Jeopardy! recap for Tue., Feb. 18

 Here are today's Invitational Tournament contestants:

- Jaskaran Singh, a consultant from Plano, Texas;

- Margaret Shelton, a homemaker from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and

- Skyler Hornback, a chemical engineering Ph.D. student originally from Sonora, Kentucky.

Jeopardy! 

ON THE HISTORIC TOP 40 // "ISM"s // THAT'S NOT A THING ANYMORE // GIVING YOU THE CREEPS // SLINGING SLANG // BORDERLINE

DD1 - 600 - BORDERLINE - Now a tourist attraction, the demilitarized zone separating these 2 countries was officially abolished in 1976 (Skyler lost 1,500 from his score of 3,200.)

Scores at first break: Skyler 2,200, Margaret 4,000, Jaskaran 3,600.

Scores entering DJ: Skyler 2,700, Margaret 2,800, Jaskaran 5,600.

Double Jeopardy! 

THE 80s: WHO SAID IT? // LIBRARIES // TV SITCOMS // RUSSIAN LITERATURE // EARTH SCIENCE // TRIPLE "A"

DD2 - 1,600 - EARTH SCIENCE - As its name suggests, this part of the atmosphere that begins about 50 miles up is rich in electrically charged particles (Jaskaran dropped 1,000 from his total of 21,600 vs. 10,000 for Margaret.)

DD3 - 2,000 - TRIPLE "A" - From Sanskrit for "great", it's a person revered for wisdom & selflessness (Margaret lost 5,000 from her score of 11,200 vs. 21,000 for Jaskaran.)

Jaskaran had a big lead when he found DD2, missed but only made a small wager, then when Margaret missed DD3 late in the round it was all over. Jaskaran entered FJ at 21,800 vs. 7,100 for Skyler and 6,200 for Margaret.

Final Jeopardy!

SUPREME COURT DECISIONS - This landmark case was reported in the NY Times not on the front page but in "News of the Railroads"

Only Jaskaran was correct on FJ and wagered 0 to advance with 21,800.

Final scores: Skyler 3,600, Margaret 0, Jaskaran 21,800.

Triple Stumper of the day: A clue's reference to "No, Lucy, you can't be in the show" didn't lead the players to recently-demolished Vegas casino the Tropicana (which was also the name of Ricky's club in "I Love Lucy").

Wagering strategy: DD3 was a good demonstration of why a mid-sized wager isn't a good idea in that situation. By betting 5,000, Margaret would still have been well off the lead if correct, but was essentially eliminated with a miss, so better to just go all-in there.

Judging the writers: Today's is what a good FJ clue should be. It's about something significant that educated people should be familiar with. It gives you enough to go on without completely giving it away. It's straightforward, not overly long or tricky. And it has the "Oh, isn't that interesting" factor.

Correct Qs: DD1 - What are North and South Vietnam? DD2 - What is ionosphere? DD3 - What is mahatma? FJ - What is Plessy v. Ferguson?