Jeopardy! recap for Thur., Oct. 23

 Here are today's contestants:

- Jake Tomlin, a middle school teacher from Lynchburg, Virginia;

- Elijah Perseus Blumov, a poet and podcaster from Evanston, Illinois; and

- Tom Devlin, an attorney from Washington, D.C Tom is a two-day champ with winnings of $43,199.

Jeopardy!

PRESIDENTIAL FACTS // BEER ME // DISNEY CHARACTERS // THAT'S TOTALLY SUS // TOUGH 6-LETTER VOCAB // "SAINT" SOMEWHERE

DD1 - $800 - THAT'S TOTALLY SUS - A boy "known by the sobriquet of" this tells Oliver Twist about a free place to stay in London; what could go wrong? (Tom doubled to $5,200.)

Scores at first break: Tom $7,000, Elijah -$1,600, Jake $0.

Scores entering DJ: Tom $9,400, Elijah -$600, Jake $1,400.

Double Jeopardy!

AN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MAN // YOU ARE WRONG // ALLITERATIVE POP CULTURE // TRANSPORTATION // AN ILL WIND // BOOK ENDS

DD2 - $1,200 - YOU ARE WRONG - The French are generous with terms for blunders, having given us faux pas & this 5-letter word for a public mistake (Tom retained first place after dropping $4,000 from his score of $12,200.)

DD3 - $800 - FRIENDS IN DRY PLACES - Marsilio Ficino knew this family & founded his Platonic Academy, an intellectual hub of the It-Ren, at their villa near Florenc (Tom improved by $6,000 to $17,800 vs. $5,400 for Jake.)

Tom found all three DDs, was correct on two of them, and finished with complete authority for another runaway at $27,800 vs. $7,800 for Jake and $3,400 for Elijah.

Final Jeopardy!

SOUTH AMERICA - An airport at this South American city is named for archaeologist Maria Reiche, who was known as the “lady of the lines”

Only Tom was correct on FJ, adding $2,200 to win with $30,000 for a three-day total of $73,199.

Final scores: Tom $30,000, Elijah $1, Jake $7,800.

Wagering strategy: Tom's bets on the two DDs in DJ are fine examples of when mid-size wagers make perfect sense. He was clearly the best player and from the lead, didn't have to gamble in those spots. It's a much different situation than when a contestant is playing from behind against a strong champ and needs to take a chance with a big bet.

Triple Stumper of the day: No one knew the Disney character who would be most likely to melt, Olaf the snowman.

Correct Qs: DD1 - Who is the Artful Dodger? DD2 - What is gaffe? DD3 - Who were the Medici? FJ - What is Nazca?