The Final Jeopardy question (12/26/2012) in the category “Literary First Lines” was:

“You better not never tell nobody but God” begins this 1982 novel whose film version garnered 11 Oscar nominations.

Our current champ, Kris Hamilton, has a 2-day total of $37,001. Today he takes on these two players: Debra Newman, from Pound Ridge, NY and Gonzalo Rufatt, from Santa Fe, NM.

Kris found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Talk of the Town” before the first commercial break. He was in second place with $800, half of what Debra had in the lead. He bet $800 and guessed “Remembrance of Things Past.” That was WRONG.

Hemingway wrote that if you’ve lived in Paris as a young man, “wherever you go… it stays with you. For Paris is” this book title.
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WHAT IS “A MOVABLE FEAST”?

Kris finished in the lead with $6,400. Debra was second with $2,800 and Gonzalo was last with $2,000.

Kris found the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double in “The Arts.” He had a big lead with $10,000, $5,600 more than Debra in second place. Not feeling too bold about the category, he bet a modest $600 and he was RIGHT.

“Neptune the Mystic” ends this Gustav Holst work.
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WHAT IS “THE PLANETS”?

Kris found the last Daily Double in “Ship Shape.” He was now in the lead with $11,800, $7,400 more than Debra in second place. Apparently, he was feeling a bit more brave and bet $2,900. He guessed it was “the Mayflower,” but, sadly for Kris, that was WRONG.

In June 1787 this ship’s interior was converted to house pots holding breadfruit plants.
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WHAT IS THE HMS BOUNTY?

Kris finished in the lead with $17,300. Gonzalo was next with $5,600. Debra was at zero so she had to bow out of the game at this point.

BOTH contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS “THE COLOR PURPLE”?

Despite those 11 nominations, “The “Color Purple” didn’t win any Oscars. Besides Best Picture, Whoopi Goldberg was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role; Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey were nominated for their supporting roles. The other categories were: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Cinematography; Best Costume Design; Best Makeup; Best Music, Original Score; Best Music, Original Song (Miss Celie’s Blues); and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. (Filmsite.org: 1985 Oscars)

Gonzalo bet $4,400. He finished with $10,000.

Kris surprised Alex Trebek with a decent-sized bet of $6,000. He, of course, remained champ, finishing today with $23,300. His 3-day total is $60,301.

Kris is only $1,101 away from getting on our Jeopardy TOC Top 12 list. Tune in tomorrow to see if he makes it!