Final Jeopardy: African Geography (7-24-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (7/24/2023) in the category “African Geography” was:
The only country in Africa with Spanish as an official language, it lies mostly between 1 & 2 degrees north latitude
New champ Taylor Clagett, a marketing director from Chesapeake Bay, MD, won $10,800 last Friday. In Game 2, he is up against: Simona Fine, a graduate student from Great Neck, NY; and Ian Foutz, a teacher from Camarillo, CA.
Round 1 Categories: States’ Highest Points – Space Men & Women – Welcome to Our Fruit Stand – Alphabetically First – Uniform Numbers – The “End” Zone
Taylor found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Alphabetically First” under the $800 clue just after the commercial break. He was in the lead with $2,600, $200 more than Simona in second place. Taylor bet $2,300 and he was RIGHT.
Of the 5 books of the Pentateuch, it’s written in the form of a farewell address by Moses show
Taylor finished in the lead with $7,300. Simona was second with $3,200 and Ian was last with $2,400. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Musical Works – My Would-Be VP – Starts with 3 Consonants – International Books – Hostel – Makeovers
Taylor found the first Daily Double in “Musical Works” under the $1,600 on the 7th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $15,700, $12,500 more than Simona in second place. Taylor bet $100 and guessed Stradivarius. That was WRONG.
One of Rachmaninoff’s best-known works is his “Rhapsody on a Theme of” this Italian violin virtuoso show
Taylor got the last Daily Double in “My Would-Be VP” under the $1,600 clue on the 18th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $16,800, $10,400 more than Ian in second place. Taylor bet $100 and had no guess so he was WRONG.
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., running with a then-veep himself show
Taylor finished in the lead with a runaway $17,500. Ian was second with $5,200 and Simona was last with $4,000. All clues were shown. After the break, a reversal increased Ian’s final score to $6,800. (See below)
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS EQUATORIAL GUINEA?
The tiny country of Equatorial Guinea includes the mainland territory Río Muni which is located on Central Africa’s west coast between Cameroon and Gabon. These 5 islands in the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean are also part of the country: Bioko, Annobón, Corisco, Elobey Grande (Great Elobey) and Elobey Chico (Small Elobey). Equatorial Guinea isn’t actually on the Equator. The island of Annobón is 96 miles south of the Equator while the rest of the country is north of the Equator.
Also interesting: Besides being the only African nation with Spanish as its official language, Equatorial Guinea is one of 3 countries in the world whose capital city is not on its mainland. Malabo is on Bioko island, 20 miles from mainland Equatorial Guinea. That will be changing in the near future when the capital is moved to Ciudad de la Paz on the mainland. The others are Copenhagen, Denmark and Banjul, The Gambia.
Simona thought it was Senegal. She lost $2,500 and finished with $1,500.
Ian went with Sierra Leone. That cost him $1,300 and left him with $5,500.
Taylor got it right. He bet $3,500 and won the game with $21,000. Taylor’s 2-day total is $31,800.
Reversal: STARTS WITH 3 CONSONANTS ($800) This-ing “the gnar” means skiing difficult terrain; this-ing on a guitar is what Eddie Van Halen did – Simona got it with ‘shredding’ after Ian’s ‘thrashing’ was rejected. The judges okayed Ian’s response right before FJ!, increasing his score by $1,600.
A triple stumper from each round:
UNIFORM NUMBERS ($800) You won’t see any players from this MLB team wearing a single digit number; they’ve all been retired, & No. 8, twice
INTERNATIONAL BOOKS ($400) “Notes from Underground”, a novella by this Russian, is about a man alienated from the world
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “The 50 States”
Both in the Pacific, they are the 50 states’ 2 biggest islands in area; one is about 40 degrees colder in winter than the other show
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Taylor remains flat as a pancake. Maybe, though, he’s just totally laid back or low key. The bumper for tomorrow’s show actually had him smiling. I mean, he didn’t even react after Ken told him he won again.
It’s totally true – you have to know presidents. You just do.
I completely bagged FJ. I first said Sao Tome e Principe, but, changed to Cape Verdé before time ran out. Wrong and wrong. I would never get that. I wonder which writer is the Africa aficionado.
Very impressive that the champ got the Final. I can’t believe the ignorance of all three regarding the VP category. Presidential elections are mandatory knowledge, imo, before going on the show.
Taylor seemed to be playing alone from mid-first round till late in the 2nd.
I was very impressed that he got FJ; even if I were staring at a list of all African nations, I would not have picked that one. However, he gets a little erratic at times with his responses. I thought he’d know both the violin virtuoso and Lodge’s running mate (DDs). Stradivarius was a famous maker and not necessarily a player of note.
I’m familiar with guitar shredding but not shredding the gnar. But if “thrashing” is acceptable, is “thrashing the gnar” a known expression? Because the missing word was supposed to apply to both.
I think someone should have known which storied MLB team retired all of those numbers. Those monuments in centerfield are famous.
Sangre de Cristo Mountains led me to the state. Grofe’s masterwork suite is very well-known, as is Moussorgsky’s, and I don’t even like classical music.
The Yankees currently have a single-digit uniformed player.
Adam Ottavino wears number 0
He hasn’t been a Yankee for several years (thank goodness, he’s terrible).
He went to the Red Sox and then the Mets. He does still wear the “O” which is why I call him the Big Zero.
Nobody wants a correct response to any of those clues in the category “Musical Works.” That daily double in that category is a mistake.
Hmmm……the last week of the season on Jeopardy. Anyways, Guinea immediately came to my mind on FJ, but I didn’t quite come up with the full name (Equatorial Guinea). Can I still take credit for that? After all, there is only one country named Guinea in Africa.
No, Rick, there are 3 countries in Africa with Guinea in the name — the other 2 besides today’s answer are Guinea and Guinea-Bissau
Oh well. I was on the right track though, but there is always tomorrow.
I had high hopes that at least two of them would pick up on the Equator hint and would have been delighted if they all got it. Idk what Taylor started out writing, but it looked like the hint’s significance suddenly dawned on him. Congrats to him on his runaway and on saving his FJ! bet.
Tip for studying African countries: study each of the 5 regions separately, moving on to another as you master each one.
Sierra Leone and Senegal are both in West Africa. Official languages: English and French, respectively.
Did Simona really get credit for her “slashing” response? Because that word doesn’t start with 3 consonants.
That was my mistake, Esme — she actually said ‘shredding’
Sorry ’bout that. I should have rechecked it and thanks for pointing it out!
Sad for a classical music lover like me to see contestants whiff on the category. Never heard of “Tulum”, though.
4 more games left til the season finale. Whoever wins on Friday gets to relax for the summer and come back to defend as the returning champion when the new season begins.