Jeopardy! recap for Tue., Dec. 27

 Please welcome today's contestants: 

- Scott, a math & computer science teacher, had a cake-themed crossword puzzle cake; 

- Maggie, a writer, knows more than when she bailed on an audition 20 years ago; and

- Ray, a scenic artist, has very kind words for the Jeopardy! staff.  Ray is an eight-day champ with winnings of $219,300.

Jeopardy! 

ESPIONAGE GLOSSERY // RHYMING RESPONSES // WORLD OF BEERS // HISTORICAL FIGURES ON FILM // FICTION // ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT

DD1 - $400 - ESPIONAGE GLOSSERY - John le Carré popularized this word; in a 1974 novel, he defined it as "an agent so called because he burrows deep" (Ray doubled to $3,600.)

Scores at first break: Ray $1,200, Maggie $4,000, Scott $3,200.

Scores going into DJ: Ray $4,200, Maggie $3,800, Scott $6,000.

Double Jeopardy! 

FLYOVER COUNTRIES // SYNONYMS // SCIENCE // ALBUM COVERS // THE CIVIL WAR // "T" TIME

DD2 - $1,200 - THE CIVIL WAR - Arthur MacArthur from Milwaukee won the Medal of Honor for a charge at Missionary Ridge shouting this, now a fight song title (On the first clue of DJ, Maggie dropped $2,200 from her total of $3,800.)

DD3 - $2,000 - SCIENCE - Neptune's moon Triton is the only big moon in our solar system that orbits in this 10-letter way, meaning backwards (Ray added $4,000 to his score of $7,000 vs. $6,000 for Scott.)

Ray started a bit slowly, but began to pull away on DD3 and ensured a runaway with a strong finish, entering FJ at $27,800 vs. $9,200 for Scott and $3,600 for Maggie.

Final Jeopardy!

CHILDREN'S BOOKS - Its title character is told “By the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off…your eyes drop out & you get…shabby”

Everyone was correct on FJ. Ray added $8,000 to win with $35,800 for a nine-day total of $255,100.

Final scores: Ray $35,800, Maggie $7,100, Scott $11,199.

Odds and Ends

Ken's Korner: When Ray found DD1 under a $400 clue with all the other five remaining clues being in the top row, Ken said, "As you might expect, that's the Daily Double, not a lot of places left where it could be." To be clear, the DD could have been under one of the $200 clues, it's just extremely rare.

Judging the writers: Today's FJ category was CHILDREN'S BOOKS, while CHILDREN'S LIT was the FJ category less than one week ago.

One more thing: According to the judges, "Tarzan" is an acceptable response for the book title "Tarzan of the Apes".

Correct Qs: DD1 - What is mole? DD2 - What is "On Wisconsin"? DD3 - What is retrograde? FJ - What is "The Velveteen Rabbit"?