Final Jeopardy: Greek Mythology (4-16-18)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (4/16/2018) in the category “Greek Mythology” was:

In one version Thetis killed 6 of her children in her attempts to make them immortal; this warrior was her seventh.

The first semi-final of the 2018 College Championship pits these 3 students against each other: Swarthmore sophomore, Rebecca Rosenthal, QF #4 winner; Tufts Univ. freshman, William Scott, QF #3 Wild Card winner and Columbia Univ. senior, Jordan Goodson, QF #2 Wild Card winner.

Round 1 Categories: Disney Channel Movies Flashback – People & Places – Computer Stuff – Hodgepodge – Yes, Mammal! – Heteronyms

William found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Yes, Mammal!” under the $1,000 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $2,800, $800 more than Rebecca in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.

The name of this mammal is Afrikaans for “earth pig” show

William finished in the lead with $10,400. Rebecca was second with $5,000 and Jordan was last with $3,000.

Round 2 Categories: College Honors – First In Your Class – The Deans List – Roads Scholar – Letter Men – “Mag”na Cum Laude

Jordan found the first Daily Double in “Deans List” under the $800 clue on the 11th pick. She was in third place with $1,400 at this point, $13,400 less than William’s lead. She bet $1,200 and she was RIGHT.

Dean Moriarty is a memorable character in this beat generation novel. show

Rebecca found the last Daily Double in “First in Your Class” under the $1,600 clue, with 4 clues left after it worth $7,600. In second place with $14,200, she had $5,000 less than William’s lead. She bet $8,000 and she was RIGHT.

This Standard Oil Company president was considered America’s first billionaire. show

William finished in the lead with $22,400. Rebecca was next with $21,800 and Jordan was in third place with $2,200.

ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS ACHILLES?

Achilles was the son of Peleus, a mortal, and Thetis, a nymph who wished to rid her children of their mortal qualities in some versions. By the time Achilles came along, Thetis had already caused the death of 6 offspring with fire or boiling water. That did not stop her from going to work on Achilles. Peleus caught her one night and intervened. A more familiar version claims that Thetis dipped Achilles in the River Styx to make him invulnerable after a prophecy foretold his early death. She held him by the left heel so that part of his body was not touched by the waters. The result of that oversight proved to be Achilles’ undoing in the siege of Troy, when he was killed by a poison arrow to his vulnerable heel. More on the topic on ThoughtCo.com.



Jordan bet $2,199 to finish with $4,399.

Rebecca bet it all, doubling her score to $43,600.

William, you will recall, had the lead in his QF but didn’t bet enough to win the semi-final spot. He made sure that wasn’t happening this time. He bet $21,201 and won the match with $43,601. William Scott is the first finalist.

Final Jeopardy (4/16/2018) Rebecca Rosenthal, William Scott, Jordan Goodson

2 triple stumpers from the last round:

COLLEGE HONORS ($2000) This director won a student Oscar for “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads” before his 1st feature, “She’s Gotta Have It”

LETTER MEN ($2000) This author of Indian descent released “Half a Life” in 2001, the year he won the Nobel Prize for Literature

2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “American Icons”

This WWII icon was created in a 1943 song that says, “That little frail can do more than a male can do” show

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12 Responses

  1. Cece says:

    This is the first game of this tournament I watched—and I’m glad I did. Brliliant match.
    What was with that Levi’s neg by the judges? Splitting hairs much? Too bad only one can advance; Rebecca deserved to be in the finals as well.

    • VJ says:

      I don’t know, Cece. I guess they would have accepted just Strauss, but not just Levi. Still I thought Alex should have at least said “we need more” as he often does.

      • Cece says:

        Yeah, a “we need more”, or just a silent stare would’ve done it. I think these fast-paced games make Alex kinda dizzy. 🙂

      • VJ says:

        I think he did get a silent stare, maybe they edited some of it out. William shot a quizzical look at Alex like “what’s the problem?” Of course, it’s possible he just didn’t know Strauss, right?

  2. Louis says:

    Congrats to all the players with the triple solve even though Rebecca came close to being the finalist. She has more than enough dough to pursue her career later on Achilles is one of my favorite mythological but is it true to say all of them died in battle VJ? Say killed by arrows or knives? In what other ways do people in mythology die from other than use of weapons?

    • VJ says:

      Lots of other ways, Lou. Here’s a page with 10 gruesome ways, but some are good, too, like Baucis and Philomen. a husband and wife, who Zeus turned into intertwining trees when they died so they could still be together.

      LINK: 8 more clues from the match

  3. John B. says:

    Impressive scores by Rebecca and William, before and after FJ. Correct betting, and even though Jordan was sort of “left in the dust” she got FJ right.

    Gutsy move by Rebecca on the DD (8K), she was gunning for the lead! Alas, it was not enough, William put on quite an end spurt. I had Rebecca sort of pegged to win it all.

  4. Dalton Higbee says:

    I’m shocked that Rebecca lost, but congratulations, William! Hope you win the whole thing.

  5. Richard Corliss says:

    They were so much faster than Jordan today.