Final Jeopardy: The 20th Century (12-29-21)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (12/29/2021) in the category “The 20th Century” was:
In the morning of April 15, 1912 Officer Charles Lightoller became the last of about 700 people to board this ship
20x champ Amy Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, CA has now won $768,600. In Game 21, she is up against: Ben Walthall, a video game marketer from Brooklyn, NY; and Joanna Wu, a program manager from Boston MA.
Round 1 Categories: The Historic White House – Philosophy – Twenty Questions – A Prefix Menu – Celebrity Daughters & Fathers – Shake Your Booty
Amy found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “A Prefix Menu” under the $800 clue on the 19th pick of the round. She was in first place with $5,000, $3,800 more than Ben in second place. Amy bet $3,000 and she was RIGHT.
One of the few prefixes from German, it means “super” & now stands on its own as a proper noun. show
Amy finished in the lead with $11,600. Joanna was second with $1,600 and Ben was last with $400. No clues went uncovered.
Round 2 Categories: American Authors – Science – Countries by Divisions – I Am Woman – Playing Opposite Yourself – Speak like a French Canadian
Joanna found the first Daily Double in “I Am Woman” under the $1,600 clue on the 5th pick. In second place with $2,800, she had $10,000 less than Amy’s lead. Joanna bet $1,000 and took a swing at it with Gretchen. That was WRONG.
Taking her nickname from a baseball slugger, she was named the greatest female athlete of the first half of the 20th century. show
Ben got the last Daily Double in “Science” under the $1,200 clue on the very next pick. In second place with $3,600, he had $9,200 less than Amy’s lead. Ben made it a true Daily Double and tried gamma rays. That was WRONG.
The sun’s corona propels this stream of particles continuously at hundreds of miles per second. show
Amy finished in the lead with a runaway $22,400. Ben was second with $2,800 and Joanna was last with $2,600. No clues went uncovered.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS THE CARPATHIA?
The RMS Carpathia was approximately 60 miles away from the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912 when it received and answered the sinking ship’s distress signal. Over 1,500 went down with the Titanic and perished but the Carpathia was able to rescue 700+ survivors from a score of lifeboats. The last of the survivors to board the Carpathia was the Titanic’s Second Officer Charles Lightoller who helped many into lifeboats before coming close to drowning. Miraculously, he was blown out of the water and able to swim to an upside down lifeboat. Learn more about Lightoller here
Joanna got it right. She gained $2,500 and finished with $5,100.
Ben went with the Lusitania. That cost him $2,399 and left him with $401.
Amy got it right, too. She bet $15,000 and won today’s game with $37,400 . That gave Amy a 21-day total of $806,000.
2 triple stumpers from AMERICAN AUTHORS:
($1600) A personal friend of this president, Nathaniel Hawthorne was appointed U.S. Consul at Liverpool in 1853
($2000) He won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “Arrowsmith” but turned it down
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Organizations”
Founded by students at William & Mary in 1776; its members include 17 U.S. Presidents, 41 Supreme Court justices & more than 140 Nobel laureates show
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So, a coda: today, the NY governor did an address to the state about COVID and such, but, also, gave Ben a redemption. He was on a video link, the clue went up (and the governor’s spokesperson flubbed reading it), and he got it right. In his defense, though, he said he taped his show months ago, and the governor had just been installed. He said he’s lived in NY for 14 years, but, originally, is from Massachusetts! (And I think I didn’t give up the triple stumper this time!)
Jason, thanks for the information. I’m a NYer and the best I could come up with was Kathy. Couldn’t think of her last name. I haven’t lived in NYC for years but Cuomo was easier to remember because of his father Andrew. Now I have to remember a new Mayor’s name of the city. I guarantee it will pop up on a future Jeopardy as a clue.
Jason, I meant Andrew’s father Mario who also served as Governor. Just a clarification. Happy New Year’s Eve to you & your family.
And to you, and you all here!!
That was an honest mistake. I didn’t even recall that it was a triple stumper, and I didn’t read that specific section of the site review today. Reading is fundamental, after all!
No problem, Jason. It’ll all work out. I truly appreciate your comments about the clues.
btw, I meant to say, I am pretty good at classic lit esp 19th century, so I knew Nathaniel Hawthorne’s presidential buddy — they became friends at Bowdoin College. Longfellow went there too.
I have a few notes and comments.
First, the NY governor! She comes from my hometown. I thought Ken threw a little shade, there, when he said “Your governor!”, apparently to Ben.
Second, hemidemisemiquaver! This is a joke between my wife and I, as she is a choir soloist, and I wouldn’t know a B sharp if it punched me in the face. So, I paused the playback for her to see the clue, and I said, “It’s a 64th note”. Then, I started it again, and that’s what Ken said!
After a perfect first round yesterday, this game seemed, to me, that the challengers were just a notch below. Maybe it was the solar wind that bugged me.
One thing I’ve heard for years is that, for Jeopardy!, you just gotta know US presidents. Granted, I missed Nathaniel Hawthorne’s friend but, still. I don’t know if that was more shade (although it didn’t sound mean, to me) with “Now is the time for Dolly Madison”.
Arrowsmith was easy for me, as I read that in college, after reading The Jungle in high school, and I always had to take a second to remember “Upton Sinclair” and “Sinclair Lewis”!
Just some musings. Lest I sound completely critical, that wasn’t my gestalt.
@Jason, I felt like Ken was echoing Alex Trebek’s style when he did that – “now’s the time for ” on the ice cream clue. Can’t remember it right now, but there was another moment during the game that Ken said something that was trademark Trebek to me.
P.S. regarding the triple stumpers — I ask everyone not put the correct responses in the comments. That way folks who have not seen the game can try to get the answer. (That is why I edited your comment)
Maybe when ken said, “The 20th century. That narrows it down.” Was that reminiscent of Trebek?
Precisely, Albert! See, you don’t have early onset dementia. 😁
I knew it was the Titanic’s rescue ship, but I could not remember the name. I think I may have early onset dementia at 54.
Yes, it was the RMS Carpathia who rushed to the scene of the disaster. Interestingly enough, the Carpathia went down a few years later.
Well even if the daily doubles didn’t help the challengers, I am happy to see that two people know about the carpathia that saved the lives of 800 people from the titanic back in 1912. This was the clue that Jason missed in his sixth game back in 2019 despite the fact he won. Furthermore, the lusitania was during the first world war. Anyway with the 21st win, Amy is continuing her streak to end 2021 on a high note. Seems as though despite she missed at least 3 final jeopardy so far, she could get to matt’s total or maybe James. But 800,000 dollars is a lot of money
I would say “Darn Those Daily Doubles!” to the challengers, but not that it would have mattered though.