Final Jeopardy: Ancient Greek Philosophers (2-12-21)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (2/12/2021) in the category “Ancient Greek Philosophers” was:
Asked to describe this 4th century B.C. member of the cynics, Plato called him “a Socrates gone mad”
4x champ John Focht, a software team leader orig. from El Paso, TX, has now won $103,800. In Game 5, he is up against: Alejandra Oliva, a communications coordinator from Chicago, IL; and Lance St Laurent, a Ph.D student from Madison, WI.
Round 1 Categories: Mecca & Medina – Fruit Forward – Describing the Adjective – Game Theory – Best Actress Oscar-Winning Roles – Science
John found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Game Theory” under the $800 clue on the 5th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $800, $400 more than Lance in second place. He bet the $1,000 allowance and came up with “Let’s Make a Deal”. That was WRONG.
If you win, switch to whatever would’ve beaten you for the next round, says a 2014 study on the psychology of this game. show
Lance finished in the lead with $7,600. John was second with $5,600 and Alejandra was last with $2,000. No clues went uncovered.
Round 2 Categories: After the Supreme Court – Symbols – All the “Rage” – In Concert – Valley – Girl
Alejandra found the first Daily Double in “Symbols” under the $1,200 clue on the 13th pick. She was in third place with $6,400 now, $5,600 less than Lance’s lead. She bet $3,000 and she was RIGHT.
This flower represents autumn & is an emblem of the Imperial Family of Japan. show
Lance got the last Daily Double in “In Concert” under the $1,600 clue, with 6 clues left after it. In the lead with $17,200, he had $3,200 more than John in second place. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.
Recorded for live albums, Johnny Cash performed legendary concerts at Folsom Prison & this other California one. show
Lance finished in the lead with $24,800. John was next with $16,000 and Alejandra was in third place with $10,600. No clues went uncovered.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
After reading Diogenes versus Plato on Medium.com, one might come away with the impression that Diogenes was a real wiseguy and always had some smart aleck retort for whatever Plato had to say. One example is Plato coming across Diogenes washing vegetables in a stream. Plato said, “My good Diogenes, if you knew how to pay court to Dionysius, you wouldn’t have to wash vegetables.” Diogenes responded with: “And, if you knew how to wash vegetables, you wouldn’t have to pay court to Dionysius.” However, considering how Socrates was Plato’s teacher and Plato must have had respect for Socrates, perhaps Plato saying that Diogenes was a “Socrates gone mad” wasn’t a total insult. Perhaps Plato thought Diogenes had a brilliant mind that became warped.
An old clue: 5-LETTER WORDS ($2,000) A follower of the philosopher Diogenes was called this, from the Greek for “doglike”
Alejandra thought it was Zeno. She lost $10,000 and finished with $600.
John came up with Pythagoras and that cost him $9,000. He had $7,000 left.
Lance went with Aristotle. He lost $5,200 and won the game with the remaining $19,600. Lance St. Laurent is the new Jeopardy! champ.
There were only 3 triple stumpers in the whole game:
MECCA & MEDINA ($1000) This fundamentalist branch of Sunni Islam that now controls Medina first took it in 1804
SYMBOLS ($800) The pyramid on the reverse of the $1 bill represents endurance & the eye at the top is the Eye of this, also a state capital
ALL THE “RAGE” ($800) In 452 these feared invaders from central Asia stormed into Italy, devastating the Po Valley
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Shakespeare Comedies”
At the end of this play: “Why are our bodies soft & weak …But that our …hearts should well agree with our external parts?” show
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I never heard of Diogenes, and the contestants apparently weren’t too familiar with him either.
This was a tough final and I only had pythagoras as my answer. Never knew diogenes. John played well for four games and he is looking good for the toc. Let’s see if lance can do what John did. also , this week’s final jeopardy hasn’t been easy at times for our contestants.
I’d heard of Diogenes (he was famous for carrying around a lantern and looking for an honest man), but never in a million years would I have know that FJ. Tonight’s crew was excellent, with minimal stumpers. Only one I knew was Huns, and all 3 missed it.
I thought you had to have 5+ wins for the ToC, but maybe they go to 4 if there aren’t enough qualifiers. If it were up to me, I’d pick the 15 biggest money-winners, regardless of how many games they won.
That’s how I used to think it should be myself, Howard — the 15 biggest money winners, only in regular play though. I never could figure out what qualifies the 2 players that have already won tournaments to get in another. They only play 4 games in those tournaments. I guess it’s because they’ve won over $100K.
Anyhow, I just don’t care how they do it anymore or why after they chose to skip over qualified players to put Emma Boettcher in against James Holzhauer. It’s their show and they can do what they want.
Sad, sad news about Brayden Smith. Rest In Peace.
If this is true, it’s utterly shocking. Such a smart young man with a great future.
He and I had a brief exchange of comments during his run in the Facebook group for current and former contestants.
Just like last Friday, we once again end the week with a killer FJ!
That’s three triple stumpers in a row for Friday.