Final Jeopardy: Theater (2-16-24)
The Final Jeopardy question (2/16/2024) in the category “Theater” was:
A 1955 play review noted “restless Delta folk” & “lives as uncomfortable & insecure as the proverbial” this title
In the first of 3 semifinal matches, today’s Champions Wildcard contestants are: Sriram Krishnan, a consultant from Falls Church, VA; Vince Bacani, a risk manager from Montreal, Quebec; and Mira Hayward, a podcast host from Portland, OR.
Round 1 Categories: Presidential TV – Fiction & Nonfiction – A Dog’s Life – That’s Got 2 Hyphens – Transportation – I’m Cuban
Vince found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “That’s Got 2 Hyphens” under the $600 on the 12th pick of the round. He was in last place with $1,600, $1,800 less than Mira’s lead. Vince bet all of it and he was RIGHT.
Charles V chose to put 3 of these floral symbols on France’s royal emblem show
Mira finished in the lead with $8,000. Vince was next with $5,800 and Sriram was last with $4,600. All clues were shown. Before Round 2 began, Vince was knocked down to $4,600 on a reversal (see below).
Round 2 Categories: Canadian Geography – Mythology – Science Stuff – Notable Names – Describing the Song – Oh, “My” Word!
Mira found the first Daily Double in “Mythology” under the $1,600 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. She was in the lead with $9,600, $5,000 more than Sriram in second place. Mira bet $4,000 and she was RIGHT.
The names of these 2 goddesses, Zeus’ wife & Zeus’ mother, are anagrams of each other show
Vince found the last Daily Double in “Notable Names” under the $1,200 clue on the 13th pick of the round. He was in second place with $5,000, $8,600 less than Mira’s lead. Vince bet all of it and said Barr. That was WRONG.
In 1919 this American scientist published “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes” show
Mira finished in the lead with a runaway of $18,400. Sriram was in second place with $9,000. Vince was last with $3,200. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF”?
The quotes in today’s clue come from well-respected theater critic, Brooks Atkinson’s review of Tennessee Williams’ play “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in the NY Times. As the Idiom dictionary notes, the saying had been around in one form or another since the 18th century, but it was Williams’ play that made it world-famous.
The play revolves around the Pollitts, a Mississippi Delta family, celebrating the birthday of patriarch Big Daddy. The celebration turns ugly when a whole lot of the family’s “mendacity” comes to light. As Atkinson noted, the play had a stellar cast with a Tony-nominated performance from Barbara Bel Geddes as Maggie the Cat. Ben Gazzara played her husband, Brick. Burl Ives was Big Daddy. In the 1958 film adaptation, Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman were both nominated for Oscars when they took over the roles of Maggie and Brick. Burl Ives played Big Daddy again but ironically, he won the Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance that same year in “The Big Country” (1958).
Vince got it right. He stood pat on his $3,200.
Sriram wrote down “What is a dream come true (again)”, about his Jeopardy experience. He stood pat on his $9,000.
Mira got it right. She stood pat on her runaway $18,400. Mira Hayward is this tournament’s first finalist.
Reversal: I’M CUBAN ($600) Born in Cuba, this “Havana” singer came to the U.S. at age 6 – Vince buzzed in and pronounced Camila Cabello’s last name as if it ended with an “a”. Ken accepted it but the judges gave it a thumbs down.
2 triple stumpera from NOTABLE NAMES:
($1600) “Unbought and Unbossed” was a campaign slogan & an autobiography by this first African-American congresswoman
($2000) In 2022 this Antarctica explorer‘s ship “Endurance”, which sank in 1915, was located at the bottom of the Weddell Sea
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “International Playwrights”
A piece of writing advice from this man who died in 1904 concludes, “otherwise don’t put it there” show
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Ugh. I figured Tennessee Williams, but said “Streetcar Named Desire”.
The first round was killer. The second was a bit of a letdown.
Props to my hometown hero Mira for moving on. The guys were in it for a while, just couldn’t get any momentum. FJ stumped me until the last few seconds when “proverbial” made me think of “A Raisin in the Sun.” And I have seen the movie “Cat,” but that was very long ago.
Knew the Congresswoman, a very fiery soul from NYC; guessed the Great Lake; and was shocked no one knew the man from Independence.
That tough DD killed any chance Vince had of staying alive, although Mira would have won anyway. The Cabello/Cabella mishap was very similar to what happened when I played. In 9-letter Words, the champ answered “parfumerie” and Alex OK’d it. There was a long, unexplained break after the first round, after which they ruled her wrong and took away $800. Despite my solid background in French, had I been allowed to ring in, I’d have said “parfumier,” which probably would have been disallowed because they were looking for “perfumery,” the place where it’s made, not the person. C’est la vie!
‘Cat On A Hot Tin Roof’ is rather cryptic, but in any case, I should have come up with it in FJ. Personally, I never seen the 1958 film, but my mother and sister did. Actually, my mother thought that it was “corny”, and my sister concurred.
For only the second known time ever, everybody bet 0 in FJ! The same thing that happened on Mira’s quarterfinal game. And by the way, the Jeopardy website has updated the 2024 Tournament of Champions quarterfinal matchups.
Thanks, Kevin. I was just writing out the list They saved a spot in the last quarterfinal (3/6) for the winner of this tournament. The ToC quarterfinals start next Friday.