Final Jeopardy: Reference Book Makers (2-11-15)

The Final Jeopardy question (2/11/2015), in the category “Reference Book Makers” was:

In 1863, he used the epigraph “I have gathered… other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own.”

The last semi-final of the 2015 Teachers Tournament is today and the teachers are: Cathy Farrell, from Wyandotte, MI; Mary Bayer, from Hoffman Estates, IL; and Colin O’Grady from Alexandria, Va,

Round 1: Cathy found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Wooden Plots” under the $400 clue. It was the last category with only three clues left after this. She was in the lead with $9,400, $5,400 more than Mary in second place. Colin’s score was changed to -$600* at this point. Cathy bet $4,000 and crossed her fingers. She got it RIGHT.

This kids’ book opens with mole “spring-cleaning his little home.” show

WHAT IS “THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS”?

*Colin was penalized for leaving an “s” off Consumer Reports in response to this $800 “Here’s Your Report Card” clue: “Debuting in 1936, this product-evaluating magazine had 24 black & white pages with, of course, no ads.”

Cathy finished in the lead with $13,400. Mary was second with $5,400 and Colin was last with $400.

Round 2: Cathy found the first Daily Double in “Foreign Words & Phrases” under the $1,600 clue. She was in the lead with $16,600, $9,600 more than Mary in second place. She bet $5,000 but did not know so she was WRONG.

It’s the Italian word for “you’re welcome”, not “you’re with child”. show

WHAT IS PREGO?

Colin found the last Daily Double in “Seas the Day” under the $1,600 clue. In third place with $6,800, he had $4,800 less than Cathy’s lead. He bet $2,000 and took a guess with Queensland Sea. That was WRONG.

Both Aussies & Kiwis refer to this sea between their countries as “the Ditch”. show

WHAT IS THE TASMAN SEA?

Cathy finished in the lead with $16,800. Mary was next with $8,600 and Colin was in third place with $6,400.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS JOHN BARTLETT?

“John Bartlett was an American bookseller and editor. He is best known for his book Familiar Quotations, which went through nine editions in his lifetime… At 16, he became an employee of the Harvard University bookstore, where he became so versed in book knowledge that the advice ‘Ask John Bartlett’ became common on campus. Eventually he came to own the store, and in 1855 he published the first edition of his Familiar Quotations, based on the notebook he kept for his customers.” (Biography.com)

The entire epigraph is shown on Bartleby’s under Bartlett’s picture.

Colin thought it was (Henry David) Thoreau. He lost his $2,300 bet and finished with $4,100.

Mary came up with (John James) Audubon. She bet and lost it all.

Cathy wrote down (Noah) Webster. She lost $1,000 and ended up with $15,800 and the last spot in finals. She will duke it out with Adam Elkana-Hale and Jennifer Giles over the next two days for a grand prize of $100,000.

Cathy, you may recall, was the lowest scoring Wild Card, while Colin was the highest scoring semi-finalist. This either proves the scripture: “the last shall be first and the first shall be last”, or Fikkle Fame’s tagline: “Sometimes you’re hot, sometimes you’re not.”

2 years ago:: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Museums”

Its collection includes a 16″ high architects’ model of its first permanent building, opened in 1939 show

WHAT IS MoMA?

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