JAQR - May 28, 2023
The Duke of Wellington, Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin, Luxembourg, Jerome Robbins, 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 regular Jeopardy! between Monday 5/22 and Friday 5/26. The recap will include some Daily Doubles, Triple Stumpers, and Final Jeopardy clues. 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
ART IMITATING LIFE
Jan Willem Pieneman's painting of this 1815 event was to go to the Duke of Wellington, but stayed in Holland
DAILY DOUBLE #2
AFRICA
When the British held Ghana as a colony, it was known as this due to the vast riches the region held
DAILY DOUBLE #3
OUR RETURNING CHAMPION
This man had the astronomical luck of being honored twice with a New York ticker tape parade, in 1962 & 1998
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
SHAKESPEARE'S CHARACTERS
Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for "blessed"
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
CLASSICAL MUSIC
When the opera "Lohengrin" premiered in 1850, this man, a future in-law of the composer, was the conductor
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
BOOK-POURRI
This novel set in the 1920s asks, "'What do you know about Lady Brett Ashley, Jake?"'
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
TV SITCOMS BY FAMILY
Mike Baxter, outnumbered by his wife and 3 daughters
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
EURO COINS
Luxembourg's euro coins bear the image of Henri, its reigning monarch with this 2-word title
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
TECHNOLOGY
A mini robot that can shape-shift like T-1000 was created using this element, symbol Ga; it's a metal with a low melting point
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
“REE”SEARCH (ends with “R-E-E”)
The first ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins, it's about 3 footloose sailors "On the Town"
DAILY DOUBLE #1
ART IMITATING LIFE
Jan Willem Pieneman's painting of this 1815 event was to go to the Duke of Wellington, but stayed in Holland
***BATTLE OF WATERLOO***
The Battle of Waterloo was fought in June of 1815 between France, led by Napoleon, and a coalition that included the U.K., Prussia, and the Netherlands. The victorious coalition was led by the Duke of Wellington (aka Arthur Wellesley), to whom the quote “the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton” is apocryphally attributed. Following the battle, the Duke of Wellington said “nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.”
Napoleon had previously abdicated in 1814 and was exiled to the island of Elba. He escaped the following year and returned to power. He mustered an army and marched to present day Belgium. He nearly won the Battle of Waterloo, but was defeated when Prussian troops under Gebhard Blücher arrived and reinforced British troops. To quote the Swedish band ABBA, "at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender." He tried to escape to the U.S., but was exiled to the British island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean. The word "waterloo" can be used to mean a decisive or final defeat.
Jan Willem Pieneman's painting titled The Battle of Waterloo is pictured below. The painting depicts the Duke of Wellington wearing a black cloak and receiving the message that Prussian reinforcements are coming soon.
DAILY DOUBLE #2
AFRICA
When the British held Ghana as a colony, it was known as this due to the vast riches the region held
***GOLD COAST***
Other commonly asked about former names of African countries include:
Bechuanaland = Botswana
Dahomey = Benin
German South West Africa = Namibia
Malagasy Republic = Madagascar
Nyasaland = Malawi
Swaziland = Eswatini
Upper Volta = Burkina Faso
DAILY DOUBLE #3
OUR RETURNING CHAMPION
This man had the astronomical luck of being honored twice with a New York ticker tape parade, in 1962 & 1998
***JOHN GLENN***
The astronaut John Glenn (1921-2016) was the first American to orbit Earth. He did so in 1962 in the Friendship 7 space capsule, which was the subject of his quip "You don't get into it, you put it on." The city of Perth in Western Australia turned on all of its lights for his flyover. Before becoming an astronaut, he flew dozens of missions during the Korean War, and baseball legend Ted Williams was his wingman. In 1957 he made the first transcontinental flight with an average speed greater than the speed of sound. He flew from California to New York in 3 hours and 23 minutes at 725 mph.
After his astronaut days were seemingly over, he served as president of RC Cola International. He also served four terms as U.S. Senator for Ohio (1974-1999). He defeated Howard Metzenbaum in the Democratic primary in 1974 after delivering the "Gold Star Mothers" speech after being accused of never having had a real job. He was one of the Keating Five, who were accused of corruption during the savings and loan crisis in 1989. He returned to space in 1998 at the age of 77 (pictured below) in order to help with research on aging. His ticker-tape parades in New York City occurred in the “Canyon of Heroes,” which is a a section of Broadway. He was played by Ed Harris in the 1983 movie The Right Stuff, which was about the Mercury space program, and was based on a Tom Wolfe book.
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
SHAKESPEARE'S CHARACTERS
Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for "blessed"
***BEATRICE AND BENEDICK***
William Shakespeare wrote the comedy Much Ado About Nothing, which is set in the Sicilian city of Messina. In the play, Claudio is deceived by Don John into believing that Hero is sleeping with other people, and rejects her at their wedding. The other main plot of the work concerns the “merry war” between Beatrice and Benedick (NOT Benedict, sorry Ben Chan). They are attracted to each other, but can't help trading barbs and trying to one-up the other. The bumbling policeman Dogberry, who is prone to malaprops, eventually unveils Don John’s plot. The play ends with both couples happily united, and the last line is “Strike up, pipers,” spoken by Benedick. The play was adapted into a 1993 movie, which starred the then-married couple Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh [BRAN-ah] as Beatrice and Benedick (pictured below). The play was also adapted into a 2012 black-and-white movie that was directed by Joss Whedon. Hector Berlioz composed an opera based on the play titled Béatrice et Bénédict (note the spelling).
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
CLASSICAL MUSIC
When the opera "Lohengrin" premiered in 1850, this man, a future in-law of the composer, was the conductor
***FRANZ LISZT***
Richard Wagner's 1850 opera Lohengrin is set along the Scheldt River in Antwerp during the 10th century. Act I begins with Elsa being accused by Friedrich of Telramund of getting rid of her brother Godfrey so that she can rule. Henry the Fowler decides that the issue will be decided by combat between Friedrich of Telramund and someone who is willing to champion Elsa’s cause. The knight Lohengrin then arrives on a boat drawn by a swan. Lohengrin asks Elsa to promise that if he champions her cause and they get married that she won’t ask his name or where he came from. Elsa agrees, and Lohengrin defeats Friedrich of Telramund in combat.
In Act II, Frederick’s wife Ortrud plants seeds of mistrust in Elsa regarding Lohengrin and his mysterious background. Act III includes the “Bridal Chorus” (heard below), which is the basis of “Here Comes the Bride.” After getting married, Elsa begins to question him. Lohengrin reveals that he is the son of Parsifal and is a Knight of the Holy Grail. Lohengrin bids Elsa farewell, but not before Ortrud admits to having turned Elsa’s brother Godfrey into a swan. Lohengrin is able to turn the swan back into Godfrey. Elsa then dies in her brother’s arms.
Richard Wagner’s participation in the German revolutions of 1848–1849 led to a warrant being issued for his arrest. He fled to Zurich, so he didn’t see the first performance of Lohengrin, which was conducted by his friend Franz Liszt (whose daughter Cosima he married).
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
BOOK-POURRI
This novel set in the 1920s asks, "'What do you know about Lady Brett Ashley, Jake?"'
***THE SUN ALSO RISES***
Ernest Hemingway (pictured below) wrote the 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, which depicts several young American and British expatriates in postwar France and Spain. The main characters, Jake Barnes (the narrator) and Lady Brett Ashley, are part of the Lost Generation (a term coined by Gertrude Stein). They met and fell in love during World War I when the nurse Lady Brett Ashley treated the journalist Jake Barnes for his war injuries, which left him impotent. Lady Brett Ashley, who is unwilling to give up sex, later gets engaged to a man named Mike Campbell. Despite being engaged, she has an affair with the Jewish man Robert Cohn, who is mentioned in the first sentence of the novel (“Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton”).
After traveling to Pamplona to see the running of the bulls, Lady Brett Ashley runs off with the young bullfighter Pedro Romero, but she eventually sends him away. The novel ends with Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley back in Paris in a taxi. Lady Brett Ashley says "We could have had such a damned good time together," to which Jake Barnes replies "Isn't it pretty to think so?" The title of the novel is based on a passage from Ecclesiastes: "One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose.”
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
TV SITCOMS BY FAMILY
Mike Baxter, outnumbered by his wife & 3 daughters
***LAST MAN STANDING***
The show Last Man Standing starred politically conservative actor Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, who is the politically conservative marketing director of a Denver-based sports goods emporium called the Outdoor Man. On the company’s vlog, Mike gives his opinion on topics such as health care and international politics. The show’s cast also included Kaitlyn Dever, who played Mike’s youngest daughter. The first six seasons aired on ABC from 2011 to 2017. ABC cancelled the show shortly after Tim Allen compared being a conservative in Hollywood to 1930s Germany. Fox later picked up the show and aired its final three season from 2018-2021. Last Man Standing is also the title of a 1996 movie starring Bruce Willis that is a remake of the Japanese samurai film Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa.
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
EURO COINS
Luxembourg's euro coins bear the image of Henri, its reigning monarch with this 2-word title
***GRAND DUKE***
The landlocked European country of Luxembourg (meaning “little castle”) is bordered to the west by Belgium, to the east by Germany, and to the south by France. Luxembourg is a grand duchy (the world’s only), which is a place ruled by a grand duke or grand duchess. Its been led since 2000 by Henri, who succeeded his father Jean (ruled 1964-2000), who succeeded his mother Charlotte (ruled 1919-1964). Luxembourg is one of the Low Countries (named for their elevation), along with Belgium and the Netherlands. The national language of the country is Luxembourgish, which in that language is Lëtzebuergesch. Its national motto means "we want to remain what we are."
Luxembourg is 998 square miles, making it slightly smaller than Rhode Island. The country’s two main land regions are the Ardennes (wooded plateau region) in the north and the Bon Pays (“good land”) in the south. Pictured below is the flag of Luxembourg (horizontal bands of red, white, and light blue), which is very similar to the flag of its neighbor, the Netherlands (horizontal bands of red, white, and blue). Other places with the name Luxembourg include Belgian’s southernmost province and the sixth arrondissement of Paris, which contains the Luxembourg Palace (home to the French Senate) and the Luxembourg Garden (constructed by Marie de' Medici). Thanks to being a tax haven, Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita in the world.
The European Court of Justice is in its capital, which is also called Luxembourg. The 27-country Schengen Area, which has lax internal border checks, is named for a village in Luxembourg. The country's former prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker [YOON-ker] (1995-2013) later served as President of the European Commission (2014-2019). Luxembourg is the second-smallest EU country by size and population (Malta is the smallest in both categories).
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
TECHNOLOGY
A mini robot that can shape-shift like T-1000 was created using this element, symbol Ga; it's a metal with a low melting point
***GALLIUM***
The element gallium, number 31 on the periodic table, has the symbol Ga. The metalloid was discovered by the French chemist Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran [bwah-boh-DRAHN], who named the element after France (its Latin name is Gaul) and himself (Le Coq means "the rooster," and "Gallus" is Latin for “rooster”). Before being discovered, the element was predicted to exist by Dmitry Mendeleyev, who had a gap on his periodic table, and called it eka-aluminum. The primary ore of both gallium and aluminum is bauxite. The element’s melting point of around 30 degrees Celsius means that it can melt in your hand. Many compounds containing gallium (e.g. gallium arsenide) have semiconductor properties. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 went to three physicists who invented blue light-emitting diodes made of gallium nitride (which led to Blu-Ray DVD players). The one-minute video below shows a “shape-shifting metal robot.”
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
“REE”SEARCH (ends with “R-E-E”)
The first ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins, it's about 3 footloose sailors "On the Town"
***FANCY FREE***
The 1944 ballet Fancy Free is about three American sailors on shore leave in New York City during World War II who are looking for female companionship. The ballet was turned into the musical On the Town, which featured music by Leonard Bernstein and the song ”New York, New York.” The musical was adapted into a 1949 movie that starred Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly. The following decade, Jerome Robbins choreographed the musical West Side Story, which again had music by Leonard Bernstein. The 1961 film adaptation of West Side Story was directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, who shared the Oscar for Best Director. That award has been shared only two other times (the Coen Brothers for No Country for Old Men and the Daniels for Everything Everywhere All at Once). Jerome Robbins also choreographed parts of The King and I (e.g. “The Small House of Uncle Thomas”) and Fiddler on the Roof (e.g. the “Bottle Dance”).