Daily analysis, Monday, September 29
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“Hugh Downs” and “Barbara Walters” take over this special edition of 20/20: The Final Wager.
Catherine went big at the right time with a Daily Double, but it looks like she didn’t memorize her African capitals! She would have had the lock had she gotten it, but she’s still in the lead.
Catherine Hardee: 18,800
Alan Lange: 10,400
Elisa Korb: 13,200
The Final Jeopardy! category: AGATHA CHRISTIE
Nice triple-five-digit scores tonight.
Basic strategy – first vs. second
Catherine should wager 7,600 to cover Elisa.
Elisa can wager up to 2,000 to stay above Catherine if they’re both wrong.
Alan is still alive, but must get it right, so he should wager everything.
Basic strategy – second vs. third
Elisa needs to wager 7,600 to top Alan – but since she’ll lose to Catherine if she gets it wrong, she might as well wager everything.
Mind games
This situation is called Stratton’s Dilemma – second can either (1) wager to cover third or (2) wager so as not to fall below first, but not both. There’s not much of a dilemma here, however, since Alan should wager everything.
What actually happened
Alan didn’t wager everything, however, but that’s ok, as Elisa correctly went for broke and was the only player to respond correctly. It’s only the fourth time since the five-game limit was lifted in season 20 that co-champions lost to the sole challenger.
As for Catherine, she was back to adding a dollar to her wager! No love for the tie.
The Final Jeopardy! clue
AGATHA CHRISTIE
IN THE 400-PAGE BOOK “AGATHA CHRISTIE FROM A TO Z”, ENTRIES BEGINNING WITH THIS 6-LETTER WORD START ON PAGE 224 & END ON 238
[spoiler]What is “murder”?[/spoiler]
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