Monday, July 1, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[StrangerCoug]

Portrait for Picture has several hits in the archive. I figured it was coming again tonight when I saw the clue. If I had been playing I may have even gambled with a silent first buzzer to make the clue worth more on a rebound.

This game fits the time frame I was thinking of, but I may have actually been thinking of this game since I remember Alex making a comment about it being a common mistake.

[Onairb]

I swear she's not the first Jeopardy! contestant to make the Portrait/Picture of Dorian Gray mistake. Wasn't somebody negged for saying "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" in the sushi set era?

In fact, it appeared in the Sept. 21, 2007 game under Notes to Future Contestants. I wonder how many times, previous to that game, each of those specific mistakes in that category had been made, and then how many times afterward.

As I said before, Oscar Wilde is one person who almost always screws up the contestants. I don't think anyone has ever gotten the 'Dorian Gray' title right, and the few correct responses related to his work seem to be limited to 'The Importance of being Earnest'. So, either the contestants need to learn more, or the writers should give him a rest for a while.

[Fishercat]

Nice job by Sonrisa to get the Bill Belichick clue. I found it tough to determine if the guys were trying on it as their buzzer positions were south of viewability.

I think being from Jamaica Plain, MA probably helped with the Belichick clue.

Felt like a good board for me. KISS denied me the sweep in the music category (took me a while to come up with the Foos).

[Bamaman]

Mark-I also started with Hemingway, but couldn't decide which one of his books might have been written there so I took a stab at Christie and got lucky.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Mark-I also started with Hemingway, but couldn't decide which one of his books might have been written there so I took a stab at Christie and got lucky.

Backed into FJ also. My first thought was.... WTF?!?!? Then I tried to think it through logically -- initally thought Lost Horizon, but I don't recall Hilton being in Istanbul (BTW -- wasn't it Constantinople then? ), and it was about Tibet anyway. Then I thought about literature tied to Istanbul; thought of Ian Flemming (From Russia With Love), but the time was waaaay wrong. But that led me to the Orient Express, to Miss Christie, etc.

Amazing what can run through one's mind in 30 seconds or less.

[alietr]

I was hoping against hope that Topkapi was a novel. The only thing I could come up with in Constantinople Istanbul.

[John Boy]

When I saw the FJ clue I told my wife this is one of those clues that nobody really KNOWS but may be able to figure out. Given Istanbul it didn't take me long to come up with MOTOE. Even though I have never read it, it is fairly well known that the eastern terminus of the Orient Express was in Istanbul.

Even though I didn't see Friday's game, I had a hunch Sonrisa would be one and done. Ben looks more like a player who could win again.

The big surprise for me tonight was that the contestants seemed to realize that their finishing order was pretty well established going into FJ, barring a huge wagering mistake; and none of them made one. Yay for small favors.

Maybe Picture/Portrait in some fashion will be on this week's poll. I've been aware of the common mistake, and managed to remember the correct answer this time.

[This Is Kirk!]

Didn't have much issue with FJ as it's a famous novel with a famous tie to Istanbul. Though A Room with a View is a good guess if you can't make the city connection.

I made the city connection with a few seconds left, but decided to stick with "A Room with a View" rather than change. I've been burned too many times by going against my first instinct. I was pretty certain when time expired I was wrong, though. I had a feeling the Forster novel was written earlier than 1930, for one thing.

[rouquinne]

I was hoping against hope that Topkapi was a novel. The only thing I could come up with in Constantinople Istanbul.

So glad I'm not the only one who thought Topkapi!

[harrumph]

I too went to A Room With A view first and then considered MOTOE... I felt that the category title of Novels implied something with more grandeur than a genre mystery and stuck with Room even though "room" was used in the clue.

[Onairb]

I too went to A Room With A view first and then considered MOTOE... I felt that the category title of Novels implied something with more grandeur than a genre mystery and stuck with Room even though "room" was used in the clue.

Genre fiction novels are still novels.

[marmolade]

Does anyone else think this Ben guy looks like Bubba Watson?

http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/ ... -large.jpg

[Bamaman]

Another thing to note is that the answer was gender neutral, possiblely leading you to a female author without making it obvious.

[silverscreentest]

While Elizabeth I did appear in Henry VIII as an infant, that was a pretty bad guess.

I wasn't thinking the Shakespeare quote was in a play, but perhaps from his poetry.

[davey]

I too went to A Room With A view first and then considered MOTOE... I felt that the category title of Novels implied something with more grandeur than a genre mystery and stuck with Room even though "room" was used in the clue.

Genre fiction novels are still novels.

Sure, but I'd like to think harrumph's reason is why I came nowhere near Christie for this clue, though I'm embarrassed (again!) in retrospect - I was thinking of literature and for a well-traveled and much memorialized author I stuck with Hemingway, though I knew there was nothing in the clue pointing to a particular book. To Have and Have Not would have been the best guess, since it came out in '37...
Someone should mention that the "Room With A View" is in Florence, nowhere near the Orient.

[Bamaman]

While Elizabeth I did appear in Henry VIII as an infant, that was a pretty bad guess.

I wasn't thinking the Shakespeare quote was in a play, but perhaps from his poetry.

Good point. He had a good head on his shoulders and kissing up to Liz was a good way to keep it there.

[Bamaman]

The guy who won seems reasonably good.

Good call.

I was looking through this thread for some other reason and it just happened to be Ben's first game and got a chuckle from this.