Final Jeopardy: People in History (2-16-12)

The Final Jeopardy question (2/16/2012) in the category “People in History” was:

The name of this assassin is Latin for heavy, dull, insensitive, oafish

It’s Day 2 of the Teachers Tournament with three new players pitting their knowledge and strategies against each other for a spot in the semi-finals: Brooks Humphreys of Omaha, NE., Steven Evenhouse of Orland Hills, IL. and Jessica Dell’Era of Oakland, CA.

“Nothing but very bright people on Jeopardy! this week,” was Alex Trebek’s opening observation. We do hope no one takes that the wrong way, like the rest of the time, the contestants are not quite as bright. We took it as a compliment because we were kicking the teachers’ butts yesterday.

Steven got the Jeopardy! Daily Double in the category “U.S. Coins.” With $4,400, he was in the lead and had $1,600 more than his nearest competitor, Brooks. He bet $1,200.00 and he was RIGHT.

A 1946 memorial half-dollar was the first U.S. coin to feature an African American, this educator. show

Steven kept the lead, finishing with $7,200. Brooks was second with $4,200 and Jessica was in third place with $2,000. Upon returning from the commercial break, she was credited with another $800 for her answer on a macaw question and Brooks was given back $400 because he gave a wrong answer after Jessica’s answer should have been accepted. Thus, his response never occurred. Slightly enriched, their positions remained the same.

In Double Jeopardy, Brooks swooped down on “That’s My Secretary of the Treasury” answering all but one correctly and taking the lead. Steven found the first Daily Double in “Lakes.” He was only $1,000 behind Brooks’ $10,200 lead. He only bet $1,500 which turned out okay because he said Lake Tanganyika and that was WRONG.

International travel between Tanzania, Uganda & Kenya on this lake is no longer permitted. show

Jessica found the last Daily Double in “’50s Fiction,” a category she was doing well in so far. She was now in second place with $10,800– $1,400 less than Brooks, who still held the lead. She bet $2,000 and took a guess that it was Jean-Paul Sartre. She was WRONG.

His 1950 novel “Across the River and Into The Trees” reflected a growing bitterness toward life. show

Another wrong answer in the same category cost Jessica her second place status and she ended up in third place with $7,200. Steven was second with $7,300 and Brooks had $14,200 going into Final Jeopardy!

Only one correct Daily Double today. Incredibly, NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS BRUTUS?

Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger got his name from his dad (obviously). After his father’s death, he was adopted by his uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio and used his name, though he still kept Brutus at the end, so he didn’t hate it. He returned to his original name eventually. According to Roman naming conventions, Marcus was his given name, Junius was his clan name and Brutus represented his family’s line within the clan.

Jessica wrote down “Who is Pesado,” using the Spanish approach. That cost her $1977. She finished with $5,223.

Steven wrote down “John Wilkes Booth,” using the famous assassin approach (but none of these names have negative meanings) and bet $4,300. That left him with $3,000.

Brooks also went with famous assassins and wrote down “Oswald,” which is of Old German origin and means “God’s power.” He only bet $500. So he finished with $13,700 and will join Patrick Quinn in the semi-finals.

Our Wild Card scores look like this today.
Elissa Hoffman $11,700
John Botti $10,400
Jessica Dell’Era $5,223
Steven Evenhouse $3,000

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