Jeopardy! recap for Tue., Oct. 4

 Introducing today's contestants:

- Jacqueline, an engineer, followed her mom's advice to fly planes;

- Sean, a software engineer, makes pictures of black holes; and

- Cris, a customer success operations manager, tries to solve FJ off the category alone. Cris is a two-day champ with winnings of $63,379.

Jeopardy! 

THE 50 STATES // A "C" IN LITERATURE // SHIPS & BOATS // TOYING WITH YOU // THEIR FIRST U.S. NO. 1 HIT // IT'S A MYSTERY

DD1 - $600 - TOYING WITH YOU - In the '60s, seeing this toy car for the first time, its company co-founder said, "Those are some...!" (Cris, who ran the category, doubled up to $9,200.)

Scores going into DJ: Cris $12,600, Sean $3,400, Jacqueline $2,800.

Double Jeopardy! 

CENTRAL AMERICAN HISTORY // SEE 'EM AT THE MUSEUM // WAIT JUST A MINERAL!  // ALL THAT GLITTERS // FILMS BY CHARACTERS // THE "IZE" HAVE IT

DD2 - $1,600 - SEE 'EM AT THE MUSEUM - Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" & van Gogh's "The Starry Night": this Manhattan museum (Cris added $4,900 to his leading total of $14,200.)

DD3 - $2,000 - WAIT JUST A MINERAL! - Mais oui, calcium sulfate hemihydrate is a mouthful, so a fast-setting-after-drying gypsum product goes by these 3 words (With $23,900 and a lead of over $20K, Cris wagered $3,000 and was correct.)

Once again Cris scored on all three DDs and breezed to a runaway at $35,200 vs. $7,400 for Sean and $800 for Jacqueline.

Final Jeopardy!

ASIAN COUNTRY NAMES - Like the T-U-V in Tuvalu, this landlocked country has 3 consecutive letters in its English name in alphabetic sequence

Everyone was incorrect on FJ. Cris dropped $15,221 to win with $20,079 for a three-day total of $83,458.

Odds and Ends

Triple Stumper of the day: No one knew the mineral called "iron this" that "glitters" but "won't finance your retirement" is iron pyrite, aka fool's gold.

Clue selection strategy: Cris wasn't quite as quick as usual finding the DDs, but he still did a good job of DD hunting in DJ, picking them on the 4th and 9th overall selections. Also note that out of 12 top-row clues available in the first two rounds, seven of them were in the last group chosen.

Ken's Korner: I'm pretty sure he lowered his voice in an attempt to do a Barry White impression, or at least pay tribute to the R&B legend.

Correct Qs: DD1 - What are Hot Wheels? DD2 - What is MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)?  DD3 - What is plaster of Paris? FJ - What is Afghanistan?