Thread by @Jeopardamy

Post-game thoughts (1/14/22):
One more game to claim third place all time! I started with the music category as usual, and kept going back to it until it was out of the way

One of my favorite books is a biography of William the Silent, by C.V. Wedgwood. A really fascinating guy, he was one of the first in European history to really start to break down the relationship between church and state

I don't feel like I did a great job talking about James Holzhauer, that's one moment where I could see how tired I was

I have no idea what the difference is between granola and muesli

I realized that the Daily Double hadn't come up yet, and found it as soon as I looked, in Words & Phrases. Bet $2000, and got it on a pretty straightforward clue

The Irish Fright was just one instance of anti-Catholic prejudice running wild in England; the same sort of thing had led to the massacre at Drogheda a few decades before

At the end of the round I had a good lead, certainly not insurmountable but I felt all right about it

I found the first Daily Double almost immediately; one of my *other* favorite books, also by C.V. Wedgwood, is a history of the Thirty Years' War, so this was a slam dunk for me, and I was starting to stretch my lead

We all flunked the Actors category. I tried to move to the wordplay category, but then decided to stick with International Orgs, and it paid off with the second DD! I had a big lead, and went with $6000 to slam the door. I got it, and it looked like third place would be mine!

Ken was right, I got the name Sydney Carton half a second too late. Then on the next clue, I knew that Rachel had said the answer, but a) my hearing isn't great out of my left ear, and b) Ken ruled against her at the same time as she said it, so I couldn't tell what she had said

At the end of the round, I had a huge lead, but with the week I'd been having, I really debated whether or not to bet big. I told myself again that the big bets would average out in my favor eventually, and to stick with my strategy, so for the second time this week, I bet $20K

And for the second time this week, I lost it! On Final Jeopardys for the week, my net loss came to almost $100,000!

It was really starting to get into my head at this point, which is especially bad for Final Jeopardy; during the rest of the game you have to respond so quickly that there's no time to second guess yourself, but Final Jeopardy gives you just enough time to derail yourself.

Genevieve got Final Jeopardy immediately when we were watching, and was shocked that I didn't get it. In retrospect, I am too, but I think it was at least partly a matter of being tired; if that clue comes up in the first game maybe I come up with it

There was some controversy about the Final Jeopardy clue, because in 1949, Hawaii was not a state. We brought this up to the judges, and they said that 1) there was no other answer that would have been correct, and 2) that it wasn't unusual for them to phrase a clue like that

Which is fair, although its a bummer for Luis, who said he specifically ruled out Hawaii for that reason, which cost him $1000, as he would have finished in second . The wording didn't make a difference to me, I think, I just guessed CA because it's a big state with lots of stuff

So, I'd set a new mark for my lowest winning total in a game. But hey, the important word there was "winning"! I'd yet again gotten through a full week of taping, and taken sole possession of third place on the all time list!

My thanks to Luis and Rachel; again I felt like the Friday contestants were in a tough spot, but they didn't let it ruin anyone's day

I knew I was in third, but I couldn't really take it in, all I wanted to do was fly home, see Genevieve, and go to bed lol. I'd have a few days to process, and then it would be time to do it all again, see you then!