Final Jeopardy: Old Words (8-26-24)

TODAY’S JEOPARDY! RERUN: QF6 of the 2024 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament that originally aired on 3/27/2024

The Final Jeopardy question in the category “Old Words” was:

First appearing in an English dictionary in 1623, Mesonoxian means pertaining to this word

Today’s Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament contestants are: Alex Jacob, an online trivia league host from Tulsa, OK; Jennifer Quail, a wine-tasting consultant from Dowagiac, MI; and Brandon Blackwell, a writer & TV personality orig. from Jamaica, NY.

Round 1 Categories: Trending – Musical Instruments – Equine Words – Auto Parts 101 – Cruise Lines – Ports of Call

Brandon found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Musical Instruments” under the $1,000 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. He and Alex were tied at $800. Jennifer didn’t have any money yet. Brandon bet $1,000 and he was RIGHT.

Also known as an etherophone, this boxy electronic instrument was used by the Beach Boys show
WHAT IS THEREMIN?

Alex finished in the lead with $6,600. Brandon was in second place with $6,200. Jennifer was last with $1,600. All clues were shown.

Round 2 Categories: During James Buchanan’s Presidency – Architects – World Literature – Music Collabs – I’ve Got a Bone to Pick with You – The 3 “R”s

Jennifer found the first Daily Double in “During James Buchanan’s Presidency” under the $1,200 clue on the 6th pick of the round. She was in last place with $5,600, $1,000 less than Alex’s lead. Jennifer bet $5,000 and she was RIGHT.

On December 2, 1859 he rode to the gallows on his coffin & remarked, “This is a beautiful country” show
WHO IS JOHN BROWN?

Brandon found the last Daily Double in “World Literature” under the $800 clue on the 17th pick of the round. He was in second place with $11,400, $2,000 less than Alex’s lead. Brandon chose to bet 100% of his score and he was RIGHT.

In this Hermann Hesse novel, Harry Haller reads a treatise about his dual inner self, caught between a man & a lupine creature show
WHAT IS “STEPPENWOLF”?

Brandon finished in the lead with $23,600. Alex was in second place with $14,200. Jennifer was last with $11,000. All clues were shown.

Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS MIDNIGHT?

Mesonoxian is an adjective, first found in “The English Dictionarie, or, An Interpreter of Hard English Words” (1623) by Henry Cockeram. That book was also the first collection of word definitions to use the title “Dictionarie”. The page on which mesonoxian appears makes no mention of “meso” from the Greek for “middle” and “nox” from Latin for “night”.

If the “nox” part reminded you of equinox, you’d be home free with this one. Etymology Online says equinox was in use 2 centuries before mesonoxian. However, Henry does not have “equinox” in his dictionarie. (I looked.) He has “Equinoctial line, a line passing in the middle between the two Poles of Heaven, to which line the Sun coming twice a year, namely, about the eleventh of March, and the eleventh of September, maketh the dayes and nights of equal length.”