Final Jeopardy: Renaissance Men (11-8-24)
The Final Jeopardy question (11/8/2024) in the category “Renaissance Men” was:
In a letter he wrote, “on August 7, 1501 …we determined that the new land was not an island but a continent”
New champ Susan Stumme, a journalist from Arlington, VA, won $12,600 yesterday. In Game 2, she competes against: Ross Dickson, a research consultant from Halifax, Nova Scotia; and Rachel Marcus, a writer & consultant from New York, NY.
Round 1 Categories: Surrounded by Water – Shoe Biz – “I”-Fan – Throwback Technology – Historical Fiction – May I Have Your Homograph?
Susan found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Shoe Biz” under the $800 on the 3rd pick of the round. She was the only one on the board with $1,000. Susan made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.
In “Shoe Dog”, he wrote, “I liked that Nike was the goddess of Victory. What’s more important… than victory?” show
Susan finished in the lead with $10,200. Rachel was second with $3,400 and Ross was last with $1,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Ballet & Opera – 4-Syllable Words – Legal Briefs – The Historic 1950s – I Sing… – The Body Electric
Susan found the first Daily Double in “Ballet & Opera” under the $1,200 clue on the 11th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $14,200, $8,400 more than Rachel in second place. Susan bet $4,000 and came close but it wasn’t a Spanish opera so her response was WRONG.
In this 1787 opera, a famous seducer is said to have had 1,003 lovers in Spain alone show
Ross found the last Daily Double in “The Historic 1950s” under the $1,600 clue with 5 clues left after it. After a scoring adjustment (see below), Ross was in last place with $6,600, $8,000 less than Susan’s lead. Ross bet $6,400 and he was RIGHT.
In 1958 Charles de Gaulle was elected the first president of the French government known by this ordinal name show
Susan and Ross finished in a tie for the lead with $14,600. Rachel was second with $12,200. One $400 clue was not shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS AMERIGO VESPUCCI?
The quote in today’s clue comes from a letter written by Amerigo Vespucci known as the Novus Mondo letter (Top row, pg. 3). The continent he was referring to is South America as he had landed on the shore of what is now Brazil.
It was Martin Waldseemüller, a German cartographer, who chose to name the continent America, after he was misled by the “Soderini letter” into believing that Vespucci discovered the new lands before Columbus. It’s quite a convoluted story but I found it interesting because, some 6 years later, when Waldseemüller decided he had been duped, he changed “America” to “Terra Incognita”, a Latin phrase we’ve recently encountered on the show in a Daily Double. By then, it was too late to change the name.
Rachel got it right. She bet $8,200 and finished with $20,600.
Ross thought it was Columbus. That cost him $14,590 and left him with $10.00.
Susan also had Columbus. She bet and lost her whole $14,600. That made Rachel Marcus the new Jeopardy! champ.
Reversal: 4-SYLLABLE WORDS ($1200) We imagine that if the performer seen here hands out a business card, it lists this profession (an image of a man walking a tightrope between buildings was shown.) Ross said aerialist. Rachel said tightroping, then tightroper, and Susan said tightrope walker. Ken wanted funambulist. The judges decided to accept aerialist from Ross. Everyone got their $1200 back when the other 2 answers were treated as though they never happened and Ross got an extra $1200.
A triple stumper from each round. (Please don’t put the answers in the comments)
SURROUNDED BY WATER ($800) Bligh me! Named for the sailor who sighted it, this volcanic island southeast of Tahiti has fertile soil & a subtropical climate
THE HISTORIC 1950s ($800) Prior to winning the 1952 election, Eisenhower promised if elected, “I shall go to” this place; he did & war ended soon after
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “LONDON LOCALES”
To fight malaria, this former royal estate helped move quinine-producing cinchona plants from South America to India show
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Wow, what looked like a boring runaway by solid Susan turned out to be anything but. Rachel is fidgety and quirky, but ultimately likeable. Second day in a row I hit all 3 doubles but missed Final. Columbus came to mind, so did Mercator. Great get by Rachel.
A little disappointed Susan missed that somewhat easy Italian opera DD. Thought briefly Ross might not know the number of the French republic.
Those homographs sure were tough.
It was another great game, and I performed well above average. Well, I was surprised that none of the contestants knew what Eisenhower had promised during his1952 campaign: “I shall go to ________”. Regarding the FJ, the clues were obviously referring to one of the early European explorers that followed after Columbus. I could only think of John Smith, but I knew he arrived in this country about a century later. Actually, I’ve certainly heard of Amerigo Vespucci, but I couldn’t come up with his name. As for which explorer who had first discovered North America, it was likely Leif Erickson. European explorers finally did come ashore on what is now the United States, but it was unclear as to whom came first.
For the second day in a row, third place comes from behind to take the victory by being the only player correct in Final. What an exciting game it was.