Final Jeopardy: Shakespeare’s Plays (4-16-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (4/16/2020) in the category “Shakespeare’s Plays” was:
An account of a deposed Duke of Genoa in a 1549 “History of Italy” is a presumed source for this play
Today is first of two final games in the 2020 College Championship between these three finalists: Tyler Combs, a senior (Indiana Univ.); Nibir Sarma, a sophomore (Univ. of Minnesota); and Xiaoke Ying, a sophomore (Univ. of Southern California).
Round 1 Categories: Traveling Abroad – On the Recent Bestseller List – The Hidden World of Emojis – American History – Movie Comedies – “H.D.”
Nibir found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “American History” under the $800 clue on the 5th pick of the round. Everyone had $1,000. Nibir bet it all and came up with “Punishment”. That was WRONG. He did break that 3-way tie, just not in the direction he was hoping for.
A new Quartering Act was the fourth of these punitive 1774 measures also known as the Coercive Acts. show
Nibir finished in the lead with $6,400. Tyler was second with $4,400 and Xiaoke was last with $3,200.
Round 2 Categories: Juniors & Seniors – Hobbies – French Geography – Songs of Your Older Siblings – Irregular Verbs – Poetry for Physicists
Tyler found the first Daily Double in “French Geography” under the $2,000 clue on the second pick. He was in the lead with $5,600 now, $400 more than Nibir in second place. He bet $2,400 and went with the Alps. That was WRONG.
Rich in fossils, these 4-letter mountains shared with Switzerland gave their name to an ancient dino-heavy period. show
6 clues later, Nibir landed on the last Daily Double in “Poetry for Physicists” under the $1,200 clue. In the lead with $8,000, he had $3,200 more than Xiaoke in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
In the poem “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, Byron mentions this 16th century Italian, “with his woes” show
Nibir finished in the lead with $29,200 but a reversal (see below) dropped him down to $25,200. Still a runaway! Xiaoke was next with $8,800 and Tyler was in third place with $5,200.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “THE TEMPEST”?
In “The Tempest”, Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, deposed by his brother Antonio with the help of the King of Naples. In “The Sources of Shakespeare’s Plays”, Kenneth Muir names a bunch of books that may have inspired Shakespeare when writing “The Tempest”. About Thomas’s “History of Italy”, he says, “Shakespeare could have read of Prosper Adorno, Duke of Genoa, who was deposed in 1561, returned in 1577 as deputy for the Duke of Milan, and made friends with Ferdinando, King of Naples, but was again expelled.” Muir also points out that Shakespeare had earlier acted in a play called “Every Man in his Humour” that had a character named Prospero in it, and may have taken the name from that source.
Sporcle Challenge: Can you pick 15 Shakespearean characters by their tweets
Tyler wrote down “Coriolanus” (about a Roman general). He lost his $5,000 bet and finished with $200.
Xiaoke went with “Othello”. (It has a duke). She lost $8,000 and was left with $800.
Nibir had “Twelfth Night”. (Orisino is a duke.) He lost his $3,005 bet and finished with $22,195.
These scores will be added to tomorrow’s final scores to determine the winner. Nibir is sitting pretty!
Reversal: SONGS OF YOUR OLDER SIBLINGS ($2000) Hey! This Train song wonders, “Ain’t that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo” – Nibir said “Soul Sister”, and had to give back $4,000 for leaving “Hey” out of the title.
A triple stumper from each round:
MOVIE COMEDIES ($1000) This 2018 Mila Kunis/Kate McKinnon comedy changes one word from the title of a James Bond film
JUNIORS & SENIORS ($1600) For 29 years Harry Connick Sr. put away Louisiana offenders in this prosecuting job for Orleans Parish
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “U.S. Historic Sites”
Its official seal includes the year 1864 for when it was established, a folded flag & a scroll inscribed “Our Most Sacred Shrine” show
Click here to leave well wishes and prayers for Alex Trebek for continuing success in his battle against cancer. There’s also a link to where you can make a donation to pancreatic cancer research in his honor.
We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.
yup, Nibir sure is sitting pretty. The others could catch up if he makes a daring bet on a daily double he doesn’t know tomorrow though.
Tough FJ as we got another triple stumper.
Wow, three tough Daily Double clues. And a tough Final.
I was less optimistic this morning because it’s not with Macbeth, Hamlet, R&J etc. in the top tier Shakespeare plays, and I thought the background of Prospero that was alluded to in the clue was not among the most important facts about the play (although I haven’t read or seen it, so I could be way off there).
Just realized that I had not noticed the category for the poetry question. That would have helped considerably.
@JP, I was just looking at a flashcard on the plot of “The Tempest” and if that’s what students use to study, I have to agree this would be tough. It says: “Prospero, duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda live on a remote island they have been stranded on for twelve years. Their companions are Ariel (magic spirit enslaved by Prospero) and Caliban (island native also enslaved). Prospero makes a storm to shipwreck his brother and King Alonso on their island to get revenge. Prospero wins and marries Miranda to Prince Ferdinand.” It doesn’t say why Prospero needs to get revenge.
Train will never forgive Nibir for leaving out “Hey” out of their title.
Let’s hope that we’ll get an easier clue on the deciding game tomorrow. I know that it might turn this exciting match into a foregone conclusion, but still.
I hope Tyler and Xiaoke will do better tomorrow.