JAQR - July 30, 2023
Rudyard Kipling's birthplace, Mrs. Warren's Profession, MLB uniform numbers, the Sex Pistols, Charles Sumner, and more...
Thank you for reading another issue of the Jeopardy Answer & Question Recap, or JAQR [“jacker”] for short. This recap includes two clues from each episode of Jeopardy! between Monday 7/24 and Thursday 7/27. The recap will include Daily Doubles, Final Jeopardy clues, and Triple Stumpers. The first half of the recap will include just the clues so you can quiz yourself if you want. The second half will give you some (hopefully) interesting information about the clues and/or some related info.
DAILY DOUBLE #1
WORLD CITIES
Today an art school stands at the place in this huge metropolis where Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865
DAILY DOUBLE #2
PLAY TIME
The play "Mrs. Warren's Profession" by this Irishman was considered so scandalous it was banned for years
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
AFRICAN GEOGRAPHY
The only country in Africa with Spanish as an official language, it lies mostly between 1 & 2 degrees north latitude
FINAL JEOAPRDY #2
OPERA SOURCE MATERIAL
Henri Murger, who was broke & lived in a freezing attic apartment in Paris, wrote the source material for this 1896 opera
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
UNIFORM NUMBERS
You won't see any players from this MLB team wearing a single digit number; they've all been retired, & No. 8, twice
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
SOMETHING'S ROTTEN
After the Sex Pistols, Johnny Rotten, now John Lydon, fronted this band, PiL for short
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
STATE THE 19th CENTURY SENATOR
Charles Sumner, a free stater nearly beaten to death on the Senate floor by a southerner
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
RECENT TV SHOWS BY EPISODE TITLE
"Educator of the Year"
DAILY DOUBLE #1
WORLD CITIES
Today an art school stands at the place in this huge metropolis where Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865
***MUMBAI***
Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is India’s most populous city. It is located on India’s west coast in the state of Maharashtra. The city, which has also been formerly referred to as Heptanesia, was once on seven islets that have since been joined together through reclamation projects. Marathi is the main language in the city, which is the center of India's film industry (nicknamed Bollywood) and also India’s financial center (its Dalal Street is similar to Wall Street).
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the city include the Elephanta Caves, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (train station), and the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles (collection of buildings that includes the Rajabai Clock Tower). Other landmarks in the city include the Gateway of India, which over looks the harbor and was built to commemorate the 1911 visit of King George V and his wife Queen Mary of Teck. Mumbai is served by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, which is named for the 17th century founder of the Maratha kingdom. A slum near the airport is the setting of Katherine Boo’s non-fiction book Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Other notable things about the city:
Mumbai has approximately 5,000 dabbawalas, who deliver home cooked meals to offices and also return the empty “dabbas” (metal lunchboxes) back to their home
During the 26/11 attacks (which began on November 26, 2008) various places in Mumbai were attacked by Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist militant organization based in Pakistan
Mumbai contains Altamount Road, nicknamed, Billionaires’ Row, which is a very affluent neighborhood that is home to Antilia, the 27-floor private residence of business magnate Mukesh Ambani, who is the chairman of the conglomerate Reliance Industries and is Asia’s richest person; the residence is worth at least one billion dollars and even contains a "snow room" with artificial snowflakes
The picture below shows the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (which was targeted during the 26/11 attacks) on the left, and the Gateway of India on the right :
DAILY DOUBLE #2
PLAY TIME
The play "Mrs. Warren's Profession" by this Irishman was considered so scandalous it was banned for years
***GEORGE BERNARD SHAW***
Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw, pictured below, was awarded the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature for his work "marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty." Before becoming famous for his plays, he was a music critic who wrote under the pseudonym "Corno di Bassetto” (Italian for "basset horn"). He was also a member of the socialist Fabian Society (named for the 3rd century BC Roman general Fabius, who is remembered for his caution and delaying tactics).
Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren’s Profession in 1893, but it could not be performed until 1902 because the Lord Chamberlain refused to issue it a license due to its subject of prostitution. In the play, the young woman Vivie Warren discovers that her mother, Mrs. Kitty Warren, was formerly a prostitute and is now a co-owner of several brothers. Shaw is most famous for his 1913 comedy Pygmalion, in which the phonetician Henry Higgins trains the Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle to be able to pass as a lady. Shaw won an Oscar for helping to write the screenplay for the 1938 movie adaptation. Shaw is one of only two people to have won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize in Literature (Bob Dylan is the other). The play Pygmalion is the basis of the musical My Fair Lady.
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
AFRICAN GEOGRAPHY
The only country in Africa with Spanish as an official language, it lies mostly between 1 & 2 degrees north latitude
***EQUATORIAL GUINEA***
Equatorial Guinea is an oil-rich country in West Africa partly named for its location near the Equator. The country is composed of a continental portion called Río Muni and five islands. The rectangle-shaped mainland portion is bordered by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the east and south. Bioko is the country’s largest island and contains the capital, Malabo (which will soon be replaced as capital by the mainland city of Ciudad de la Paz). The volcanic island of Bioko was formerly named Fernando Po, in honor of the Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó, who spotted the island in 1472.
Known as Spanish Guinea when it was a colony, it gained its independence in 1968. The country's first president, Macías [mah-SEE-ahss], was a brutal dictator who ruled from 1968 until 1979 and killed anyone who wore glasses. He was overthrown by his nephew, Teodoro Obiang, who was ruled as an authoritarian ever since. Margaret Thatcher's son Mark financed the 2004 Wonga coup attempt against Obiang. The country's main ethnic group is the Fang people, while the Bubi people are indigenous to Bioko. Its flag, pictured below, includes six stars (for the five islands plus the mainland portion), a silk-cotton tree, and the country’s Spanish motto “unidad, paz, justicia” (meaning “unity, peace, justice”).
FINAL JEOAPRDY #2
OPERA SOURCE MATERIAL
Henri Murger, who was broke & lived in a freezing attic apartment in Paris, wrote the source material for this 1896 opera
***LA BOHÉME***
The opera La Bohème [lah boh-EM] was composed by Giacomo Puccini [poo-CHEE-nee] and based on Henri Murger's "Scenes of Bohemian Life." The opera's 1896 premiere in Turin was conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The seamstress Mimi (whose real name is Lucia) and the writer Rodolfo are the main characters in the opera, which is set in Paris in the 1830s. In the first act, Mimi knocks on the door to Rodolfo’s garret (top-floor or attic) apartment and asks him to light her candle. They fall in love after Rodolfo sings “Che gelida manina” (heard below), in which he asks to warm up her little hand.
In the second act, Rodolfo buys Mimi a pink bonnet and he introduces her to his friends at a café in the Latin Quarter. While there, Rodolfo's roommate Marcello sees his former lover Musetta (who sings about how people stop and look at her on the street in “Musetta’s Waltz,” also known as “Quando me'n vo’“) and embraces her. In the third act, which is set a month or two later, Rodolfo informs Marcello that Mimi is dying of consumption (AKA tuberculosis). In the fourth and final act, Mimi is seriously ill and Musetta finds her stumbling in the street. Mimi is brought to a bed at Rodolfo’s and soon dies. The opera is the basis of Jonathan Larson's 1996 rock musical Rent, in which Idina Menzel made her Broadway debut.
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
UNIFORM NUMBERS
You won't see any players from this MLB team wearing a single digit number; they've all been retired, & No. 8, twice
***NEW YORK YANKEES***
Single-digit numbers retired by the Yankees include:
#1 - Billy Martin - managed the Yankees five different times (1975-1978, 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1988) and won a World Series in 1977, but was fired (or forced to resign) five times by team owner George Steinbrenner
#2 - Derek Jeter - played all 20 seasons (1995–2014) with the Yankees and was part of the "Core Four" with starting pitcher Andy Pettitte, catcher Jorge Posada, and reliever Mariano Rivera; finished with the sixth most hits (3,464) in MLB history and the most hits ever by a shortstop; made "The Flip" (video below) in the 2001 ALDS against Oakland; nicknamed “Mr. November” after hitting a game-winning home run in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series; created the media platform The Players' Tribune in 2014; part owner and CEO of the Miami Marlins from 2017-2022
#3 - Babe Ruth - pitcher who was sold to the Yankees in late 1919 (announced in early 1920) by Harry Frazee, owner of the Red Sox (who suffered the “Curse of the Bambino” until they won a World Series in 2004); missed almost half of the 1925 season due to the "bellyache heard 'round the world"; was caught stealing second base in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series, giving the St. Louis Cardinals the victory; hit 60 home runs during the 1927 season as part of Murderers' Row and finished with 714 career home runs (a record not broken until 1974 by Hank Aaron); the all-time MLB leader in OPS (on-base plus slugging); he put cabbage leaves under his baseball cap to keep cool and was also nicknamed the "Sultan of Swat"
#4 - Lou Gehrig [GAIR-ig] - first baseman nicknamed the “Iron Horse” for playing in 2,130 consecutive games between 1925-1939 (a record not broken until 1995 by Cal Ripken, Jr.); diagnosed in 1939 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is now sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease; he declared himself “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” in a memorable 1939 speech; he was the first athlete depicted on a Wheaties box and the first MLB player to have his number retired
#5 - Joe DiMaggio - hit safely in 56 consecutive games in 1941 (a record that still stands); missed three seasons (1943-1945) while serving in WWII; married Marilyn Monroe in 1954; nicknamed “Joltin’ Joe” and the “Yankee Clipper”; his brothers Vince and Dom also played in the majors; he is adored by Santiago, the title character of Ernest Hemingway's novella The Old Man and the Sea; he is the subject of Gay Talese's essay "The Silent Season of a Hero"; he is asked "where have you gone?" in the Simon & Garfunkel song "Mrs. Robinson"
#6 - Joe Torre - won four World Series titles (1996, 1998-2000) while managing the Yankees (1996-2007); won the NL MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971; is the only Major Leaguer with 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 victories as a manager
#7 - Mickey Mantle - center fielder and 20x All-Star who helped the Yankees win seven World Series titles (1951–53, 1956, 1958, 1961–62); took over for Joe DiMaggio and is possibly the greatest switch hitter in MLB history; nicknamed the “Commerce Comet" in honor of where he grew up (Commerce, Oklahoma);
#8 - Lawrence “Yogi” Berra - catcher who won 10 World Series titles (the most all-time) with the Yankees as a player (1947, 1949–1953, 1956, 1958, 1961–62); caught Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series; gained his nickname by sitting cross-legged as he waited to bat; known for his amusing non-sensical sayings
#8 - Bill Dickey - catcher for the Yankees who won seven World Series titles (1932, 1936–1939, 1941, 1943); coached Yogi Berra in the art of catching
#9 - Roger Maris - hit 61 home runs in 1961 (an MLB record broken by Mark McGwire with the aid of steroids in 1998); part of the "M&M Boys" with Mickey Mantle; perhaps surprisingly, he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY (he only had a few superb seasons)
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
SOMETHING'S ROTTEN
After the Sex Pistols, Johnny Rotten, now John Lydon, fronted this band, PiL for short
***PUBLIC IMAGE LTD***
The Sex Pistols was a short-lived late 1970s punk rock band whose members included lead vocalist Johnny Rotten. The band was assembled by Malcolm McLaren, who was trying to promote his London store called SEX (co-run by his girlfriend Vivienne Westwood). The group’s first two singles, “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “God Save the Queen” appear on their only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977). The band’s original bassist, Glen Matlock, was replaced by Sid Vicious, who died in 1979 of a drug overdose at the age of 21 while out on bail for the murder of Nancy Spungen, his groupie girlfriend. The band is the subject of the 1980 mockumentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb played the title characters in the 1986 movie Sid and Nancy.
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
STATE THE 19th CENTURY SENATOR
Charles Sumner, a free stater nearly beaten to death on the Senate floor by a southerner
***MASSACHUSETTS***
Charles Sumner, who served as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1852-1874, was a Radical Republican who was dedicated to the abolition of slavery. In 1856, he delivered the "Crime Against Kansas" speech, in which he denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In the speech, Sumner also mocked a U.S. Senator from South Carolina, Andrew P. Butler, by saying he "has a chosen a mistress....the harlot, slavery" and that “he cannot open his mouth, but out there flies a blunder.” Following the speech, one of Butler’s relatives, Preston S. Brooks (a member of the U.S. House from South Carolina), beat Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor. After the brutal and bloody attack, Brooks (who went unpunished except for a $300 fine) was re-elected and was sent many replica canes by Southerners inscribed with "Hit him again." Later on, Sumner chose the name "Alaska" for the land purchased in 1867 from Russia.
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
RECENT TV SHOWS BY EPISODE TITLE
"Educator of the Year"
***ABBOTT ELEMENTARY***
Abbott Elementary is an critically-acclaimed sitcom on ABC. It was created by Quinta Brunson, who in 2022 won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. The mockumentary centers on the title underfunded school in Philadelphia, where the idealistic second grade teacher Janine Teagues, played by Brunson, works. The show’s cast also includes:
Janelle James - plays the school’s usually inept and obnoxious principal
Sheryl Lee Ralph - plays an old-school kindergarten teacher (based on Brunson’s mother); in 2022 she won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Tyler James Williams - his character starts the show as a sub at the school; he previously played the title character on Everybody Hates Chris