Final Jeopardy: European Rivers (12-28-21)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (12/28/2021) in the category “European Rivers” was:
The flooding of this river in 1966 destroyed or damaged some 14,000 works of art, many of them priceless
19x champ Amy Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, CA has now won $745,200. In Game 20, the opponents are: Josette Curtis, a registered dietician from Anacortes, WA; and Chas Abdel-Nabi, a learning developer from Decatur, GA.
Round 1 Categories: Streets of America – Tools – Ashes to Ashes – The “C” Team – Old Words – The Space Program
Amy found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “The Space Program” under the $600 clue on the 4th pick of the round. She was in first place with $400, $200 more than Chas and Josette who were tied in second place. Amy bet $1,000 and she was RIGHT.
The 2-person capsule used in this followup program to Mercury flew on a Titan II rocket that was first designed as a missile. show
Amy finished in the lead with $12,400. Josette was second with $4,400 and Chas was last with $1,600. No clues went uncovered.
Round 2 Categories: Asian History – 2-Word Book Titles – My Government Job – You Need a Vitamin Boost – That’s Bogus – The Space Program
Amy found the first Daily Double in “That’s Bogus” under the $1,600 clue on the 13th pick. In the lead with $20,800, she had $16,000 more than Chas in second place. Amy bet $6,000 and said dummy. That was WRONG.
This word for a fake once meant the craft of metalmaking. show
Amy got the last Daily Double in “Asian History” under the $800 clue, with just the $400 clue in the same category left after it. In first place with $23,200 now, she had $12,000 more than Josette in second place. Amy bet $200 and she was RIGHT.
Into the 20th Century, Uzbekistan had rulers with this title reminiscent of the Mongols; the Soviets finally got rid of them. show
Amy finished in the lead with $23,400. Josette was second with $11,200 and Chas was last with $8,400. No clues went uncovered.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS THE ARNO RIVER?
In November 1966, residents of Florence, Italy were preparing to celebrate a public holiday on November 4th, National Unity and Armed Forces Day (Italy’s World War I victory over the Austrians). It had been raining continuously in Florence for days. The Arno’s rising water level was being watched closely but officials urged residents to remain calm even as preparations for the holiday continued. At 1 a.m. on November 4th, officials watched the Arno continue to rise in the center of Florence. They still felt that raising an alarm would create unnecessary panic. Consequently, when the river raged through Florence, it was too late to save lives and property or mitigate the damage. 101 people lost their lives. Thousands lost homes and businesses. Countless books, manuscripts and invaluable works of art were damaged, some beyond repair. More information with images on IntoFlorence
November 4, 1966 continues to be remembered annually with a special Mass. A laurel wreath is dropped in the water from the Ponte alle Grazie in memory of the victims. National Unity and Armed Forces Day was moved to the first Sunday in November in 1976.
Chas thought it was the Seine in Paris. He bet and lost it all.
Josette went with the Seine, too. She lost $5,601 and finished with $5,599.
Amy got it right. She bet nothing so she won the game with the $23,400 she already had. Amy’s 20-day total is $768,600. At the start of today’s game, Amy mentioned wearing a sweater as a tribute to one of her favorite champs, Julia Collins. Amy hoped it would bring her luck as she played her 20th game and she tied Julia for games won today. (Let’s hope Sweater Power doesn’t jinx Amy tomorrow.)
One triple stumper 2-WORD BOOK TITLES ($400) This 1850 book was pure magic & Dickens’ “favourite child”
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Historic American Cities”
Damage from Hurricane Matthew in this city in 2016 revealed a plot of colonist graves from perhaps as long as 430 years ago show
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Amy also won 20 games just like Julia Collins did and was the 5th contestant to win at least 20 games.
Congratulations Amy!
Regarding the final question, I thought that it might have been the Seine too, but oh well.
I wonder if Ken, Brad, or Holzhauer would have correctly answered the Final. I thought the river would be in France or the Netherlands, not Italy.
Well, any or all of them could have come across this info in any number of ways. Most visitors to Florence would know about this. (That article I linked to says there are markers around the city to show how high the water rose.) 2016 was the 50th anniversary of the event and there was a lot of media coverage on it then.
All the same, I was truly surprised that Amy got this. I thought it was a ToC worthy clue but I still didn’t see it as a clue even ToC caliber players would necessarily get within 30 seconds, esp if they had to run through European rivers in their minds.
That’s odd: Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise was one of the works of art that was badly damaged in that flood. This clue from the 12/16/2021 (the week before last) was a triple stumper.
THE 15TH CENTURY ($200) Mid-century, Lorenzo Ghiberti completed his set of bronze Baptistery doors with Old Testament scenes called “The Gates of” this
I am not an art history major but still though this was a challenging clue. But I am happy to see Amy getting this one. That sweater definitely helped Amy out today and Julia will be proud watching Amy increase her win. She did make risky bets previously but today she played it safe. Congrats.
Maybe tomorrow we’ll have a new champion