Daily analysis, Tuesday, May 20

Trivia! Who can name the last male champion in regular play?

His name was Derrick Shivar and he won the game on April 8. Sandie Baker dethroned him the next day.

James Herman could have ended that streak yesterday but put too much on the line. Julia shows no fatigue from that scare – and no signs of stopping.

Julia Collins: 20,000
Kate Hoffman: 12,800
Clayton Walker: 6,800

The Final Jeopardy! category: BRITISH NOVELS

Clayton is just barely out of it: he’d need at least 7,200 – the difference between first and second – to be in contention.

Basic strategy

Julia should wager 5,600.

Kate needs to get it right, so she might as well wager everything.

Clayton, to capture second, has two good options. If he thinks Kate will wager the bare minimum (1,600) against a rational Julia wager, he will need to wager 4,401 and get it right.

If he thinks she’ll go to tie Julia’s pre-Final total (I don’t get why people do this), he can wager up to 1,199.

Julia wins – and bumps Arthur Chu to fourth all-time in consecutive victories.

The Final Jeopardy! clue for May 20, 2014 (BRITISH NOVELS):

STEPHEN KING BORROWED THE NAME OF HIS FICTIONAL TOWN CASTLE ROCK FROM THIS 1950s NOVEL THAT GREATLY INFLUENCED HIM

Correct response: What is Lord of the Flies?