Final Jeopardy: Compound Word Origins (7-25-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (7/25/2023) in the category “Compound Word Origins” was:
This compound word meant an astronomical object of exceptional brightness in 1910; it was soon applied to actors & athletes
2x champ Taylor Clagett, a marketing director from Chesapeake Bay, MD, won $31,800 so far. In Game 3, his challengers are: Andrew Knowles, a psychologist resident from Portland, OR; and Julie Sisson, a library circulation assistant from Everett, WA.
Round 1 Categories: Just Googly It – That Can Be a Greek Letter – The OED Describes the Animal – Rhyme the Time – Something’s Rotten – In Denmark
Taylor found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “That Can Be a Greek Letter” under the $800 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $1,800, $200 more than Andrew in second place. Taylor bet $1,800 and he was RIGHT.
Instead of the end, the beginning: this luxury watch brand traces its roots back to 1848 in the Swiss village of La Chaux-de-Fonds show
Taylor finished in the lead with $6,200. Andrew was second with $4,400 and Julie was last with $3,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: State the 19th Century Senator – Somebody Wrote That – This American Lake – Kiss & Tell – Writer-Directors – The Idioms Go Thataway
Julie found the first Daily Double in “Somebody Wrote That” under the $1,600 on the second pick of the round. She was in last place with $4,200, $2,000 less than Taylor’s lead. Julie bet $4,000 and guessed Richard Wright. That was WRONG.
”I am invisible, understand simply because people refuse to see me” show
Taylor got the last Daily Double in “This American Lake” under the $1,600 clue on the 6th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $9,000, $5,400 more than Andrew in second place. Taylor bet $2,300 and he was RIGHT.
Most of the length of this French-named lake separates New York & Vermont show
Taylor finished in the lead with $9,700. Julie was second with $8,200 and Andrew was last with $6,400. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS A SUPERSTAR?
Etymology Online says superstar was in use in the entertainment sense by 1919 “in reference to vaudevillian Gertrude Hoffmann (1883-1966), ‘the world’s greatest show-woman’ [and] by 1920 in sports (Babe Ruth)….” It could also be hyphenated as super-star and “was used around the same time by astronomers for exceptionally large stars.” At some point, it seems, astronomers opted for “giant” and “supergiant” stars. (See Fact Monster)
English for Students has a list of 22 words using “super” as a prefix. Superstar is No. 21.
Andrew got it right. He bet $301 and finished with $6,701.
Julie got it, too. She bet $3,010 and finished with $11,210.
Taylor only had “star” so he lost his $8,722 bet, landing in third place with $978. That made Julie Sisson the new Jeopardy! champ.
2 triple stumpers from THE OED DESCRIBES THE ANIMAL:
($400) Of the carp family, “native to China… commonly kept in ponds, cold-water tanks, or… glass globes”
($600) “Mouse-like quadrupeds… having the fingers extended to support a thin membrane”
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “The 20th Century”
The code name for a historic meeting at this city was Argonaut, after the heroes who searched for the Golden Fleece on The Black Sea show
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE SHOW OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!
We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.
We can never know where a contestant’s mind is during a game. I refuse to believe that a Notre Dame graduate doesn’t know about a compound word. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish Wire has been giving Taylor Clagett great media coverage even after tonight’s loss. I have not forgotten what he said about his niece who had his name. I would be very hesitant to be critical of him because I’m not in his shoes. Things happen in life that are not always easy to explain nor personally understood. He was a 2x champ and now Julie is champ. Congratulations Julie.
I’m glad Julie won. She seems nice,
I can’t believe the Final. I thought this is the type of Final that 99 out of 100 Jeopardy players could answer correctly. The champ missing the Final blew my mind. I thought Taylor would be in the next Tournament of Champions.
I am utterly stunned that a decent champion could not come up with a compound word. That had to be one of the easiest finals ever.
And I’m not sure I understood any of their wagers. Taylor was more or less compelled to bet $6701+. $8722 kind of mystified me. Julie probably should have wagered $4601 to lock out Andrew, or maybe the whole enchilada. I’m still trying to figure out Andrew’s puny wager. If he’d bet it all, my fellow Portlander would have won.
Disappointed that librarian Julie got confused on her DD and picked Wright (“Native Son”) instead of Ellison (“Invisible Man”). Really thought she’d nail that one. Also a little surprised no one knew who wrote “Brokeback Mountain.” Not a household name, but very knowable.
“His beloved Rachel” wasn’t too tough, neither were turn down the burgundy or 3-word phrase for somewhat liberal. The writer-director born in Austria is one of my favorites, but his name temporarily eluded me.
In my opinion that was one of the easiest finals in a while.
Taylor didn’t win and get the final Jeopardy right because he only had the right side of the word “superstar.” For Taylor, better luck next time. For now, Julie is the game’s champion and will play again tomorrow.
What was the question (answer Lake Champlain)? Did I hear wrong, or did they say it was “between Vermont and New Hampshire”? Because, it is not!
Nope- I heard wrong, I guess.
NY and Vermont. It forms most of VT’s western border.
Dang! We were so close to having our 3 day champion since last month. But we’ll see if Julie can break that long drought. Only 3 games left to go til the season’s over.