Final Jeopardy: Art & Science (2-14-23)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (2/14/2023) in the category “Art & Science” was:

A craft that visited it was named for Giotto, based on the story that 680 years earlier, the painter depicted it as the Star of Bethlehem

New champ Kendra Westerhaus, a licensed psychologist from Pocatello, ID, won $29,601 yesterday. In Game 2, her challengers are: Laurin Bell, an executive assistant from Lakeland, FL; and Blaine Smith, a writer and communications consultant from Portland, OR.

Round 1 Categories: It Happened on Valentine’s Day – Portrait of a Lady – State Trees – Come on Get Hoppy – Anagrammed College Subjects – TV Show Titles in Spanish

Kendra found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “State Trees” under the $1,000 clue on the 11th pick of the round. She was in second place with $1,200, $800 less than Blaine’s lead. Kendra made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.

These 2 giant trees share the designation for the giant state of California show

Kendra finished in the lead with $7,000. Laurin was second with $5,400 and Blaine was last with $2,400. All clues were shown.

Round 2 Categories: The Film Independent Spirit Awards – Ye Olde British Money – Phrase Connectors – The River – Born to Run – The Ghost of Tom Joad

Kendra found the first Daily Double in “The River” under the $1,600 clue with 9 clues left after it. She was in the lead with $13,800, $6,200 less than Blaine in second place. Kendra bet $3,000 and said the Rio Grande. That was WRONG.

Texas’ Declaration of Independence was signed in Washington– Washington-on-this river named for “the arms of God” show

Kendra got the last Daily Double in “Ye Olde British Money” under the $1,600 clue with 6 clues left after it. In the lead with $12,800, she had $6,400 more than Blaine in second place. Kendra bet $2,000 and she was RIGHT.

A pound note, or the Latin word for “what” show

Kendra finished in the lead with $17,600. Blaine was second with $8,800, exactly half of the lead. Laurin was last with $5,000. All clues were shown.

Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS HALLEY’S COMET?

The European Space Agency’s website says: “Giotto was ESA’s first deep-space mission. In 1986, it passed closest to the nucleus of a comet, Halley. Its images showed for the first time the shape of a comet nucleus and found the first evidence of organic material in a comet.” It also has details on Giotto’s other challenges and its “firsts”.

Curiously, Giotto di Bondone’s painting, “The Adoration of the Magi”, is not mentioned but you can see that on the Science Musings website with a look into how Giotto’s comet is similar in some ways to 1910 photographs of Halley’s Comet and why Giotto’s use of a comet was not that weird.



Laurin went with Jupiter. She bet and lost her whole $5,000.

Blaine thought it was Polaris. That cost him $8,700 and left him with $100.

Kendra got it right. She didn’t bet anything but won the game with the $17,600 she already had. Kendra’s 2-day total is $47,201.

Final Jeopardy (2/14/2023) Kendra Westerhaus, Laurin Bell, Blaine Smith

2 triple stumpers from the first round:

IT HAPPENED ON VALENTINE’S DAY ($800) 1778: The U.S.S. Ranger, captained by this man, receives the first official salute to the stars & stripes flag, by the French fleet

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ($1000) This 3-named American painter who lived abroad considered his portrait of “Madame X” to be his masterpiece

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “The 50 States”

While it has only 31 miles of coastline on the Atlantic, its shoreline is almost 3,200 miles thanks to a large estuary & its tributaries show

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8 Responses

  1. Jere Gauss says:

    I’d like to know why Blaine’s response of “what are pistons” wasn’t accepted after the fact before Final Jeopardy. What gasoline engine has more or fewer pistons than cylinders?

    • VJ says:

      @Jere, I honestly don’t know although I wondered the same thing when I went to look it up. This is what the clue said: “Looking at a Hudson Super Six, named for its six of these, feel the presence of the Joads who converted one into a truck & piled in” so I just assumed it was named for the cylinders

      Here’s a page I found with the specifications for the Hudson Super Six — it doesn’t say anything about pistons

      • Jere Gauss says:

        Actually, I guess it was Laurin who came up with pistons. The engines with six combustion chambers are generally referred to as “six-cylinders” but it follows that the number of pistons will always match that, just from the standard design of gasoline engines. It certainly wasn’t wrong, even though it wasn’t the expected response.

  2. Albert says:

    How does Blaine not bet EVERYTHING when he knows that Kendra will bet either $0 or $1? It just doesn’t make any sense. How do these people even get on the show in the first place?

    • VJ says:

      You know, I have never understood why anyone would get so uptight over a Jeopardy! bet, and to the point where you’d ask something like your last question. For one thing, I doubt if anyone asks them if they studied wagering strategy when they audition. For another, it’s their game to win or lose. Whether it be because they didn’t know FJ or because they made a bad bet, it doesn’t cost the viewer a nickel.

  3. Howard says:

    Interesting how Kendra played for the possible tie. In the pre-tiebreaker era, that was a good way to go, because tied players came back the next day. A little odd her opponent didn’t bet it all.

    Lots of answerable stumpers: Tom Joad’s state; feet of () pigeon; Mitterand’s gauche party; the Hudson’s six; 1/20th of a pound. And only one name from 1778 came to mind as the captain of a US ship.

    • Jason says:

      As usual, I’m in agreement with you, Howard. I, too, found Kendra’s wager quizzical, just like Blaine’s wager. Unusually, I got most of the stumpers, but, at the same time, they weren’t especially difficult. I mean, Ken even said in the clue that the word ended with -reign!

      So, the champ got away with one, and good on her for it! I got FJ wrong – I said Venus! Wait, Polaris? Dude, really?

  4. Rick says:

    Hmmmm………..I forgot that the ESA had sent such a space probe on a rendezvous mission with Halley’s Comet back in 1986. Anyways, I do remember that the comet was lackluster at the time, and certainly no where near the phenomenen that it was in 1910.