The Final Jeopardy question (10/15/2015) in the category “The Middle East” was:

With an area of 4,000 square miles, it’s the only primarily Arabic-speaking country in the Middle East that has no desert.

New champ Michael Baker won $15,201 yesterday and the singular distinction of defeating 13-day champ, Matt Jackson. Today he takes on these two players: Dana Desprois, from Arlington, VA; and Josh Silverman, from Miami, FL.

Round 1: Dana found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Biographies” under the $600 clue. She was in third place with $1,600, $2,800 less than Josh in the lead. She made it a true Daily Double and and she was RIGHT.

“Neither Shaken nor Stirred” is the subtitle of Andrew Yule’s biography of this actor. show WHO IS SEAN CONNERY?

Josh finished in the lead with $5,000. Michael was second with $4,200 and Dana was last with $2,400.

Round 2: Josh found the first Daily Double in “Science & Nature” under the $1,200 clue on the 4th pick. He was in the lead with $7,400, $3,200 ahead of Michael in second place. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.

A National Park near Twentynine Palms is named for this tree seen here. show WHAT IS A JOSHUA TREE?

Michael found the last Daily Double in “1965” under the $1,200 clue. In second place with $6,600, he had $8,600 less than Josh in the lead. He bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.

On March 23 this space project launched its first mission with Gus Grissom & John Young as commander & pilot. show WHAT IS THE GEMINI?

That proved to be the last clue of the round. Josh finished in the lead with $15,200 but he no longer had a lock. Michael now had $10,600. Dana was in third place with $3,800.

Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS LEBANON?

Here is an excerpt from a post entitled “Lebanon is NOT a Desert” on “Simply Beirut”: “This post is a clarification for a friend… and everyone else in the USA who have been embedded with the idea that since Lebanon is in the Middle East, the topography consists of a dry, arid desert with sand dunes and camels grazing all over the place and old Bedouins dressed in white robes trailed by their four wives all dressed in black. Belly dancers and genies in a bottle. Something magical and mysterious straight out of Disney’s Aladdin. A popular misconception among Americans.” Besides explaining why Lebanon’s neighbors come there to escape the desert heat, it has some very nice photos.

Dana thought it was the United Arab Emirates. She lost her $3,000 bet and finished with $800.

Michael had the correct answer but crossed it out in favor of Bahrain. That cost him $4,601 and left him with $5,999.

Josh got it right. He bet $6,001 so he won the match with $21,201. He is the new Jeopardy! champ and a very exuberant one at that.

Josh is a graduate student and a stand-up comedian. During the chat, he said he gets a lot of his material from his own life and from the news. Alex Trebek noted that the presidential election would be a good source of material. After Josh won, Alex said his Jeopardy! experience would yield even more material.

2 years ago:: ALL of the players got this FJ in “Trademarks”