Final Jeopardy: Books & Authors (7-14-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (7/14/2023) in the category “Books & Authors” was:
In 1930 this author wrote “Murder at Full Moon”, a horror-mystery novel set in a fictional town in central California
2x champ Ittai Sopher, a digital journalist and news producer from New Orleans, LA, won $26,202 this week. In Game 3, the competitors are : Daniel Moore, a contract compliance analyst from Pittsburgh, PA; and Allison Madson, a health policy professional from Reston, VA.
Round 1 Categories: Families in U.S. History – Modern Fantasy Lit – 3, 3 – Good Afternoon! – Bands Across the Decades – A Touch of Grey
Daniel found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Families in U.S. History” under the $800 clue on the 4th pick of the round. Nobody had any money and Daniel was $200 in the red. Daniel bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
A week after this rich guy IV perished on the Titanic, an inquiry into the disaster began in a hotel with his name on it show
Daniel finished in the lead with $9,200. Allison was second with $3,000 and Ittai was last with $1,200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Dying in the Capital City – Who’s Who in the Old Testament – Science – Around the House – TV Shows – In Syndication
Daniel found the first Daily Double in “Old Testament” under the $1,600 on the 5th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $12,800, $7,800 more than Allison in second place. Daniel bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
Armed with trumpets & torches inside jars or pitchers, he led an army of 300 in victory over the Midianites show
Daniel got the last Daily Double in “Dying in the Capital City” under the $1,600 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $20,200, $15,200 more than Allison in second place. Daniel bet $6,000 and he was RIGHT.
Suddenly ex-president for life Papa Doc Duvalier show
Daniel finished in the lead with a runaway $29,000. A reversal (see below) gave Allison $4,000 so she finished second with $12,200. Ittai was last with $6,000. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS JOHN STEINBECK?
After publishing “A Cup of Gold” in 1929 about Sir Henry Morgan, John Steinbeck tried his hand at horror and mystery with “Murder at Full Moon” in 1930. On L.A. Review of Books, Jess Nevins’ detailed review (with spoilers) says it came to public attention in 2021 through author Gavin Jones, who described it as a “werewolf” novel. Steinbeck, Nevin writes, thought “the final draft was such a failure (in his own eyes) that he demanded his agent submit the novel under the pseudonym ‘Peter Pym.’ His agent found no takers. The embarrassed Steinbeck eventually withdrew the manuscript in disgust and consigned it to his papers.” Steinbeck never published it and the executors of his estate have thus far refused to do so. However, the manuscript is available “for research” at the Harry Ransom Center, Univ. of Texas at Austin.
Weird Coincidences Department: Lon Chaney, Jr. played the role of Larry Talbot, who turns into a werewolf, in the 1941 movie “The Wolf Man”, just two years after he played Lennie in the 1939 film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” (1937).
Ittai got it right. He bet $5,000 and finished with $11,000.
Allison got it, too. Her $383 bet brought her up to $12,383.
Daniel guessed Jack London, who died in 1916. He lost his $4,000 and won the game with the remaining $25,000. Daniel Moore is the new Jeopardy! champ.
Reversal: AROUND THE HOUSE ($2000) Also a word for mosaics, it refers to a distinctive flooring pattern of teeny squares or tiles – Allison’s response of tessarae was initially rejected in favor of tessellated. Allison got $4,000 after the judges checked it out.
A triple stumper from each round:
FAMILIES IN U.S. HISTORY ($1000) This old Boston family produced poet Robert & Harvard president A. Lawrence
IN SYNDICATION ($1200) It’s another name for Vitamin B3, which helps convert food into energy
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “1980s Bestsellers”
The title of this 1985 novel by a Canadian author partly alludes to the similarly named stories in a 14th century work show
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I never came across the novel ‘Murder At Full Moon’ so I didn’t come up with a correct response for FJ. Being that the work was never published, I could sure see why.
@Jacob; the year Jack London died – 1916 – is mentioned in the recap on the line with Daniel’s FJ bet.
VJ, Thanks. Shows that I don’t read closely. My bad. 😞
I got FJ as a total guess, strictly on the central CA thing. Struck me as rather arcane.
Agree, Daniel was a force. He sounds and looks like Denzel Washington – wonder if he’s kin? That show, Claim To Fame, has that on my mind.
I still stand on unwieldy clues; in this case, the Mark Twain one. Just clunky.
Jason, Daniel was definitely sharp. When Ken addressed him as “sir” when inquiring about how much he wagered I knew Daniel was in rare air. He’s got to be younger than Ken. 😂😂
I bet the Boston family would not have been a stumper if they went with a more well-known poet. Not totally sure about Amy, but certainly James Russell
“No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer.
And what is so rare as a day in June?”
Then, if ever, come perfect days…
But it was “poet Robert” that gave it to me right away.
Daniel was very smart, very likable, and super fast on the button. But he’s darn lucky he had that big lead. “Central California” led me right to the author and likely did the same for his opponents.
The vitamin B3 in the word syndication wasn’t too tough. Those B vitamins do have other names.
As Ken pointed out Jack London wasn’t a bad guess because he was from the same general area as Steinbeck. The years were off though because London had died before 1930 I’m sure.
As for the B vitamins you are correct they do have other names.
On a different topic I learned something new this past week from the Business media. The first gold discovered in America was in North Carolina. I fact checked it by googling “the history of gold” and sure enough 1799 in North Carolina gold was discovered. This would be a good Jeopardy Clue imo. I bet most people would respond California. 🤔
We are only 2 weeks away til the Season 39 finale.
A long-ago acquaintance of mine recently contacted me to tell me she will be on that show.
What, the finale? Now that is WAY cool!!