Final Jeopardy: Word Origins (11-9-20)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (11/09/2020) in the category “Word Origins” was:

The word for a type of building or institution comes from Greek for a place sacred to a mythical group of 9

New champ, Andrew, a musician & teacher from San Francisco, CA, has won $21,601. In Game 2, he takes on these 2 players: Monisha, a urologist from Albuquerque, NM; and Ben, a data scientist, from Costa Mesa, CA.

Note: This is Nikki, VJ’s daughter, filling in for my Mom while she is in the hospital, in case you missed her message on the Jeopardy Calendar post. Due to my own time constraints, the recaps will be shorter than usual, but my Mom will work her magic when she returns.

Today’s show began with a beautiful tribute from Jeopardy’s executive producer, Mike Richards. As we’ve learned of Alex’s unexpected passing over the weekend, Mike describes this enormous loss and Alex’s true passion for Jeopardy. Alex’s legacy and constant desire to learn will never be forgotten. Alex finished filming his final episode just two weeks ago, his last day in the studio was October 29th. Alex wanted his final 35 episodes to be aired as they were shot. These episodes will air through Christmas Day.

Round 1 Categories: Podcasts – The Book Case – What the Blank? – M-N-M – A Day at the Races – A Night at the Opera

Andrew found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “A Night at the Opera” under the $600 clue with 10 clues left after it. He was in the lead with $7,800, $3,400 less than Ben in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.

The name of this famed opera house in Milan built by Maria Theresa in the 1770s translates to “the staircase”. show

WHAT IS LA SCALA?

Andrew finished in the lead with $10,800. Ben was second with $5,600 and Monisha was last with $1,600. No clues went uncovered.

Round 2 Categories: Historic Names – Acronyms – Among the 10 Largest Islands – Movie Bios – Symbols – Ken Jennings Marine Biology

Ben found the first Daily Double in “Among the 10 Largest Islands” under the $800 clue on the 11th pick. He was in second place with $10,000, $3,800 less than Andrew. He bet $6,000. He was RIGHT.

It’s the only one of 10 that’s part of Africa. show

WHAT IS MADAGASCAR?

Ben got the last Daily Double in “Historic Names” under the $1,600 clue, with 12 clue left after it. In second place with $17,200, he had $2,200 more than Andrew. He bet $5,000. He was RIGHT.

In 1781 this German philosopher published his “critique of pure reason”, because he could. show

WHO IS KANT?

Ben finished in the lead with $24,200. Andrew was next with $22,200 and Monisha was in third place with $10,000. No clues went uncovered.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS MUSEUM?

Monisha said pantheon and got it wrong. She bet $0 and finished with $10,000.

Andrew wrote down museum and was right. He bet a modest $2,199 and that brought him up to $24,399.

Ben took some time to come up with museum. He bet a big $20,201 and won the game with $44,401. Ben Lewis is the new Jeopardy! champ.

A triple stumper from each round:

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA ($1000) The king’s aria to a tree is a highlight of Handel’s “Serse”, about the Persian king better known as this

MOVIE BIOS ($2000) In “12 Years a Slave”: Chiwetel Ejiofor as this free black man sold into slavery

Click here to leave condolences for Alex Trebek and his family. There’s also a link to where you can make a donation to pancreatic cancer research in his honor.