Final Jeopardy: American Authors (4-8-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (4/8/2020) in the category “American Authors” was:
She published under her middle name; her first name was Nelle, Ellen backward in honor of her grandmother Ellen Finch
Today is the third quarter-final of the 2020 College Championship. Competing today: Alistair Gray, a sophomore (UC San Diego); Londyn Lorenz, a sophomore (Univ. of Mississippi); and Kylie Weaver, a senior (Penn State)
Round 1 Categories: All About April – Beverages – Anagrammed Dorm Essentials – Book Title Animals – State the State – The Drake Passage
Alistair found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “State the State” under the $800 clue on the 12th pick of the round. He was in second place with $1,400, $600 less than Kylie’s lead. He made it a true Daily Double and thought it was New Mexico. That was WRONG.
4 U.S. states touch Mexico; this state’s 140-mile border is the shortest. show
Londyn finished in the lead with $7,400. Kylie was second with $3,400 and Alistair was last with $600.
Round 2 Categories: Architecture – The Solar System – The Olympic Games – Old History – Straight C’s – To the Power of 10
Kylie found the first Daily Double in “Olympic Games” under the $1,200 clue, with a dozen clues left after it. She was in second place with $8,200 now, $2,400 less than Londyn’s lead. She bet $3,000 and she was RIGHT.
The U.S. last hosted the summer games in 1996 in this state capital show
Alistair got the last Daily Double in “Solar System” under the $1,200 clue. Only the $400 clue in the same category remained after it. In third place with $6,200, he had $13,200 less than Londyn’s lead. He went “all in” à la Jeopardy James (which did not escape Alex’s notice). He thought it was Neptune but that was WRONG. Especially unfortunate at this point.
Believed to be made of metallic hydrogen, not water, the largest ocean in the solar system is on this planet. show
Londyn finished in the lead with $19,400. Kylie was next with $10,400 and Alistair was in third place with $400.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS HARPER LEE?
Harper Lee’s given name was Nelle. An article on Bustle says her reason for dispensing with her first name when publishing was “Lee didn’t want to have to continually hear her first name “Nelle” mispronounced as “Nellie.” However, family and close friend continued to call her Nelle.
The source of the last name Finch in Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1960) was apparently Lee’s mother, whose maiden name was Frances Cunningham Finch. Cliff’s Notes says that Lee used all 3 of her mother’s names for characters. Frances became Francis Hancock; the Cunninghams were a father and son, both named Walter; and Finch is the family name of Atticus, the novel’s famed protagonist, as well as his children, Scout and Jem.
Alistair went with Emily Dickinson. He lost his $399 bet and had $1.00 left.
Kylie didn’t have a response. She lost $8,400 and finished with $2,000.
Londyn got it right. She bet $1,401 and won the semi-final spot with $20,801. That’s 3 sophomore semi-finalists. Alex noted that and asked “Will it happen again tomorrow?” Maybe… there is one sophomore in tomorrow’s game and one on Friday too.
A triple stumper from each round:
BOOK TITLE ANIMALS ($1000) Political tension surrounds 2 Turkish children in Ece Temelkuran’s “The Time of Mute” these birds
THE OLYMPIC GAMES ($2000) In 2014 Bode Miller became the oldest Alpine skiing medalist & this 18-year-old U.S. woman became the youngest slalom champ
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Exploration Name’s the Same”
The deepest part of the Mariana Trench & a submersible that went there share the name of this space shuttle show
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Ziggurat should have been accepted. It IS a stepped pyramid!
Here is the clue: “Around 2650 B.C. in Saqqara, an early one of these, rising in a series of 6 big steps, was made for King Zoser”
After reading Difference Between Ziggurats and Pyramids and The Pyramid of Djoser, you’ll have to agree with the decision.
Ziggurats and pyramids are different from each other.
I have a feeling all 7 guys with 2 girls will be in the semifinalists.
Alistair should have bet cautiously even when the daily doubles comes up because the true daily double strategy won’t always work in their favor. I was surprised that kylie and ali didn’t know Harper Lee. But still that famous actor Greg peck should have pointed them in the right direction don’t you agree VJ?
I would say that the chances of them being acquainted with the novel characters were a lot better than being acquainted with Gregory Peck films. Alistair really had nothing to lose with that bet, imo, and everything to gain. He should have thought it over a bit more maybe and “narrowed’ it down. Kylie threw away a Wild Card spot with that bet.
Alistair, we come to you first and I start by saying “Darn those Daily Doubles”.
Exactly.
Semi-Final and Wild Card results as of 4/8/20:
Semi-Finalists:
Nathaniel Miller (Yale University): $24,001
Londyn Lorenz (University of Mississippi): $20,801
Marshall Comeaux (University of Texas at Austin): $17,599
Wild Cards:
Kayla Kalhor (University of Florida): $16,501
Emma Farrell (Carnegie Mellon University): $6,799
Sophie Casarico (Florida State University): $6,400
Kylie Weaver (Pennsylvania State University): $2,000
==========================================
Sirad Hassan (Princeton University): $100
Alistair Gray (University of California, San Diego): $1