JAQR - March 5, 2023
FDR and his dog Fala, movies titled Spellbound, Agnes Scott College, Pinocchio, and more...
Thank you for reading another issue of the Jeopardy Answer & Question Recap, or JAQR [“jacker”] for short. This recap focuses on the recent week (Monday 2/27 - Friday 3/3) of Jeopardy! episodes. It will include some Daily Doubles, Final Jeopardys, 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.
By the way, the next three issues of JAQR will be “special editions”
March 12 = Ten Jeopardy clues and recaps concerning “old” TV shows
March 19 = Ten Jeopardy clues and recaps concerning potent potables
March 26 = 88 questions based on JAQR recaps from 2022
Regular issues will resume on April 2nd.
DAILY DOUBLE #1
RE: UNION
The complete name of this large labor union says it also includes chauffeurs & warehousemen
DAILY DOULBE #2
DOCUMENTARY SUBJECTS
It means excessive talkativeness, it's from the Greek for "word" & it wins Nupur Lala The National Spelling Bee in a classic doc
DAILY DOUBLE #3
AROUND THE WORLD
The book "Noah's Flood" proposed that the event happened when the Mediterranean burst into this sea 7,600 years ago
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Once Africa's largest country in area, it dropped to third in 2011 when a portion of it declared independence
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
NAMES OF MYTH
Her brothers, Castor & Pollux, saved her after Theseus stole her away as a kid; a larger force would seek her later in life
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
HOME FROM COLLEGE
Looking for a Waffle House with your buddies? Don't be fooled by the museum in this Atlanta suburb, named for naval hero Stephen
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
RAPPERS
He's seen here actually in a hoodie around the time of "Doris", his major label debut album
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
CARPE DIEM (a day of the week is found in each correct response)
In 2017 Jake Gyllenhaal connected the dots as Seurat in a revival of this musical
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
DOCUMENTARY SUBJECTS
This photographer & advocate for marginalized folks & against opioid companies goes in front of the camera in a 2022 doc
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
DISNEY MENAGERIE
In a 2022 remake, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the voice of him, Pinocchio's conscience
DAILY DOUBLE #1
RE: UNION
The complete name of this large labor union says it also includes chauffeurs & warehousemen
***THE TEAMSTERS***
The Teamsters is the largest union in the U.S. Its full name is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America. The word “teamster” now usually refers to a truck driver, but it originally meant someone who drove a team of animals (such as horses). Daniel J. Tobin was the longest serving president of the union (1907-1952).
In the lead-up to the 1944 presidential election, FDR gave a campaign speech to the Teamsters that has since been referred to as the "Fala speech” (named for FDR’s very cute Scottish Terrier, pictured below). Before the speech, a rumor was spreading that Fala was left behind on the Aleutian Islands and that the Navy spent millions of dollars to retrieve the dog. FDR responded by saying: “Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks, but Fala does resent them."
The most famous president of the Teamsters is probably Jimmy Hoffa. Born in Brazil (the city in Indiana, that is) with the full name James Riddle Hoffa, he led the Teamsters from 1957-1971. During his time as president, the Teamsters' pension fund was used to fund many Mob-controlled Las Vegas casinos. As a result of his links to organized crime, Hoffa was sentenced in 1967 to federal prison for jury tampering, fraud, and conspiracy. In 1971 he was pardoned by Richard Nixon, who some allege received a large cash payoff. Hoffa disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant in 1975 and was never seen again. His body was often said to be under Giants Stadium, which was under construction when he disappeared.
DAILY DOULBE #2
DOCUMENTARY SUBJECTS
It means excessive talkativeness, it's from the Greek for "word" & it wins Nupur Lala The National Spelling Bee in a classic doc
***LOGORRHEA***
The word “logorrhea” comes from the Greek for “word” and “flow.” Nupur Lala spelled it correctly to win the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The documentary Spellbound (2002) follows her and seven other spellers at the bee. One of the spellers profiled in the documentary, Emily Stagg, later wrote a New York Times op-ed that suggested making the bee about definitions instead of spelling. The documentary was Oscar nominated for Best Documentary, but lost to Bowling for Columbine. The doc was directed by Jeffrey Blitz, who later directed multiple episodes of The Office and co-developed another great mockumentary titled Review, which starred on Andy Daly and aired on Comedy Central.
The documentary is not to be confused with a 1945 movie of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It starred Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (who played Ilsa in Casablanca) and Gregory Peck (who played Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird). The movie Spellbound concerns a mental hospital psychoanalyst (Bergman) who falls in love with the hospital's new director (Peck), who turns out to be an impostor suffering from amnesia. The film has a famous dream sequence, pictured below, which includes curtains covered in eyes and was designed by Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. The film’s score, composed by Miklós Rózsa [MEE-klosh ROH-sah], makes use of the eerie-sounding theremin (named for its Russian inventor, Leon Theremin).
DAILY DOUBLE #3
AROUND THE WORLD
The book "Noah's Flood" proposed that the event happened when the Mediterranean burst into this sea 7,600 years ago
***BLACK SEA***
William Ryan and Walter Pitman wrote the 1998 book Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event that Changed History. They believe that the Black Sea was formerly a freshwater lake; however, around 7,600 years ago, the salt water of the Mediterranean poured into it via the Bosporus. This scenario is referred to as the Black Sea deluge hypothesis.
The Black Sea in southeastern Europe is south of Ukraine and north of Turkey. The other four countries with coastlines on the Black Sea are Romania and Bulgaria to the west, and Russia and Georgia to the east. The Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov to the north by the Kerch Strait, and is connected to the Sea of Marmara to the south by the Bosporus. Cities on the Black Sea include Sevastopol and Yalta, both of which are on the Crimean Peninsula. Other cities on the Black Sea include Batumi, Georgia, which is nicknamed the "Las Vegas of the Black Sea," and Sochi, Russia, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics. Rivers that flow into the Black Sea include the Danube, Dnieper [NEE-per], and Don, which are Europe's second, fourth, and fifth longest by length (the longest is the Volga, and the third longest is the Ural).
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Once Africa's largest country in area, it dropped to third in 2011 when a portion of it declared independence
***SUDAN***
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. Sudan was formerly Africa’s largest country by area, but is now third behind Algeria (#1) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (#2). South Sudan is often referred to as the “newest country in the world.” Independence was preceded by two civil wars in Sudan (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) and a referendum in South Sudan in which 98.83% voted for independence. Both countries claim the Abyei [ahb-YAY] region, which contains the Heglig oil field. A majority of South Sudan’s population is Christian (as opposed to Sudan, where a majority are Muslim). The current capital is Juba, but it may be replaced in the future by Ramciel. Both are on the White Nile. South Sudan is home to a large swamp called the Sudd (or al-Sudd), which is formed by a section of the White Nile.
South Sudan was home to its own civil war from 2013-2020 after the president, Salva Kiir (a member of the Dinka ethnic group), accused vice-president Riek Machar (a member of the Nuer ethnic group) of attempting a coup. Kiir [keer] started to wear a black Stetson cowboy hat after George W. Bush gave him one in 2006. Kiir was filmed wetting himself while standing for the national anthem in December 2022. Sources close to the president say that he was pissed after footage of the incident leaked.
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
NAMES OF MYTH
Her brothers, Castor & Pollux, saved her after Theseus stole her away as a kid; a larger force would seek her later in life
***HELEN OF TROY***
In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy was the daughter of Leda and Zeus, the latter of whom seduced Leda while in the form of a swan. Hatched from an egg, Helen had siblings including the Dioscuri, who are probably better known as Castor and Pollux. Leda was the mother of both twins, but Castor was the son of Leda’s mortal husband Tyndareus, while Pollux was the son of Zeus. Helen’s siblings also included Clytemnestra, who murdered her husband Agamemnon after he returned home from the Trojan War because he sacrificed their daughter Iphigeneia in order for his fleet to have good winds on the way to Troy. That story is recounted in the 458 BCE play Agamemnon by Battle of Marathon participant Aeschylus.
The beautiful woman Helen (depicted below in an 1898 painting by Evelyn De Morgan) had many suitors, each of which was required to swear the Oath of Tyndareus. It stated that the suitors would defend the chosen husband against any wrong doing with respect to the marriage. Helen eventually married Menelaus, who was king of Sparta (a Greek city-state) and the younger brother of Agamemnon. Helen was abducted by Paris to Troy, which is what started the Trojan War. Agamemnon led a Greek army to return her from Troy. Earlier, Paris had been bribed by Aphrodite, who promised to help him win the most beautiful woman, in exchange for declaring her the most beautiful goddess (over failed bribers Hera and Athena) in a contest called the Judgment of Paris.
According to legend, the poet Stesichorus [steh-SICK-or-us] was blinded by Helen after he blamed her for causing the Trojan War. He regained his sight after writing a retraction. A speech in the play Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe refers to Helen as “the face that launch'd a thousand ships." Imagist poet H.D. (pen name of Hilda Doolittle) wrote a poem titled "Helen" that includes the lines "All Greece reviles / the wan face when she smiles." She was also the subject of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "To Helen," which begins:
Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicéan barks of yore,
That gently, o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
HOME FROM COLLEGE
Looking for a Waffle House with your buddies? Don't be fooled by the museum in this Atlanta suburb, named for naval hero Stephen
***DECATUR***
U.S. naval officer Stephen Decatur is the namesake of Decatur, a northeastern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. It is home to the private women’s school Agnes Scott College, which now has coed graduate programs. Trivia aficionados may know the school from their victory over the all-male returning champion, Princeton, on a 1966 episode of College Bowl. An interesting 2018 article on the Slate website by a certain Lynn Q. Yu called it "The Greatest Upset in Quiz Show History." A link to the story, which includes surprisingly good video of the match, can be found below:
https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/agnes-scott-vs-princeton-college-bowl-the-biggest-upset-in-quiz-show-history.html
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
RAPPERS
He's seen here actually in a hoodie around the time of "Doris", his major label debut album
***EARL SWEATSHIRT***
Earl Sweatshirt is a Chicago-born rapper. In eighth grade, under the name Sly Tendencies, he released a mixtape on Myspace titled Kitchen Cutlery. He then joined the alternative hip-hop music collective Odd Future (short for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All), which was co-founded by Tyler, the Creator and also included Frank Ocean. At the age of 16, he released his debut mixtape, Earl, for free on Tumblr. His mom saw the music video to the title track and shipped him off to a “therapeutic boarding school” in Samoa for “young boys who may have lost their way.” His first two studio albums were 2013’s Doris (pictured below, and supposedly titled because he likes “old people” names) and 2015’s I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside. The song "Playing Possum" from his third album (2018's Some Rap Songs) sample the voice of his father and mother. His father, Keorapetse [KERR-ah-PET-seh] Kgositsile [HO-set-SEAL-eh] was a South African poet and activist who used the pen name Bra Willie. His mother, Cheryl I. Harris, is a professor at the UCLA School of Law who teaches Critical Race Theory and many other classes. His most recent album, Sick!, was released in 2022 and, like all his other albums, received critical acclaim.
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
CARPE DIEM (a day of the week is found in each correct response)
In 2017 Jake Gyllenhaal connected the dots as Seurat in a revival of this musical
***SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE***
The musical Sunday in the Park with George premiered on Broadway in 1984. The musical is mostly about the creation of Georges Seurat’s pointillist painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, pictured below. The music and lyrics were by Stephen Sondheim. One of the songs from the musical, "Finishing the Hat," lends its name to a collection of lyrics by Sondheim. The collection includes his lyrics from the musicals West Side Story and Sweeney Todd, among others. Most of the episode titles from the TV show Desperate Housewives are from musicals by Sondheim, including "Color and Light" from Sunday in the Park with George. The title artist was first played on Broadway by Mandy Patinkin, who had earlier won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for playing Che in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita.
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
DOCUMENTARY SUBJECTS
This photographer & advocate for marginalized folks & against opioid companies goes in front of the camera in a 2022 doc
***NAN GOLDIN***
Nan Goldin first achieved fame in the late 1970s with her groundbreaking photos of social outcasts, such as drag queens. Her slideshow collection of hundreds of her photographs is titled The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. More recently, she led a campaign (pictured below) to get museums such as the Guggenheim and the Met to stop accepting money from the Sackler family and take down their name from museum wings. Members of the Sackler family owned Purdue Pharma, which manufactured OxyContin and is often blamed for the opioid crisis. Goldin started the group P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), which has had many protests at the museums. A recent documentary about Goldin's life is titled All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, which won the top prize, the Golden Lion, at the Venice Film Festival. The documentary was directed by Laura Poitras, who also directed documentaries about Julian Assange (Risk) and Edward Snowden (Citizenfour).
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
DISNEY MENAGERIE
In a 2022 remake, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the voice of him, Pinocchio's conscience
***JIMINY CRICKET***
The fictional character Pinocchio was created by 19th century Italian author Carlo Collodi (pen name of Carlo Lorenzini). In an 1883 book, the sentient marionette Pinocchio, pictured below, is carved out of wood by Geppetto, who wants to be a puppeteer. A cricket warns Pinocchio of the dangers of disobedience, but he accidentally kills it with a hammer. Pinocchio encounters two bandits, a cat and a fox, who hang him. He is rescued by a fairy, but he lies about what happened, so his nose grows long. Later on, Pinocchio and Geppetto are swallowed by a sea creature, but manage to escape. The book ends with with Pinocchio dreaming that he is turned into a real boy by the magical fairy.
Film adaptations include Disney's in 1940, which includes the song "When You Wish Upon a Star” (winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song). Disney released a live-action remake in 2022 that was nominated for many Razzies and stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto and Cynthia Erivo as the fairy. 2022 also saw the release of a stop-motion animated version directed by Guillermo del Toro. Ewan McGregor voices the cricket and Tilda Swinton voices the fairy. It is the heavy favorite to win Best Animated Feature Film at the 2023 Oscars next weekend.
