Final Jeopardy: The Southern Hemisphere (9-10-18)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (9/10/2018) in the category “The Southern Hemisphere” was:

To set a record for longest solo journey by kayak, 2,010 miles, Helen Skelton traveled through this nation for a month

2x champ Rick Terpstra, a teacher from Havertown, PA, won $39,800 in the last 2 games of Season 34. In the first game of Season 35, he takes on these two players: Isaac Loeb, a senior legislative asst. from Washington, D.C.; and Caitlin Sok, an MD & PhD student from Atlanta, GA.

If you didn’t already know about it, here’s Alex Trebek and his beard. That’s a “no” when I find out where to vote.
Alex Trebek and his beard

Round 1 Categories: US Open: 50 Years – Exercising Your Options – Famous Threesomes – “In” the Dictionary – His Widow Lived On – Our State Looks Up to You

Rick found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Famous Threesomes” under the $800 clue, with 8 clues left after it. He was in the lead with $5,000, $1,800 more than Caitlin in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.

Their names are Melchior, Balthasar & Gaspar. show

Rick finished in the lead with $9,000. Caitlin was second with $4,200 and Isaac was last with $2,400.

Round 2 Categories: Back to Basics – History – Business – The Movies – Literature – Colleges East of the Mississippi from K to Q

Isaac found the first Daily Double in “Business” under the $1,200 clue on the very first pick. At $2,400, he had $6,600 less than Rick’s lead. He bet it all and he was RIGHT.

After a $26 billion merger in 2016, this business website might keep nagging Microsoft to update its resume. show

Isaac found the last Daily Double in “Colleges East of the Mississippi” under the $800 clue, with 7 clues left after it. In second place with $7,600, he had $8,200 less than Rick’s lead. He bet $5,000 and guessed Columbia. That was WRONG.

It’s about a 50-mile drive from Penn to this other Ivy League school that fits the category. show

Rick finished in the lead with a runaway $20,200. Caitlin was next with $7,800 and Isaac was in third place with $2,600.

ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS BRAZIL?

Helen Skelton is an English television presenter and actress who kayaked the entire length of the Amazon River Sport Relief 2010, a fund-raising event on British television. She kayaked 2,010 miles (3,230 km) on a solo journey from Nauta, Peru starting on 1/20/2010 and ending in Almeirim, Brazil on 2/28/2010. Skelton set two Guinness World Records: the longest solo journey by kayak, and the longest distance in a kayak in 24 hours by a woman. According to Britannica, “roughly two-thirds of the Amazon’s main stream and by far the largest portion of its basin are within Brazil,” so the greater part of her journey was in that nation.

See Helen Skelton’s wikipedia entry for her other exploits, like riding a bicycle to the South Pole. She also wrote a children’s book (recommended for ages 8-14) called “Amy Wild: Amazon Summer”



Isaac bet it all, doubling his score to $5,200.

Caitlin bet $1,000, bring her up to $8,800.

Rick didn’t bet anything. He already knew who won the first match of the season. His 3-day total is $60,000 and puts him on the ToC list. What a great way to start the season!

Final Jeopardy (9/10/2018) Rick Terpstra, Isaac Loeb, Caitlin Sok

A triple stumper from each round:

FAMOUS THREESOMES ($1000) The Three Tenors were Pavarotti, Domingo and this man who is on an extended farewell tour.

LITERATURE ($2000) In a Saul Bellow novel, Eugene Henderson gets this sacred title from the African Wariri tribe

2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “Asian Islands”

Phuket, the largest island of this country, has regained its tourism industry after a natural disaster in 2004. show

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17 Responses

  1. Weezie says:

    Alex, the beard looks nice as does your hair!!

  2. John B./I. says:

    @Louis
    If he were 20 years younger, you could say the beard makes him look more “distinguished”, but he looks better without it now. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken. A TRIPLE NO on he beard!

  3. VJ says:

    @Cece and Rhonda, they would have gotten those 2 state clues if they did their geography puzzles 😀

    • cece says:

      Word, VJ. I know a 3 1/2 year-old who does the US state puzzle, seriously. 🙂

      Anyway, I wanna thank you and JJ for not having the need to make a negative remark about my homeland in your hint.

      • John B./I. says:

        @cece
        My remark about the defeat of Brazil at the WC was not meant derogatory. It is /was just the most incredible result ever at a WC!! I just love Brazilian football and all the super players, starting with Pele way back… (1958 WC in Sweden…) !!

  4. John B./I. says:

    1. Hello back , everybody! Aloha from Lahaina ( currently 98 F)…

    2. Beard : NO WAY,JOSE! Adds 10 years imo.

    3. Congratulations to VJ and JJ for the correct prediction. I guess I was too pessimistic, the Amazon was too obvious. The Nile is almost 50/50 between Egypt and Sudan, while the majority of the Amazon runs through Brazil.

    4. Congrats also to Rick, however it looks he did not study the ToC list?? The zero wager left him outside at # 16, just behind Kate by 1,800…he needs to win a 4th game. Had he wagered 4K he would have replaced Suzanne at # 13 and eliminated Kate. Hopefully he is not too confident since his last 2 games were runaways..??

    5. Like the new design, kind of 60ish psychedelic…you didn’t eat too many mushrooms over the summer VJ??? :):):)

    Well, it’s make or break for Rick tomorrow. Either he will be in 100% or out. We shall – as always – see.

    P.S. Nehru and Carreras a triple stumper? Kind of a shock.

    • VJ says:

      Thanks, John, for the congrats and the compliment on the new season’s graphic. The only mushrooms I had were on one pizza that was ordered just for me. Nobody else likes mushrooms here. It’s always pepperoni, pepperoni, pepperoni

      • John Christian Ambion says:

        @VJ The intro went to geometric, because the title cards have predominant effects of triangles, hexagons, kind of kaleidoscopic, perhaps.

  5. rhonda says:

    And a “no” on that yucky beard for me, too!

    • Richard Corliss says:

      @Rhonda And a “no” on that time’s up signal.

      • John Christian Ambion says:

        @rhonda Looks like Alex Trebek went from moustache, to glasses, to a beard. I don’t know how to say this…

        • Louis says:

          I would vote no on the beard for Alex Trebek, I think he looks good without the beard. Don you guys think so @rhonda, @richard and John?

  6. Richard Corliss says:

    Wow, a Daily Double to start Double Jeopardy. What a great way to start the season.

  7. John Christian Ambion says:

    Wow, a new season of Jeopardy! started off with a very EASY category. Also, the title card this season somewhat similar to the one Wheel of Fortune used for its 35th Season. any opinions?

  8. cece says:

    It looks like Alex is channeling Hemingway…

  9. Lou says:

    And that folks, is how we start the season off with a bang. Kind of reminds me of Jared hall since he won two games back in the last two summer days of season 29 of jeopardy. He then won four more games in season 30. So I am thinking Rick here might do what Jared did in his six game run.

    It’s good to see you back again VJ after the six week break. Also Isaac couldn’t get much rhythm going after losing that 5000 dollar bet on the daily double in colleges east of the Mississippi, and here I thought Princeton should have been obvious for him. Helen Skelton’s world journey reminded me of Diana Nyad and her swimming record, you remember that right?

    • VJ says:

      Yes, Lou, I do remember Diana Nyad and I’m pretty sure they had a clue or two about her. Well, there were only 8 clues on the board when Isaac found that DD, so he did what he had to do.

      I’m thinking Rick will win at least a couple more games. I’m thinking that the ToC list will fill up pretty quick now that they are going to have an all star tournament this season instead of a regular ToC. LOL!!

      LINK: 9 more clues from this match