Final Jeopardy: 20th Century Books (3-28-24)
The Final Jeopardy question (3/28/2024) in the category “20th Century Books” was:
TIME mentioned “cruelty & enforced conformity” when summing up this novel with a “stonily silent narrator”
Today’s Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament contestants are: Sam Kavanaugh, an educator from Minneapolis, MN; Chuck Forrest, a lawyer from Marino, Italy; and Monica Thieu, a postdoctoral scientist from Atlanta, GA.
Round 1 Categories: LGBTQ+ Writers & Their Works – Hop on the Interstate – Free for All – 2-Word Pop Culture – Alphanumerics – Definitions from the Devil’s Dictionary
Sam found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Hop on the Interstate” under the $600 clue on the 18th pick of the round. He was in last place with $400, $3,400 less than Monica’s lead. Sam bet $1,000 and said Cleveland and Cincinnati. That was WRONG.
Columbia is about midway between these 2 same-state Midwest cities that squared off in the I-70 World Series in 1985 show
Monica finished in the lead with $8,200. Chuck was in second place with $2,600. Sam was last with $200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: British Explorers – Art Terms – Science – Round Here – Tough Vocab – Hip-Pop
Sam found the first Daily Double in “Art Terms” under the $1,600 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. He was in last place with $200, $8,000 less than Monica’s lead. Sam bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.
Jean Arp coined this term for Alexander Calder’s inert sculptures, often made from sheet metal show
On the very next pick, Sam found the last Daily Double in “Science” under the $1,200 clue. In last place with $2,200, he now had $6,000 less than Monica’s lead. Sam bet $2,200 and he was RIGHT.
Devised by a 19th century German scientist, this scale measures a mineral’s resistance to abrasion show
Monica finished in the lead with $13,800. Sam was in second place with $12,000. Chuck was last with $10,200. All clues were shown. Chuck was awarded another $800 before Final Jeopardy! on a reversal (see below).
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST”?
Chief Bromden is the “stonily silent narrator” referred to in TIME magazine’s description of Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1962). A long-time patient in an Oregon mental hospital, Chief Bromden pretended to be deaf and mute. Nurse Ratched and her staff bought his act and, consequently, Bromden got the proverbial earful when they often talked freely around him. Ratched is determined to keep the patients under her thumb and will go to extremes to accomplish that. Enter Randle McMurphy, who pretended to be crazy to get out of a prison work farm stretch. Chief Bromden relates what happened when McMurphy challenges Nurse Ratched’s authority. There’s a 6-minute summary on YouTube if you want to familiarize yourself with the novel.
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” was made into a 1975 film that won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Best Actress (Louise Fletcher). 6’7″ Will Sampson played Chief Bromden. He is the one who flies over the cuckoo’s nest.
Chuck thought it was “Lord of the Flies”. He lost $4,801 and finished with $6,199.
Sam went with “1984”. That cost him $4,400 and left him with $7,600.
Monica also had “1984”. She lost $8,201 and finished with $7,599. That made Sam Kavanaugh the winner and the 7th semifinalist. As Ken said, there are 2 more quarterfinal matches to go.
Reversal: SCIENCE ($400) Eccentricity measures how much this planetary path deviates from a circle – Chuck buzzed in with “ellipse”, but Ken was looking for “orbit”. The judges decided Chuck’s response was A-OK and he got his $400 back plus another $400 for being right.
A triple stumper from each round:
FREE FOR ALL ($800) The Wilmot Proviso, which wanted no slavery in newly acquired Mexican lands, was a precursor to this political party
HIP-POP ($2000) Hip-hop artist Chris Rivers is the son of this “Big” guy born Christopher Rios, the first Latino solo rapper to go platinum
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “Disney Characters”
In the source material from more than 3 centuries ago, her name was Badr al-Budur, “full moon of full moons” show
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I first said “Lord of the Flies”, then “1984”. My wife will, very rarely, look at Final. I fixed on 1984, while she said LotF. Well, we were both wrong!
It was really something to see Chuck Forrest. I think he was on episode #2. Monica, good to see her, after seeing her on MM. Monica speaking freely didn’t bother me as much as others that have done it.
I haven’t looked to see who else is up. I thought Frank Spangenberg was in his 80s, but he’s only 67! The newer contestants look like they are mostly getting passed over.
Very tough but fair FJ. Read the book over 50 years ago, but that’s no excuse.
Terrific match by three excellent players. DDs helped Sam immensely, although I cringed when he missed the baseball-related one. Surprised no one knew the top center numeral on a dart board. The alphanumeric technology wasn’t horribly difficult, but I was torn between two different answers.
@Howard, HBO was showing the movie when we first got cable back in the late 70s. HBO would show the same stuff over and over so I saw the film several times, even though I’m not a big Jack Nicholson fan.
Speaking of Nicholson, it’s kinda funny that they also had a clue on “The Shining” today. I thought he turned that movie into a comedy whereas when I read the book, I just about jumped out of my skin when a window shade popped up. 🤣
Ugh! Another basketball game preempted the Jeopardy game today so I’ll have to tune in tomorrow.
Rick, you will likely be preempted tomorrow too. Try checking the TV schedule for your local station online. They will probably air Jeopardy! at a different time. If it’s in the wee hours, you can set up a recording if you have that capability. Otherwise, Jeopardy! always puts up a video the Final Jeopardy! round on their YouTube channel, plus a category sometimes. They have Hip-Pop up already today.
Thanks for the suggestions VJ! I’ll look into it.
I just checked, and another basketball game is indeed scheduled today during the Jeopardy game time slot. Since the Jeopardy game is later aired at 3:07 A.M. in my area, programming the VCR for the show might be problematic . This is because the digital/analog converter box automatically shuts off after a span of 3 hours. Yes, I’ll look into the YouTube channel. Thanks!
You got the ring scores at the end of DJ! and we don’t see a reversal that happened near the end of DJ!
Oh yeah, Kevin, thanks for the reminder. I had the right scores on the Early Spoiler and just forgot I had to fix them on the recap.
Another tough final as we got a triple stumper.