Jeopardy! recap for Wed., Dec. 15 - Professors Tournament day eight

 Here are the contestants for the last game of round two of the Professors Tournament:

- Deborah, an associate professor of French literature at Delaware, whose school boasts the Bidens and the first study-abroad program;

- Gary, a chemistry professor at Roanoke College, is a quiz bowl coach since 1995; and

- Ed, a history professor at American River College, whose Beatles collection contains memories of his parents.

Jeopardy! round

PLAYING PROFESSOR

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY

4-SYLLABLE WORDS

A CUT ABOVE

PREQUELS & SEQUELS

WHIRLED MENU

Scores going into DJ:  Ed $6,000, Gary $1,400, Deborah $1,000.

DD1 - $800 - PREQUELS & SEQUELS - Co-authored by Brian Herbert, "House Atreides" is the first in a series of prequels to this series (Gary doubled to $1,600.)

Double Jeopardy! 

NUCLEAR PHYSICS 

STARTS WITH "W"

WORLD CITIES

MUSIC STARS

CZECHS

BALANCES 

Ed found DD3 with the lead and a chance to make it very difficult for his opponents, but chose to protect his advantage a small wager, entering FJ with $15,600 vs. $10,200 for Gary and $4,200 for Deborah.

DD2 - $1,600 - WORLD CITIES - The name of this second-largest city in Wales starts with a big bird (Deborah remaining in third place after losing $2,000 from her total of $3,400.)

DD3 - $1,200 - CZECHS  - In the 1890s he moved briefly from Prague to New York City, inspiring his best-known symphony (Ed won $1,200 from his score of $12,400 vs. $7,000 for Gary.)

Final Jeopardy!

AWARDS - The Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award honors influential people from this state, including Western author Louis L’Amour

For the second straight game, everyone was incorrect on FJ. Ed was able to hang on for the win, dropping $5,000 to advance with $10,600. Ed will face Sam and Alisa in the two-day finals.

Odds and Ends

Wagering strategy: Ed's small bet on DD3 could have been costly, because if Gary had been just over $200 closer to Ed at the end of FJ, Gary could have won on the Triple Stumper with a tiny wager.

Professorial problems: No one knew a professor on "How to Get Away With Murder" was played by Viola Davis, or the Pulitzer-winning play about a cancer-stricken professor is "Wit".

That's not after their time: In MUSIC STARS, the players impressively were able to get all three clues that dealt with hitmakers of the current day, along with the older stuff.

Correct Qs: DD1 - What is "Dune"? DD2 - What is Swansea? DD3 - Who was Dvořák? FJ - What is North Dakota?