JAQR - Friday, July 29, 2022
Last game of Season 38
Thank you for reading the first ever issue of the Jeopardy Answer & Question Recap, or JAQR [“jacker”]. The purpose of this newsletter is to help people who are trying to get better at trivia, quizbowl, Learned League, Online Quiz League, etc. Once a week, I intend to recap the Friday episode of Jeopardy! by reviewing ~10 clues (Daily Doubles, Triple Stumpers, and Final Jeopardy, along with a few other interesting ones). The first half of the email will include just the clues so you can quiz yourself. The second half will give you some (hopefully) juicy tidbits about the clues. Enjoy!
DAILY DOUBLE #1
ISLANDS & PENINSULAS
55 mi. from Siberia, the westernmost point of the North American continent is on this peninsula named for a man big in Alaskan history
DAILY DOUBLE #2
HISTORY
In January 1536 this royal gave birth to a stillborn male child; by May she was deceased
DAILY DOUBLE #3
“C”HARACTER STUDY
She's the heroine of "Wuthering Heights" & Alex Trebek loved to imitate Laurence Olivier repeating her name
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
ISLANDS & PENINSULAS
Michigan is all about peninsulas; the Old Mission & the Leelanau are sub-peninsulas of this one that takes up most of the state
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
JUST TAKE THE L
A word describing mild weather mildly drops an L to become a major part of concrete
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
MASHED-UP SITCOM TITLES
"Father Knows Geeks"
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
“C”HARACTER STUDY
Members of this family in works by William Faulkner include Benjy, Quentin & Caddy
NEED TO KNOW #1
GOVERNORS
She was born in Lansing, where she was sworn in as governor on Jan. 1, 2019
NEED TO KNOW #2
WATERCOLORS
Van Gogh lived in the "Yellow House" with Gauguin in this French city, where his output included watercolors
FINAL JEOPARDY
TECH HISTORY
For about 20 years after its invention, it had few practical uses; then suddenly it revolutionized grocery checkouts & home audio
DAILY DOUBLE #1
ISLANDS & PENINSULAS
55 mi. from Siberia, the westernmost point of the North American continent is on this peninsula named for a man big in Alaskan history
SEWARD PENINSULA
The city of Nome is on the southwestern portion of the Seward Peninsula, which is a remnant of the Bering land bridge. The Seward Peninsula is named for William Seward, who served as Secretary of State for Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson from 1861 to 1869. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars (a mere 2 cents per acre). The purchase was nicknamed “Seward’s folly” and Alaska was called “Seward’s icebox” and a “polar bear garden.”
DAILY DOUBLE #2
HISTORY
In January 1536 this royal gave birth to a stillborn male child; by May she was deceased
ANNE BOLEYN
The six wives of King Henry VIII of England were Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. A popular mnemonic for their fates is "divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived". Elizbeth I was the daughter of Anne Boleyn, who was married to Henry VIII from 1533 to 1536 (the year she was beheaded at the Tower of London). The recent musical Six is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives, including Anne Boleyn, who sings "Don't Lose Ur Head."
DAILY DOUBLE #3
“C”HARACTER STUDY
She's the heroine of "Wuthering Heights" & Alex Trebek loved to imitate Laurence Olivier repeating her name
CATHERINE EARNSHAW
Wuthering Heights (1847) is a novel by Emily Brontë that is partly set at the titular house on the West Yorkshire moors. The main characters are Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, who become friends after Heathcliff is adopted by Catherine's father. Heathcliff falls in love with Catherine, but she marries Edgar Linton instead. Unhappiness ensues for basically everyone. Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier starred in the 1939 film adaptation. Kate Bush has a 1978 song inspired by the book.
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
ISLANDS & PENINSULAS
Michigan is all about peninsulas; the Old Mission & the Leelanau are sub-peninsulas of this one that takes up most of the state
LOWER PENINSULA
Michigan has two main peninsulas: the Lower Peninsula (looks like a mitten) and the Upper Peninsula (or the U.P., which extends outward from Wisconsin). They are separated by the Straits of Mackinac [MAK-uh-naw]. The Leelanau Peninsula is sometimes called the "little finger" of the Lower Peninsula. Residents of the Upper Peninsula are sometimes known as Yoopers [“U”-pers].
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
JUST TAKE THE L
A word describing mild weather mildly drops an L to become a major part of concrete
CLEMENT & CEMENT
In addition to mild weather, the word clement can refer to a compassionate person who is merciful in disposition. There have been 14 popes (and 3 antipopes) with the name Clement. The aforementioned King Henry VIII was excommunicated by Pope Clement VII, who refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Cement can be combined with sand and gravel to produce concrete. The name of a common type of cement, Portland cement, refers to the isle of Portland, which is part of the county of Dorset in southern England. Portland cement is named for its resemblance in color to Portland stone.
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
MASHED-UP SITCOM TITLES
"Father Knows Geeks"
FATHER KNOWS BEST & FREAKS AND GEEKS
Father Knows Best (1954-1960) was a TV sitcom starring Robert Young as the title dad, Jim Anderson. He was an insurance agent and had kids named Betty (AKA Princess), Bud, and Kathy (AKA Kitten). The actor Robert Young later played the title doctor on Marcus Welby, M.D.
The show Freaks and Greeks was set in the early 1980s in the fictional town of Chippewa, a suburb of Detroit (in Michigan's Lower Peninsula). Judd Apatow was the executive producer of the show, which debuted on NBC in 1999 and lasted only one season. The show's cast included Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel.
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
“C”HARACTER STUDY
Members of this family in works by William Faulkner include Benjy, Quentin & Caddy
THE COMPSONS
William Faulkner’s 1929 book The Sound and the Fury centers on the Compson family from Mississippi. Its members include Quentin, who attends Harvard and commits suicide by jumping in the Charles River, his promiscuous sister Caddy, their racist younger brother Jason, and their youngest brother Benjy, who is intellectually disabled. The aforementioned James Franco directed a 2014 film adaptation, in which he played Benjy.
NEED TO KNOW #1
GOVERNORS
She was born in Lansing, where she was sworn in as governor on Jan. 1, 2019
GRETCHEN WHITMER
Gretchen Whitmer is the current governor of Michigan. Two men were recently convicted of conspiring to kidnap her. Detroit was originally the capital of Michigan, but it was moved to Lansing in 1847 for several reasons, including that it was farther from Canada (for defense purposes), and that it would boost the economy of the interior region.
NEED TO KNOW #2
WATERCOLORS
Van Gogh lived in the "Yellow House" with Gauguin in this French city, where his output included watercolors
ARLES
Arles [ARL] is a city on the Rhône River in southeastern France. Vincent van Gogh created many works in 1888 while in Arles, including Café Terrace at Night and Bedroom in Arles. Paul Gauguin stayed with van Gogh in Arles for several weeks in the Yellow House. After tempers flared with Gauguin, van Gogh severed his own left ear with a razor and gave it to a female employee at a brothel, of course.
FINAL JEOPARDY
TECH HISTORY
For about 20 years after its invention, it had few practical uses; then suddenly it revolutionized grocery checkouts & home audio
LASER
The laser was invented by Theodore Maiman [MY-min], who first demonstrated the device in 1960. The acronym LASER is short for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In 1974, a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum was the first item with a UPC (Universal Product Code) to have its barcode scanned for purchase. The bar code became ubiquitous in businesses in the 1980s. The first CD player was released by Sony in 1982. The “laser” has also been used for nefarious purposes by some movie villains, such as Auric Goldfinger and Dr. Evil.
Thank you again for reading the first ever issue of JAQR. The next recap will cover the Season 39 episode that airs on Friday, September 16, 2022 and should be in your inbox the following Monday morning (September 19).