Final Jeopardy: Literature (3-15-12)
The Final Jeopardy question (3/15/2012) in the category “Literature” was:
This 1928 novel was partly based on the author’s wife Frieda & her affair with Angelo Ravagli
Today’s new champ is Michael Gurshtein, who was the only one to get Final Jeopardy! right yesterday. Now he has to defeat these two players if he doesn’t want to be a One-Day Wonder: John Erler from Austin, TX, and Sue Anderson from Peoria, IL.
John found the Jeopardy! Daily Double in the category “Weights & Measures.” He was in the lead with $6,800, $4,800 more than Michael. He risked $1,800, and as Alex put it, you could “smell the wood-burning” and “see the wheels turning,” but he got it RIGHT.
An octant or 1/8 of a circle, is equal to this many degrees. show
John finished with a great lead of $8,600. Michael was next with $2,800 and Sue was last with $1,600.
In Double Jeopardy!, Michael found the first Daily Double in “Former Soviet Republic.” He had done a great job of catching up to John and only had $1,400 less than John’s $10,600. He boldly bet $7,000! Michael’s poker face had us on pins and needles, but he was RIGHT!
The most populous after Russia. show
He ran the rest of the category and wound up with $17,400.
Sue found the second Double Jeopardy! in “Car Names.” She was doing well in the category and had $6,400, $5,400 less than John, who was in second place. We were surprised yet again when she risked $3,000, and she was RIGHT (as well as treated to the proper French pronunciation à la Trebek.)
Add one letter to the French word for ‘lemon’ to get the name of this French car maker. show
Michael finished in the lead with $19,000. John was next with $17,000 and Sue had a very respectable $13,400.
Before continuing, let’s note that when Alex Trebek announced the Final Jeopardy! category “Literature,” he said “let’s assume English literature.” Is that cricket?
Only ONE of the players got Final Jeopardy! right. We thought that would be Sue. Good thing we didn’t bet any money on it.
D.H. Lawrence was Frieda Von Richthofen’s second husband and she married Angelo Ravagli after Lawrence died. After leaving her first husband Ernest Weekley in 1912 to take up with Lawrence, “the free spirited Frieda became Lawrence’s muse and guide, despite openly having affairs with other men. It is widely accepted that Frieda was largely the inspiration for a number of Lawrence creations, including Lady Chatterley.” (TalkinBroadway.com: New Jersey: A Moon to Dance By)
Sue drew a blank so she lost her $10,000 bet and wound up with $3,400.
John got it right and added $12,000 to his score for a total of $29,000.
Michael, who was the first one to finish writing, wrote down “Death in Venice” (a novel by Thomas Mann involving an older man stalking a young boy he is obsessed with). That cost Michael $15,001 so he ended up in second place with $3,999.
New champ John gave the big thumbs up. We plan to watch him try to replicate his success tomorrow, don’t you?
