Listen and learn: 
I can’t check because I already deleted it from my DVR, but IIRC, the clue specified the easternmost part of the United States in the Western Hemisphere.
A quick look at the J! Archives shows you are correct:
Pt. Udall, in this island group, is called the easternmost American point in the Western Hemisphere
I finally got around to watching the DVR’d shows from last week. For the second show (that originally aired on Sept 11, 1984) in which all three contestants ended up at zero, I was struck at how easy the questions were and how poorly they played.
For example, in the category “State Capitals,” the $100 clue was: “Until 1875 its dual capitals were New Haven & Hartford.”
Now granted, I live in the state in question, but any contestant on Jeopardy would be expected to know all the state capitals. That wasn’t the issue, though. Two of the contestants attempted to answer “Hartford.” (The champion declined to guess.) From this, it was evident that the contestants didn’t really understand how the game worked.
After 30 years of watching the show, I know the answer (i.e. the question) is never in the clue itself, plus I am (along with all us, I’m sure) primed to pick up on the wording in the clue (i.e. “…its dual capitals…”).
Of course, the show then ended with the champion pulling a near-Clavin. (Not exactly, because it wasn’t a runaway game, but close — because there was no reason for him to bet all of his money in Final Jeopardy.)
What made it easy for me was the obviously Russian name. How many other Russian monks are at all famous?
As Alex mentioned, though, I was a bit surprised that Rasputin wasn’t his real name.
Yeah, amarinth upthread disagreed with my characterization of that wager as “illogical,” but while it wasn’t the same thing as what Cliff Clavin did–betting everything when you have a runaway–I maintain it was illogical, as evidenced by, well, what actually happened. If he had wagered literally one dollar less, he would have won the game! What did he stand to gain by betting it all? Is increasing your odds of losing and thus not being able to return for another match worth the potential of winning one dollar more? I think this was another example of, as you put it, contestants in the early days not really understanding how the game worked.
Interestingly, I can’t find any online sources on Rasputin that mention the idea that it was a nickname, other than a few that are phrased very similarly to the Jeopardy clue and don’t cite sources. Wikipedia seems to imply “Rasputin” was his true family name, and doesn’t mention anything about a nickname or his acquiring that name later in life. Britannica.com says “his reputation for licentiousness earned him the surname Rasputin, Russian for ‘debauched one,’” but this is contested by other sources saying it means “where two rivers meet” or “crossroads.” It also doesn’t mention how this came to be seen as his actual, official name.
Also, it’s interesting that Rasputin is universally known as a monk, when according to all these sources he was merely a self-styled “monk” and was never an official member of any religious order.
Rasputin was a sobriquet bestowed on him by those who knew his true nature; whether this extended to the Russian public beyond the upper crust in the two capitals (St Petersburg and Moscow), I can’t say right offhand.
The Royal Family would never have called him that, since he was the “Holy Healer” who was saving the Tsarevich from hemophilia. In their private correspondence (written in English), Nicholas and Alexandra usually referred to him as “Our Friend” or “Father Gregory.”
Rasputin was a member of an Orthodox sect (I don’t remember what it was called right offhand) that believed God loves a sinner, so the best way to get to Heaven is to go out there and sin, sin, sin! Whether or not he held some kind of elevated status among them, I also can’t say right offhand.
As an aside, it’s been speculated that Rasputin’s apparent success in treating Alexei for hemophilia was plain dumb luck. Since he was a faith healer, one of the first things he did was order that the boy not be administered any modern medicines. This included aspirin, the new “wonder drug” the Court physicians had been giving him. Since aspirin is a blood thinner, cutting it off did improve Alexei’s condition, albeit only slightly.
Mystery solved: Denise DuBarry. She’s in today’s episode as well.
Poor woman died just over a year ago at the age of 63. Much too young (I’m just one year older than she was).
We thought Regis was actually an SNL impersonator. He sure acted like a parody of himself. “I’m SHOUTING and I don’t KNOW WHY!” 
There’s probably no way this could be true. I hope. But what if knowing that this embarrassing performance was going to be shown again on national television on Monday, caused distress to RP? (I’ll go no further, but it’s a horrible thought.)
I hope they’ll re-air the Wolf Blitzer game.
That was one of those that was so obvious after the answer was revealed (for me).
Russian name. Monk. How did I not get that? But I came up blank until I actually saw the answer.
ETA: readded the spoiler tags which erased themselves.
That was weird. It was as if Martha Stewart had never seen the game before and Charles Barkley was the least aggressive player ever.
I was embarrassed for Barkley. That was just…not a good showing.
What I want to know is if Nicholas and Alexandra addressed him as Rasputin.
Say, Dirtbag, the Empress and I were discussing what to do about the problems in China. What do you think?
Can’t imagine that they did. They turned a blind eye to his antics, to the point where he was advising them on matters of state. He was always “Holy Father” or “Father Gregory.”
Despite the song’s lyics, I also don’t believe he was ever “lover of the Russian Queen.” He may have serviced every other female in high society, but Alexandra was devoted to her Nicky.
On yesterday’s Saturday rerun, two players were tied for second after the first round. I’ve idly wondered before which player would pick first in that situation.
After the break, Alex simply stated, “Even though Bobby and Cindy are tied at $3600, Cindy will choose first in Double Jeopardy,” without offering any further information.
How do they decide? Is it a coin-flip during the break, or do they use some other tiebreaker like last correct answer?
I’m pretty sure there is a rule for that. It might involve who last answered a question correctly.
Could be, but I wonder why Alex doesn’t just say, “Cindy gave the last correct response, so she will choose first.”
It’s not like it will eat up a lot of time to clue the viewers in.
I think he has said so in some games, which is how I vaguely remember that there is such a rule.