Final Jeopardy: National Anthems (9-17-19)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (9/17/2019) in the category “National Anthems” was:

With lyrics by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, it debuted on June 24, 1880, at a celebration of St. Jean Baptiste Day

12x champ Jason Zuffranieri, a math teacher from Albuquerque, NM, has now won $356,643. In Game 13, his challengers are: Helen Lyons, a classical radio host and opera singer from Ferrisburgh, VT; and Colin Kennedy, a museum educator from Washington, D.C.

Alex Trebek opened the show by pointing out that “Jason now ranks 6th among Jeopardy! champions in terms of the number of games won and he ranks 7th in terms of the cash won.”

Round 1 Categories: Halley’s Comet in History – Verbs – Helping the Environment – Let’s Have a Ball – Burgers – Cal. “A”

Jason found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Halley’s Comet” under the $1,000 clue on the 4th pick of the round. He was in second place with $400, $600 behind Helen and Colin, who were tied for the lead. He bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.

This author can’t have been surprised to die April 21, 1910, the day after Halley’s Comet reached perihelion. show

Jason finished in the lead with $11,800. Helen was second with $3,400 and Colin was last with $2,600.

Round 2 Categories: Center for the Intrepid – Awards & Honors – Actor-Directors – From C to D – Never to Return – Shakespeare’s Exit Lines

Colin found the first Daily Double in “From C to D” under the $2,000 clue on the 5th pick. He was in third place with $4,200, $10,800 less than Jason’s lead. He bet $2,500 and he was RIGHT.

Goods imported or exported illegally. show

Colin found the last Daily Double in “Never to Return” under the $1,200 clue on the 11th pick. In second place with $11,500, he had $5,500 less than Jason’s lead. He bet $6,000 and he was RIGHT.

Local boy made good Napoleon paid a sentimental visit to this island in 1799 & never saw it again. show

Jason finished in the lead with $23,000. Colin was next with $20,300 and Helen was in third place with $5,400.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right. Quite remarkable.

WHAT IS “O CANADA”?

Canada is one of a bunch of countries with a national anthem in more than one language. Today’s Jeopardy! clue refers to the French language version of Canada’s national anthem that dates back to 1880. It was originally called “Chant National” with music composed by Calixa Lavallée (who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War). The lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, a Quebec Superior Court judge. The Canadian Encyclopedia has the entire history of both the French and English versions of “O Canada”.

Also, read about Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on The Canadian Encyclopedia. The holiday’s name was officially changed to Fête nationale du Québec on 6/24/1977.



Helen came up with “La Marseillaise,” which has been around since 1792. She bet and lost it all.

Colin had the French national anthem as well. He lost his $20,199 bet, finishing with $101.

Jason made that wrong response unanimous. He lost his $17,700 bet but won the game with the $5,300 he had left. Lucky for him that Helen didn’t stand pat! His 13-day total is $361,943.

Final Jeopardy (9/17/2019) Jason Zuffranieri, Helen Lyons, Colin Kennedy

I only saw these 2 triple stumpers in SHAKESPEARE’S EXIT LINES:

($1600) “Then fall”, me

($2000) “I kiss’d thee ere I kill’d thee: no way but this; killing myself, to die upon a kiss”

2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “Potent & Nonpotent Potables”

Reverse the 2 words in the name of this Canadian whisky brand & you get the name of a cola. show

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11 Responses

  1. Howard says:

    “La Marseillaise” was the too-obvious answer, and the year 1880 in the clue was about 100 years too late, I’d say, considering when the French revolution took place.
    The two losing contestants both bet poorly, and either could have won.
    When two players are close in score and the 3rd is far behind, she should bet $0 and figure both will bet a lot. Her only chance of winning is for both of them to be wrong.
    Colin should have bet $2701. Logically, the only way he could win was for Jason to miss Final.
    Right or wrong, he’d have locked out Helen completely.
    Jason had to bet big to protect against Colin betting it all and getting Final correct.
    He’s an excellent player, but should never have won this game.

  2. VJ says:

    Here’s some other games where all 3 had the same wrong answer:

    5-1-18 Versace (correct: Louis Vuitton)

    7-27-17 Daniel Day Lewis (correct: Anthony Hopkins)

    2-20-15 Ornate (correct: Flamboyant)

    10-9-14 Napoleon (correct: George Washington)

    10-9-13 Xanadu (correct: Oz)

    5-20-13 Hitler (correct: Truman)

  3. John Christian Ambion says:

    Quite extraordinary. Colin made a run on his money, but none got the FJ! right because all three wrote the obvious. Wow, Jason fended off another challenge here.

  4. Marilyn says:

    Colin made a really dumb wager!

  5. Lou says:

    I thought Jason was done for today, but wow he was lucky. Shame that Helen didn’t bet zero today. But here I thought the contestants knew something about O Cananda or the national Anthem in general today right VJ? This should have not been a triple stumper. I know a lot of Canadians speak french so it should have led them up North America. Overall, a small win today but I hope tomorrow’s final will turn things around for Jason hopefully.

  6. dpasko says:

    did anyone notice that Nobel was spelled wrong on the screen for Final Jeopardy 9/16/19
    they had it as Noble.

  7. JP says:

    I’m impressed that all the contestants spelled the incorrect response correctly.

    Their response was my knee jerk response as well, as there were too many hints pointing to France.

    • VJ says:

      LOL about the spelling, JP, that was pretty cool. I knew France’s anthem was 18th century and who wrote it. I probably came across Routhier’s name when I was reading up on national anthems for this post last year and forgot it but somehow the time period stayed with me (as did that of Haiti).

      LINK: 10 more clues from the game

  8. Richard Corliss says:

    What does that mean that Helen didn’t stand pat?

    • JP says:

      “To stand pat” is an idiom meaning to stay where you are. To stand pat in her situation would have been to wager $0.