|
Preliminaries: Falk/Madden/Mesko - May 11
Fifteen of the best Jeopardy! players this year
have returned for one more shot at $250,000. In the next two weeks, three will
play in a two-day final to determine who will walk away with the grand prize.
Another standard two-week affair awaits with an
increased minimum guarantee of $100,000 for second place and $50,000 for third. Semifinalists are guaranteed at least $10,000,
while quarterfinalists are guaranteed $5000 for participation. As always, any
and all winning accrued depends on how far up the ladder a player goes.
So far, Maria Wenglinsky, Kevin Marshall, and Vik
Vaz have their hands stamped, but for many, this is the marquee match up
today...
 |
 |
 |
MICHAEL FALK
Milwaukee
Meteorologist
Three days, $59,403 |
DAVID MADDEN
orig. from
Ridgewood, NJ
Student
20 days, $430,400 |
BOB MESKO
Denver
Arts administrator
Five days, $68,599 |
Jeopardy! categories: The New York Times
Business, Love Songs in German, First In Our Hearts, It's Not Alex Trebek,
Science Briefs, Rated "R".
Daily Double: $800 Science Briefs. Michael ($600 to David's -$600) bets the max of
$1000. The clue: this symbol for the element mercury is downright Wellsian.
Michael's
response: "What is Hg?" Correct for $1600.
End of round:
Michael: $6400
David: $5400
Bob: $4000
Double Jeopardy! categories: World Capitals, Off-Broadway, Riddle Me This, "T"
Birds, Authors in Their Youth, Quotations.
Daily Double #1: $1600 World Capitals. Sticking to his basic strategy of
eliminating the Daily Doubles first, David ($5800 to Michael's
$8400 and Bob's $2800) bets $3400. The clue: Guyanese capital named for a
Hanoverian monarch. David's response: "What is Georgetown?" Correct for $9200 and the lead.
Daily Double #2: $1200 Quotations. David ($12,800 over Michael's $8400 and Bob's $5200) fronts $2200.
The clue: Oscar Wilde called his 4-letter word "the curse of the drinking
classes". David's response: "What is work?" Correct for $15,000.
End of round:
Michael: $14,000
David: $23,000
Bob: $10,400
Final Jeopardy! category: Historic Names. The clue: a silent movie title
includes the last name of this 18th Century statesman & favorite of Catherine
the Great.
Correct response: Who is Potemkin?
Bob's response: Who is Potemkin? RIGHT. Wager: $4000. Total:
$14,400.
Michael’s response: Who was Boris Gudenov? WRONG. Wager: $0. Total: $14,000
David’s response: Who is Potemkin? RIGHT. Wager doesn't matter.
 David
proves that his championship run was no fluke as he
stuck to what got him there (a broad range of
knowledge and a core strategy) to finish off his two
opponents.
Now let's talk playoffs.
With a score of $16,401, Aaron Thompson has clinched
a playoff spot alongside Bob Mesko. Meanwhile,
Michael Falk and Kerry Breitenbach are on the
outside looking in. They'll make the semis if the
two losers of tomorrow's match fail to, Michael
first, Kerry second.
The final quarterfinal
tomorrow. Incidentally, it's also, according to our
friends at J-Archive.com, the 5000th match.
|
