If you have read my columns on Jeopardy over the years – and
judging by the amount of views that is a considerable amount of my readers - you know that I am a great student of
Jeopardy history and that these kinds of tournaments are my sweet spot. You
also know how overjoyed I have been first with the idea of the Invitational
Tournament when it was announced late last year and then a few weeks ago when
the lineup was revealed.
So for the summary of the quarterfinals of the Invitational,
I will be giving what amounts to DVD commentary on the matches. In addition to
detailing the players and how the game ended up being played, I will be giving
more details about the individual competitors. In this case I will reveal what
connections, if any, these past champions have to Ken Jennings. Some of them
were in tournaments he played in, some he actually played against and in two
special cases, some actually played with him.
And because I always do have certain players in these
tournaments that I am rooting for more than others (this goes back to at least
the Ultimate Tournament of Champions) I will reveal my personal preferences in
each of the quarterfinals. Don’t get me wrong: almost every one of these
champions deserves an invitation back and I would be fine with any of them
participating in the Masters at the end. But there have been certain players I
respect more than others, as does every Jeopardy fan, and I feel it only fair
to be clear about who I was rooting for in each match.
So without further ado, here’s how it played out.
Quarterfinal #1
Andrew He
Pam Mueller
Dan Pawson
Kennections (sorry) Dan Pawson, who won the 2009 Tournament
of Champions was invited to the Battle of the Decades as part of the 2000s. Ken
was also competing in this decade. Dan competed (and won) in the final game of
that round, which was the one just after Ken’s win. He would end up in the
quarterfinal before Ken’s quarterfinal match – and was routed by Brad Rutter.
Anyone who knows the story of Jeopardy tournaments in the Trebek era knows how
those fights ended up.
Pam’s career in Jeopardy parallels Brad Rutter’s as she told
us in her interview segment. She participated in the 2001 Tournament of
Champions which Brad won, was a semi-finalist in the Ultimate Tournament of
Champions but was ultimately defeated by Jerome Vered, who faced off against
Ken and Brad in the finals. She competed in the Battle of the Decades: The
1990s, won her match and got a wild card into the semi-finals before losing her
match to Roger Craig. Finally she competed in the Jeopardy All-Star Games as a
member of Team Colby and got all the way to the Finals this time – and actually
competed against both Ken and Brad before Team Colby finished third.
In this match I was pulling for Pam perhaps more than the
other two players because of her long history with Jeopardy. And in the
Jeopardy round, it looked like Pam might be able to get there with little
trouble. She led for the entire round and had $6800 to Dan’s $3200. Andrew, who
had been struggling throughout, had only $400.
But as is his want Andrew started rolling early in Double
Jeopardy. Pam held her lead for the first third of the round until Andrew found
the first Daily Double in IT’S A BIG COUNTRY. As is his pattern, he bet the
$8600 he had:
“Once claimed by Italy, Cyrenaica is a historic region and
former province of this 650,000-square-mile land.” Andrew knew it was Libya and
jumped to $17,200.
On the next clue he found the other Daily Double in 19TH
CENTURY NEWSPAPERS. This time he bet $10,000: “In 1847 Frederick Douglass
founded this antislavery paper whose name refers to what guided people escaping
slavery.” It took him a bit but he came up with: “What is The North Star?” and
jumped up to $27,200.
Pam didn’t quit and she actually played better than Andrew
did: she gave 21 correct responses to his 20 and only got one response
incorrect while he got four incorrect. But his two Daily Doubles put him at
$33,600 to Pam’s $16,800 while Dan trailed hopelessly with $6400.
The Final Jeopardy category was TRAILBLAZERS. “The foremost
member of ‘the Sochi Six”, which was similar to a previous U.S. group, he died
in a plane crash in 1968.”
Both Dan and Pam were thinking in terms of diplomacy. Dan
guessed: “Who is U Thant?” while Pam guessed: “Who is Hammarskjold?” Both were
secretaries-general of the U.N. (and Hammarskjold did die in a plane crash) but
both were incorrect and both lost everything. It came down to Andrew. He wrote
down: “Who is Gagarin?” That was the correct answer; the Sochi 6 were a
parallel to the United States Mercury Seven. Andrew had won anyway but his $1
guaranteed a victory.
Quarterfinal #2
Larissa Kelly
Jason Zuffranieri
Leonard Cooper
Kennections: Leonard,
like Ken, was a member of the Jeopardy All-Stars and as part of Team Austin he
competed against Team Ken in the preliminary round. Thanks to his good play
Team Austin made it to the Wild Card round but lost to Team Colby.
Larissa’s link is deeper. She was a trailblazer, becoming
the first woman to win more than five games and after finishing second in the
2009 Tournament of Champions, set the record for most money won by a female
contestant. This record held until the end of the Battle of Decades when Julia
Collins surpassed her. Larissa was
chosen by Brad Rutter to compete on his team and was a major factor in it
getting to the Finals and eventually being able to share in the million dollar
grand prize – in which she defeated Team Ken. By doing so she surpassed Julia
for most money won by a female contestant and held that record until Amy
Schneider surpassed her in 2022.
All three players are admirable ones but I was rooting for
Larissa more than any other. In the Jeopardy round Larissa got off to a
lightning quick start and when she found the Daily Double she was the only
player with any money. She bet the $4600 she had in THERE WILL BE A TEST ON
THIS:
“Used to determine if a computer can ‘think’, the Turing
test was originally known as this, also the name of a 2014 movie about Turing.”
She knew it was the imitation game and doubled her score to $9200. She finished
the Jeopardy round with $12,000 to Jason’s $4200 and Leonard’s $1200.
But neither man had any intention of going quietly in Double
Jeopardy. Leonard struck first when he got to the first Daily Double in the
category IN YOUR ELEMENT: (You needed to give the word hidden in the element
whose symbol you were given.) With little choice, he bet the $2400 he had:
“P: This solar deity.” He knew it was Horus, who you found
it phosphorus. He doubled his score.
Then Jason began to fight back and he found the other Daily
Double in NOTABLE NAMES. He had $9600, more than half Larissa’s total. He knew
what he had to do:
“His 1936 ‘General Theory’ suggesting government spending to
lower unemployment influenced economic policy for decades.” Jason knew it was
Keynes and took the lead from Larissa. But Larissa did not surrender and
managed to retake the lead not long after. Jason had a lot of trouble ringing
in afterward, so when Double Jeopardy ended Larissa had the lead back with
$25,200 to Jason’s $19,600 and Leonard’s $9600. But it was still anyone’s game
going into Final Jeopardy.
The category was 20th CENTURY NOVELS: “Virginia
Woolf disliked this book that was ‘cutting out the explanations and putting in
the thoughts between the dashes.”
Leonard was first. He had written down: What is To the
Lighthouse?, crossed it out and wrote in Ulysses. As Ken said, it
was a good thing he did because that was the correct response. He wagered $4700
which put him at $14,300. Jason had written The Sound and the Fury. He
dropped $6000, which put him behind Leonard with $13,600.
It came down to Larissa. She wrote down: “What is Ulysses?”
She won and added $15,000 to her total. I couldn’t have been more thrilled.
Quarterfinal #3
Alan Lin
Matt Jackson
Terry O’Shea
Kennections: Alan
was a member of Team Colby in the Jeopardy All-Star Games along with Pam
Mueller. Pam’s entry tells us how that played out.
Matt’s connection went deeper. Though Ken was modest enough
not to mention it, Matt had been a critical member of Team Ken in the Jeopardy
All-Star Games. Ken had picked Matt because of his impressive 13 game streak
which power his team through the first round and gave his team an early
advantage in the first game of the final.
Much as I admire Alan, I was pulling for Matt in this game
more than any of the others and except for a few moments early in the round,
there was never a moment where Matt was not as dominant as he has been against
almost every challenger he has faced. He shot into a big lead early in the
Jeopardy round when he found the Daily Double in ELECTORAL COLLEGE, BY THE
NUMBERS. As is his want, he bet the $4600 he had: “Though he won the popular
vote, he flunked out of the Electoral College by 5 votes.” Matt paused before
saying: “Who is Gore?” He seemed uncertain but he was right, to put him at
$9200. He actually became less dominant from that point and finished the round
with $9600 to Terry’s $4200 and Alan’s $2800.
Matt began to charge early in Double Jeopardy and by the
time he found the second Daily Double he already had $20,000. He wagered
$12,000:
“The name of the first minor prophet in book order often
comes before “can you see” in punny sermon titles.” Matt needed a second before
coming up with Hosea jumped to $32,000 and an insurmountable lead. He finished
with $41,200 by the end of Double Jeopardy, nearly three times Alan’s total of
$14,000.
Final Jeopardy was an exercise but all three players took it
seriously. The category was FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD: “Captured in Egypt by the
British Army 1801’ is painted on the side of this artifact named for the city
where it was found.” All three players knew it was the Rosetta Stone, though
Terry misread the clue and only wrote down: “What is Rosetta?” Matt only bet
$121 and moved on to a deserved slot in the semi-finals.
Quarterfinal #4
Celeste DiNucci
Austin Rogers
Amy Schneider
Kennections: Ken referred to the three contenders as ‘two
Tournament of Champions winners and a bartender’. This was self-effacing as the
world knows that Austin Rogers is more than that. Famously winning twelve
games, over $400,000 and the hearts of millions of Jeopardy fans with his
antics in the introductory segment, Austin headed his own team in the Jeopardy
All-Star Games. When their teams faced off against each other, Ken actually was
up against Austin in both the Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds, so he knows
how good Austin is – and Austin found out just how good Ken was something he
made his share of jokes about.
Interestingly Celeste had a link I was unaware of until the
interview section today. During the period Watson was being tested, she was one
of the last Jeopardy champions to play against it – and she actually beat it.
Ken kidded: “Where were you when Brad and I needed you?” Celeste returned the
favor by saying that by the transitive property, she had beaten Brad and Ken –
and everyone they had beaten.
I won’t lie; I was pulling for Austin more than Amy in this
match even though it’s hard not love both of them. In the Jeopardy round the
two went back and forth for the lead several times, helped when Austin found
the Daily Double in LET’S GET A DRINK:
“One origin story of this cocktail involves the early
morning hours after a long night in Sausalito.” Naturally the bartender knew it
was the Tequilla Sunrise and doubled his score to $3200.
At the end of the Jeopardy round Amy was slightly ahead with
$7600 to Austin’s $5600 and Celeste’s $2400.
In Double Jeopardy as has been the case so often (well, not
in Jeopardy Masters) Amy took over. She got to the first Daily Double after
having gotten the first three clues in the round correct. Already at $11,200
she chose to bet $6000 in PANHANDLE STATES:
“West Virginia’s northern panhandle is bordered on the north
& west by this river.” She knew it
was the Ohio and went up to $17,200.
It wasn’t until the eleventh clue of Double Jeopardy that
someone who wasn’t Amy gave a correct response. By that point Celeste
had dropped to -$1600 and Austin hadn’t rung it correctly yet. By the time Amy
got to the other Daily Double in MARINE BIOLOGY she was at $29,000 and the game
was effectively over. She chose to bet only $1000 which was the right call as
she got it wrong.
The most remarkable story of Double Jeopardy was Celeste’s
comeback. By the second half she was at -$4400. But she managed to get all but
one clue correct in THE GRAMMYS’ GREAT MOMENTS to climb all the way to zero.
She managed a moral victory by finishing with $800. Amy had an insurmountable
lead with $28,600 to Austin’s $9600. She had managed 27 correct responses and,
aside from the Daily Double, had only gotten one clue wrong. It was a superb
performance.
Final Jeopardy was an exercise though the players took it
seriously. (Well Austin didn’t, but he was entitled). The category was
NOTORIOUS FIGURES: “Never even a soldier, this man lied that his nickname came
from a shrapnel wound while fighting in the Argonne.”
I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but this was the first
Final Jeopardy in this tournament that I knew and that none of the champions
did. I knew that this referred to Al Capone (notoriously nicknamed Scarface)
Amy thought it was Colonel Parker, which makes a sort of sense. But it cost her
nothing and she moved on to the semi-finals.
Of the three former Masters players trying to make it back
in, Amy is the one I am pulling for the most to return. Despite my fondness for
Austin, she deserves redemption more.
Quarterfinal #5
Mackenzie Jones
Arthur Chu
David Madden
Kennections: David
has the most connection to Ken. His original nineteen game streak began the
same season Ken’s ended and was the second longest in Jeopardy history for nine
years until Julia Collins surpassed him. He was a member of Team Brad in the
Jeopardy All-Star Games and was vital in helping Team Brad defeat Ken’s team in
the Final to share in a million dollar prize.
Of the three players I was probably rooting for David the
most though honestly there was an argument for all three. The Jeopardy round
started out fairly evenly matched. Arthur got to the Daily Double first but far
too early to do him much good. Arthur still was in the lead with $6400 to
David’s $4200 and MacKenzie’s $2200.
Things shifted in Double Jeopardy. Very early in the round
David got to the first Daily Double in RELIGIOUS RANKS & TITLES. With
$5400, he chose to bet $5000: “Familiar from Monty Python sketches, this word
for an Anglican or Episcopal priest is from the Latin for ‘substitute’. David
needed a moment to come up with: “What is vicar?” (from vicarious) He jumped
ahead with $10,400.
Arthur managed to pull just about even with David when he
found the other Daily Double at the exact halfway point of the round in FEELING
JITTERY. He decided to wager $10,000 in a gutsy move:
“It describes someone weakened by nerves, & also the
instrument here.”
It was a picture of a violin. Arthur stared and stared but
could come up with nothing. He hadn’t noticed (and neither had I) the violin
was unstrung. He dropped to $3200.
I should mention that there were a lot of tough clues in
this game. Arthur and David got 19 and 20 right respectively and each got two
wrong. MacKenzie had a terrible day getting eleven right but nine incorrect
responses. And I’ll be honest a lot of these clues were even tougher then they
appeared even in the $800 and $400 clues.
Because Arthur could not recover from his Daily Double the
round ended in a runaway. David had $18,400 to Arthur’s $5600 and MacKenzie’s
$600.
The Final Jeopardy category was ELEMENTS: “In his ‘Natural
History’ Pliny described it as ‘argentum vivum’.” If you know your Latin, you
know that translated to ‘living silver’, which was one of the original terms
for mercury. (I read it as ‘quicksilver but it’s the same thing.) Arthur and
David knew the correct response and David gave a shout out to his parrots, who
he had mentioned in an amusing anecdote during this interview segment. Ken and
David had fun with this part:
Ken: “We learned your parrots could read.
David: “They’re very smart
Ken: “They must be very well-trained.”
David: “I’m getting them ready for Jeopardy.”
David advanced and I’m overjoyed. Still all three players
were good ones and I was glad to see them all back.
Quarterfinal #6
Alex Jacob
Jennifer Quail
Brandon Blackwell
Kennections: Alex Jacob has the most direct connection to
Ken. He was a participant in the Jeopardy All-Star Games and was in fact the
first man drafted by Buzzy Cohen for his team. Alex never faced off against
Ken’s team but he did face off against Brad Rutter in the Jeopardy round of the
first game and the Double Jeopardy round of the second. In the former case he
was dominant until Brad got to the Daily Double; in the latter he beat Brad
conclusively. Because of a wager on the second Daily Double late in the wild
card match, Team Buzzy missed its chance to face off against Brad and Ken in
the final.
Going in I was pulling for Alex slightly more than his
fellow invitees. But all three players showed they were more than up to it.
Brandon got off to a quick start when he found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy
round and built an early lead. Then Alex swept the category CRUISE LINES and
managed to overtake Brandon by the
barest of margins at the end of the round: $6600 to $6200. Jennifer trailed
with $1600.
At the start of the round Jennifer closed the gap with four
of five correct responses in I’VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU. Then she chose
the $1200 clue from the kind of category that would only come up on Jeopardy:
DURING JAMES BUCHANAN’S PRESIDENCY. That was where the first Daily Double was.
She bet $5000:
“On December 2, 1859 he rode to the gallows on his coffin
& remarked: “This is a beautiful country.” Jennifer responded: “Who is John
Brown?” (He had a good attitude, Ken remarked.) Jennifer was now at $10,400 and
in the lead for the first time.
Alex and Brandon then divided most of the next eight clues
with Jennifer getting one incorrect. Then Brandon found the other Daily Double
in WORLD LITERATURE. At this point he was in second with $11,400:
Brandon: “Yeah, I think I’m just gonna wager 100 -percent of
my money.”
Everyone laughed as I’m not sure any of us had heard a true
Daily Double referred to this way before.
“In this Herman Hesse novel, Harry Haller reads a treatise
about his dual inner self, caught between a man and a lupine creature.” Brandon
knew it was Steppenwolf and jumped to $22,800. It was a huge lead but
even then it was not insurmountable.
The end of Double Jeopardy had the closest scores to this
point in the tournament: Brandon led with $23,600, Alex was next with $14,200
and Jennifer was very much alive with $11,000.
The Final Jeopardy category was a very odd one: OLD WORDS.
“First appearing in an English dictionary in 1623, mesonoxian means pertaining
to this word.”
Jennifer’s response was revealed first: “What is midnight?”
That was correct. Meso meaning ‘middle’, nox meaning night. Alex, who has never
had much luck in Final Jeopardy in history, tried to write down: I love you
Sabrina but couldn’t finish it. He lost everything. It came down to Brandon. He
wrote down: “What is asleep? His wager was $4201. This dropped him to $18,799.
Jennifer had managed the first come from behind win in the tournament which
seemed to astonish even her. Jennifer might end up being the Cinderella story
of this tournament.
Quarterfinal #7
Monica Thieu
Chuck Forrest
Sam Kavanaugh
Kennections: Monica’s was a member of Team Ken in the
Jeopardy All Star Games and came up with the correct responses on two Final
Jeopardys, both in the preliminary round and the first game of the final. Chuck
is the senior member of the Tournament. Ken has famously said he was inspired
by Chuck and in the semi-finals of the Battle of The Decades, the two men faced
off. Chuck actually came the closest of any player who was not named Brad
Rutter to defeating Ken.
Going in I was pulling for Chuck, the senior member of this
tournament and the creator of ‘The Forrest Bounce’ which these days almost
every Jeopardy player is doing a variation of. But for the second straight day
we had a thrilling match. Monica got off to a fast start in the Jeopardy round
and Sam and Chuck spent much of it chewing on her wake. By the end of it Monica
had a convincing lead of $8200 to Chuck’s $2600 and Sam’s $200.
Sam got to pick first in the Jeopardy round and would
benefit from getting the Daily Doubles back to back. He found the first on the
second clue of the round in ART STUFF. He chose to bet the $2000 he was allowed
to:
“Jean Arp coined this term for Alexander Calder’s inert
sculptures, often made from sheet metal.” Sam knew the were stabiles and went
up to $2200.
On the next Daily Double in SCIENCE he bet everything:
“Devised by a 19th century German scientist, this scale measures a
mineral’s resistance to abrasion.” He knew it was the Mohs hardness scale and
was now back in the fight with $4400.
The rest of Double Jeopardy was fought on a dead even battle
between all three players. Monica managed to maintain her lead throughout
Double Jeopardy but Sam and Chuck were always right behind her. The round ended
with superb scores by all three players: Monica was at $15,800, Sam at $12,000,
Chuck with $11,000.
The Final Jeopardy category was 20th CENTURY
BOOKS and its clue was arguably the most difficult in the tournament to this
point. TIME mentioned “cruelty & enforced conformity” when summing
up this novel with a ‘stonily silent narrator.” None of the three contestants
knew that this referred to Chief Bromden, the narrator of One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest. (Monica and Sam both guessed 1984; Chuck thought it
was Lord of the Flies.) More than any game to this point, the wagering
was key.
Chuck lost $4801. He was clearly betting to beat Monica by
$1. He dropped to $6199. Sam lost $4400 which put him at $7600. He was gambling
that if Monica got it incorrect, he
would have enough left over to defeat her. Monica lost $8201 and dropped to
$7599. By the margin of $1, Sam had managed a come from behind win.
Even though I was pulling for Chuck, it’s hard not to feel
good for Sam. When the first Jeopardy Masters lineup was announced, as I’ve
mentioned on more than one occasion, Sam joked as to why he – the winner of the
previous Tournament of Champions – wasn’t included. Several online fans then
commented they had to google him to remember who he was. Sam is on a mission to
prove himself and considering the circumstances of his victory, he’s already
proven it.
Quarterfinal #8
Victoria Groce
Dhruv Gaur
Ben Ingram
Kennections: Ben has
the most direct connection by far. As a winner of 2014 Tournament of Champions,
he was drafted by Julia Collins for her team in the Jeopardy All Star Games.
Playing against Ken in the Jeopardy round of Game 1 he held his own in the
later stages. When Ken’s team won the second match, Team Julia was the first
one eliminated.
I was pulling for Ben more than any other player in this
match, but it just wasn’t day. He got in the red very early in the Jeopardy
round and wasn’t able to get out of it when it was over. Dhruv and Victoria
were sharper throughout the game. Dhruv got to the Daily Double first and built
a significant lead but by the end Victoria had overtaken him with $7600 to
Dhruv’s $5200.
Ben’s luck didn’t improve early in Double Jeopardy. He got
to the first Daily Double in SOUTH AMERICAN HISTORY just having gotten out of
the hole. He wagered the $2000 he was allowed to:
“Simon Iturri Patino was once Bolivia’s Rey del estano, king
of this metal in which the land is rich.” Ben thought it was silver (so did I)
when it was actually tin. He dropped back into the red. Victoria then went on a
tear and might have run away with it had Dhruv not rang in at the right time.
On the next clue he found the Daily Double in BIOLOGY ‘A’ ‘B’ ‘C’ and bet the
$6400 he had:
“’C’. In myth, it’s a fire-breathing hybrid monster, in
genetics, it’s an organism with two distinct sets of DNA.” Dhruv knew it was
the chimera and doubled his score. That was about as close as he got. At the
end of Double Jeopardy Victoria had a large lead with $22,800 to Dhruv’s
$14,400. Ben had recovered to $5800.
The Final Jeopardy category was a dad joke: U.S.S.R.I.P.
Once you heard the clue, it made sense: “Of the 15 countries formed by the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this one is alphabetically last.” Ben
knew the correct response: “What is Uzbekistan?” He wagered $1854 giving him
$7654. (“I see what you did there,” Ken said.) Dhruv went for the one I did at
home: Ukraine. I cost him $8401. Victoria knew it was Uzbekistan and her wager
of $6001 was irrelevant. She became a semi-finalist
Victoria is known to TV fans for her role as ‘The Queen’ on The
Chase. She wasn’t sure if she deserved the title on the Jeopardy stage, but
considering she gave 28 correct responses and only 3 incorrect ones, and
amassed $22,800 without finding a single Daily Double, she’s winning me over.
Also her sole appearance on Jeopardy came when she defeated David Madden back
in 2005. Considering that Madden’s already punched his ticket, the lineup for
the semifinals just got more interesting.
Quarterfinal #9
Sam Buttrey
Colby Burnett
Lilly Chin
Kennections: Lilly
was an alternate in the Jeopardy All Star Games. Colby has the greatest
connection to Ken. He played in the Battle of the Decades: The 2000s and won
his quarterfinal spot. He got a wild card spot that got him into the
semi-finals and narrowly lost to Roger Craig in his semi-final appearance. He
headed his own team in the All-Star Games and managed to get them into the
finals against Brad and Ken’s teams. He never played against Ken but he spoke
in an introductory segment with Alex with the two of them onstage. His team
finished third.
It was hard to choose between Sam and Colby when it came to
who to root for. Sam is beloved and deserved to get in, if anything, more than
Amy and Andrew. But Colby had the longer history with the show – and, if
anything, is as much a character as Sam has been over the years. The fact that
both men had won Teachers Tournaments made it harder to tell. There was little
to tell from their original play - all
three players had gotten into Tournaments originally because of winning special
tournaments: Lilly had won the College Championship in 2017.
The Jeopardy round started with Sam getting off to a quick
start but Colby managed to get to the Daily Double ahead of him. They were tied
with $1800 apiece so he bet everything in AUTHORS AT WAR:
“As a P.OW. Kurt Vonnegut survived Allied firebombing of
this German city because he was working underground.” Colby knew it was Dresden
and doubled his score to $3600. The rest of the round was a back and forth
between Colby and Sam and Colby took the lead on the last clue with $4800 to
Sam’s $4600 while Lilly trailed with $2000.
Lilly began to mount a comeback early in Double Jeopardy and
through the first half of the match it was pretty even. Lilly had moved into
second when she found the Daily Double in the category in my feelings. She
wagered $5000 to try and take the lead:
“Freud’s works helped popularize this loanword for a general
sense of dread or unease.” Lilly guessed malaise when it was angst. Her score
dropped by half.
Sam got the next two clues correct in the category VERY LONG
WORDS. He had $10,600 when he found the other Daily Double in THE 14TH
CENTURY.
He paused, and then said: ”I’ll bet every scintilla of my
money.”
“During the Great Schism beginning in 1378, Robert of Geneva
reigned as Clement VII, this 8-letter type of guy.” Sam knew it was an antipope
doubled his score and went into the lead. But despite that – and managing to get
6 of the last ten clues of the round correct – his lead was not insurmountable
the way Andrew’s and Amy’s had been at the end of their matches. Sam finished
with $24,400 to Colby’s $14,800 and Lilly’s $3000.
It came down to Final Jeopardy. The category was NOVEL TITLE
OBJECTS. “A girl in a 1950 novel walks into this & ‘got in among the coats
and rubbed her face against them.”
Lilly, as is her want, used her Final Jeopardy to give her
own plug. Her response was: “What is Galactic Trendsetters?” Her puzzle hunt team.
It cost her nothing. Colby wrote down the barely decipherable: Lillies of
the Field which was wrong. It cost him $9601.
It came down to Sam. He wrote down: “What is a wardrobe?” That
was correct. The child was Lucy Pevensie and the book was The Lion, The Witch
and The Wardrobe. Sam’s wager of $4801 was irrelevant as the now self-described
“bon vivant and man about town” punched his ticket to the semi-finals.
It’s a fascinating lineup for the semis. The three players who
were eliminated from the Masters last year are in the fight. Sam Kavanaugh will
get a chance to battle against one of them and one of the players he defeated
in the Finals of the 2021 Tournament of Champions will be playing. Three
all-time greats – all former All-Stars will be waiting as is a player who defeated one of them to
begin her career in games shows. We’ve already had a hell of a fight getting here?
Will the semi-finals be just as intense? I can’t wait to find out.
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