Final Jeopardy: 18th Century America (12-27-13)

The Final Jeopardy question (12/27/2013), in the category “18th Century America” was:

There were just 13 of these, the title of an historic document; one offered admission to Canada.

New champ Jerry Slowik dominated the game yesterday and emerged victorious with $23,199 in winnings. Today he’s got two new players to contend with: Kathy Cacace from Brooklyn, NY; and Avram Polinsky from Columbia, MD.

Alex Trebek revealed Jerry’s formula for winning the game: start quickly, be correct and build a great big lead and it will intimidate your opponents. Let’s see if he pulls that off today.

Avram found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Olympic City Attractions” under the $800 clue. He was in second place with $1,600, $5,400 less than Jerry’s lead. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.

The Museu Picasso. show

WHAT IS BARCELONA?

Jerry finished in the lead with $7,600. Avram was second with $3,600 and Kathy was last with $2,000.

Jerry found the first Daily Double in “Languages of Africa” under the $1,600 clue. He was in the lead with $8,800, $3,600 ahead of Avram in second place. He bet $1,200 and he was RIGHT.

With 50 million speakers, this Bantu language is the most widely spoken native language on the continent. show

WHAT IS SWAHILI?

Jerry found the last Daily Double in “Shakespearean Relatives” under the $1,600 clue. In the lead with $22,400, he had $10,800 more than Avram in second place. He bet $2,600 and he was RIGHT.

Bianca’s sister. show

WHO IS KATHERINA?

Jerry finished in the lead with $25,000, his second runaway. Avram was next with $11,000 and Kathy was in third place with $3,600.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT ARE THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION?

“The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. The Articles created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments….” (Library of Congress: Articles of Confederation)

Kathy knew what it was but only got “the Articles of” down. She lost $3,000 and finished with $600. She’s definitely going home with enough to finance the small, tasteful tattoo of Alex Trebek (with a glorious mustache) that she promised her fiancé she would get if she got on the show.

Avram got it and added $3,000, finishing with $14,600 for the second place win. That 2K prize could buy lots of pizza and nachos, Avram’s favorite food since first grade.

Jerry also had it. He bet $1,799 so he won this one with $26,799. His 2-day total is $49,998. They didn’t show Jerry’s mom in the audience weeping for joy.

What were we saying yesterday about it taking an easy clue for all 3 contestants to get it right? Guess we have to amend that to an easy clue with a short answer.