The Final Jeopardy question (3/22/2012) in the category “State Nicknames” was:

Its nickname is said to come from a line in an 1899 speech that followed “frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me.”

Our new champ today is Cathy Guiles, who won yesterday’s game with the lone correct Final Jeopardy! answer and a $1,000 bet. Today’s two new players are: Nancy Nakayama from Seattle, WA, and Nick Bulum from Long Beach, CA.

Nick found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “The Versatile O-U-G-H” before the first commercial break. He had already had $1,000, $800 more than  Cathy or Nancy, who both had $200.  He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.

Greenwich is an inner one of London. show

WHAT IS A BOROUGH?

Nick finished in the lead with $7,400. Nancy was next with $3,600 and Cathy was last with $2,200.

Nancy found the first Double Jeopardy! in “Compound Words.” She now had $5,200, $200 less than Cathy and $3,800 less than Nick. She felt like betting $2,500 and said “downsize” which was WRONG.

A descending slope in a road, it can also mean to lower one’s status or salary. show

WHAT IS DOWNGRADE?

Everyone got the next clue wrong in “Take Me to the Nearest U.S. Embassy,” where they had to name the city in which you find the American Embassy. The clue was “I’m in Haiphong.”

So Nancy got to pick again and she found the second Daily Double in the Embassy category. She now had $2,300. Cathy and Nick each had $400 less than when Nancy got the first Daily Double. She bet $1,200 and, this time, she was RIGHT.

I’m in Port Said.’ show

WHAT IS CAIRO’?

Let’s just say that Double Jeopardy! was no walk in the park for the players who either lost money or just stood there. Cathy finished in the lead with $7,000. Nick had $6,600 less than he had at the end of the first round. Nancy had $4,300.

Fortunately, Final Jeopardy! was easy enough to deduce and ALL of the players got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS MISSOURI?

Fun with Family Missouri says: “… Missouri is called the Show Me State. One theory says this nickname evolved when Missourians in the nineteenth century went west to work in the mines but had a bit of trouble catching on to new tasks. The story is that their employers said, ‘They’re from Missouri; you’ve got to show them.’ We, however, prefer a second explanation involving a turn-of-the-twentieth-century state representative who supposedly said, ‘[I come from a country that raises corn and cotton, cockleburs and Democrats, and] frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.'”

Evidently, they were having too much fun to look up the name of the fellow, but we weren’t. It was Willard Duncan Vandiver (1854-1932) who represented Missouri in the United States House of Representatives from 1896 through 1903. He was actually born in Hardy County, Virginia, which is now West Virginia. His family moved to Missouri when he was three.

Nancy added $1,901 to her score for a total of $6,201.

Nick  added $2,001 and finished with $8,001.

Cathy bet $6,201, won the game and broke the one-day champion streak. Today’s total was $13,201. Her 2-day total: $27,801.