Jeopardy! recap for Tue., Dec. 29 (encore from Dec. 9, 2009)

 Here are today's contestants:

- Sarah, a middle school Latin teacher from San Luis Obispo, California, whose job surprised Alex by still existing;

- Jove, a biomedical engineer from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, has a used valve on a necklace; and

- Dave, Base Commander from Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada, met his wife waiting tables. Dave is a five-day champ with winnings of $134,801.

With just one other clue remaining, Jove took the lead from Dave on DD3 and held it into FJ with $17,800 vs. $17,200 for Dave and $4,200 for Sarah.

DD1 - $600 - CELEBRATED ON HIS BIRTHDAY - Thesaurus Day, January 18 (Dave won $1,600 on a true DD vs. $6,000 for Jove.)

DD2 - $1,600 - ALPHABETIC HOMOPHONES - Now prized for cabinetwork, this tree's wood was used by British archers in the Middle Ages for longbows (Dave won $5,000 on a true DD vs. $7,800 for Jove.)

DD3 (video) - $1,600 - GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE - Contending with cold water & hot land, the Galapagos penguin is the only species to occur north of this line, the midpoint of the Tropics (Jove won $4,000 from his score of $13,800 vs. $17,200 for Dave.)

FJ - HISTORIC AMERICANS - His collection of books suffered disastrous fires at the home called Shadwell in 1770 & at the Library of Congress in 1851

Jove and Dave were correct on FJ, with Jove adding $16,601 to win with $34,401.

Triple Stumper of the day: No one knew the funnyman who coached soccer for girls in "Ladybugs", Rodney Dangerfield.

That day in Trebekistan: Alex was so delighted by his Curly impression that he did it twice.

Correct Qs: DD1 - Who was Roget? DD2 - What is yew? DD3 - What is the Equator? FJ - Who was Jefferson?