Final Jeopardy: The Western Hemisphere (4-21-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (4/21/2025) in the category “The Western Hemisphere” was:
This country has 2 capitals, is bounded by 5 other countries & has 37 official languages
New champ Liam Starnes, an undergraduate student from Barrington, IL, won $32,401. In Game 2, he is up against: Bob Callen, a retired librarian from Lexington, KY; and Maja Vlajnic, a sr. data & policy specialist from Fredericksburg, VA.
Round 1 Categories: Science Fiction – Celebrity Godparents – State Nicknames – Disney Dwarf Roll Call – Makeup Through History – “Wa”, “Wa”!
Liam found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Celebrity Godparents” under the $1,000 with 3 clues left after it. He was in last place with $3,200, $2,400 less than Maja’s lead. Liam bet $5 and said Paul Rudd. That was WRONG.
He & TV co-star Bryan Cranston had more than a chemical bond & he made Bryan godfather to his son Rydin show
Maja finished in the lead with $5,800. Bob was second with $4,800 and Liam was last with $3,395. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Science Facts – Anagrams – Dear Diary – “X” Men – African History – That’s So Gangster (Movie)
Liam found the first Daily Double in “African History” under the $1,200 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. He was in last place with $3,395, $1,405 less than Bob’s lead. Liam made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
In 1970 Biafra, a breakaway land of the Igbo people, capitulated to this country’s central government, ending a civil war show
Bob found the last Daily Double in “Dear Diary” under the $1,600 clue on the 13th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $11,200, $3,610 more than Liam in second place. Bob bet $1,200 and he was RIGHT.
In 1922 Virginia Woolf recorded being bored by this new novel her friend “Tom” Eliot thought was “on a par with ‘War and Peace’” show
Bob finished in the lead with $15,200. Liam was second with $12,790 and Maja was last with $10,200. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS BOLIVIA?
According to World Population Review, 9 countries have 2 capital cities in 2025. Only 2 are in the Western Hemisphere: Bolivia (Sucre & LaPaz) and the Netherlands (Amsterdam & The Hague). Dutch is the only official language of the Netherlands, so that leaves Bolivia. When Bolivia adopted a new constitution in February 2009, 34 languages were given official status, in addition to the 3 already designated official: Spanish, Aymara and Quechua. In June 2009, Bolivia entered the Guinness Book of Records as the country with the most official languages.
Bolivia is the 5th largest country in South America. It has borders with 3 larger countries: Argentina, Brazil and Peru, as well as 2 smaller countries: Chile and Paraguay.
Maja got it right, after crossing out Brazil. She bet $10,100 and finished with $20,300.
Liam got it right. He bet $7,611 and finished with $20,401.
Bob had Brazil. He lost $10,381 and finished with $4,819. So Liam Starnes remains the champ with a 2-day total of $52,802.
A triple stumper from each round:
SCIENCE FACTS ($2000) In 1774 chemist Johan Gahn was working with the mineral pyrolusite & found himself speaking this new element, No. 25
DEAR DIARY ($2000) His final diary entry, March 29, 1912, said “Outside the door of the tent, it remains a scene of whirling drift”
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “U.S. GEOGRAPHY”
Interstate 25 connects these 2 state capitals, 1st & 2nd in elevation, & in between runs through No. 3, Denver show
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Seems as if I missed another good game. Second day in a row I got the middle DD and FJ. Have known Bolivia has 2 capitals (one fewer than South Africa) forever. Brazil’s capital was Rio till they built Brasilia out of the jungle. Only stumpers I knew were Alabama’s plate and the 1991 film.
I was astonished that two of them came up with Brazil at all. Maja obviously thought better of that. It’s a confusing topic in some ways but, still, I can’t recall ever hearing Brazil mentioned with 2 capitals.
I don’t know VJ. Actually, Sucre is the internationally recognized capital of Bolivia, and not La Paz. In fact, Sucre is specifically mentioned in that country’s constitution as the being the capital of that nation.. This was why I immediately discounted Bolivia in my response. IMHO, I think that the writers had pulled a fast one in that respect.
Yes, Rick, you are right about the constitution only naming Sucre, but I wouldn’t say the writers pulled a fast one. I don’t know about Sucre being internationally recognized. Some articles make the distinction that La Paz is the seat of government while others, including Spanish Wikipedia, call it the de facto capital. So I guess they could say they didn’t specify “official”.
The same situation exists in Chile. Santiago is the official capital and Valparaiso is the legislative capital, but Chile rarely gets listed as having 2 capitals.
As I said, the topic is confusing.
1/3 on DD and missed FJ. I said Brazil. I didn’t know that Bolivia had another capital besides La Paz (which had been drilled into the minds of anyone in public school). I have never even heard of Sucre before this show.
Liam bugged me with that $5 wager. Like the $500 ones, anything that jumbles the numbers affects my sensibilities. Oh well!
Liam was pretty savvy in his wagers during the DDs. As for the FJ, I quickly came up with Bolivia, but then I discounted Bolivia since I was sure that the country had only one capital (Sucre). Anyways, I then went for broke, and went with Paraguay.
The name of the book the movie “Goodfellas” was based on is “Wiseguy” by Nicholas Pileggi. They changed it partly because of the “Wiseguy” TV series starring Ken Wahl.
I don’t think goodfellas was slang for a connected guy before that movie. It was wiseguy.