Reston Resident Scores High on ‘Jeopardy!’ But Gets Stumped at the End

Quick, answer this for us:

“One in Europe & one in Africa, these 2 landlocked countries start with the same 2 letters & end with the same 4.”

Time’s up. If you said “Switzerland and Swaziland,” you win.

That was the challenge facing Scott Simpson, a foreign service officer from Reston, at the end of Tuesday night’s episode of the quiz show “Jeopardy!” Unfortunately, Simpson — who entered Final Jeopardy! in the lead with more than $20,000 in his bank — did not give that response.

Simpson’s incorrect answer — Romania and Tanzania — dropped him to second place and sent him home with a $2,000 consolation prize. But that slip-up at the end doesn’t mean he didn’t show some impressive knowledge throughout the episode.

Check below for the long list of clues to which Simpson correctly responded during his time on the “Jeopardy!” stage.

According to the J! Archive website, here are answers for which correctly Simpson gave the questions during his appearance on the iconic game show. How many do you know? (Simpson’s correct responses are at the bottom of the article.)

• Video Games, $400: The Wasteland is the result of nuclear war; exit one of these title shelters & rebuild in the 4th edition
• Video Games, $800: Master Chief & Spartan Locke are yours to command in this “5: Guardians”
• By Degrees, $1,000: To Francis Ford Coppola, nephew Nicolas Cage is in the third degree of this 13-letter word from the Latin for “blood”
• Also in the Shakespeare Play, $400: Fortinbras, prince of Norway; two clowns, listed as gravediggers
• Also in the Shakespeare Play, $800: Escalus, prince of Verona; an apothecary
• We Mean Business, $400: The Sealed Air Corporation has made a fortune off this trademarked shipping aid that was created in 1957
• We Mean Business, $800: In 1901 John Queeny founded chemical company Monsanto to make this synthetic sweetener
• Zoologist’s Dictionary: $200: Ovoviviparous describes animals such as rattlesnakes that develop these inside the body
• Words That Should Rhyme: $800: A muscle pain & a Native American people of Arizona
• Italian Composers, $400: He & Leoncavallo both composed versions of “La boheme” at the same time but his was much more successful
• Italian Composers, $1,200: Vincenzo Bellini was one of the main proponents of this operatic style whose name means “beautiful singing” (Simpson won a Daily Double on this for $3,600.)
• Italian Composers, $1,600: His sprightly overtures are the best remembered parts of many of his operas, like 1817’s “The Thieving Magpie”
• The Woman in the Movie, $400: In 1981 she played “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”
• The Woman in the Movie, $1,200: In 1956 this French beauty starred in “…And God Created Woman”
• The Woman in the Movie, $1,600: In 1988 this “Risky Business” beauty starred in “And God Created Woman”
• Cowboy Talk, $800: The Cattleman, the West Texas Punch & the Bull Rider are popular creases cowboys put in these
• Cowboy Talk, $1,200: When told to grab the apple, riders grab this for greater security
• Shaka, $1,200: Shaka is credited with revolutionizing army tactics, by using a main force known as “the chest and two horns” that would circle around to the rear of the enemy in one of these maneuvers
• Shaka, $1,600: Shaka instituted a type of close-combat fighting involving short spears & these made of oxhide
• When the Walls Fell, $400: The walls of this West Bank town fell many times, for example in Joshua chapter 6
• When the Walls Fell, $1,200: Crumbling walls in Caerwent, a once-Roman town in this part of Britain, tell of a time long ago
• When the Walls Fell, $2,000: In the first century 1,000 defenders of this Jewish fortress held off 15,000 Romans for months

CORRECT RESPONSES

• Video Games, $400: “What is ‘Fallout?'”
• Video Games, $800: “What is ‘Halo?'”
• By Degrees, $1,000: “What is consanguinity?”
• Also in the Shakespeare Play, $400: “What is ‘Hamlet?'”
• Also in the Shakespeare Play, $800: “What is ‘Romeo and Juliet?'”
• We Mean Business, $400: “What is Bubble Wrap?”
• We Mean Business, $800: “What is saccharin?”
• Zoologist’s Dictionary: $200: “What are eggs?”
• Words That Should Rhyme: $800: “What are ache and Apache?”
• Italian Composers, $400: “Who is Puccini?”
• Italian Composers, $1,200: “What is bel canto?” 
• Italian Composers, $1,600: “Who is Rossini?”
• The Woman in the Movie, $400: “Who is Meryl Streep?”
• The Woman in the Movie, $1,200: “Who is Bardot?”
• The Woman in the Movie, $1,600: “Who is De Mornay?”
• Cowboy Talk, $800: “What are their hats?”
• Cowboy Talk, $1,200: “What is their saddle horn?”
• Shaka, $1,200: “What is double envelopment?”
• Shaka, $1,600: “What are shields?”
• When the Walls Fell, $400: “What is Jericho?”
• When the Walls Fell, $1,200: “What is Wales?”
• When the Walls Fell, $2,000: “What is Masada?”