600. Kevin was second with $5,000 and Samantha was last with $2,300. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: U.S. Cities – Poetry – It’s Physics! – They Won Emmys for… – That’s a Fact – In Tolerable
Ryan found the first Daily Double in “Poetry” under the $800 clue with 5 clues left after it. He was in second place with $8,600, $1,700 less than Samantha’s lead. Ryan bet $2,500 and knew the poem but got the title WRONG.
This 1915 work was the poet’s joke about a pal’s frequent regret about the path they took on walks together show
Ryan found the last Daily Double in “U.S. Cities” under the $1,600 clue with 2 clues left after it. He was in last place with $7,300, $3,000 less than Samantha’s lead. Ryan bet $2,200 and guessed Des Plaines. That was WRONG.
The name of this Iowa City across the river from Omaha honors the site where Lewis and Clark met with tribesmen in 1804 show
Kevin finished in the lead with $12,200. Samantha was second with $10,300 and Ryan was last with $5,100. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS LOUIS BRANDEIS?
Louis Brandeis was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1856 to parents who emigrated to the U.S. from Prague. Brandeis was an ardent supporter and friend of Woodrow Wilson. Wilson wanted to name him to a post in his cabinet but couldn’t because of opposition from big business and anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, Wilson nominated Brandeis to fill the 1916 vacancy in the Supreme Court left by the death of Joseph Lamar. Details of how his confirmation hearing went are in this video.
Brandeis served until his retirement in 1939. William O. Douglas, nominated by FDR, took over his seat. Douglas had his own Final Jeopardy! clue in Nov. 1987: “He served the longest on the court, having been an associate justice from 1939 to 1975.”
Ryan crossed out Thurgood and went with Alito. He bet and lost his whole $5,100.
Samantha came up with Scalia. That didn’t cost her a penny so her score remained $10,300.
Kevin got it right. He bet $12,000 and won the game with $24,200. His 2-day total is $39,400.
A triple stumper from each round. (Please don’t put the answers in the comments)
QUEEN VICTORIA ($1000) Queen Victoria was the last monarch of this ruling house; her ancestor George I was first
POETRY ($1600) In his classic “She Walks in Beauty”, “all that’s best of dark & bright meet in her aspect & her eyes”
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “NAMES IN U.S. HISTORY”
This father was the only man among the 13 plaintiffs in a class-action case filed in 1951 show
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I didn’t see the comma either, and went with Earl Warren for FJ. Yeah, I was way off, but Alito or Scalia? Not a chance! Regardless, that was some tough FJ to be sure.
I said Felix Frankfurter. Oh well! To co-sign Howard, yuck! Alito and Scalia? Sammy would be 108 today, and he ain’t!
I looked Frankfurter up — he was himself an immigrant, born in Vienna. Coincidentally, Benjamin Cardozo died the same year as Brandeis. Frankfurter was nominated by FDR to fill Cardozo’s seat.
Some of these tidbits might come in handy in some future game. I wonder if I’ll even remember them!
Probably starting with Brandeis, there was an unofficial “Jewish seat” on the Court. Continued with Frankfurter and later RBG. There was a nomination of Abe Fortas that got shot down for some conflict of interest. The bar is much lower now for confirming justices.
Alito, Scalia? Yuck. I guess they didn’t see the comma. I was 90% sure it was Brandeis. The 3rd DD was tough, the first two very knowable. Disappointing, although they had pretty good scores overall.
I knew the Oxfordshire palace. I was hitchhiking from Cambridge back to Oxford. A man who gave me a lift recommended I check out the palace, Churchill’s birthplace. So I walked over there, but it was closed that afternoon. I did see his gravesite across the street by a church. The ear piercing spot was super obvious.
I thought they were focusing on Italian immigrants. Scalia and Alito had not been born yet. Both had fathers who were immigrants.
As for the crossed out Thurgood, he was born in 1908 but his parents weren’t immigrants.
I missed the comma in the final jeopardy question and was focusing on who was born in 1916. I’m thinking perhaps two of the contestants were as well, due to how it was written.
All 3 DDs were missed resulted our sixth skunking of the season. I hope William Weyser will say darn those daily doubles to Ryan.