Final Jeopardy: Novelists (4-4-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (4/4/2023) in the category “Novelists” was:
A 2012 book review noted subjects that “sparked his ire”: capital punishment, big tobacco & “the plight of the unjustly convicted”
New champ Crystal Zhao, a tech consultant from Bloomington, MN, won $4,199 yesterday. In Game 2, her challengers are: Brian Henegar, a guest services agent from La Follette, TN; and Amanda Bain Wysocki, a social worker from Kansas City, MO.
Round 1 Categories: Looks Good Enough to Eat – Remember Reruns? – The World of Middle-Earth – Goodness & Mercy – Shall Follow Me – All the Days of My Life
Brian found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “All the Days of My Life” under the $600 clue just after the commercial break. He was tied in second place with Amanda at $1,000, $1,400 less than Crystal’s lead. Brian bet it all and he was RIGHT.
He worked to develop a flu vaccine before coming up with one for polio, declared safe on April 12, 1955 show
Brian finished in the lead with $4,400. Crystal was second with $4,000. Amanda was last with $3,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Waterfront Property – Paint Me a Picture – Sports Medicine – Turtles All the Way Down – Tarantino Films – “Odd”s & “End”s
Crystal found the first Daily Double in “Paint Me a Picture” under the $1,200 clue on the 10th pick of the round. She was in last place with $4,400, $4,800 less than Brian’s lead. Crystal made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.
This 17th century masterpiece has been called “The Dutch Mona Lisa” show
Brian got the last Daily Double in “Waterfront Property” under the $1,200 on the 16th pick of the round. In the lead with $11,200, he had $1,600 more than Crystal in second place. Brian bet $3,800 and said the Arno. That was WRONG.
Once used as a papal fortress & today a museum, Castel Sant’Angelo overlooks this river show
Brian finished in the lead with $13,800. Crystal was second with $11,600. Amanda was last with $5,400. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS JOHN GRISHAM?
John Grisham’s “The Racketeer” is a best-selling 2012 legal thriller. Bill Sheehan’s book review contains the words referenced in today’s final clue. Sheehan says: “Among the subjects that have sparked his ire are capital punishment (“The Chamber”), the depredations of Big Tobacco (“The Runaway Jury”), and, most notably, the plight of the unjustly convicted.” He notes that Grisham’s disgust with a corrupt legal system “provides the dramatic impetus for ‘The Racketeer.'”
While Grisham’s works deal with regularly deal with these topics, a Yorkshire Times reviewer, Artis-Ann, pointed out 2 things that sets “The Racketeer” apart from Grisham’s other works. The novel is wholly a product of Grisham’s imagination and is not based on any true stories. It is also the first Grisham novel where the main protagonist, Malcolm Bannister, is not white: “Responding to pleas from fans, Grisham created Bannister and said, ‘It’s no big deal, it’s not about race’….” Plans made in 2013 to adapt the novel to the big screen have thus far not materialized. Perhaps the fans could move that along, too.
Amanda thought it might be Upton Sinclair. She lost $4,000 and finished with $1,400.
Crystal went with “Lewis.” That cost her $7,201 and left her with $4,399.
Brian got it right. He bet $9,401 and won the game with $23,201. Brian Henegar is the new Jeopardy! champ.
2 triple stumpers from the first round:
GOODNESS & MERCY ($1000) To someone who’s upset, you might offer “Tea &” this, as in the title of a play
ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE ($1000) Born into slavery, she wrote under the name Iola, became a newspaper owner & campaigned against lynching
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “American History”
While performing in Philadelphia, the future father of this man sent a letter threatening to slit Andrew Jackson’s throat. show
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The use of the weak pun about the coin was confusing in the answer about quarter. I was confused about Ken interpretation of what it means to give quarter. It is a a term implying mercy. To give quarter means to take prisoners and provide for them . To give no quarter means to take no prisoners Ken said that “no quarter given”. Means not to put an enemy to death. It means the opposite.
Good group tonight, all likable and good players. Amanda disappeared down the stretch and pretty much lost all chance of winning.
Crystal’s wager of $7201 is perplexing me. She missed FJ and ended up with $4399, same as what Brian would have had, had he missed, forcing a tiebreaker. $2201 might have been a stronger wager.
Norman Mailer was the only name I could think of for FJ. I gave Truman Capote a brief thought.
Thought Brian would know the Italian river. I’d have gone with Tiber but really wasn’t sure. One of them should have known Buffalo’s lake. “Tea and” clue I also thought might be answered.
I knew the black journalist only because our local HS renamed itself after her a couple years ago when they decided Woodrow Wilson had been too racist.
Sorry if I’ve misunderstood but the term “no quarter” appears to mean the prisoners WILL be put to death. Was this a misprint or did the Jeopardy question-makers allow an error? Also, I loved the Lord of the Rings category (World of Middle Earth) – just selfish. I’m so pleased when one of “my” categories appears on Jeopardy. Again, thanks for all your great work, VJ. This site (and you) ROCK!
Thanks, Sam. As for the coin TS, Ken is the one who made it confusing when he said, “the coin is a quarter, as in “no quarter given”. I had the same reaction as you — that he gave the opposite meaning of the clue but I guess he did that because the “no quarter” expression is more commonly used, meaning no mercy. I didn’t quite know if I should just link to quarter or to no quarter.
Okay! I actually found an entry for “give quarter” on the Free Dictionary and put that link in the TS clue. For anyone who wants to know the origin of the more common idiom, give no quarter, here’s a link to The Word Counter’s fine explanation
Being from a Buffalo suburb, that $800 clue hurt!