See you at the Jeopardy! Masters!

So, I can't wait for my next experience on the Alex Trebek stage, whenever that might be!

And if nothing else, I'd once again gotten to spend some time with a bunch of Jeopardy champions, which is always a good time. Every single person in that field was an absolute delight to hang out with and compete against.

I'd come up just short of the victory, but ultimately, I came away extremely happy. My win in the semifinals and the first game of the finals were 2 of my best wins ever. And to come in 2nd out of that incredible field of players was something I could legitimately be proud of!

But that said, while I didn't feel like I'd been as thoroughly outplayed as was the case in game 2, nonetheless, Victoria was clearly the best player in game 3, it took her missing both DDs to give me and Andrew a chance...

That 'Southwark' miss will haunt me almost as long as 'Bangladesh,' if I get that DD right, I would have had the lead going into FJ, and I would have won the tournament...

But of course, Andrew and Victoria both got it as well, and that was that- Victoria was the champion! And a well-deserved champion at that, I have to say...

But to win, I'd need FJ to be tough. And it wasn't a gimme by any means, so when my answer of the Sea of Marmara was correct, I had a glimmer of hope...

Wagering from third was challenging. I could only win if Victoria missed FJ, I needed Andrew to miss, too. But also, Andrew had a couple different options on how to bet. I always hated FJ wagering calculations- but having checked the J-archive calculator, my wager was reasonable.

Still, it was going to take a huge run on my part to take the lead, and when Victoria got the last two $800 clues, it was out of reach...

The last DD would be crucial, and when Victoria got it, I thought it was all over. But she missed! I can't remember the last game I was in where all three DDs were missed, but it happened this one, and it meant that the game was still in reach...

And that gave me the DD! Which... I missed. It was an awful miss, too. Some of Falstaff's scenes in Henry IV were in fact, set in Southwark, but Windsor was the obvious choice there. Just gutting...

As DJ started, it was more of the same: Victoria was on fire, and it took me until the eight clue to get in; I knew Scythians, at least in part because I have, inexplicably, read all of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire...

Victoria was still in the zone, beating me to Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and the East Bay's own Green Day, among others, so she had a slight lead going into DJ. But of course, it was still anybody's game!

As I've mentioned, the anecdote well was running extremely dry. I did my best with that one, but it wasn't exactly my finest work lol...

My mom loved Ogden Nash. And I've never listened to Brian Eno, but 'Eno' is a common crossword entry, so I'd taken an early lead, which I maintained up to the first break!

Victoria started strong, and found the first DD. On the one hand, I hated to miss out on a DD that would have been a slam dunk for me, given that I've watched Kenneth Branagh's 4-hour Hamlet at least six times. But since Victoria missed it, it worked out for the best!

Abbreviated Pre-/Post-Game Thoughts (4/9/24):
-While I didn't discount Andrew by any means, I definitely felt that most likely, this game was going to decide the championship. I'd had no answer for Victoria in the last game, would I find this one?

But Victoria had beaten me fair and square in this one. If she kept up that level of play, it was going to be awfully hard to keep her from winning the championship in the next game. But I certainly planned to try!

And tbh, I was kind of glad she didn't miss FJ, because she was dominant in that game. I got incredibly lucky to get two DDs given how rarely I was able to ring in. The game before had luck involved, sure, but I didn't feel like I got totally outplayed...