Final Jeopardy: Islands of Europe (12-9-24)
The Final Jeopardy question (12/9/2024) in the category “Islands of Europe” was:
In February 1793 the French were repulsed in an attack on this island from one just north that they controlled
2x champ Dave Bond, a ret. grant writer from West Henrietta, NY, has won $51,400 so far. In Game 3, he is up against: Bill McKinney, a VP of restaurants & bars, orig. from Boston, MA; and Lisa O’Donnell, an ESL Teacher from Vienna, VA.
Round 1 Categories: Geography – Mortal Matters – Big Words – Miscellany – A League of Their Own – Those Etruscan Darners
Bill found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Mortal Matters” under the $400 with 5 clues left after it. Bill was in second place with $3,400, $400 less than Lisa’s lead. Bill bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
His body preserved, this leader still looks pretty much like he did at his death on January 21, 1924 show
Bill finished in the lead with $7,000. Lisa was second with $4,600 and Dave was last with $2,600. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: That’s All History – A Flock of Doves – Alliterative Movie Titles – What the “LL”? – Main Character – Energy
Bill found the first Daily Double in “Alliterative Movie Titles” under the $1,200 clue on the 5th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $11,800, $7,200 more than Lisa in second place. Bill bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
David Fincher directed this 2014 thriller that finds Ben Affleck framed for murder show
Lisa found the last Daily Double in “What the ‘LL’” under the $2,000 clue on the 16th pick of the round. She was in last place with $6,200, $14,200 less than Bill’s lead. Lisa bet $3,000 and answered too quickly with melodious. She knew that was WRONG!
How sweet the sound of this word meaning “sweet sounding”; it comes from Latin for “flowing with honey” show
Bill finished in the lead with a runaway $22,000. Dave was second with $10,600 and Lisa was last with $6,800. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS SARDINIA?
The 6.8 mile distance between Corsica and its southern neighbor Sardinia across the Strait of Boniface came up in my recap of the Jeopardy! match on 6/12/2017. Back in 1793, Corsica belonged to France and Sardinia was a kingdom ruled by the Italian House of Savoy. France, having declared war on Britain and the Netherlands, sought to expand its power in the Mediterranean. The French attacked the Sardinian city of Cagliari and the island of La Maddalena but, with some help from Spain, were forced to retreat.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a lieutenant colonel in the French army at the time. He was not the top commander but he was in charge of an artillery unit attached to the Maddalena island attack. The Collector details the impact this episode had on Napoleon’s career.
Lisa thought it was Corsica. She lost $6,799 and finished with $1.00.
Dave thought it was Malta. He lost $5,000 and finished with $5,600.
Bill didn’t have a response. He stood pat on his $22,000 since he had already won the game. Bill McKinney is the new Jeopardy champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
MISCELLANY ($1000) Abbreviated FSM, this airborne creature began as a deity of the parody religion the Pastafarians
MAIN CHARACTER ($1600) Junot Díaz wrote “The Brief Wondrous Life of” this bookish young Dominican kid, a lover of sci-fi & fantasy
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “LATIN PHRASES”
Originally, this 3-word phrase referred to when a doctor or apothecary substituted one medicine for another show
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NWBA? Ouch. Marie Antoinette in 1536? Double ouch.
Bill had a few burps, but overall he was very impressive and not shy with his DD wagers.
Knew that last DD and thought Lisa would get it. I got the Wagner opera and still don’t know how. Venice’s main canal pretty well-known.
Tough final; my guess was in the wrong part of the world. Looking at the FJ from two years ago, I’m stunned that no one knew it.
I was 3/3 on DD, and got FJ. However, the way Final was worded was really weird. I mean, I intuitively knew it, but the way it was written was slightly jarring.
Now, v why I knew it was a glimpse into how my esoteric mind works. In 1945, it was, IIRC, an Italian doctor (I looked it up, and he was indeed Italian, blue a pharmacologist) that tried to find the dirtiest place he could, and that was the Sardinian sewers. From there were cultured the “cephalosporins”, which, today, you know as ceftriaxone and Keflex, as successors, for example.
The new champ did what he had to on that last clue to get his runaway.
I thought the clue was clunky too. I didn’t look at the category either so I thought they might be misled outside of Europe.
I just never forgot how close the 2 countries are because of that 2017 FJ
You know VJ, I had surely come across badly worded Fj clues in the past (or worse), but this one was hardly one of them. In fact, I picked up the correct response instantly. I mean, right off the bat, the clues were obviously pointing to one of the islands off Italy, and it could only have been Sardinia in this case.
Rick, I think that you and I look at the FJ! clues differently. I also got the clue right away but every morning, I make a prediction on how many players will get it right. So I try to figure out if something might confuse the players.
I thought it would confuse the players but I predicted 1 right (maybe Dave). While I was watching, Lisa kept going to the Geography category so then I thought she’d nail it for sure. Well, you saw what happened. It confused them all. Case closed.
Well, it was another great Jeopardy game, and the FJ was a no brainer.. Anyways, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game!
And we begin the week with a triple stumper since today’s FJ was a tough one due to that pesky geography clue.
I can’t believe they missed the FSM clue. Blasphemy! I happen to be an ordained minister in the Church of the FSM (really!).
May You Be Touched By His Noodly Appendage. R’Amen. 🙂
Ok, that made me, literally, LOL!!
I thought that clue was impastable.
@Howard….:)