Jeopardy! recap for Fri., Oct. 8

 Introducing today's contestants:

- Max, a producer, created "Jesspardy!" and imitates Johnny Gilbert;

- Claire, an engineer, says her profession is good preparation for the game; and

- Matt, a Ph.D. student, yells at his former, less-knowledgeable self. Matt is a 37-day champ with winnings of $1,467,801.

This is not a recording...Matt swept the DDs and was never remotely threatened, cruising into FJ at $43,800 vs. $7,600 for Max and $5,600 for Claire.

DD1 - $1,000 - OCTOBER - In Catholic tradition, October is the month to celebrate this set of prayers recited with an accompanying physical aid (Matt doubled up to $4,000.)

DD2 - $1,200 - NOT YOUR AVERAGE GEMSTONE! - Dust & ash from a volcano in this state were used to create a new green type of gem called Helenite (Matt won $6,000 from his score of $18,600 vs. $3,600 for Max.)

DD3 - $2,000 - I'D LIKE A WORD WITH "U" - This Japanese word for a type of flavor entered English in the early 1960s (Matt won $2,000 from his score of $31,800 vs. $5,600 for Max.)

FJ - THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - British zoologist George Shaw looked for stitches when he first saw this mammal in 1799, thinking he was being tricked

Matt and Claire were correct on FJ. Matt added $7,000 to win with $50,800 for a 38-day total of $1,518,601.

Triple Stumper of the day: The players couldn't provide the first word in the title "Clown in a Cornfield", a novel marketed to teens that's been out less than a year, which was interestingly positioned as only a $200 clue.

Wagering strategy: Matt's wagering pattern today was very similar to yesterday's, as after building a huge lead, he once again made a modest wager on DD3 and appeared to tailor his FJ bet for around a $50K win.

One more thing: In a kind of callback to the previous game, Max said what sounded like "tri-ath-a-lon", pronouncing it with four syllables.

Correct Qs: DD1 - What are rosaries? DD2 - What is Washington? DD3 - What is umami? FJ - What is (duck-billed) platypus?