Hi Ho Silverman

     First thing tomorrow - and I do mean "first" - I'm off to the unofficial Jeopardy! reunion in Washington, D.C. I'll be on a layover in Dallas when this publishes! And I'll be blogging every day, even Saturday and Sunday, so come back for updates including pictures and hopefully videos.



     Today's contestants:

Erika Myers (Her outfit is strangely familiar...)

Cindy Vanderbur

Jacob Silverman (He's an arts and culture journalist. That sounds like fun!)

     Cindy was a two-time champ coming into today. See here for a list of her quirky behaviors. She stayed true to this today, except for the sleeve-pushing! She seems eager to look like she doesn't care. So why take so long to choose even the first clue? Today, she also said "Good guess" to herself.
     Cindy found the first Daily Double before the first break, in Organizations. She had 600, Jacob had 200, and Erika had 1400. I don't know what Cindy said as people were applauding, but my closed captioning said she said "Fred." Cindy wagered 1000 in her "what the heck" style, and those were her words. This was the clue: "This international society for smarties was founded in Oxford, England in 1946." She and I got it right. At the first break, she had 4400, Jacob had 200, and Erika had 1400. At the end of the round, Cindy had 7600, Jacob had moved up to 3600, and Erika still had 1400.
     I got this triple-stumper in Miles' Standoffish Words: "If lawyer Miles retracts an objection he made in court, he uses this 9-letter word that also means shy."
     I'd like to know how many people got this one, in Quotes in American History: "For working on the family homestead, Lincoln called it 'that most useful instrument.'" It was a Daily Double, and Jacob had found it. He lost 3000 of his 6400. He said "wheelbarrow," and I said "plow." Cindy had 9200 at the time, and Erika had 6600. I did get this triple-stumper in Quotes in American History, thanks to a tour I took of the Naval Academy (It was still a guess.): "In a 1776 letter to Robert Morris, he wrote, 'Without a respectable navy--Alas! America!'"
     I swept Roman the Bible, including this Daily Double that Cindy found. She wagered [swivels hand on her wrist] 3000 of her 12000 on it: "Cornelius, one of these Roman military officers, became one of the first converts to Christianity." She said she should've known it and hit herself in the forehead saying, "Dopey me." Jacob had 8200 at the time, and Erika had 6200.
     The sweep also includes this triple-stumper: "Mark recounts how Roman soldiers forced this man of Cyrene to carry Jesus' cross." Have you ever heard anyone pronounce "Cyrene" the way Mr. Trebek did?
     At the end of the round, Jacob had 9800 while Cindy had 9000 and Erika had 6200. The final category was Websites. This was the clue: "It launched its first offer on Oct. 22, 2008: A two-for-one pizza deal in Chicago." I've heard this word but I don't know what it is. Thus I didn't have a chance. All three contestants got it. Erika added 2001. Cindy added 8995. Jacob added 8999, enough to win. They should his applauding grandparents in the audience! So you'll see him tomorrow, and I'll see tomorrow's episode sometime next week.
     I'll never say I'm glad anyone lost, having lost myself. I doubt I'd have said before losing, either. But if I was gonna be glad, it would be for a better reason than just finding her tough to watch: Had she won today, she'd have bypassed Beau on the list for the next Tournament of Champions.
     Here's the message board thread from today's episode. My Coryat today was 25000.