Final Jeopardy: Writers & The South (2-20-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (2/20/2023) in the category “Writers & The South” was:
In 1939 he lived on Toulouse Street in the French Quarter & chose the professional name that bonded him to the South
In the first quarterfinal of the High School Reunion Tournament, the contestants are: Audrey Sarin, a Senior at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo from Seattle, WA; Maya Wright, a Senior at Emory University from Peachtree City, GA; and Rohit Kataria, a Junior at Vanderbilt University from Wheelersburg, OH.
Round 1 Categories: Tech Talk – Reunion Shows – Let’s Take a Spring Break – Bodies of Water – Crossword Clues “T” – A Crash Course in John Green
Maya found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Bodies of Water” under the $400 clue with 4 clues left after it. She was in the lead with $5,000, $2,000 more than Audrey in second place. Maya bet $1,800 and she was RIGHT.
Differing by a letter, these 2 rivers both rise in Switzerland; one is about 830 miles long & the other, more than 500 show
Maya finished in the lead with $7,200. Audrey and Rohit were tied for second with $3,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: National Anthems – Palindromes in Pop Culture – Pardon My French – Religion Has Its Place – Time to Hit the Library – An “F” in History
Maya found the first Daily Double in “Pardon My French” under the $1,200 clue on the 7th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $8,400, $2,200 more than Rohit in second place. Maya bet $2,400 and she was RIGHT.
Meaning let the people do as they please, it’s the belief that government should not interfere in the economy show
Rohit got the last Daily Double in “Religion” under the $1,200 clue at the halfway point. In second place with $7,000, he had $7,800 less than Maya’s lead. Rohit bet $3,000 and said cathedral. That was WRONG.
The Naval Academy one is pretty grand, though the word generally means smaller than or subordinate to a church show
Maya finished in the lead with a runaway $19,600. Rohit was second with $7,600 and Audrey was last with $3,400. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS TENNESSEE WILLIAMS
The website New Orleans Historical has a blog post specifically about the location in the clue: “In his over 40 years living in New Orleans, famed playwright Tennessee Williams resided in several French Quarter locations. Arriving in New Orleans in 1938, a 28-year-old Williams rented a room at 431 Royal Street and later at 722 Toulouse Street…. While at 722 Toulouse, Thomas Lanier Williams experimented with different names, including Valentine Xavier, which upon reflection Williams said ‘seemed a bit pompous.’ The young playwright finally settled on Tennessee Williams, the name that would stick with him for the rest of his life.”
Various reasons are given for the “Tennessee” nickname online: although born in Mississipi, some of his ancestors were important Tennesseans. One John Sevier was a founding father of Tennessee and the son of Valentine Sevier (originally named Xavier). That adds some weight to that story, although I could find no proof of the connection. Another story credits a college roommate with giving the author the nickname “Tennessee”. Many of Williams’ famous plays, including “The Glass Menagerie”, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “The Rose Tattoo”, continue to be popular on stage and film.
Audrey drew a blank. She bet and lost her whole $3,400.
Rohit thought it was Mark Twain. He only lost $425 and finished with $7,175.
Maya got it right. She added $1,200 to her score and won the first semi-final spot with $20,800.
2 triple stumpers AN “F” IN HISTORY:
($1200) U.S., British & Iraqi forces retook this Iraqi city in the second battle of it at the end of 2004
($2000) Like a university, a river in British Columbia is named for this explorer who reached its mouth in 1808
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Playwrights”
This late writer has had 10 plays on Broadway, most of them set in Pittsburgh like “Jitney”, which premiered in 2017 show
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FJ was mildly challenging but not too difficult. The stumpers were another story. I did know the two libraries and the Crossword digression.
Maya is an excellent player. She could go far.
It was nice to see Mayim Bialek’s return as the Jeopardy host, and it was a long time coming. Actually, Mayim had previously expressed a desire to become the permanent Jeopardy host, but I somehow had the impression since late last year that she had second thoughts on even remaining as co-host. Anyways, ‘Mark Twain’ on FJ was an even worse response than mine as the writer had obviously died several decades earlier. You know, it seemed that some Jeopardy contestants in the past had also thought that Twain had nine lives.
In Maya Wright’s Semi-Final of the 2018 Teen Tournament on 11/15/18, Maya pulled a Cliff Clavin by wagering $8,000, but it worked out for her, because she was the only 1 to take a guess and got it right. I loved her “I DID?!” reaction. That was hilarious. This time, Maya did not pull a Cliff Clavin.
Maya’s score at the end of the first round was 7,200. Just like the 2022 TOC quarterfinals, the two players who are eliminated in the quarterfinals will receive 5,000 each.