Final Jeopardy: Geography Words (6-21-22)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (6/21/2022) in the category “Geography Words” was:
From Greek for “chief” & “sea”, this word originally referred to the Aegean, known for its many island groups
5x champ Megan Wachpress, an attorney from Berkeley, CA, has now won $52,002. In Game 6, her challengers are: Rob Kaplan, a teaching physician from Los Angeles, CA; and Jenny Sholar, a pre-school teacher from Madison, WI.
Round 1 Categories: Geographic Superlatives – Red All Over – Taking Stock Symbol – TV Factoids – Kids’ Books – 3 Letters in a Row, Alphabetically
Jenny found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Geographic Superlatives” under the $600 clue on the 13th pick of the round. Jenny was in the lead with $600. Megan and Rob had $600, too. Only they were both in the red! Jenny bet the $1,000 allowance and she was RIGHT.
This largest bay is part of the Indian Ocean show
Jenny finished in the lead with $4,600. Megan was second with $1,200 and Rob was last, at negative $200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: History – Movie Inspirations – I Don’t Hear a Symphony – Medical Breakthroughs – Transplants – “M.R.”, Aye!
Rob found the first Daily Double in “Medical Breakthroughs” under the $1,200 clue on the first pick of the round. The scores were the same as above. Rob bet the $2,000 allowance and said prions. That was WRONG.
Sir Martin Evans shared a 2007 Nobel Prize for his discoveries with these undifferentiated biological units show
Rob got the last Daily Double in “Movie Inspirations” under the $1,200 clue with 2 more clues to go. He was in the lead with $13,400, $3,200 more than Jenny in second place. Rob bet $3,100 and he was RIGHT.
Padre Fray Tormenta, who helped the orphans of Texcoco while wearing a mask in the ring, inspired this 2006 comedy show
Rob finished in the lead with $16,500. Jenny was second with $12,200 and Megan was last with $8,400. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS ARCHIPELAGO?
Etymology Online is my go-to resource for this type of clue and, according to its entry for archipelago: “The elements of the word are Greek, but there is no record of arkhipelagos in ancient or Medieval Greek (the modern word in Greek is borrowed from Italian), so the word perhaps is an Italian compound or an alteration in Italian of Medieval Latin Egeopelagus, from Greek Aigaion pelagos ‘Aegean Sea.'” The “archi-” part of the word is attributed to Latin. That’s not to say that Etymology Online is THE ultimate authority. There are other sources that agree completely with the clue (like the above video). I’m just one of those people who believes the farther back you look, the better but it’s up to you to decide what seems most likely in these cases.
Sporcle Quiz: Are these countries and territories islands or archipelagos?
Megan got it right. She bet $201 and finished with $8,601.
Jenny went with Tyrrhenian, nowhere near Greece. That cost her $8,700. She finished with $3,500.
Rob wrote down something Mayim couldn’t read and neither could I. He lost $7,901 and was left with $8,599, and that is how Megan Wachspress won a third game by a margin of $2.00. Megan’s 6-day total is $60,603.
2 triple stumpers from TV FACTOIDS:
($800) The latest variant of the “Law & Order” franchise is “Organized Crime” starring this man, a veteran of “SVU”
($1000) This daytime talk show host seen here once worked as a morning TV news anchor in Chicago (image)
4 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Classic Literary Characters”
He declares that one of the people he is trying to emulate is a medieval knight known as Amadis of Gaul show
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That Sporcle quiz was a little delayed. I mention this specifically because I got Grenada wrong (when I didn’t), because I did my first two years of med school there!
Megan’s FJ wagering is usually brilliant and strategic. Today she knew she had to be right to win and hope the other two crashed. She wrote down her response instantly, so I knew she’d nailed it. I sure couldn’t come up with it. Other than the Catholic sin and the NFL broadcaster, the stumpers got me too. Three wins by $2; has to be a first.
That was darn good competition today. When all 3 started out in the red, it looked bleak.
That first round was absolutely atrocious. I was thinking that it might be a waste of my time.
Jenny was refreshing, because she wasn’t afraid to show emotion, and was just cute!
What does Ken say in those contestant commercials? “…A chance to win a lot of money”. Good for Megan to squeak out another win, but, to what end? She has her spot in the TOC. And, as someone else said, she seemed genuinely surprised that she won. Sure, there was some canny wagering, but, I would not go nuts saying how brilliant she is. Winning Jeopardy! by knowing final when others don’t is a strategy, but, not reliable. You know what is another, more reliable strategy? Answer more clues than your opponents, and betting more. That was eminently successful for James, and he never looked surprised that he won.
The daytime TV host, had the pic been of her wearing her signature huge hoop earrings, I wonder if someone might have gotten it.
And I got FJ! correct.
I was rooting for Jenny after she got that first DD right. Her reaction was adorable.
I wouldn’t have known that TV host if she had hoop earrings and a sign with her name behind her. I thought that was the name of a place. smh
Why do they keep using Greek words as the clue in FJ as they’re just plain useless? I mean, virtually no one in the states speaks Greek.
I don’t think the clue writers are expecting the contestants to speak Greek, and you need not know a thing about the Greek language to have solved this clue.
But even if you don’t speak Greek, many English words have Greek roots that contestants can reasonably be expected to know, and the last two clues were will with in bounds asking about fairly common stems in English words with a Greek origin.
I thought they were both great clues, and the part of the clue today referencing the Greek roots taught me something interesting.
Unbelievable that Megan won the game again by 2 dollars. I guess she has luck or something. Maybe that necklace has helped her a lot.
Megan is absolutely brilliant. Most people measure brilliant in dollar amount won in a short period of time. I look at brilliant in terms of strategy and longevity. The ability to win consistently. Most people are impatient and Don’t think things through before making a move. They depend on luck. Luck is sporadic. Megan simple math strategy is absolutely brilliant. She’s a careful thinker.
Imo Megan figured Rob had to cover himself in case Jenny doubled up. Megan calculated her amount to wager, I think, just in case Rob was incorrect so she (Megan) could win. Hence winning by $2. Brilliant!
Since Rob & Jenny were leading going into fj they figured they would be correct and Megan would be history. Bad strategic thinking. Never underestimate your opponent’s strategic move.
@Jacob, I’m just wondering why, esp yesterday and today, she was so blown away when she won. I mean, that’s obviously what she was aiming for.
idk, maybe she’s expecting her luck to run out?
VJ, that’s easy to understand. In Business we call it “hedging your bets.” She could not know with certainty that her opponents would be wrong but she wagered in a way that she would win by a small margin if they wagered more aggressively which they did. Having some insight into human behavior feeds into it too. Don’t forget she has 4 college degrees. One in Mathematics (undergrad) & a Master’s degree in Philosophy (University of Cambridge). She is risk averse imo based upon her background training. Most people think just Lawyer with her but she also has a Ph.D. in Philosophy which leans heavily on logic.
Thanks, Jacob 😀
James Holzhauer has a degree in math, and two words never ascribed to him are “risk averse”.
Jason, Of course James is not risk averse. That’s why he moved to Las Vegas as a professional gambler. 😂😂 He doesn’t hold advanced degrees in Philosophy or Law either. You’re mixing things up here my friend. No comparison can be made between these two individuals.
Btw, VJ, I forgot to mention she’s done this without many, if any, daily doubles coming her way. This is clearly a lesson in strategy and survival. I’ve never seen anything like it on Jeopardy even during the days of Art Fleming. This is clearly an unusual season in Jeopardy history.
For the third game in a row, Megan wins by a margin of $2. Unbelievable, her luck keeps going well for her. That makes it 5 games in a row that she comes from behind to win the game.
Kevin, Megan had a runaway on 6/15, so it’s 4 games in a row that she came from behind. The games she won by $2 were Games 1, 3 and 6.
Oh right I didn’t knew that. I think that this is a little mistake. Megan won from first place in her 2nd game then 4 games later she won from behind and if you remember on her 4th game she won that game after her opponent’s FJ response was not completed in time.
Kevin, I don’t know what mistake you are referring to but this is Megan’s 6th game. So it should be easy for you to figure out that she could not have won from behind 5 games in a row. (Hint: in a row is the mistake)