JAQR - March 31, 2024
West Virginian rivers, Mineral scales, Roman emperors, Chemical elements, Post-Soviet states, Spanish surrealists, The Savage Detectives, dartboards, 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 Jeopardy! episode between Monday 3/25 and Friday 3/29. 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
PANHANDLE STATES
West Virginia's northern panhandle is bordered on the north & west by this river
DAILY DOUBLE #2
SCIENCE
Devised by a 19th century German scientist, this scale measures a mineral's resistance to abrasion
DAILY DOUBLE #3
THE ANCIENTS SPEAK
In "The Lives of the Twelve Caesars", it's said that his last words were "What an artist dies with me!"
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
ELEMENTS
In his "Natural History" Pliny described it as "argentum vivum"
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
U.S.S.R.I.P.
Of the 15 countries formed by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, this one is alphabetically last
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
FIVE GUYS
This Spanish surrealist whose work is often exhibited with Dali's painted "Dog Barking at the Moon" in 1926
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
WORLD STAR
This actress starred in the Chaplinesque Indian film "Barfi!" before landing in "Quantico" in 2015
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
WORLD LITERATURE
This Chilean author of "The Savage Detectives" has gained wide fame in English translation since his early death in 2003
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
MUSIC COLLABS
Billie Holiday & this sax player first linked up in 1934; soon enough they gave each other nicknames, Lady Day & Prez
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
ROUND HERE
This numeral is topmost center on a standard circular dartboard
DAILY DOUBLE #1
PANHANDLE STATES
West Virginia's northern panhandle is bordered on the north & west by this river
***OHIO RIVER***
The Ohio River is formed by the Allegheny and Monongahela [moh-NOHN-gah-HEE-lah] rivers near Pittsburgh, PA (which is nicknamed “The City of Bridges”). The river flows in a generally southwest direction and marks several state borders: Ohio-WV, Ohio-Kentucky, Indiana-Kentucky, and Illinois-Kentucky. It flows for a total of 981 miles before joining the Mississippi River near Cairo [KAY-roh] (the southernmost city in Illinois). Major cities on the river include Wheeling, WV, Cincinnati, OH, Louisville, KY, and Evansville, IN. Major tributaries of the river include the Cumberland, Kanawha, Miami, Tennessee, and Wabash. French explorer Robert de La Salle “discovered” the river in 1669. Ohio means "good river" in the Seneca language.
It is possible that the river contains an Olympic gold medal. According to legend, the boxer Muhammad Ali threw his gold medal (that he won at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome) into the Ohio River after being denied service at a whites-only diner. A memorable scene from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin involves the barefoot maid Eliza (and her son Harry) crossing the Ohio River (filled with sheets of floating ice) to escape slavery. It was nicknamed the River Jordan by people crossing it to escape slavery. Some people blame a creature called the Mothman for the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, which spanned the Ohio River near Point Pleasant, WV. A still standing pedestrian bridge that connects Cincinnati, OH to Newport, KY is the Purple People Bridge.
DAILY DOUBLE #2
SCIENCE
Devised by a 19th century German scientist, this scale measures a mineral's resistance to abrasion
***MOHS HARDNESS SCALE***
German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs is the namesake of a hardness scale that is used to measure a mineral’s resistance to scratching:
1 = Talc - extremely soft and soapy silicate that is ground up to make body powder
2 = Gypsum - hydrated calcium sulfate from which plaster of Paris is made
3 = Calcite - component of stalactites and stalagmites (see picture below) that is the most stable structure of calcium carbonate
4 = Fluorite - mineral form of calcium fluoride that inspired the name of fluorescence
5 = Apatite - group of phosphate minerals that was named for the Greek word for “deceit” due to its diverse colors and forms; hydroxyapatite is the primary mineral of tooth enamel, which is the hardest substance in the human body
6 = Orthoclase - potassium-containing feldspar named for the fact that its two cleavage planes are at right angles to each other
7 = Quartz - consists primarily of silica (AKA silicon dioxide), and is the most common constituent of sand
8 = Topaz - aluminum silicate that is the birthstone for November; it shares its name with a Leon Uris espionage thriller that was adapted into an Alfred Hitchcock movie
9 = Corundum - crystalline form of aluminum oxide whose varieties include sapphire and ruby
10 = Diamond - solid form of carbon that is the birthstone for April
DAILY DOUBLE #3
THE ANCIENTS SPEAK
In "The Lives of the Twelve Caesars", it's said that his last words were "What an artist dies with me!"
***NERO***
The fifth Roman Emperor was Nero, who was the last member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was born in 37 CE to Agrippina the Younger, whose third husband (and uncle!) was the fourth Roman emperor, Claudius. It is believed that Agrippina was responsible for the poisoning of Claudius, thus enabling Nero to come to power as a teenager. One of Nero’s first acts in office was having Claudius' biological son Britannicus poisoned. Agrippina eventually fell out of favor with Nero and she was killed in 59 CE, but not before he unsuccessfully tried to have her crushed by a falling ceiling and drowned in a self-sinking collapsible boat.
Nero’s reign included a failed revolt in Britain in ~60 CE that was led by Queen Boudica of the Iceni people. He had his first wife Octavia executed in 62 CE and kicked his second wife Poppaea to death in 65 CE. Many people blamed the Great Fire of Rome on Nero, who did NOT fiddle while Rome was burning. He did however build a large palace after the fire called the Domus Aurea (Latin for "Golden House"), which included a rotating banqueting hall. Nero blamed the fire on the Christians, many of whom were burned alive. In the 65 CE Pisonian conspiracy, the statesman Piso sought to have Nero assassinated. As a result of the failed conspiracy, the poet Lucan was assassinated and Nero forced his tutor/advisor Seneca to commit suicide.
In 68 CE a provincial governor in Hispania named Galba and a senator named Vindex led a rebellion against Nero, who died after stabbing himself in the throat with a dagger. Rome was plagued by several Nero impostors after his death. Galba succeeded Nero as emperor, and was the first ruler in 69 CE aka the Year of the Four Emperors (which also included Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian). Many details about Nero are included in The Twelve Caesars by the historian Suetonius, who included bios of Julius Caesar and the first eleven Roman emperors in the 121 CE work. Nero’s hobbies included acting on stage, playing a type of lyre called the cithara, and dubiously being awarded the winner of various events at the Olympics.
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
ELEMENTS
In his "Natural History" Pliny described it as "argentum vivum"