Daily analysis, Thursday, July 24 – Teen Tournament QF #4

2014 Teen Tournament
Overview			Teens in the TOC				Joe Taglic interview
Quarterfinals					Semifinals			Finals
1	2	3	4	5	1	2	3	1	2

We already know the identities of three semifinalists. Tonight, we’ll confirm three more.

Alan and Ananya are in prime shape to clinch – both can just wager zero. Of course, neither of them knows that!

Kevin Huang: 3,400
Alan Koolik: 17,600
Ananya Nrusimha: 15,500

The Final Jeopardy! category: NOVEL WORDS

I was impressed with the way Kevin kept cool (STAYED CLAM, in Jeopardy! parlance) despite being in the red for much of the game. I was hopeful he’d grab that last clue.

Basic strategy – first vs. second

Alan can guarantee a win with a correct answer by wagering 13,401.

To stay above him if he’s wrong, Ananya can wager up to 11,300; Kevin needs to respond correctly and wager at least 800.

Basic strategy – second vs. third

Ananya can wager up to 8,699 to stay above Kevin.

Basic strategy – Rule #3

Ananya can cover a zero wager by Alan by watering 2,101.

Alan can force Ananya to respond correctly to win by capping his wager at 2,099. To cover this possibility, Ananya could wager 4,200.

I don’t think there’s much more upside; over 19,000 should be good in almost any tournament quarterfinal.

What actually happened

I would have been more conservative as Alan or Ananya, but as I’ve said many times, each player comes in with a different idea of what the wild-card cut-off will be. Remember: adjusting for doubled values, the cut-off has been 20,000 or higher in seven tournaments (TOC, College, Teen).

Here are your winners and wild-card standings:

Cooper Lair*
Selena Groh*
William Golden*
Alan Koolik*

Jeff Xie* (19,000)
Kat Deabill* (14,400)
Erin Christopher (9,000)
Ananya Nrusimha (6,801)

The Final Jeopardy! clue for July 24, 2014 (NOVEL WORDS):

THIS WORD FOR A PERSON WITHOUT CERTAIN ABILITIES HAS MADE IT FROM THE REALM OF FANTASY TO THE OED

[spoiler]What is a muggle?[/spoiler]