Final Jeopardy: Familiar Phrases (11-29-17)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (11/29/2017) in the category “Familiar Phrases” was:

In the 1870s this phrase meant a hairdo, using a British word for bangs; now it’s an extreme group on the edge of a cause.

New champ Matt Preston won $20,799 yesterday. In his 2nd game, he is up against these two players: Shawn Adler, from Hackensack, NJ, and Missy Meyer, from Gilbert, AZ.

Round 1 Categories: I Get a Kick Out of History – TV Settings – Spot Check – Numbers as Words – The Shoe Must Go on – Bildungsroman

Matt found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Kick out of History” under the $1,000 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in third place, in the hole for $400. Shawn was in the lead with $1,400. He bet the $1,000 allowance and thought it was Polk. That was WRONG.

Phew! As a boy on the Indiana frontier, this president was kicked unconscious by a horse but survived. show

Missy finished in the lead with $2,600. Shawn was second with $1,800 and Matt was last with $800.

Round 2 Categories: Game of Drones – Capitals in Oceania – Motown Lyrics – “H”2″O” – Science & Nature – Building, Roman

Matt found the first Daily Double in “Capitals in Oceania” under the $800 clue on the 13th pick. He was in the lead with $7,600 now, $3,000 more than Missy and Shawn, tied in second place. He bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.

Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, is part of this type of coral island that encloses a lagoon. show

Matt found the last Daily Double in “Building, Roman” under the $2,000 clue, with just one clue left after it. In the lead with $12,800, he had $4,600 more than Missy in second place. He bet $2,000 and took a guess with the Tiber. That was WRONG.

Over 2,000 years after it was built, the Bridge of Alcantara in Western Spain still crosses this river. show

Matt finished in the lead with $10,800. Missy was next with $8,200 and Shawn was in third place with $7,000.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS THE LUNATIC FRINGE?

The Phrase Finder took a deeper look at this phrase farther back then Teddy Roosevelt, who is credited with giving it the current meaning. Here’s what they found out: “The hairstyling terms ‘fringe’, ‘bangs’ and ‘lunatic fringe’ all began to be found in print around the 1870s, so it isn’t at all clear how they relate to one another. The essential point though is that ‘lunatic fringe’ was a hairstyle.”



Shawn wrote down radical but crossed it out and didn’t have time for another response. He bet and lost it all.

Missy wrote down “fringe element”. Trebek said that was “close but no cigar.” She lost her $5,801 bet, leaving her $2,399.

Matt came up with “end of your rope.” He lost his $5,601 bet but the $5,199 he had left was enough to win the game. His 2-day total is $25,988.

Final Jeopardy (11/29/2017) Matt Preston, Missy Meyer, Shawn Adler

Reversal: THE SHOE… ($600) This “physician” is in with its 8-eye boots – Missy got dinged for $1200 during the chat for leaving the “S” off the Doc’s name

A triple stumper from each round:

BILDUNGSROMAN ($400) Philip grows up in this novel by W. Somerset Maugham & the “Bondage” is his passion for a not very nice waitress

MOTOWN LYRICS ($1600) “Before you ask some girl for her hand now, keep your freedom for as long as you can now, my mama told me” this

2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Newly Independent Nations”

Prior to South Sudan, this European country was the most recent one to gain independence and be recognized by the United States. show

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7 Responses

  1. Susan Ikenberry says:

    I think Missy got cheated. “Fringe Element” made perfect sense for that clue as given. There was nothing in the question that implied “lunatic”. “Fringe” was what was asked about. I think she should be given another shot.

  2. Lou says:

    This game is very similar to Justin bender s second game in late November when he missed final jeopardy and still won the game. You recognized this pattern right VJ? Also I wonder if the lunatic fringe hairstyles are still in use today and has anyone used it in the current century?

    • VJ says:

      idk, Lou, I’ve never heard of that entire phrase being used in reference to a hairstyle before today. I thought it was a bit ridiculous to expect the players to figure that one out.

      LINK: 15 more clues from the round

      • Lou says:

        Missy should have her answer accepted since lunatic element means the same as fringe though, I think she was cheated somehow. Still this is a very weird final jeopardy category. Do you remember the season 33 finale also had a weird category> I don’t know where the writers came up with something weird as this, do you vj?

  3. aaaa says:

    Indiana is negbait for William Henry Harrison, as he was from became the state of Indiana.

  4. Dalton Higbee says:

    Well, I’m at the end of my rope by the end of a disappointing episode of Jeopardy! today.