Final Jeopardy: Word Histories (8-13-20)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (8/13/2020) in the category “Word Histories” was:
In old philosophy this 12-letter word referred to a fifth substance, superior to earth, air, fire or water
Today we’re watching the first match of the 2002 Million Dollar Masters Tournament 2-day final that originally aired on 5/13/2002 and featured the three finalists: Brad Rutter, a network administrator from Lancaster, PA; Eric Newhouse, a director of technical assistance from Vermillion, SD; and Bob Verini, a film journalist and test prep teacher from Los Angeles, CA.
Round 1 Categories: British Royalty – Recent Films – Tough Potpourri – Authors’ Native Lands – “Grand” Central – Station
Brad found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Authors’ Native Lands” under the $800 clue on the 7th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $1,400, $1,000 more than Eric in second place. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
Godot writer Samuel Beckett. show
Brad finished in the lead with $6,400. Eric was second with $2,800 and Bob was last with $2,200.
Round 2 Categories: General Science – Big Names in Sports – Ballet – Architects – Near East Ancient History – Grammar School
Brad landed on the first Daily Double in “Grammar School” under the $1,200 clue on the 18th pick. He was in the lead with $10,400 now, $600 more than Bob in second place. He bet $600 and he was RIGHT.
Besides fancy-sounding, “in lieu of salary” is this type of grammatical phrase. show
Bob got the last Daily Double in “Near East Ancient History” under the $1,200 clue, with 2 clues left after it. In second place with $9,400, he had $6,800 less than Brad’s lead. He bet $1,000 and he was RIGHT.
Dagon was the top god of these people, whose name has come to mean “uncouth” & “unsophisticated” show
Brad finished in the lead with $15,800. Bob was next with $10,400 and Eric was in third place with $7,600.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS QUINTESSENCE?
From PhysicsWorld: “In philosophy, quintessence refers to the fifth element – after air, earth, fire and water – proposed by the ancient Greeks to describe a sublime, perfect substance. In literature, Quintessence is the queen of a land of speculative science in Rabelais’ Gargantua. In cosmology, quintessence is a real form of energy distinct from any normal matter or radiation, or even ‘dark matter’.”
The only other time this word shows up in J-Archive is in the 11-5-2008 game in the category “BY GEORGE”: ($800) His 1891 essay “The Quintessence of Ibsenism” promoted the realistic dramas of a fellow playwright.
Eric wrote down phlogiston. He bet and lost it all.
Bob had the same as response as Eric. He lost $3,600 and finished with $6,800.
Brad had adamantium and said “like Wolverine.” That cost him $4,000 and left him with $11,800. These scores will be added to the scores at the end of tomorrow’s match to determine who gets to be a millionaire.
A triple stumper from each round:
BRITISH ROYALTY ($800) This son of the Black Prince became king in 1377 & got his own Shakespeare play somewhat later
($1000) England’s beloved Queen Mother grew up in this castle that’s featured in “Macbeth”
6 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “20th Century Presidential Elections”:
In this year, there were no Pres’s or VPs running, but 3 of the 4 men on the 2 major party ballots would become President show
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He stepped back looked to his right then looked again when he realized he could see his neighbors screen. They cut to the left, and by then he had stepped up to write, when he looked like he had given up.
A tough final but this term reminded me of an ER episode from season 12. It was quintessence of dust. I’ve never heard of phlogiston before and it’s not a word in the dictionary. You know VJ speaking of that, there was another word that I found funny and that was sallyport, ever heard of it?
nope, Lou, never heard of that word before!
From Hamlet’s monologue: “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?”
Did anyone else notice that Bob cheated and looked at his neighbor Eric’s screen and then had the same dumb wrong answer in final Jeopardy?
No and contestants don’t cheat in Final Jeopardy!, Joe K.
yeah, Bob never turned his head the whole time I was watching
Agreed.
All these 15 champions in this tournament have finished in the semifinals and finals in the past Tournament of Champions.
Tough FJ as we got a triple stumper.