Tuesday, March 5, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Magna]

Got FJ, through a lucky guess. I've never read the novel, but had a vague notion that the title character was kind of similar to Hedda Gabler, except with a train. And I had no better guesses.

Apropos of an earlier discussion of WAGs, this is an example of why even a crazy guess is better than no answer.

No Gabler connection for me, but I also got FJ through a vague impression that AK had something to do with trains. Never read the book and couldn't even remember which Russian wrote it.

Sometimes a vague impression is all it takes!

[Vanya]

Even if you haven't read the novel, or seen one of the many movie versions (one was just released recently), a trivia buff should be familiar with the ending of Anna Karenina. Of course, a more significant omen in the novel is when Count Vronsky's horse breaks its back.

[econgator]

Even if you haven't read the novel, or seen one of the many movie versions (one was just released recently), a trivia buff should be familiar with the ending of Anna Karenina.

*nod* That was the case with me.

[jeff6286]

And I had literally zero guesses in that field.

You couldn't think of any books with a character's name as the title? I came up with David Copperfield. Was pretty confident it was wrong, but it was better than nothing.

I matched your guess. I thought it was unlikely to be correct, but at least gave me a better chance than the other title that wouldn't get out of my damn head...Moby Dick.

Shortly after time was up, I decided that the wrong answer I should have given was The Count of Monte Cristo, because the use of "guard" in the clue had me trying to think of a novel set in or around a prison, that also happened to have a title character, and none was coming to mind. Of course, I actually read The Count of Monte Cristo in high school, and was fairly certain there were no trains featured prominently, so it really wouldn't have made much difference.

As to the anagram discussion earlier in the thread, I had to use my full first name, plus middle and last, just to get something that was even made up of actual words. My result: Jerk Staff Horny Fame...or should it be Horny Jerk Fame Staff? I'm still working out the order of the words. Fame Horny Jerk Staff perhaps?

For the first person to correctly give my middle name, I will award the 5 quatloos that I just won from Vanya.

[Paucle]

How old is that girl that's your #5, Vanya? She looks like she's eight or so.

[cheezguyty]

For the first person to correctly give my middle name, I will award the 5 quatloos that I just won from Vanya.

Thomas

[Magna]

For the first person to correctly give my middle name, I will award the 5 quatloos that I just won from Vanya.

Thomas

Haymaker?

[bpmod]

For the first person to correctly give my middle name, I will award the 5 quatloos that I just won from Vanya.

But it was 500.

Brian

[Magna]

For the first person to correctly give my middle name, I will award the 5 quatloos that I just won from Vanya.

Thomas

Haymaker?

J/k. I guess "Frank"

[jeff6286]

For the first person to correctly give my middle name, I will award the 5 quatloos that I just won from Vanya.

But it was 500.

Brian

Eh, I've never been real good with decimal points.

And cheezguyty is correct. The check will be in the mail forthwith.

[Vanya]

How old is that girl that's your #5, Vanya? She looks like she's eight or so.

Selena Gomez will be 21 in July.

[Sherm]

How old is that girl that's your #5, Vanya? She looks like she's eight or so.

Since I don't see a smiley. I'm guessing you don't know what Selena Gomez looks like. If it weren't for teenage children, I wouldn't know either.

[TryphonTournesol]

Selena Gomez does have a very young-looking face, to almost a creepy degree. Though eight is probably a bit too far.

[Magna]

And cheezguyty is correct.

I was hoping it would turn out to be "Yashmak."

[trainman]

I knew 'rook' from the XTC song...

When the heck are they going to release more music??? It's been 13 years already!

XTC seems to be over and done -- Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding aren't really talking to each other, and the latter has claimed that he's not particularly interested in music anymore anyway.

[This Is Kirk!]

Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding aren't really talking to each other, and the latter has claimed that he's not particularly interested in music anymore anyway.

And he's still making plans for Nigel. That takes up a lot of time...

[kickerofelves]

I knew 'rook' from the XTC song...

Which reminds me, is your name a reference to Guided by Voices? If so, count me as another fan!

It is indeed! Well spotted.

adh

[kickerofelves]

I knew 'rook' from the XTC song...

When the heck are they going to release more music??? It's been 13 years already!

Never, it appears, sadly. Andy and Colin had a bit of a falling out a few years back, and Colin was basically kinda off the grid and 'retired' and they weren't really speaking. Though things seem to have softened somewhat, Colin contributed some stuff to the recent batch of reissues...

adh

[This Is Kirk!]

Which reminds me, is your name a reference to Guided by Voices? If so, count me as another fan!

It is indeed! Well spotted.

Probably a better choice than tractorrapechain.

[dhkendall]

I remember another geography question from the archives, from 2005, that I thought was surprisingly subtle. (EDIT: To be fair, I just noticed that this was in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions.) It's from this game and it was an $800 clue in the J! round (also a DD). The clue was:

"They're the 3 South American countries through which the equator passes."

I think naming 2 of those countries is relatively easy for trivia buffs. (One country is very large, and one country's name is a huge hint.) But I think coming up with the third is quite subtle.

When I watch Jeopardy! at home, I tend to better in geography categories than I do in other categories. I'm pretty sure, without looking at a map, that countries bordering Ecuador are Colombia (to the north/northeast) and Peru (to the south/southeast). But I think it's a little tricky to expect people to know whether the equator intersects Colombia or Peru or both.

Looking on Google maps just now, I see that the equator passes through Colombia and not Peru. However, it's a fairly small percentage of Colombia's area that's south of the equator. Furthermore, Peru's northernmost point is extremely close to the equator. (More Googling reveals that Peru's northernmost point is located at 0 degrees, 1 minute, 48 seconds south of the equator.)

I think asking for 2 of the 3 countries would have made more sense.

But, being a UToC clue, they have to make it harder. Perhaps asking for 2 out of the three would be good enough for a top or second top row clue on a normal board.

(And I'm a huge geography nerd too, but one of the facts that's stuck in my head is about how Peru is the country that comes closest to the equator without touching it (although I think Singapore and Nauru give it a run for its money) so, after thinking about it for a few seconds, I got it.