Final Jeopardy: European Landmarks (3-3-21)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (3/3/2021) in the category “European Landmarks” was:

Of the principal architects working on it from the mid-1500s to the 1980s, like Pierre Lescot & Hector Lefuel, none were foreigners

2x champ Jon Spurney, a musician & screenwriter orig. from New York, NY, has now won $60,002. In Game 3, he takes on these two players: Melis Sahin-Collins, a data analyst from Redondo Beach, CA; and Tim Everhart, an attorney orig. from Brockton, MA.

Round 1 Categories: Whatcha Watching? – Geography – How Now, Dow Jones Company? – B.C.-Ing You – Titles & Honorifics – Starts with an Animal

Tim found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Titles & Honorifics” under the $600 clue on the 4th pick of the round. At $600, he was tied with Jon. Melis had not buzzed in yet. He bet the $1,000 allowance and thought it might be scion. That was WRONG.

American legal eagles are commonly called this, but it also can refer to the eldest son of a baronet. show

Melis finished in the lead with $4,400. Jon was second with $3,800 and Tim was last with $2,600. No clues went uncovered.

Round 2 Categories: Illustrators – Science – “Wee” Folk – Languages – Tough Talk – Megaliths

Tim found the first Daily Double in “Megaliths” under the $1,200 clue on the 10th pick. He was in the lead with $10,200 now, $5,800 more than Melis’ lead. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.

This 5-letter word for a circle of stones is a back-formation from the name of a famous one on Salisbury Plain. show

Melis got the last Daily Double in “Science” under the $1,600 clue, with 9 clues left after it. In third place with $5,600, she had $9,000 less than Tim’s lead. She bet $4,000 and came up with “mechanics.” That was WRONG.

Working according to the same principles as a laser, a maser gets the “M” in its name from this word. show

Jon and Tim finished in a tie for the lead with $14,200. Melis was next with $2,000.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS THE LOUVRE?

“These Secrets About the Louvre Museum Will Surprise You” (on Architectural Digest’s website) has a history of the Louvre from the 12th century up to the 1980s, when Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei was tapped by French president Francois Mitterand to make improvements to the Louvre: “Pei kept the project a secret from his own team for four months…. When he finally put pen to paper, his plans included a new entrance, a network of rooms to make museum going more pleasant (an information center, a cafeteria), and, famously, the glass pyramid. Parisians at the time were scandalized when the design was unveiled. Pei’s pyramid was a “gigantic, ruinous gadget,” as one New York Times critic wrote in 1985. The overwhelming sentiment at the time was that Pei’s pyramid was a modernist eyesore jutting starkly against its baroque surroundings.”



Melis thought it was the Arc de Triomphe. That didn’t cost her a sou because she didn’t bet anything. She remained at $2,000.

Tim came up with “sacre couer.” He bet and lost it all.

Jon went with Notre Dame. He went all in, too, and that made Melis the new Jeopardy! champ. “What a game”, Mike Richards said. It certainly was!

Final Jeopardy (3/3/2021) Jon Spurney, Melis Sahin-Collins, Tim Everhart

A triple stumper from each round:

ILLUSTRATORS ($2000) Around 1890, Kate Greenaway illustrated the pages of a children’s story by this British poet

“WEE” FOLK ($1200) This model is married to Gene Simmons

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Presidential Election Years”

Prior to 2016 it was the last election year in which the winning candidate had never held public elected office show

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23 Responses

  1. Uxbridgeite says:

    That was a poorly worded question. IM Pei was a foreigner and worked on the Louvre in the 1980s. The Pyramid was commissioned in 1984 and completed in 1989. Is Pei not considered a primary architect?

    • Uxbridgeite says:

      Also, isn’t the period from 1984 to 1989 considered the 1980s?

    • VJ says:

      Of course, uxbridgeite, you are right that Pei is considered a primary architect and the 1984-1989 period is considered the 1980s. However, I can’t speak to your interpretation of the clue as including that period. I didn’t construe it that way myself because I would expect it to say “through” the 1980s, or “up to and including” the 1980s, if that was the intent.

      I imagine that Jeopardy! will either put up an explanation on this issue if enough folks have complained about it, or give the contestants a call back if it is concluded that they were unfairly disadvantaged.

  2. Suzanne says:

    Okay, can someone tell me whether there was a tie breaker question for second place last night? I’m still confused by the final amounts each man had.

    As for hosts, Mike has no charisma or real sense of humor as Alex did. I find him flat and uninspiring. Some of you prefer him to Ken. I far prefer Ken. Thanks!

    • VJ says:

      No, Suzanne, there was no tie-breaker to determine second place. That was determined by who had the most money at the end of the Jeopardy! round — “Jon was second with $3,800 and Tim was last with $2,600”

      Why that is so is covered in the responses to Ken’s 5:07 p.m. comment yesterday.

  3. Suzanne says:

    Oh, I now see some discussion of this above. Thank you.

  4. Suzanne says:

    Did the final shot of Jeopardy yesterday show the men with $1,000 and Melis with her winnings of $2,000? My mother said she saw each contestant’s screen at the very end, and it showed the men with money. That doesn’t make sense to me since each of the male contestants lost all of their winnings in Final Jeopardy. But she swears that’s what she saw and is as baffled as I am. She called to ask me whether I knew the reason why, and I wondered whether I had missed something or whether she was seeing things.

  5. Aidan Conroy says:

    How many underdogs do we have on Jeopardy? I know Leslie Minot and Melis Sahin-Collins Manny Abell Siddharth Hariharan Dave Algase Xiaoke Ying And much more

  6. Rick says:

    That was really something; two gentlemen with very high scores cancelling each other out, and leaving the woman as the champion.

    • Jacob Ska says:

      Good thinking on her part. She logically figured both contestants would wager it all and if both were incorrect she would be the one left standing. Even though she won only $2,000 she can still say she is a Jeopardy champion.

  7. Albert says:

    How does the tiebreaker work? If both players miss the tiebreaker question is a second or third question posed?

    • VJ says:

      That is covered in No. 1 Tie Breakers in the Four Rare Jeopardy Scenarios article I posted a link to earlier

  8. Curtis Jacobsen says:

    Badly worded Final Jeopardy. I. M. Pei, a foreign architect, worked on Le Louvre in the 1980’s. The pyramid opened in 1989.

  9. Ken says:

    But why did Jon get $2000 for second place and Tim $1000 for third place when they both had $0 at the end?

    • JP says:

      The tie breaker is the contestant who had more money at the start of the Double Jeopardy round.

      • JP says:

        Actually, the first tie breaker is who was ahead going into Final Jeopardy, but because they were tied, it actually went to the second tie breaker (who was ahead at the end of the first round).

    • VJ says:

      You can see how that all works out in Breaking Down Four Rare Jeopardy Scenarios on Jeopardy.com.

      It’s in No. 3 — Wild Card Ties: They explain that, then under the infographic it says: “Incidentally, this is also how Jeopardy! decides 2nd and 3rd place contestants who are tied at the end of a game in regular play.”

    • Cindy says:

      I have the same question!

  10. DC says:

    Ugh. 11 Triple Stumpers!

    I definitely prefer Mike to Ken Jennings. But I’ll wait to see all the guest hosts before voting for my choice.

  11. Ismael Gomez says:

    Tough Final as we got a triple stumper.

  12. Lou says:

    The fj clue was a little ambiguous and poorly worded here. Though they should invite Jon back hopefully if possible VJ don’t you think so? Ryan fenster also was invited back previously and I really thought Jon.had a good shot at hitting 90000 dollars but still though melis couldn’t get much going and I doubt she could build up a streak.

  13. Kevin Cheng says:

    Yep, it certainly was a game and a wild finish as well. This game is similar to what happen exactly three months ago when a player in a distant third wins the game while the other two players who are close to each other wagered big. And you’ll notice what happens if Melis wagered all her 2,000, we will have a three way tie at 0 but I’m glad that didn’t happen. We’ll see if Melis can try to win more tomorrow.