That killed me. He FINALLY bet enough to break the 1-day record, and he LOST.
I guess he figured the second year was such a big story that there must have been one in the other.
I guessed:
1963 - Kennedy assassination and 1968 - MLK assassination
The most likely candidate for a 96-point headline in the New York Times in 1996 was TWA Flight 800 exploding over Long Island, killing 230 people.
Wow, I actually would have gotten that one! I wouldn’t have guessed the latter one, but I did know that for Man Walks On Moon they actually had to special-make the type for the headline, since they had never done anything so big before. Of course, it was an anticipated event, so they could easily have prepared it in advance.
I had guessed the same as Ken, but later it dawned on me that the question was worded “the first two times”.
But I thought that
the Tic Tac Dough guy only won about $350,000. I’m thinking of Lieutennant Thom McKee, from the late 1970s-early 1980s. Has there been some “Tic Tac Dough” guy since then who won more?
The Tic-Tac-Dough guy’s reccord was the length of his run - 46 games. That’s the record Ken’s gunning for.
The Tic-Tac-Dough record was for most appearances, not most money. I think that the record for most money is still held by a winner of the British Who Wants to be a Millionaire mentioned earlier (since the GBP is worth more than the USD).
A former contestant came up with a theroy: the producers are holding the better constestants, the reasons being two-fold. Once Ken’s poplarity drops, they put in two good contestants - one of whom they hope can beat him and be good enough to take his place. Sort of like the old Twenty-One scandal with a twist.
That would, of course, be a violation of the Federal laws enacted in response to that scandal. As a former contestant, I can state that in my experience they took those laws pretty seriously. I’m not saying it couldn’t be done, but I doubt they’d risk their reputation to do it.
Which contestants appear on a particular episode of Jeopardy! is decided virtually at the last minute by a draw of playing cards among the larger group of contestants waiting in the green room for that week’s taping.
Assuming the theory is correct, what the producers are doing isn’t covered.
It’s not like they’re feeding anyone answers, or questions. All contestants still have an equal chance of winning, they’re just going up against one who might have better reflexes.
: on preview :
How do they determine who’s waiting in the green room?
Today (7/14):
Close call for Ken. He struggled throughout the game. He went negative early on and lost the lead a couple of times. He tanked on the DD. His abilities returned late in the DJ round. Going into FJ he had $17,200 with his closest opponent at $8,200. He got the FJ question and only bet $300 giving him a total of $17,500. The 2nd place woman did not answer correctly. This is one of his lowest wins.
I agree. And that is exactly how I DON’T want to see him go out. I want it to be a battle of Titans between him and another player such that both go into FJ with 20 grand or so. But I guess he was bound to have an off night. The lawyer’s airport story was pretty funny. It’s hard to believe that anyone could have missed that FJ question, though. Every conceivable hint was right there in the clue — a reference to the southern state where Atlanta was burned, a reference to a prominent southern politician of the time, a reference to the year that the South seceded, and a reference to the author of the US Constitution. I mean, damn.
And yet I was convinced it was the Articles of Confederacy. They were the Confederates, right?
If it had been called “the Articles of Confederacy,” that would’ve confused the hell out of everybody. I mean, the fledgling United States had been organized under “the Articles of Confederation” only 80 years earlier.
[spoiler]Before, After FJ
Ken: $27600, $28000
Tom: $13400, $8400
Lou: $4100, $8199
Late in DJ, Tom rose above Ken thanks to a large (may have been “true”) DD bet, giving him, IIRC, $12,200 to Ken’s $12,000. But Tom did not do well afterwards, ending the round with less than his post-DD total - until his score increased between commercial breaks due to a judging error. Ken quickly moved forward with his usual quick answers and a large (for him) DD bet.
FJ category was “U.S. Presidents.” Answer: “With a book about the south, he became the first President — past or present — to publish a novel.” Question: “Who is Carter?” Ken and Lou were correct, Tom guessed wrong with JFK.[/spoiler]
At least it was an exciting game. The guy put up a stiff challenge for a while, then screwed up a few big-money questions. And Ken rose to the occasion and aced the South America category. You could really hear the fight go out of Tom’s voice after that.
So … no Ken news today? What, is Jeopardy on the All-Star Break or something?
He had $40k going into FJ with his closest opponent at $6800. Ken answered correctly and bet $10k.