Adam Remsen, as the Jeopardy world knows, was going for a win in his 10th consecutive game. He's already on the Tournament of Champions invite list, so this is for more money and more bragging rights.
Adam's two opponents were nipping at his heels all night. Usually, one of the contestants is a weak, inaccurate responder who quickly goes in the red, and sometimes can't even climb out for Final Jeopardy.
Not last night. Adam has met the enemy in Kate Raven and Derek Lombardi. No pushover, tomato cans here. These people were capable of the win.
Adam is sitting at $10,600, but the heat is on. The correct answers are flying in to the left of him. His plane is taking heavy flak. He lands on Double Jeopardy, Daily Double, in the "3.3" Category: Two words that were exactly three letters long.
Is this the end of Adam? He's getting thrown out of the Garden of Game Show money? Adam ponders. Really thinks. Ken nudges Adam before time runs out.
This Latin abbreviation appears in the line of presidential succession.
Oh shit! Adam has gone all in. Ken Jennings is surprised. The audience gasps. I'm agog. Adam doesn't usually go for the jugular. Game on.
Adam ponders. Adam? "Pro tem" Are you shitting me? Adam goes to $21,200 and starts to look like Arazi in a Breeders' Cup race in the 1991 Juvenile race. He's made a move that will bury the opposition.
Well, no. The game's not over, and the others are popping right answers like popcorn. The dust settles, and Adam goes into Final with $20,800; Kate with $13,600; Derek with $18,000. No runaway here. No forgone conclusion.
The category: Partnerships
After measuring the transit of Venus in 1761, this pair of astronomers was recommended by the Royal Society for a job in America.
Oh boy. Will this be a triple stumper? Kate has gone all in, as has Derek. Adam uses the "Alex Gambit" and bets $15,201, sufficient to win by $1 if Derek gets it right with an anticipated doubling bet, and Adam gets it right.
Kate has no answer. Goes to $0. Adam offers a $15,201 wager, and Derek offers $7,500, probably thinking Adam will use the "Alex Gambit" get it wrong, and be left with less than what Derek has with a correct answer.
Derek's answer? Adler and Hayden. Who? No, not right. They are names of the two famous planetariums in the U.S. A very good stab at answer.
Adam? He is seen writing his answer quickly. This is a sign of confidence. "Mason, Dixon." Yes.
Mason, Dixon? You mean the fellows who mapped the United States and drew a line as to which states north of it would be slave free states, and which states to the south of it would be slave states? Yep, those two. They were Brits? Yes.
Wikipedia tells us what we didn't learn in school:
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon were 18th-century English scientists who famously surveyed the Mason–Dixon line between 1763 and 1767.
🔭 The Men Behind the Line
- Charles Mason (1728–1786) was an English astronomer who worked at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
- Jeremiah Dixon (1733–1779) was a renowned English land surveyor and fellow astronomer.
- Before their American expedition, they worked as a team for England's Royal Society, traveling as far as the Cape of Good Hope to observe the transit of Venus. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Who knows this stuff to write clues like that?. And who knows the answer? Adam.
The show ends with Adam smiling his Cheshire Rumsfeld smile as if we just landed troops in Iraq.
Tonight's Final Jeopardy clue: U.S. Landmarks
Norwegian Arne Peterssen was the last to pass through this location, which was then officially closed in 1954.
Adam?
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