Jeopardy! discussion thread for Tue., Mar. 25

Here are today's contestants:

  • Eugene Huang, a teacher from Paramus, New Jersey;
  • Sara Balmuth, an archeologist from Shasta Lake, California; and
  • Josh Weikert, a politics professor from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Josh is a two-day champ with winnings of $32,800.

Jeopardy!

MOUNTAINS // HIPPO-POURRI // QUOTING THE FILM // MIX -OLOGY// BUSINESS // BEFORE PLEASURE

DD1 - $600 - BUSINESS - From the Latin for "body", this action offers more protection against liability than sole proprietorship (Eugene lost $2,000 from his score of $2,800.)

Scores at first break: Josh $1,600, Sara $3,600, Eugene $2,800.

Scores entering DJ: Josh $7,200, Sara $3,600, Eugene $1,600.

Double Jeopardy!

THEN, VOYAGER // 2-WORD PHRASES // ART HISTORY // WOMEN ON TV // PLEAD THE 5th // POETIC PLACES

DD2 - $1,600 - 2-WORD PHRASES - With scenes like hide & clap in "The Conjuring", director James Wan has mastered this effect -- it literally moves the viewer (Josh added $2,400 to his leading total of $8,000.)

DD3 - $2,000 - THEN, VOYAGER - Jacques Cartier discovered this island, but its French name later gave way to one honoring a son of King George III (On the last clue of DJ, Eugene lost $3,000 from his score of $13,600 vs. $20,000 for Josh.)

From second place, Eugene found DD3 on the last clue of DJ with a chance to take the lead, but elected to make a modest wager and missed, so heading into FJ it was Josh with $20,000, Eugene at $10,600 and Sara with $1,600.

Final Jeopardy!

MIGRATIONS - A biosphere reserve in Michoacán is named for these creatures that turn the forests orange & black every November

Everyone was correct on FJ. Josh added $1,201 to win with $21,201 for a three-day total of $54,001.

Final scores: Josh $21,201, Sara $3,200, Eugene $20,001.

Wagering strategy: If Eugene didn't want to wager for the lead on DD3, a better choice would have been a very minimal bet that would have kept him within two-thirds of Josh's score into FJ. This could have given Eugene a chance to win if Josh missed FJ without having to be correct himself.

Clue selection strategy: With DD3 still on the board, all six top-row clues were chosen beforehand, and the final remaining untouched category was played top-down.

Correct Qs: DD1 - What is incorporation? (Eugene left off the first two letters.) DD2 - What is jump scare? DD3 - What is Prince Edward Island? FJ - What are monarch butterflies?