Final Jeopardy: Presidential Elections (3-17-21)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (3/17/2021) in the category “Presidential Elections” was:
In the 1912 election these 2 parties on the left of the political spectrum finished 2nd & 4th, totaling 1/3 of the votes
New champ Brendan Sargent, a community organizer orig. from Worcester, MA, won $7,600 yesterday. In Game 2, he takes on these two players: Morgan Briles, a librarian from Nacogdoches, TX; and Anthony Jones, a certified financial planner from Falls Church, VA.
Round 1 Categories: All Alliteration – Nifty Novels – Terrific TV – Potent Potables – Five Facts – Hopeful History
Morgan found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “All Alliteration” under the $600 clue on the 11th pick of the round. She was in second place with $1,000, $800 less than Brendan’s lead. She made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.
This North American bird went the way of the dodo in 1914. show
Morgan finished in the lead with $5,800. Brendan was hot on her heels with $5,600 and Anthony was last with $2,400. The $1,000 Potent Potable clue went uncovered.
Round 2 Categories: Shell Game – They Go Low – ’90s Nonfiction – At the End of the Scary Movie – Europe – Losing U
Brendan found the first Daily Double in “At the End of the Scary Movie” under the $1,600 clue on the third pick. He was in the lead with $7,200 now, $1,400 more than Morgan in second place. He bet $5,000 and took a guess with “Gremlins”. That was WRONG.
“I used to hate the water”–“I can’t imagine why” show
Four clues later, Morgan landed on the last Daily Double in “Europe” under the $1,200 clue, and Katie complimented her on her “stage presence” shimmy. In the lead with $8,200, she had $5,000 more than Anthony in second place. She bet $3,000 and she was RIGHT.
A red shield on the door of an ancestral home in Europe gave this Jewish banking family its name. show
Brendan finished in the lead with $16,600. Morgan was next with $14,800 and Anthony was in third place with $5,600. No clues went uncovered.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT ARE THE PROGRESSIVE (BULL MOOSE) & SOCIALIST PARTIES?
The 1912 presidential election was not your average election in many ways. Whatever advantage incumbent William Howard Taft may have had was destroyed by former President Teddy Roosevelt choosing to take a third shot at the presidency and forming the Progressive (or Bull Moose) party to do so. Three former defeats did not dissuade Eugene Debs from running on the Socialist platform. Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic candidate and ultimate beneficiary of the split Republican party. According to the Univ. of Kansas review of “Four Hats in the Ring” by Lewis L. Gould, “The presidential election of 1912 saw a third-party candidate [Roosevelt] finish second in both popular and electoral votes. The Socialist candidate [Debs] received the highest percentage of the popular vote his party ever attained…. The election defined the major parties for generations to come as the Taft-Roosevelt split pushed the Republicans to the right and the Democrats’ agenda of reform set them on the road to the New Deal.”
Anthony thought it was the Democrats & Social Democrats. He lost $5,594 and that left him with $5.00.
Morgan got it right. She added $6,000 for a $20,800 finish.
Brendan had it half right with “Bull Moose”, but “Democratic” was most definitely wrong. He lost his $13,001 bet and finished with $3,599. Morgan Briles is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
ALL ALLITERATION ($1000) Shelley’s Ode to this calls it “thou breath of autumn’s being”
’90s NONFICTION ($1600) USA Today called this Richard Preston bestseller about the Ebola virus “more terrifying than any sci-fi nightmare”
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “19th Century Names”
In 1854 he became official musical instrument maker to Emperor Napoleon III; an instrument he invented is named for him show
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS OR COMPLAINTS REGARDING GUEST HOSTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!
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Wow. They sure didn’t want much for the final question. Actually, I initially thought that it was the Democratic and Bull Moose parties, but the former was clearly a huge error on my part. However, I would have never come up with the Socialist party in any event. Now how on earth did that woman ever come up with the Socialist party?
As alluded to in VJ’s summary, Eugene Debs was the Socialist Party nominee for president 5 times between 1900-1920, garnering as high as 6% in 1912, which is a pretty good showing for a third party candidate. I wouldn’t call the rise of socialist groups in early 20th century America obscure, although it’s certainly not the most well known eras in US history.
I was actually shocked that two players got the Ray Bradbury butterfly clue correct last week, but I don’t care for Sci-Fi at all, so that wasn’t too surprising either.
Some people thought yesterday’s clue was obscure as well, but I think the fact that at least one contestant got both today’s clue and yesterday’s clue correct shows the writers haven’t gotten too far into trivia vis a vis general knowledge.
For a while now I’ve been wondering … is it my imagination or has the show (since guest hosting started) deliberately selected clues that aren’t as demanding on the host as they had been, routinely with Alex? I’m speaking particularly about foreign words in clues that are easy to mispronounce. I went back through the archives, not scientifically mind you, and I think they are going easy (too easy) on the hosts. Shouldn’t that too be a test of their skill as host?
My understanding is that the guests are not really auditioning as much as they are acting as bridge until the permanent host is selected (although a permanent host could be selected from among the guest hosts). So I wouldn’t see them crafting easier clues (from the guest host’s point of view) as a problem (assuming that is actually occurring).
Thanks for the feedback JP.
While I agree *some* guest hosts are not auditioning for the job (e.g. Aaron Rodgers) Mike Richards has been pretty clear that the permanent replacement will come from the guest host pool (without categorically stating such).
Well, Morgan had a good start today let’s see if she can keep it up. This is the longest time that we have seen a show without any streakers since Brian Chang and Zach Newkirk swept up January and February especially with John Focht. We do need another streaker and soon. Anyway this was a US History question that I encountered in grade school Government course. At least 2 of the 3 daily doubles are nailed.