Final Jeopardy: Fictional Characters (6-5-18)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (6/5/2018) in the category “Fictional Characters” was:
He got a real N.Y. Times obit in 1975; it said he wore “false mustaches to mask signs of age that offended his vanity”
New champ Leslie Manion, a bookseller from Washington, won $599 yesterday. In Game 2, her opponents are: Joe Castro, a comptroller from California; and Megan Beesley, a public defender from Missouri.
Round 1 Categories: True Crime Books, Sweetheart – Pulitzer Prize Musicals – Ball in the Family – Hawaiian Crossword Clues – I Don’t Wanna Cramp – Your Style
Joe found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “True Crime Books” under the $600 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. He was in the lead with $400, $200 more than Megan in second place. He bet the $1,000 allowance and “airplane terrorism” popped out at the last second. That was WRONG.
“The skies belong to us” narrates one 1972 instance of this crime that was unfortunately big in that era. show
Joe finished in the lead with $4,000. Leslie was second with $3,000 and Megan was last with $2,000.
Round 2 Categories: Black-&-White Photo Challenge – 17th Century Science – The Rambo Connection – Geography “B” – The Interjection Section – Portugal, the Man
Megan found the first Daily Double in “Geography ‘B'” under the $1,200 clue with 7 clues to go after it. She was in second place with $6,000 at this point, $5,600 less than Joe’s lead. She bet $4,000 and thought it was Bhutan. That was WRONG.
In 2017 Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah marked 50 years on the throne of this country. show
Joe found the last Daily Double in “Portugal, the Man” under the $1,200 clue. There were 2 clues left after it, but time was running out. In the lead with $13,600, he had $10,000 more than Megan in second place. He bet $1,000 and drew a blank so he was WRONG.
Despite his nickname, this prince who sponsored many voyages didn’t go on expeditions himself. show
That ended the round and Joe finished with a runaway $12,600. Megan was next with $3,600 and Leslie was in third place with $2,600.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
The New York Times published an obituary for Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective on 8/6/1975, a couple of months ahead of the novel “Curtain” in which Poirot dies. The eccentric detective was well known for his vanity. A physical description reflecting his fastidiousness (and his moustache) is in the 3/18/2016 recap, the last time he was the subject of Final Jeopardy!
Hercule Poirot Central has a timeline of the life of Christie’s narcissistic sleuth.
Leslie picked Don Corleone. She lost $2,595, leaving her with $5 dollars.
Megan wrote down “Monopoly,” without enough time to fit in “man.” (His name is Uncle Pennybags). She lost $3,598 for a $2 finish.
Joe came up with Mark Twain. He lost $3,216 so he won the game with $9,384. Joe Castro is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
PULITZER PRIZE MUSICALS ($800) 5 people including Marvin Hamlisch, shared the 1976 Drama award for this musical
THE INTERJECTION SECTION ($1200) After big plays, Yankees broadcaster Phil Rizzuto would often exclaim this 2-word beastly interjection
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “Historic TV”
An authentic Bell H-13 Sioux air ambulance was used in the opening credits of this television series. show
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Well, so much for that chicken coop.
Well, I was reading that you can start a real nice one for about $500 so maybe Leslie will be a good egg about it. LOL!!
Laugh out loud.
I was hoping for a triple solve today too but when Leslie mentioned that she wants to be a streaker, it’s not to be seen. How anyone here never read Agatha Christie is just beyond me, VJ. Also I loved Poirot.
Is it just me or am I thinking that March and June are tough final jeopardy subjects day? Plus, the clue here specifically asked for a fictional character not the author. Mark Twain isn’t a mystery writer as he did Tom Sawyer.
@Lou, well, as I said, I think Joe just put Mark Twain down to have a response, preferably one with a mustache. LOL! There was nothing in the clue about a mystery writer.
LINK: 12 more clues from the match
I’ve read three Poirot mysteries is the last couple months, and saw the movies from the 70s for the first time. Vanity was never something that I associated with the character. In retrospect, I can see how that would be applied to him, but I don’t see it as a defining characteristic.
With that being the case, that just left me guessing a mustachioed fictional character. I’m not surprised none of the contestants could think of the same character the writers were thinking of. I thought it was a difficult clue.
While yesterday there was an excuse for the players – “Durability” has nothing to do with taxes and/or death – a sneaky distraction, today’s clue was clear. Maybe being European helped, but Murder on the Orient Express” is a classic in Europe.
As I said in CotD: I’m only going with ONE, because I can’t believe 2 total disasters in a row. NOW I believe it. Either the clues have gotten tougher (I don’t think so) or the overall knowledge of candidates has dropped significantly. My vote is on #2.
MARK TWAIN???REALLY?
Since J is a game of answers and questions, I have just one question: where do they find those people?? Or are we just slipping back into pre WW II isolation ??
Are you really gonna start with that ‘where do they find these people’ refrain again? You know where and how they find them.
Actually, my first instinct was to predict zero again this morning but I ignored it because a vain fictional character does make you think of Poirot and I figured the players know the J! writers favor Agatha Christie. Still, there was no hint in the clue that this character was from a novel, a TV show or a movie. There was nothing to indicate nationality either, just that the NYT did an obit on him.
Joe probably put down Mark Twain just to have something just like Ian said Whistler yesterday on that Remington painting.