Final Jeopardy: The Ancient World (12-8-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (12/08/2020) in the category “The Ancient World” was:
He got to propose his own sentence & joked that since he was actually a benefactor of the state, he should get free meals!
New champ, John Vigna, a communications manager from Los Angeles, CA, has won $11,199. In Game 2, he takes on these 2 players: Kristen Thomas-McGill, a graduate student from Louisville, KY; and Cody Lawrence, an assistant editor from Sherman Oaks, CA.
Round 1 Categories: The Founding Fathers Speak – The Helpful Web – Entertainment – Geographic Fours – Collabs – You’ve Got Animal Male
Cody found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Collabs” under the $800 clue, with 9 clues left after it. He was in the lead with $4,600, $1,000 more than John in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and thought it was Henry VIII and Catherine the Great. That was WRONG.
The so-called Glorious or Bloodless Revolution of 1688 put this pair on the throne of England. show
John finished in the lead with $4,600. Kristen was second with $4,200 and Cody was last with $2,200. No clues went uncovered.
Round 2 Categories: Languages – Live Albums – A Napoleon Complex – Energy – Authors’ Alma Maters – Words That Should Rhyme
John found the first Daily Double in “Energy” under the $1,600 clue on the 15th pick. He was in third place with $6,200 now, $2,400 less than Cody’s lead. He bet $2,400 and took a shot with general physics. That was WRONG.
The theory that the total amount of energy in the universe is constant is the first law of this branch of physics. show
Kristen got the last Daily Double in “Authors’ Alma Maters” under the $1,200 clue, with 4 clues left after it. In the lead with $11,000, she had $800 more than Cody in second place. She bet $4,000 and she was RIGHT.
One of his professors at Cornell was William Strunk Jr. whose “Elements of Style” he would later revise. show
Kristen finished in the lead with $15,800. Cody was next with $11,400 and John was in third place with $7,000. All the clues were uncovered. There was one reversal that affected John (see below).
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS SOCRATES?
In an interesting essay called “Do Philosophers Deserve Free Meals for Life?”, Zachary Fruhling offers his take on Socrates’ proposal regarding free meals and lodging.
Here’s what Socrates had to say: “What would be a reward suitable to a poor man who is your benefactor, and who desires leisure that he may instruct you? There can be no reward so fitting as maintenance in the Prytaneum, O men of Athens, a reward which he deserves far more than the citizen who has won the prize at Olympia in the horse or chariot race, whether the chariots were drawn by two horses or by many. For I am in want, and he has enough; and he only gives you the appearance of happiness, and I give you the reality. And if I am to estimate the penalty fairly, I should say that maintenance in the Prytaneum is the just return.” (Plato, Apology)
The clue suggests that Socrates was joking, while others think he was being recklessly flippant. Whichever, most people would agree that it is quite foolish to joke or be flippant in front of anyone holding the power of life or death over you. Socrates ended up with a hemlock cocktail.
John got it right. He added $6,000 to his score and finished with $13,000.
Cody came up with Brutus. That cost him $2,601 and left him with $8,799.
Kristen also got it. She bet $7,001 and won the game with $22,801. Kristen Thomas-McGill is the new Jeopardy! champ.
Reversal: AUTHORS’ ALMA MATERS ($400) Studying French & classics, she graduated from England’s University of Exeter, not Hogwarts, in 1987 – John added an ‘s’ to J.K. Rowling’s last name. It was accepted at first but they caught up with him when Kristen got the last DD.
A triple stumper from each round:
COLLABS ($800) This pair did okay together, writing musicals like “My Fair Lady” & “Camelot”
A NAPOLEON COMPLEX ($1200) It should have been a bad omen for Napoleon when this wife of his bought Malmaison, the house of misfortune
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “The NFL”
For the 2018 draft this team tried to use a parrot to make a pick; the bird got stage fright show
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Why didn’t John get penalized for adding an extra “A” to AARP?
His answer was “What is the AARP?” He didn’t say an extra “A”.
A apostery ‘ s is singular. He should not have money taken away. 12.8.20 show
I think I am familized the last time the contestant got dinged for the exact same thing about adding an s in J.K Rowling was probably in 2015.
Well that first daily double didn’t work out for Cody but Brutus isn’t actually a philosopher. Overall, how did John miss out on a simple physics clue? He should have been careful not to add any extra consonants to a person’s name unless.it is needed. Hopefully Kristen can build up on her win.
Tomorrow’s game will be preempted due to.a shot in the arm also known as the vivid vaccine
Lou, John’s a communications manager, not a scientist, so missing a physics question isn’t too wild a thing.
As for Brutus, Final Jeopardy’s clue says nothing about the person being a philosopher. The only thing obvious there is that the person was a criminal (“got to propose his own sentence”), and Cody flailed and went with the most famous Ancient-era criminal he could think of, so Brutus.
I guess Socrates should have been more careful about his request for free meals, though, since they definitely gave him his last drink for free…