JAQR - October 7, 2022
Film festivals, mother sauces, and more...
Thank you for reading another issue of the Jeopardy Answer & Question Recap, or JAQR [“jacker”] for short. This recap focuses on the (Friday) October 7, 2022 episode of Jeopardy! It will include 10 clues (Daily Doubles, Triple Stumpers, and Final Jeopardy, along with one other “need to know” clue). The first half of the email 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 clue, or some related info. Enjoy!
DAILY DOUBLE #1
LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS
The Leone d'oro, or the Golden Lion, is the top prize awarded at this Italian city's film festival, the world's oldest
DAILY DOUBLE #2
RECENT LITERARY BIOGRAPHY
2022 brings the 150th birthday of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar & a bio calling him this creature that "sings" in his famous line
DAILY DOUBLE #3
ECOLOGY
Savetheelephants.org says elephants are important as this type of "species" named for a crucial bit of architecture
FINAL JEOPARDY
COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
It has the most water area of any country, nearly 350,000 square miles, about 9% of its total area
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
ANAGRAMMED BIBLE PEOPLE
Baptist parent: BAIL THESE
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
BLACK BUSINESS
These were often Black owned, avoiding style butchery by whites; Joe Louis' wife Rose Morgan built an empire from one
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
EUROPEAN EATS
In France les cuisses de grenouille are these, and we hear they taste like chicken
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
EUROPEAN EATS
This Greek dish is sort of a lasagna made of ground beef or lamb & eggplant, often topped with béchamel sauce
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
2-LETTER SPELLING BEE
Jewish "So? Come on!"
NEED TO KNOW #1
THE ANCIENT WORLD
In the 3rd century, this became the state religion of Persia's Sassanian Empire
DAILY DOUBLE #1
LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS
The Leone d'oro, or the Golden Lion, is the top prize awarded at this Italian city's film festival, the world's oldest
***VENICE***
Venice, Italy is home to one of the “Big Five” film festivals. The others are:
Sundance (held in January in Utah and named for a Robert Redford character)
Berlin (held in February in Germany and awards the Golden Bear for best film)
Cannes (held in May in France and awards the Palme d'Or for best film)
Toronto (held in September and nicknamed TIFF)
In 2022, the winner of the Golden Lion was the documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. The movie is about the photographer Nan Goldin and how she took on the Sackler family, who owns the company (Purdue Pharma) at least partly responsible for the opioid epidemic. She is probably best known for a slide show accompanied by music called The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, which includes the 1983 photo Nan and Brian in Bed.
The Venice Film Festival was in the news in September 2022 due to all the drama surrounding the world premiere of Don't Worry Darling there. Yu oughta know that the film was directed by Olivia Wilde and stars Florence Pugh as a 1950s housewife. Pugh skipped doing some press for the movie, possibly due to tensions with Wilde. Shia LaBeouf was originally going to co-star in the film, but he either quit or was fired by Wilde depending on who you ask. He was replaced by Harry Styles, who may have spit on Chris Pine at the premiere.
DAILY DOUBLE #2
RECENT LITERARY BIOGRAPHY
2022 brings the 150th birthday of poet Paul Laurence Dunbar & a bio calling him this creature that "sings" in his famous line
***CAGED BIRD***
Paul Laurence Dunbar may be best known for writing the 1899 poem "Sympathy," which provided the title of a Maya Angelou autobiography. The poem concludes:
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!
Dunbar’s other famous works include the novel The Sport of the Gods and the poem “We Wear the Mask,” the latter of which was published in his collection Lyrics of Lowly Life. Dunbar provided the lyrics to the 1903 musical comedy In Dahomey, which is considered to be the first musical written by an African-American to play at a major New York theatre.
DAILY DOUBLE #3
ECOLOGY
Savetheelephants.org says elephants are important as this type of "species" named for a crucial bit of architecture
***KEYSTONE***
In architecture, the keystone is the wedge-shaped central piece at the summit of an arch that helps hold the other pieces in place. In ecology, a keystone species has a very large effect on the community in which it lives. They often control the populations of species that would otherwise dominate. The term was coined by University of Washington zoologist Robert T. Paine, who first applied the term to Pisaster ochraceus, which is a type of sea star that controls the population of California mussels.
Here are some other various things that the word “keystone” can refer to:
Oil pipeline whose XL (Export Limited) segment was delayed by Obama, permitted by Trump, and finally cancelled in 2021 following a Biden executive order.
Nickname for the state of Pennsylvania because it was centrally located among the Thirteen Colonies
Nickname for the province of Manitoba because of its central location within Canada
A four-star trapezoid-shaped asterism in the constellation Hercules
Cheap brand of beer whose commercials featured the character Keith Stone
Incompetent "cops" who appeared in several movies of the 1910s produced by Mack Sennett
FINAL JEOPARDY
COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
It has the most water area of any country, nearly 350,000 square miles, about 9% of its total area
***CANADA***
Fun fact: Alberta and Saskatchewan are Canada’s only two provinces/territories that are landlocked.
Here are some various (Canadian) bodies of water that are probably worth knowing:
The Great Lakes — Use the mnemonic HOMES to remember their names (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Four of them are shared between the U.S. and Canada. Lake Michigan, which is entirely within the U.S., is the world's largest lake (by area) that is entirely within one country.
Bay of Fundy — Known for the large difference between its high and low tides, it separates New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and probably has a name coming from the French for “split.”
Great Bear Lake — The Arctic Circle runs through this lake in the Northwest Territories that is the largest lake entirely within Canada.
Great Slave Lake — Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, is on this lake, which is the deepest in North America. It is named for the Slavey, a First Nations people. Canada's longest river, the Mackenzie, begins at the Great Slave Lake and flows north into the Arctic Ocean.
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
ANAGRAMMED BIBLE PEOPLE
Baptist parent: BAIL THESE
***ELISABETH***
Elisabeth was the wife of Zechariah, cousin of the Virgin Mary, and mother of John the Baptist.
The angel Gabriel visits Zechariah and tells him that the elderly Elisabeth is going to have a child. Zechariah doubts the angel, so Gabriel makes him unable to speak until the prophecy is fulfilled.
The Virgin Mary visits Elisabeth when both of them are pregnant. The meeting is the source of the Magnificat, a hymn of praise spoken by Mary that begins “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”
John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. John was later beheaded after Salome danced at a festival and Herod Antipas promised to give her whatever she wanted.
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
BLACK BUSINESS
These were often Black owned, avoiding style butchery by whites; Joe Louis' wife Rose Morgan built an empire from one
***HAIR (BEAUTY) SALONS***
Rose Morgan and Olivia Stanford co-owned a Harlem hair salon called Rose Meta House of Beauty. She was able to move to New York when she got a job as the hair stylist for the singer/actress Ethel Waters. She married boxer Joe Louis (nicknamed “The Brown Bomber”) in 1955, but the marriage was annulled a few years later. Joe Louis fought Max Schmeling (a boxer from Nazi Germany nicknamed “The Black Uhlan of the Rhine”) twice at Madison Square Garden. Louis lost the first bout in 1936 (his only loss between 1934-1950), but won the rematch in 1938.
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
EUROPEAN EATS
In France les cuisses de grenouille are these, and we hear they taste like chicken
***FROG LEGS***
Grenouille is the French word for “frog.”
Speaking of French food, trivia writers love asking about the French mother sauces:
Béchamel [bey-sha-mel] — White sauce, based on milk thickened with a white roux [roo], which is flour and fat (e.g. butter) cooked together. It is named for a French dude.
Velouté [vuh-loo-tey]— Very smooth clear (or blond) sauce, made by reducing a clear bone stock (often veal) and thickened with a white (or gold) roux. It is named for the French word for "velvety."
Espagnole [e-spa-nyawl] — Brown sauce, based on a brown stock reduction, and thickened with brown roux. It is named for the French word for “Spanish.”
Sauce Tomat -- Red sauce made from tomatoes along with carrots, onion, garlic, butter, flour, pork belly, and veal (or beef) broth.
Hollandaise [hol-uhn-deyz] — Rich sauce of egg yolks, (melted) butter, lemon juice (or vinegar), and seasonings. It is named for the French word for "Dutch" and is a key ingredient of Eggs Benedict. Unlike the previous four sauces, it was not included in Auguste Escoffier’s list of mother sauces. It can be made using a bain-marie (also called a water bath or double boiler), which consists of two nested cooking pots. That device was named for a Jewish alchemist from Alexandria, Egypt named Mary.
There are also daughter sauces, which can be derived from mother sauces. For example, mornay sauce is béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Another example is béarnaise sauce, which is basically hollandaise sauce seasoned with herbs such as shallots, chervil, and tarragon.
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
EUROPEAN EATS
This Greek dish is sort of a lasagna made of ground beef or lamb & eggplant, often topped with béchamel sauce
***MOUSSAKA*** [moo-SAH-kah]
Thanks to the previous question, we know all about béchamel sauce! Eggplant is a typically purple member of the nightshade family that is called aubergine [oh-ber-zheen] across the pond. Other foods from around the globe containing eggplant include:
Baba Ghanoush, which is often used as a dip for pita bread, originates in the Middle East, and apparently has an Arabic name meaning “pampered daddy.”
Tortang Talong, which is a Filipino-style omelet in which eggplant is dipped in an egg mixture.
Di San Xian, which contains stir fried eggplant, potatoes, and peppers, and has a Chinese name meaning "three treasures from the ground."
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
2-LETTER SPELLING BEE
Jewish "So? Come on!"
***NU***
Time to cover some Gen Z Yiddish-derived slang worth knowing:
Plotz = a verb meaning "to burst" or “to explode” in the context of a person who is extremely frustrated, intense, or emotional (e.g. “Oy, I could plotz after wasting my money and time seeing Don't Worry Darling”)
Shmatte = a noun meaning a rag or an old worn-out garment (e.g. “I dropped the bowl of baba ghanoush on the rug. Quick, bring me a shmatte!”)
Yenta (or yente) = a noun meaning a person who is a meddling gossip, busybody, scandal spreader, or matchmaker (e.g. “Ugh, my friend is such a yenta. She found out I hate Olivia and how she's telling everyone on the Internet")
The musical Fiddler on the Roof includes a character named Yente who is the village matchmaker. Bea Arthur originated the role on Broadway in 1964. The song "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" occurs right after Yente visits the central family’s house.
NEED TO KNOW #1
THE ANCIENT WORLD
In the 3rd century, this became the state religion of Persia's Sassanian Empire
***ZOROASTRIANISM***
Zoroastrian is a dualistic religion that was established sometime between the second millennium BCE and the 6th century BCE by the Persian religious leader Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra). The supreme deity in the religion is Ahura Mazda, who is often depicted as a winged figure. The primary religious text of Zoroastrianism is called the Avesta, and places of worship are known as “fire temples.” Zoroastrians practice sky burial, a process in which dead bodies are placed on "towers of silence" and consumed by vultures. There’s currently only around 100,000 Zoroastrians in the world. Most of them live in India, where they are called Parsees (or Parsis).
