JAQR - September 3, 2023
Toni Morrison's debut novel, Ridley Scott, English cities, Susannah Cahalan, and more...
Thank you for reading another issue of the Jeopardy Answer & Question Recap, or JAQR [“jacker”] for short. This recap includes multiple clues from each episode of Jeopardy! from Thursday 8/31 - Friday 9/1.
The Monday-Wednesday episodes were already covered when they originally aired last year. For that recap, click here: https://jaqr.substack.com/p/jaqr-november-18-2022
This 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.
P.S. These questions are all from the finals of the Tournament of Champions (in case they seem a little harder than normal).
DAILY DOUBLE #1
HISTORIC DATES
In a historic first, this 75-year-old was sworn in as president of his country May 10, 1994
DAILY DOUBLE #2
20th CENTURY FICTION
This book with a facial feature in its title was Toni Morrison's debut novel
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
MOVIES & LITERATURE
Ridley Scott's first feature film, "The Duellists", was based on a story by this author to whom Scott's film "Alien" also pays tribute
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
ENGLISH CITIES
William the Conqueror's son built a fortress on a key northern river in 1080, giving this city its name
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
SONGS FROM THE HIT ALBUM
"2 Become 1" & "Wannabe" (part of the group name)
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
MEMOIRS & PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Susannah Cahalan chronicled her descent into madness while struggling with an autoimmune disease in this 2012 bestseller
DAILY DOUBLE #1
HISTORIC DATES
In a historic first, this 75-year-old was sworn in as president of his country May 10, 1994
***NELSON MANDELA***
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was the first Black president of South Africa, serving from 1994-1999. He shared a Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 with his predecessor as president F.W. de Klerk for helping to end apartheid. Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated human rights violations under apartheid, and chose the bishop Desmond Tutu to be its chairman.
In 1961, Mandela co-founded Spear of the Nation, the military wing of a Black-liberation group called the African National Congress (ANC). He was sentenced to life in prison during the Rivonia Trial, where he gave the three-hour "I Am Prepared to Die" speech. Mandela was jailed for ~27 years, most of them at Robben Island, where he was prisoner number 46664. He is the namesake of the Mandela effect, which refers to specific false memories being shared by a large group of people (e.g. Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s).
Mandela’s 1994 autobiography is titled Long Walk to Freedom, which was also the title of a 2013 biopic about him starring Idris Elba. Mandela was played by Morgan Freeman in the 2009 rugby movie Invictus. Mandela’s second wife, Winnie, was an activist who endorsed the controversial practice of necklacing, in which a tire drenched with gasoline was placed around the chest and arms of government collaborators and police informants. Mandela’s third wife, Graça, was previously the wife of Mozambique's president Samora Machel (who died in a 1986 plane crash). She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries.
DAILY DOUBLE #2
20th CENTURY FICTION
This book with a facial feature in its title was Toni Morrison's debut novel
***THE BLUEST EYE***
Toni Morrison (1931-2019) wrote the 1970 novel The Bluest Eye. It centers on the 11-year-old Black girl Pecola Breedlove, who wants the title object since she is idealizes white standards of beauty. The novel includes excerpts from the Dick and Jane series, which depicts a perfect white family from the suburbs. The novel is set in the early 1940s in Morrison’s hometown of Lorain, Ohio. The novel’s primary narrator is Pecola’s childhood friend Claudia MacTeer. The novel is divided into four sections, each named for a different season. Pecola adores the child star Shirley Temple and lives in an apartment below three prostitutes named China, Maginot Line, and Poland. Events from the novel include Pecola being tricked into giving a dog poisoned meat by a self-proclaimed healer named Soaphead Church, and getting raped and impregnated by her father Cholly. The premature death of the resulting baby is foreshadowed by marigolds planted by Claudia failing to grow. Other novels by Toni Morrison include Sula, Song of Solomon, Tar Baby, and Beloved.
FINAL JEOPARDY #1
MOVIES & LITERATURE
Ridley Scott's first feature film, "The Duellists", was based on a story by this author to whom Scott's film "Alien" also pays tribute
***JOSEPH CONRAD***
Ridley Scott (pictured below) is a British director known for 1982’s Blade Runner (based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), 1991’s Thelma & Louise (co-starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon), 2000’s Gladiator (won Best Picture), and 2015’s The Martian.
His first film, 1977’s The Duellists, is set in Napoleonic France. The movie centers on a series of duels over the course of 20 years between two rival officers. The movie was based on Conrad's story "The Duel" (also known as "Point of Honor"). Ridley’s 1979 movie Alien includes a spaceship called the Nostromo, which is also the title of a 1904 Conrad novel partly set in the fictional South American country of Costaguana.
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
ENGLISH CITIES
William the Conqueror's son built a fortress on a key northern river in 1080, giving this city its name
***NEWCASTLE***
Newcastle, also known as Newcastle upon Tyne as it lies on the River Tyne, is a city in northeast England. The city is named for the structure built by Robert Curthose, the eldest son of English king William the Conqueror. “Carrying coals to Newcastle” is an expression for a pointless action since the city mined lots of coal. The city is home to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, which is nicknamed the Blinking Eye Bridge (video below).
The sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia owns the majority share of the Premier League team Newcastle United F.C., nicknamed “The Magpies.” Alan Shearer, who holds the record for most goals (260) in Premier League history, played for the club from 1996-2006. The Tyne–Wear derby is between the nearby rivals Newcastle United and Sunderland.
The city was the setting of the BBC Two show Our Friends in the North, whose cast included Christopher Eccleston (AKA The Ninth Doctor) and Daniel Craig (AKA 007). The British offshoot of the American show Jersey Shore is set in Newcastle and is titled Geordie Shore. Some contestants on the show and their quotes include:
Abbie Holborn - "I'm tanned, toned and ready to tash on."
Sam Gowland - "I’m a lad with as much cheek as a girl with fillers."
Adam Guthrie - "I’m happy-go-lucky, bit of a Jack the Lad; that's me to a T."
Marty McKenna - "My quiff's pure lethal and my banter's pure naughty."
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
SONGS FROM THE HIT ALBUM
"2 Become 1" & "Wannabe" (part of the group name)
***SPICE***
The Spice Girls are a British pop group that was extremely popular in the late 1990s. The band’s first single was 1996’s “Wannabee” (music video below), which appears on their 1996 album Spice along with "Say You'll Be There" and “Wannabe.” The members of the band starred in the 1997 movie Spice World. Posh Spice left the group in 1998 shortly after getting engaged to soccer star David Beckham. The band broke up in 2001, but has occasionally reunited (e.g. a 2012 performance at the London Olympics).
The members of the group are (from left to right in the picture below):
Victoria Beckham = Posh Spice
Mel B = Scary Spice
Emma Bunton = Baby Spice
Geri Halliwell = Ginger Spice
Mel C = Sporty Spice
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
MEMOIRS & PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
Susannah Cahalan chronicled her descent into madness while struggling with an autoimmune disease in this 2012 bestseller
***BRAIN ON FIRE***
New York Post writer Susannah Cahalan [kah-HAY-lin] wrote the 2012 autobiography Brain on Fire, which is subtitled "My Month of Madness." The book centers on her struggle with a rare form of encephalitis. The book was adapted into a movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz that appeared on Netflix in 2018 (movie trailer below).
In her second book, The Great Pretender, Cahalan accuses psychologist David Rosenhan of fabricating some of the results of his most famous experiment, which were published in the article "On Being Sane in Insane Places." In the experiment, Rosenhan and seven other healthy people feigned hallucinations in order to be committed to mental hospitals. Rosenhan concluded that many psychiatrists couldn’t differentiate between sane and insane people.
