Final Jeopardy: 20th Century Bestselling Authors (5-16-19)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (5/16/2019) in the category “20th Century Bestselling Authors” was:

He once said, “In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage…who we are and where we have come from”

These 3 finalists in the 2019 Teachers Tournament will battle it out today and tomorrow: Conor Quinn, a world history teacher from Albany, NY; Francois Barcomb, a physics teacher from New Paltz, NY; and Sara DelVillano, an instrumental music teacher from Lanham, MD. The prizes at stake: $100,000 and a spot in the next Tournament of Champions, $50,000 and $25,000.

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 Accessorized Teacher – Crossword Clues “L” – Dancing Back to Disco – Plants & Flowers – Text – Books

Conor found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Crossword Clues ‘L'” under the $800 clue on the 8th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $2,400, $1,400 more than Sara in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and drew a blank so he was WRONG.

Fungi & algae combo (6) show

Francois finished in the lead with $7,200. Sara was second with $2,800 and Conor was last with $2,200.

Round 2 Categories: Gritty – European History – “New” Entertainment – People on the Map – Bible Translation – Add a Vowel

Conor found the first Daily Double in “People on the Map” under the $1,600 clue on the 4th pick. He was in second place with $4,200 now, $3,400 less than Francois in the lead. He bet $2,000 and drew a blank again so he was WRONG.

The Karen neighborhood of Nairobi was once the home of this author. show

Francois found the last Daily Double in “European History” under the $1,600 clue on the 14th pick. In the lead with $10,000, he had $6,400 more than Sara in second place. He bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.

This extreme right-wing ideology big in 1930s & ’40s Europe gets its name from a Roman bundle of wooden rods. show

Francois finished with a runaway $18,800. Sara was next with $6,800 and Conor was in third place with $4,600.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS ALEX HALEY?

Alex Haley wrote the words in the clue in a May 1977 Reader’s Digest article, “What Roots Means to Me.” His blockbuster 1976 book “Roots” became a 1977 miniseries that had half the nation glued to the TV screen in its initial run. In “Roots 2.0,” on PublicBooks.org, Harvey Young will fill you in on the book, the original miniseries and the 2016 History Channel remake. He includes how it was later learned that Haley’s research was in no way as meticulous as he initially claimed, as well as the successful plagiarism lawsuit brought by Harold Courlander, author of “The African.” Despite Haley’s tarnished halo, he is still credited with renewing a deep interest in genealogy.

AMERICAN LITERATURE $100: “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” was “told to” this deeply rooted author



Conor got it right. He bet $1,000 and finished with $5,600.

Sara didn’t have a response. She lost her $2,000 bet and finished with $4,800.

Francois got it, too. He bet $1,600 so his final total today was $20,400.

These scores will be added to the final scores in tomorrow’s game to determine who will win the grand prize.

Final Jeopardy (5/16/2019) Conor Quinn, Francois Barcomb, Sara DelVillano

2 triple stumpers from the last round:

GRITTY ($2000) “Mule Variations” won a Folk Album Grammy for this gravel-voiced singer who also acted in “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”

EUROPEAN HISTORY ($2000) 6th century Byzantine emperor Justinian defeated these eastern Goths in Italy

2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Women Authors”

A 1936 N.Y. Times review called the debut novel by this author “In all probability, the biggest book of the year: 1,037 pages” show

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12 Responses

  1. John Christian Ambion says:

    If Francois played the cards tomorrow, James Holzhauer could be facing a mountain of challenge.

    • John Christian Ambion says:

      After the Teachers Tournament, it’s back to the drawing board as we will see more of James Holzhauer.

  2. VJ says:

    I loved Conor’s chat story today about how he cried when he was 6 when then-rookie Derek Jeter signed his baseball. Perfect retelling! Also, it made Conor laugh after he answered the Donna Summer clue with “What is Hot Stuff,” as if for the first time, he was realizing how ridiculous that title sounds. That made me laugh, too.

    It’s true that it doesn’t look too promising for Conor and Sara tomorrow, but let’s not forget how Buzzy Cohen started Day 2 of the final at zero in his ToC and won the whole thing.

    LINK: 8 more clues from the game

  3. Lou says:

    Two missed daily doubles. Lichen was very easy to figure out since it is in the kingdom monera. Any biology major taking that course will not miss this. But still glad two people got final right but I really hope the scores get better tomorrow for Sara and conor if they want to catch up to francois. VJ how much do you know about isak Dineson?

    • Richard Corliss says:

      @Lou, I hope one of his opponents will win. If Sara wins she’ll be the second female teacher to win this tournament. If Conor wins it’s okay.

  4. Richard Corliss says:

    What was Francois thinking?

    • John Christian Ambion says:

      He was thinking of challenging James Holzhauer.

      • Richard Corliss says:

        If James makes it to the tournament of champions, I still think he will easily beat Francois.

  5. Richard Corliss says:

    Oh, boy. Making it really tough for Sara and Conor. If you will recall last Thursday, the situation was almost reversed. They made it really tough for Melissa.