Final Jeopardy: Children’s Books (9-11-19)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (9/11/2019) in the category “Children’s Books” was:

The original title of this 1900 classic included a gem; another working title mentioned a Plains state

8x champ Jason Zuffranieri, a math teacher from Albuquerque, NM, has now won $192,100. In Game 9, his opponents are: Carolyn Oliver, a poet & writer from Worcester, MA; and Frank Augello, a biomedical engineer from Cedar Knolls, NJ.

Alex Trebek opened the game by thanking Jason for getting the season off to a great start. He said the last season belonged to Jeopardy James Holzhauer and wondered how many more games it will take before fans start referring to the current champ as Jeopardy Jason.

Round 1 Categories: A Prince of a Guy – 4-letter Words – Hobbies & Pastimes – Numeric Lit – Thank You – Next

Jason found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Numeric Lit” under the $600 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $5,400. No one else had any money. He bet it all (triggering another Jeopardy James reference from Alex), and he was RIGHT.

The cover of the first edition of this 1961 military novel included a dancing figure & a little airplane. show

WHAT IS “CATCH-22”?

Jason finished in the lead with $16,800. Frank was second with $1,600 and Carolyn was last, at negative $1,000.

Round 2 Categories: It is Rocket Science – Hotels – Name-Letter People – Classical Dance – Proverbs & Expressions – That Place Used to Be Called…

Jason found the first Daily Double in “Classical Dance” under the $1,600 clue on the 14th pick. He was in the lead with $26,000 at this point, $23,600 more than Frank in second place. Alex made yet another Jeopardy James reference about finding the DDs. Referring to his bet, Jason said “this is not like James used to do.” He bet $3,000 and took a guess with petit-fours. That was WRONG.

Jean-Baptiste Lully pioneered music for this dance whose name, from the Latin for “small”, comes from its small, dainty steps. show

WHAT IS THE MINUET?

6 clues later, Jason found the last Daily Double in “That Place Used to be Called” under the $1,200 clue. In the lead with $27,000, he had $24,600 more than Frank in second place. He bet $6,000 this time and he was RIGHT.

St. Petersburg was once called Leningrad; similarly, Volgograd was once called by this name. show

WHAT IS STALINGRAD?

Jason finished in the lead with a runaway $35,000. Carolyn was next with $4,600 and Frank was in third place with $2,400.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS “THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ” (also acceptable: “THE WIZARD OF OZ”)?

On 10/9/1899, L. Frank Baum finished the manuscript for what we commonly know as “The Wizard of Oz” but what he called “The Emerald City.” He and W.W. Denslow, who did the artwork, made a deal with Hill Publishing Company whereby Baum and Denslow would split 12% of the royalties (or 9 cents each for each copy sold). Hill Publishing was not happy with the “Emerald City” title, however, so it was changed to “From Kansas to Fairyland.” That was changed to “The Land of Oz” and it finally published in April 1900 as “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” More details are on this preview of “L. Frank Baum” by Dennis Abrams (2010).

From 1/23/2018: CHARACTERS’ FULL NAMES ($600) The full name of this Baum title guy is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs

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Frank got it right. He bet $2,395, bringing him up to $4,795.

Carolyn thought it was “Peter Pan.” She lost her $201 bet, finishing with $4,399.

Jason also got it right. He bet $6,143 and won the match with $41,143. His 9-day total is $233,243.

A triple stumper from each round:

THANK YOU ($1000) David Finkel’s acclaimed follow-up to “The Good Soldiers”, about those soldiers returning home, has this 5-word title

THAT PLACE USED TO BE CALLED… ($2000) Until 1855 this Western Hemisphere capital was known as Bytown

2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “Ancient History”

Battles at Trebbia & Trasimene were among the victories of this man who was born in Africa & died near the Black Sea. show

WHO IS HANNIBAL?

Click here to leave well wishes and prayers for Alex Trebek for continuing success in his battle against cancer. There’s also a link to where you can make a donation to pancreatic cancer research in his honor.