# That's the Final Jeopardy question? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998 "2009-09-29T16:28:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/1 "2009-09-29T16:28:43Z")
Note: this was not High School week or anything, either: > [@](#): > > Oddly enough, this 3-word phrase is the only Latin phrase spoken in the play “Julius Caesar.” What has become of this show? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/2 "2009-09-29T16:29:48Z")
Et tu, Jeopardy? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/3 "2009-09-29T16:31:44Z")
I know! I watched yesterday and thought maybe it was a celebrity tournament, but there were no celebrities. For one of the correct responses, all you had to know was “American as [apple] pie”, and another (a convoluted musical question) showed a picture of a piece of cherry pie, and the answer was “cherry pie”! ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/4 "2009-09-29T17:21:27Z")
The one from last night was pathetically easy, too. The category was something like “Old Names in the News” and the clue was along the lines of: “After being caught or accused of pyramid schemes in the US in 1919, he fled back to Italy.” The craziest part is one contestant missed it! He guessed Mussolini. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/5 "2009-09-29T17:24:41Z")
He was funny about it, though. “Can we just not show it?”, referring to his response. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/6 "2009-09-29T17:36:53Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I know! I watched yesterday and thought maybe it was a celebrity tournament, but there were no celebrities. For one of the correct responses, all you had to know was “American as [apple] pie”, and another (a convoluted musical question) showed a picture of a piece of cherry pie, and the answer was “cherry pie”! What was the category “when come back, bring pie”? Maybe the show’s not getting easier, we’re just getting smarter. I could be peaking at the right time; there was a contestant on the show last week who was in the same group I auditioned with. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/7 "2009-09-29T17:50:18Z")
Did anyone get the “Et tu, Brute” Final Jeopardy question wrong? ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/8 "2009-09-29T18:29:05Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > The one from last night was pathetically easy, too. The category was something like “Old Names in the News” and the clue was along the lines of: “After being caught or accused of pyramid schemes in the US in 1919, he fled back to Italy.” > > The craziest part is one contestant missed it! He guessed Mussolini. OK, well apparently I’m an idiot, history-wise. Care to share the obvious answer/question? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/9 "2009-09-29T18:41:18Z")
> [@](#): > > OK, well apparently I’m an idiot, history-wise. Care to share the obvious answer/question? Who was Ponzi? As in “Ponzi scheme”. Hmmm…I appear to be wrong. The Wikipedia article on [Charles Ponzi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ponzi) doesn’t mention anything about fleeing to Italy. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/10 "2009-09-29T18:47:20Z")
It looks like there was an ATTEMPT to flee to Italy, but that was in 1926, after he’d gotten out of jail for the original Ponzi scheme and had gone into fraudulent Florida real estate, which was also falling down around his ears. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/11 "2009-09-29T19:39:13Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > The one from last night was pathetically easy, too. The category was something like “Old Names in the News” and the clue was along the lines of: “After being caught or accused of pyramid schemes in the US in 1919, he fled back to Italy.” > > The craziest part is one contestant missed it! He guessed Mussolini. I don’t know if that was pathetically easy–it took me a good fifteen seconds to come up with it. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/12 "2009-09-29T20:12:32Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I don’t know if that was pathetically easy–it took me a good fifteen seconds to come up with it. It’s one of those questions where probably almost no one actually knows the answer (unless your really familiar with the Ponzi’s lifestory), but the juxtaposition of Italian and pyramid scheme means that almost everyone will guess the correct answer if they think about it for a few seconds. Jeopardy seems to really like that sort of question. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/13 "2009-09-29T22:00:18Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > It’s one of those questions where probably almost no one actually knows the answer (unless your really familiar with the Ponzi’s lifestory), but the juxtaposition of Italian and pyramid scheme means that almost everyone will guess the correct answer if they think about it for a few seconds. Jeopardy seems to really like that sort of question. Yeah. Typical Jeopardy-style question. And I would have missed it, too. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/14 "2009-09-29T22:03:43Z")
What’s really offensive about that question is that Ponzi’s eponymous schemes were _not_ pyramid schemes. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/15 "2009-09-29T22:05:14Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > What’s really offensive about that question is that Ponzi’s eponymous schemes were _not_ pyramid schemes. That’s what I had thought as well. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/16 "2009-09-29T23:27:33Z")
A few weeks ago the Final Jeopardy category was “Colonial pen names”. That was the category, not the question. I best most of you can get the answer just from the category without even hearing the question (I did, anyway). The answer is Benjamin Franklin. I don’t even remember what the question was, but it mentioned some of Franklin’s pseudonyms ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/17 "2009-09-29T23:44:45Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > A few weeks ago the Final Jeopardy category was “Colonial pen names”. That was the category, not the question. I best most of you can get the answer just from the category without even hearing the question (I did, anyway). > > The answer is Benjamin Franklin. I don’t even remember what the question was, but it mentioned some of Franklin’s pseudonyms Both you and the OP seem to be watching reruns. Those are both old-assed questions. Last night’s was the one about pyramid schemes. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/18 "2009-09-30T02:19:37Z")
Final questions don’t have to be hard - a big part of the challenge is betting correctly. And I could see some people screwing it up and putting down “Et Tu, Brutus?” ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/19 "2009-09-30T03:09:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Oddly enough, this 3-word phrase is the only Latin phrase spoken in the play “Julius Caesar.” What is “veni, vidi, vici”? No? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998/20 "2009-09-30T03:11:45Z")
Although this particular question seems particularly easy, not every one you think is easy actually is. I thought the recent, infamous “whipping boy” question was easy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-the-final-jeopardy-question-really/511998.md?page=2)