The Final Jeopardy question (10/26/2012) in the category “21st Century Games” was:

The villains in this game were inspired by the swine flu epidemic scare.

2-day champ Keith Whitener had a runaway day on Jeopardy! yesterday. Today he wants to add to his 2-day total of $51,200. But wait, we’ve got two new players: Meredith Bateman, from Cincinnati, OH and Tori Lewis, from San Diego, CA. Can one of them take him down?

Keith found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Mikhails” before the first commerical break. He was in the lead with $2,400, double what Tori had in second place. He bet $400, wasn’t none too sure but took a guess anyhow, and he was RIGHT.

In 2005, after disbanding his White Oak dance project, he established an arts center in New York City.
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WHO IS MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV?

Keith finished in the lead with $5,800. Meredith was second with $1,800 and Tori was last with $1,000.

Keith found the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double in “Geographic Nicknames.” He was in the lead with $6,600 now, a $2,000 lead over Meredith in second place. He bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.

Sicily’s “mountain of fire.”
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WHAT IS MT. ETNA?

Meredith found the last Daily Double in “Thanks for the Title, Shakespeare.” She was in second place with $6,200, $10,400 less than Keith’s lead. She bet $3,200. The clue gave her a bit of a pause, but she pulled it out of her brain and she was RIGHT.

Steinbeck didn’t have to read much of “Richard III” to get the title of this 1961 novel.
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WHAT IS “THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT”?

Keith finished in the lead with $17,000, but it was not a runaway. Meredith was in second place with $9,400 and Tori was in third place with $3,000.

NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS “ANGRY BIRDS”?

“The choice of Green Pigs for the birds’ enemy was based on the swine-flu epidemic that dominated the news around the time of the game’s development.” (10 Things You Didn’t Know About Angry Birds)

Tori wrote down Halo. The creators say one of the main influences of Halo was the novel Armor by John Steakley. Tori only lost $1.00 and finished with $2,999.

Meredith wrote down Skyrim, a game conceptualized by its forerunner Oblivion. That cost her everything and she finished with zero.

Keith wrote down Resident Evil. Its inspiration was the earlier Capcom horror game, Sweet Home. He bet a modest $1,801, leaving him with $15,199 and a third victory. His 3-day total is $66,399.

His winnings yesterday actually made him No. 12 on the list of Top 12 candidates for the Tournament of Champions. Today he moved up to No. 9.