Challengers:
Scott McCann (Germantown, TN): Math teacher
Sarah Hartzell (orig. from Howell, NJ): Audiovisual archivist
JR:
OFF WE “GO”
FROM THE AD
NEW TO THE OED
THE DREADED OPERA CATEGORY
CLEANUP MEN
AKA
$400 AKA:
It’s sometimes known as the “Land of the Inca”.
Adriana: “What is Peru?”
$600 AKA:
Kegling is just another name for this sport.
TS: Bowling
$800 AKA:
It might ring a bell she used the pen name Currer Bell.
Adriana: “Who is Charlotte Bronte?” ($1200)
$1K AKA:
Baking soda, which creates carbon dioxide when mixed w/ an acid, is also known as this 2-word chemical compound.
Scott: “What is sodium bicarbonate?”
$800 “Go”:
Just west of Denver it had the “metal” to be a territorial capital in the 1860s.
Adriana: “What is Durango?” ($400)
TS #2: Golden, CO
$600 From the Ad:
A women wore pink pants & did a TikTok-ish dance pantomiming bodily pain.
Scott: “What is Pepto-Bismol?” ($1600)
$600 Cleanup Men:
Johnny Bench, George Foster & Tony Perez all cleaned up for this ’76 team.
Sarah: “Who are the Cincinnati Reds?”
$600 Opera:
Answer: DD.
In Wagner’s opera about the Valkyries there were 9 of ’em led by this daughter of Wotan.
“Who is Frigga?”…nope- who was Brunhild? That drops her to $400 on the bad side.
$600 New to the OED:
In the sense “to sleep briefly” this verb was already in; 2024 saw it given a new meaning, literally to abduct a pet.
Scott: “What is catnap?” ($2200)
$800 From the Ad:
“Where are you? You’re on a boat with the man your man could smell like.”
Scott: “What is Old Spice?” ($3K)
$1K New to the OED:
This Japanese word means strips of meat or vegetables coated w/ flour, egg & breadcrumbs & deep-fried.
Sarah: “What is tempura?” (-$1400)
TS #3: Katsu
$400 Opera:
“Waltz King” Johann Strauss II also composed the comic opera “Die Fledermaus” which translated as this flying animal.
Adriana: “What is the bat?” ($800)
$600 “Go”:
Near South Bend, IN is this city sharing a name w/ the “land” Joseph told his brothers to settle in.
Scott: “What is…New Canaan?” ($2400)
Adriana: “What is Goshen?” ($1400)
$1K “Go”:
Sweden’s chief seaport it’s also the headquarters of VOLVO.
Adriana: “What is Gothenburg?” (aka Goteborg)($2400)
$400 “Go”:
Formerly a city dump this park in Moscow was named for comrade Maxim in 1932.
Adriana: “What is Gorky?” ($2800)
$1K From the Ad:
From the ’90s:
Woman: “So what’s the paper say about tomorrow?”
Man: “Another scorcher!”
Woman: “Cool”
TS #4: SEARS air conditioning
$200 “Go”:
The tiny population of this huge desert’s mostly made up of Mongols & Han Chinese.
Sarah: “What is the Gobi?” (-$1200)
$800 Cleanup Men:
Good thing the Ilitch family sells lots of pizza- from ’11-’18 they paid Victor Martinez $118M to hit for this A.L. team.
Adriana: “Who are the Tigers?” ($3600)
$1K Opera:
Composer Franco Alfano finished this Asia-set opera after Puccini died.
Adriana: “What is ‘Madama Butterfly’?” ($2600)
TS #5: “Turandot”
$800 Opera:
When Charles Gounod’s “Faust” was sung in the original French this evil fiend had accents on all 3 E’s in his name.
Adriana: “Who is Mephistopheles?” ($3400)
$200 Opera:
In Rossini’s take on this tale, Alex Trebek’s favorite opera, not a fairy but the prince’s tutor got the heroine to the ball.
Adriana: “What is ‘Cinderella’?” ($3600)
$200 AKA:
This famous painting was also known as “La Gioconda”.
Sarah: “What is the ‘Mona Lisa’?” (-$1K)
$400 Cleanup Men:
He earned a nickname in an Oct. ’77 World Series game blasting 3 homers on 3 consec. pitches.
Scott: “Who is Reggie Jackson?” ($2800)
$1K Cleanup Men:
Willie Stargell, who ruled this Pittsburgh stadium as a cleanup hitter in the ’70s, was at the Pirates’ last game there in ’00.
Scott: “What is Three Rivers?” ($3800)
$800 New to the OED:
This unintended silence during a radio or TV broadcast isn’t quite as fatal as it sounds.
Scott: “What is dead air?” ($4600)
$400 From the Ad:
“For a streak-free shine that lets in more light.”
Sarah: “What is Windex?” (-$600)
$200 From the Ad:
“Eatin’ good in the neighborhood.”
Adriana: “What is Applebees?” ($3800)
$400 New to the OED:
Seems like this 2-word cardiac-related term for great anguish would’ve been in sooner than 2024.
Adriana: “What is heartbreak?” ($3400)
TS #6: Broken heart
$200 New to the OED:
This 2-word term can mean a place you might keep your wallet or figuratively someone under your control.
Scott: “What is back pocket?” ($4800)
$200 Cleanup Men:
The luckiest cleanup hitter on the face of the Earth, Lou Gehrig got to hit 4th just behind this #3.
Scott: “Who is Babe Ruth?” ($5K)
ATTEMPTED LT: $3200
UNATTEMPTED LT: $1600
TOTAL LT: $4800
CS:
Adriana: $3400/Sarah: -$600/Scott: $5K
DJ!:
HISTORIC DESCENDANTS
AUTHORS BEFORE AUTHORING
OBSERVATORIES
CERAMICS
THE TITLE’S AN ADJECTIVE
A “K-A”
$1200 Title’s An Adjective:
Gnarls Barkley ruled the Summer of ’06 w/ this song about examining your own mental state.
Adriana: “What is ‘Crazy’?” ($4600)
$1600 Title’s An Adjective:
“A Human Female” & “Ritual-licious” were eps of this NETFLIX show about a young man on the autism spectrum.
Sarah: “What is ‘Atypical’?” ($1K)
$2K Title’s An Adjective:
This song about “a do-or-die situation” is the title of a musical of Pat Benatar songs.
TS: “Invincible”
$1600 Ceramics:
Ceramics that are fired but not yet glazed are called this like a soup.
TS: Bisque
$1200 Observatories:
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory operates the VLA, short for this system of radio telescopes.
TS: Very Large Array
$1600 Historic Descendants:
In her film “Heir to an Execution” Ivy Meeropol explored the lives & deaths of her grandparents- this couple executed in 1953.
Adriana: “Who are the Rosenbergs?” ($6200)
$2K Historic Descendants:
A descendant of Martin Luther this 19th century German mathematician & astronomer gave his name to the object seen here.
Sarah: “What is a Mobius strip?” ($3K)
$1200 Historic Descendants:
After a Daily Triple occurred on the prev. clue DD #1 is behind this answer.
In 1812 a schooner called Patriot disappeared along w/ passengers incl. this V-P’s daughter Theodosia.
“Who is Aaron Burr?”…correct for 2 more grand & 5 right now.
$800 Historic Descendants:
Growing up w/o her mother Mary Wollstonecraft this author spent considerable time visiting her at her grave.
Adriana: “Who is Mary Shelley?” ($7K)
$800 Authors Before Authoring:
An ambulance driver during WWI in high school he was a member of the swim team & the rifle club.
Adriana: “Who is Hemingway?” ($7800)
$1200 Authors Before Authoring:
This Alabamian was working for an airline when she got a 1956 Xmas gift: “One year off from your job to write whatever you please.”
Adriana: “Who is Harper Lee?” ($9K)
$1600 Authors Before Authoring:
The answer there’s DD #2– she’s betting a third.
During WWII he flew 60 combat missions as a U.S. Air Force bombardier…isn’t that crazy? Or maybe not.
She doesn’t have him- who was Joseph Heller?
$2K Authors Before Authoring:
After quitting medical school at Johns Hopkins she moved w/ her brother Leo to Paris where she met Alice B. Toklas.
Adriana: “Who is Gertrude Stein?” ($8K)
$400 Authors Before Authoring:
She taught French & was on public assistance in the 1990s but money was no longer an issue in 2023- she was worth $1B.
Scott: “Who is Rowling?” ($5400)
$1200 “KA”:
This 10-letter adjective’s used to mean frightening or confusing like situations in works by The Trial author.
Scott: “What is Kafkaesque?” ($6600)
$800 Title’s An Adjective:
In ’88 Tom Hanks wanted to be this.
Adriana: “What is ‘BIG’?” ($8800)
$1600 “KA”:
The K in K2 stands for this great mountain system.
TS: Karakoram Range
$400 Title’s An Adjective:
This song from the “Despicable Me 2” soundtrack became a global joy-inspiring phenomenon.
Adriana: “What is ‘Happy’?” ($9200)
$400 Historic Descendants:
Actress Jordana Brewster was a direct descendant of William Brewster, a leader & church elder of this colony.
Adriana: “What is Plymouth Colony?” ($9600)
$800 “KA”:
Not to be confused w/ a prayer over wine this is the Jewish prayer for the dead which basically praises God.
Scott: “What is the kaddish?” ($7400)
$2K “KA”:
During his Munich period this Russian painter cofounded Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Rider”) art movement.
Adriana: “Who is (Wassily) Kandinsky?” ($11,600)
$400 “KA”:
Forced to abdicate in 1918 Wilhelm II was the last German emperor of this title.
Adriana: “What is kaiser?” ($12K)
SOLE ATTEMPTED TS: $800 (Observatories)
UNATTEMPTED LT: $8400
TOTAL DJ! LT: $9200
Pre-Final S:
Adriana: $14,400/Sarah: $5400/Scott: $10,200
WOMEN CORYATS:
Adriana: $17,400/Sarah: $5600
FJ!: U.S. GEOGRAPHY
Of the 10 states w/ 2-word names this 1 stretches the farthest south.
ALL IN ACCORDANCE W/ “WHAT IS NEW MEXICO?”
Final wagers:
SARAH: $3K = $8400
SCOTT: $8001 = $18,201
ADRIANA: $6600 = $22K $225,700
bobbymgsk 
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