Wednesday, December 16, 2015
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If you enjoyed Tuesday’s analysis of the double-lock situation, you’ll love what I did Wednesday.
Those of you quick with math will recognize what we’re dealing with tonight: a situation with evenly-spaced scores.
|
Tiombi Prince |
Ben Parker |
Lynsey McMullen |
| 11,800 | 7,000 | 9,400 |
All three players – but particularly Tiombi and Lynsey – are going to have a decision to make with respect to the tie wager.
Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:
| 19th CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE |
First-order calculations
Lynsey’s wager to cover Ben (4,601) could result in a tiebreaker if Tiombi goes for 7,001 and both of them miss.
| Tiombi |
Ben |
Lynsey | |||
| 11,800 | 7,000 | 9,400 | |||
| FIRST-ORDER | SECOND-ORDER | COVER ZERO | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 7,000 | 2,200 | 4,600 | 4,600 | ||
| 2,200 | 2,600* | ||||
Second-order calculations
Not too much doing here, but a few numbers we can play with.
| Tiombi |
Ben |
Lynsey | |||
| 11,800 | 7,000 | 9,400 | |||
| FIRST-ORDER | SECOND-ORDER | COVER ZERO | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 7,000 | 2,200 | 4,600 | 4,600 | ||
| 200 | |||||
| 2,200 | 2,600 | 2,600* | |||
Zero wagers
Score differences:
Tiombi and Lynsey: 2,400
Tiombi and Ben: 4,800
Lynsey and Ben: 2,400
| Tiombi |
Ben |
Lynsey | |||
| 11,800 | 7,000 | 9,400 | |||
| FIRST-ORDER | SECOND-ORDER | COVER ZERO | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 7,000 | 2,200 | 4,600 | 4,600 | ||
| 200 | |||||
| 2,200 | 2,400 | 4,800* | 4,800* | ||
Then we add a dollar to the minimum wagers, and subtract a dollar from the maximum wagers.
What actually happened
| Tiombi | Ben | Lynsey | |||
| 11,800 | 7,000 | 9,400 | |||
| 7,100 | 2,200 | 9,400 | |||
| 18,900 | 9,200 | 0 | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 7,000 ! (+1?) | 2,199 | 4,600 ! (+1?) | |||
| 199 | |||||
| 2,201 | 2,399 | 7,000 ! | 9,400 ! | ||
All three players were forced into very specific ranges – and all three missed. (Lynsey’s 9,400 might have been the best, but I still think it was questionable – the odds of Tiombi going small aren’t that high.)
Tiombi has now won 2 games and $33,100.
The Final Jeopardy! clue
| 19th CENTURY AMERICAN LITERATURE |
| THE THEFT ALLUDED TO IN THE TITLE OF THIS 1844 POE STORY IS COMMITTED BY A GOVERNMENT MINISTER |
[spoiler]What is “The Purloined Letter”?[/spoiler]
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