Final Jeopardy: U.S. States (5-10-19)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (5/10/2019) in the category “U.S. States” was:
This state entered the Union in 1820 after separating from another state that began with the same 2 letters
In the last quarterfinal of the 2019 Teachers Tournament, the contestants are: Dave Rowswell, an art teacher from Cheyenne, WY; Benjamin Schwartz, an English teacher from Stamford, CT; and Ellie Walsh, a world history & US Government teacher from Nashville, TN.
Click here to leave well wishes and prayers for Alex Trebek. There’s also a link to where you can make a donation to pancreatic cancer research in his honor.
Round 1 Categories: The Parent Company – Natural Landmarks – 2-Word Alliteration – Hey, You! – Hall Pass – It’s Not Rhesus
Benjamin found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Hall Pass” under the $1,000 clue. Only the “It’s Not Rhesus” category was left after it. He was in the lead with $4,200, $400 more than Ellie in second place. He bet $1,000 and he was RIGHT.
Praise the Lord! The Fisk Jubilee Singers & the Mighty Clouds of Joy are members of this Hall of Fame. show
Benjamin finished in the lead with $5,800. Ellie was second with $4,800 and Dave was last with $1,800. Before Round 2 began, Ellie was dinged on a reversal (see below). Her score dropped to $3,200.
Round 2 Categories: The Underground Railroad – World of Lit – Computers – Beatles Songs by Lyric – Trying Times – “O-U” Words
Benjamin found the first Daily Double in “Underground Railroad” under the $800 clue on the 7th pick. He was in the lead with $6,600, $3,400 more than Ellie in second place. Another reversal (see below) bumped him up to $9,000. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
“The Drinking Gourd” was this group of stars that helped runaways find the North Star in the night sky. show
Dave found the last Daily Double in “Trying Times” under the $1,200 clue on the 16th pick. In third place with $5,000, he had $12,200 less than Benjamin’s lead. He bet $2,000 and thought it was heresy. That was WRONG.
In 1735 John Peter Zenger was acquitted of this using the argument that printing the truth was not illegal. show
Benjamin finished with a runaway $22,000. Ellie was second with $8,800 and Dave was in third place with $6,200.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
MassMoments.com relates what led to Maine’s battle for independence from Massachusetts and how when the goal was finally in reach, “Maine suddenly found itself in the midst of a heated controversy.” Missouri, then a slave state, was campaigning for statehood at the same time. Maine was a free state. Admitting one and not the other would upset the balance of free and slave states in Congress. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 resolved the situation by approving statehood for both.
We just saw this first round clue on 3/18/19: MISSOURI HISTORY ($400) Under the terms of this 1820 legislation, Maine entered the Union as a free state & Missouri as a slave state
Dave got it right. He bet $6,100 and finished with $12,300.
Ellie picked Minnesota (statehood in 1858) She lost $8,799 and had a dollar left.
Benjamin got it too. He already won the semi-final spot so he only bet a dollar for a $22,001 finish. Dave snagged a Wild Card spot.
Thanks to Richard for providing the semi-finalist and wild card lists in the comments this week.
Reversals:
IT’S NOT RHESUS ($800) File this marmoset relative, not a rhesus, under the letter T – Alex did not hear Ellie say “tamarinD” but the judges did.
BEATLES SONGS BY LYRIC ($1200) “What would you think if I sang out of tune” – The judges decided to accept Benjamin’s response of “I Get By With a Little Help from My Friends” even though “I Get By” is not part of the title. (Dave gave the same response but forgot to phrase it in the form of a question.)
A triple stumper from each round:
NATURAL LANDMARKS ($1000) Outside Las Cruces you’ll find this national monument created by gypsum deposits
WORLD OF LIT ($1600) Of Aeschylus’ 7 surviving tragedies, this one about a war between Oedipus’ sons has “Seven” in the title
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Place Names”
A town named for its location where a river in Devon meets the English Channel, it’s also the name of a college in N.H. show
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Why did Dave Rowswell only bet $1? Could have doubled up to $44,000!
I mean Benjamin Schwartz.
@Aiden, he already won the game and the prize for winning this game was a semi-final spot, not $$. So he really had no reason to bet anything.
But even in a regular game where the winner gets the $$, no one who has a runaway would bet it all and risk losing
I get it now, VJ.
Well, what can I say? I thought that this year’s Teachers Tournament is going to be exciting, turns out it was BORING. 6 women are out, and that means that the winner of this year’s Teachers Tournament will be a man.
The question about Seattle’s Best Coffee was incorrect as there is a company named just that. The answer is not Starbucks.
I was confused about that also. I hope we get an explanation eventually.
All the clues were subsidiaries, Kelly. They were asking for the companies that own them.
THE PARENT COMPANY:
($200) Seattle’s Best Coffee
($400) Cadillac & Chevrolet
($600) American Girl
($800) ABC Broadcasting: this entertainment company
($1000) KFC & Pizza Hut: This 3-Letter! Brands, Inc.
Of the Beatles songs category, I only got the $1600 clue and the $1200 one (well, sorta—I’d have probably given the same title Benjamin did). Song titles just elude me.
They didn’t mention on air why Dave didn’t get his money back for the correct answer.
idk if I am missing something here, but if you’re talking about the Beatles song, Dave was wrong for not answering in the form of a question. So no money back.
Well, I have no idea what happened there. Dave and Benjamin got FJ! so fast, I assumed they got it from the date. I thought the same thing would happen for Ellie since she is a history and government teacher, but I guess she got hung up on the M-I states as most likely to have a match.
LINK: 12 more clues from the game
I got Maine and Mass right away. The teacher’s tournament is always too easy. I always get many answers during that tournament unlike the tournament of champions when I get very few.
And here I thought the ladies this week would have a better shot in the semi-finals but honestly this was the weakest performance by the female teachers that are not part of the wildcard entry John and VJ. I thought this tournament will have stronger players but from what I can see it’s absolutely disappointing. The last year’s event and the ones before were much better. What happened? Nervousness or something else altogether?
I was hoping that this year’s Teachers Tournament would be better than last year’s Teachers Tournament, because with unfortunate circumstances surrounding it, such as the 1st week being a really hard week with only 4 out of 15 correct responses. THANKS A LOT, FARGO! Final Jeopardy! just wanting to school everybody, and they succeeded, 2 more triple stumpers in the 2nd week, even though the 2nd week did make up for the 1st week being so hard, and the winner of last year’s Teachers Tournament: Larry Martin passing away from cancer. It was just doomed from the start.
No. 2015’s event was much better. Nothing happened. No nervousness or something else altogether. VJ told me men have strong reflexes.
LOL, Richard, I never said any such thing. The only view I have ever expressed on this is whoever plays the best should win, regardless of gender
But the 2015 JEOPARDY! Teachers Tournament also succeeded in schooling almost everybody.
Men are taught to be aggressive at an early age. They will take a chance and ring in quickly unlike women who have been taught to be “lady-like” and not be aggressive.
I agree with you, with men dominating the quarterfinals and eliminating six women from the field, it is now BORING. The Teen Tournament last year was much better because of having an all-female final, and I kind of agreeing with you, having a woman finalist. It was completely DOOMED after this quarterfinals. It will be even doomed if Romania and Sweden make it to the Grand Final, because their entry and their songs were completely out of touch.
I can’t believe all girls are out.
You do know that only 2 girls are in the semi-finals: Julia Rosinski Bailey & Sara DelVillano, but there is an 80% chance of a man winning this Teachers Tournament, and a 20% chance of a woman winning it.
Well, part of it.
Semifinalists:
Benjamin Schwartz: $22,001
Francois Barcomb: $20,600
Joe Rengstorf: $20,401
Conor Quinn: $17,600
Trevor Crowell: $15,500
Wild Cards:
Julia Rosinski Bailey: $15,200
Dave Rowswell: $12,300
Matthew Bunch: $9,600
Sara DelVillano: $8,399
===========================
Alexandra Bicks: $5,199
Mariah Minges Klusman: $4,795
Tara Baxter: $2,000
Vicki Leibeck-Owsley: $1,000
Melissa Okey: $800
Ellie Walsh: $1