Jeopardy! recap for Wed., Dec. 28

 Let's meet today's contestants: 

- Jamie, a retired librarian, has taken up refinishing her own furniture; 

- Omkar, an attorney, whose Jeopardy! appearance caused laughter and tears in the family; and

- Ray, a scenic artist, whose success at the game is partially the result of online preparation.  Ray is a nine-day champ with winnings of $255,100.

Jeopardy! 

COMPOSE YOURSELF // 6-LETTER WORDS // CAR COLLISIONS // OSCAR WINNERS ON TV // HERE COMES THE BRIBE // ALL DRESSED IN WHITE

DD1 - $1,000 - HERE COMES THE BRIBE - In Rome in 69 A.D., Marcus Salvius Otho bribed this security force to murder the Emperor Galba & have Otho put on the throne (Ray added $2,000 to his leading score of $4,400.)

Scores at first break: Ray $8,200, Omkar $600, Jamie $800.

Scores going into DJ: Ray $10,600, Omkar $2,800, Jamie $400.

Double Jeopardy! 

LITERARY CHARACTER NAMES// A CATEGORY OF CHANCE // THE HUMAN BODY // WORLD CAPITALS // EPONYMS // IT HAD TO BE HUGH

DD2 - $1,200 - WORLD CAPITALS - Of South Africa's 3 capitals, this judicial one is alphabetically first (Omkar lost $3,000 from his total of $3,200 vs. $10,600 for Ray.)

DD3 - $800 - LITERARY CHARACTER NAMES - wizardingworld .com tells us this villainous last name means "bad faith" (Jamie lost $2,000 on a true DD.)

Many of Ray's games have been competitive, but this wasn't one of them, as both of his opponents missed a DD in DJ and Ray cruised into FJ at $23,600 vs. $4,400 for Jamie and $4,200 for Omkar.

Final Jeopardy!

AMERICA AT WAR - Until the Civil War, the Jan. 8 date of this battle of dubious military importance but big moral value was a national holiday

Ray and Jamie were correct on FJ, with Ray adding $6,600 to win with $30,000 for a 10-day total of $285,100.

Final scores: Ray $30,000, Omkar $4,200, Jamie $4,400.

Odds and Ends

Triple Stumper of the day: Depressingly, no one knew the game show hosted by Hugh Downs, followed by a "Classic" version hosted by Alex Trebek Is "Concentration". If you miss Alex and want to see him at the absolute peak of his hosting abilities, "Classic Concentration" airs every weekday morning on Buzzr.

Clue selection strategy: In round one with DD1 still available, Ray selected third and fourth-row clues from HERE COMES THE BRIBE, after which Jamie got control. She jumped up to the $200 clue in that same category, allowing Ray to regain control, choose the bottom-row clue, find the DD and expand his lead.

Correct Qs: DD1 - What is the Praetorian Guard? DD2 - What is Bloemfontein? DD3 - What is Malfoy? FJ - What is the Battle of New Orleans?