Final Jeopardy: UNESCO World Heritage Sites (6-21-12)
The Final Jeopardy question (6/21/2012) in the category “UNESCO World Heritage Sites” was:
Listed in 1983, this complex finished c. 1650 features inlaid semiprecious stones & Arabic calligraphy.
5-day champ David Menchaca is back. His winnings so far total $115,503. Today he is up against these two new players: Margaret Swanson, from Somerville, MA and Lukas Sherman, from Portland, OR.
The last time we had a 6-day champ was on 5/28/12. It was Joel Pool who won $116,800. Will David make it to No. 6? Alex doesn’t seem to think so, meanly and gratuitously saying “there’s an old saying: all good things must come to an end.” What possesses him to come out with stuff like that?
Lukas found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “M.E.” He was in third place with $1,600, $200 behind Margaret and $4,600 behind David. He made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
It differs from other slithery sea dwellers in that it usually lacks pectoral fins.
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David finished in the lead with $7,000. Lukas was second with $4,000 and Margaret was last with $3,600.
David found the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double in “Bad Endings for Writers.” He was in the lead with $9,800, with $400 more than Lukas who had done some catching up. He bet $2,000 but thought it was Sir Thomas More and that was WRONG, because More, the author of “Utopia,” was not a courtier and was executed in 1535.
This courtier & author of a “History of the World” was executed at the Tower of London in 1618.
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Lukas found the last Daily Double in “On Your Marks.” He was in second place with $13,400, $2,800 less than David in the lead. He bet $6,000, and he was RIGHT.
In 2005, this former FBI Deputy Director revealed he was “Deep Throat.”
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Lukas finished in the lead with $21,400. David was next with $17,400 and Margaret was in third place with $6,000.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
Not exactly a category we’d think of to study for a Jeopardy! appearance.
“The World Heritage List includes 936 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.” The UNESCO site has comprehensive lists showing various statistics. For instance, the Taj Mahal was far from the only property added to the list in 1983. They also included the Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair, City of Cuzco and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, just to name a few.
Margaret wrote down the Alhambra (listed by UNESCO in 1984). She bet $2,001 and finished with $3,999.
David wrote down the Kabaa and bet $17,358, finishing with $42.
Lukas wrote down the Haggia Sophia. He bet $18,000 so he ended up with $3,400.
So Margaret was the beneficiary of the betting war and became the new champion.
“Am I a prophet or what?” Alex crowed referring to the old saying he brought up in the beginning of the show. All the same, we hope to see David again in the Tournament of Champions.
