Monday, October 27, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6926, 2014-10-27

CONTESTANTS
Bill Albertini, a professor of English from Toledo, Ohio
Dori Phillips, an IRS agent from Salem, Massachusetts
Matthew LaMagna, a digital consultant from Arlington, Virginia (whose 2-day cash winnings total $33,800)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. And, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Matthew's been having a very good time with us. Won a lot of money so far in just two appearances. What will happen today as he faces Dori and Bill? Let's start finding out right now. First round of play today features these categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON'S ENCYCLOPEDIA (4/5)
MARSUPIAL MATTERS (5/5)
6 LETTERS, ONLY 1 VOWEL (4/5)
U.S. CITIES (2/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
HALLOWEEN IS COMING (5/5)
STOCK UP ON CANDY (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Dori: 10 R, 1 W
Matthew: 8 R, 3 W (including 1 DD)
Bill: 7 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,800



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Matthew found the Daily Double on the 15th clue. Matthew had $2,600, Dori had $1,200, and Bill was at $800. Matthew made it a True Daily Double, wagering $2,600.

U.S. CITIES $1000: British general John Forbes named this city for a certain William the Elder
(Matthew: Where is Williamsport?)
(Alex: No. He was referring to William Pitt, and [*] is the city, and you now have... no money. And we're gonna take a break. We'll come back to chat with the players following this, folks.)

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Dori: $1,200
Bill: $800
Matthew: $0

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Bill Albertini is an English teacher from Ohio whose favorite movie is one that is not necessarily all that popular with most--most people. And it is?

Bill: Road House, Patrick Swayze's late-'80s, "bartender as a philosopher" epic.

Alex: Why that one?

Bill: I don't really know why that one. Just 'cause it has every perfect thing that you want a bad, wonderful '80s action movie to have. But because I'm an English professor, I think people often expect me to have slightly more highfalutin tastes, and I--

Alex: Oh, yeah, they're expecting something like Jane Eyre.

Bill: Sure. I disappoint a lot of people.

Alex: Oh. that's too bad. You're not a disappointment to me, however.

Bill: Thank you.




Alex: Dori Phillips, IRS agent who is also a writer.

Dori: Yes, sir. I was one of those, um, lucky or unlucky--depending on how you consider it--writers that when I first started my career over [mumbles with her hand over her mouth] years ago, got accepted--

Alex: Oh, you did that so beautifully. [Mumbles]

Dori: ...got accepted the first story and the second story and then didn't know what to do once the rejections started.
So, life got in the way for several decades. I'm back to writing, and I'm currently on, oh, page 700-something of the first draft of the first book of a trilogy.

Alex: Good for you. Rejection is tough, but one way to get back is to work for the IRS.

[Laughter]




Alex: Matthew LaMagna is our champion. He's a karaoke singer.

Matthew: That's correct. I like to, uh, do karaoke in my spare time with a night out on the town. Have a couple of favorites that always get the crowd going.

Alex: Which ones are they?

Matthew: Uh, "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" by Will Smith and, uh, "Shout" by the Isley Brothers.

Alex: Oh, hello. All right. Esoteric material for you, our champion.

Matthew: Of course.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
U.S. CITIES $400: Mary Todd Lincoln was born in this Kentucky city, now a major center for horse breeding
(Matthew: Where is Louisville?)
(Bill: What is Frankfort?)
(Dori: What is Arlington?)

U.S. CITIES $600: That's a statue of Vulcan in this Alabama city

6 LETTERS, ONLY 1 VOWEL $800: The measured extent of an object; it's used as a unit of distance in horse racing
(Matthew: What is a furlough?)
(Bill: What's a furlong?)

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON'S ENCYCLOPEDIA $1000: "It is made of bronze and weighs 2,080 pounds... is three feet high and measures fully twelve feet around at the lip"

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Dori: $5,800
Bill: $1,800
Matthew: $1,200

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
LAST COMPLETE NOVEL (0/0)
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA (0/0)
ADD A LETTER (0/0)
ANCIENT COINS (0/0)
ART MASTERPIECES (0/0)
POP "C"ULTURE (0/0)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Matthew: 0 R, 0 W
Dori: 0 R, 0 W
Bill: 0 R, 0 W

Clues revealed: 0
Triple Stumpers: 0
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $0



SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Dori: $5,800 (lock game)
Bill: $1,800
Matthew: $1,200

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
ROCK & ROLL

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; two-thirds-tie for second place.
Dori: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $2,199 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Bill: Wager $600.
Matthew: Risk all $1,200.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
A restaurant chain took its name from a British band's fourth chart-topper, this 1967 song

FINAL SCORES
Matthew: $1,200 + $3,900 = $3,900 (What is "Ruby Tuesday"?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Bill: $1,800 + $4,750 = $4,750 (What is "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday"?) (New champion: $4,750)
Dori: $5,800 - $2,500 = $-2,500 (What is "(T.G.I.) Fridays" "Moody Blues"?) (3rd place: $1,000)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $2,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Dori: $5,800, 10 R, 1 W
Matthew: $3,800, 8 R, 3 W (including 1 DD)
Bill: $1,800, 7 R, 2 W
Combined Coryat: $11,400

BATTING AVERAGES
Dori: 10/58 = .172
Matthew: 9/59 = .153
Bill: 8/58 = .138
Team: 27/63 = .429

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
STOCK UP ON CANDY $800: Mondelez, MDLZ, owns a slew of brands, including these Scandinavian candies

MARSUPIAL MATTERS $200: These babies aren't playing dead as they cling to their mother's back

MARSUPIAL MATTERS $600: The endangered numbat feeds on these wood-eating insects that include a damp wood variety

U.S. CITIES $200: The bright lights of this city are seen here

6 LETTERS, ONLY 1 VOWEL $600: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew stands with some planes at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ.) The F-15 Eagle was revolutionary when it was introduced in the 1970s; its twin engines provided 1.2 pounds of this force for every pound of weight, making it the first airplane able to accelerate straight up

HALLOWEEN IS COMING $800: Everyone knows a jack-o-lantern is a hollowed-out pumpkin, except originally in the British isles, this vegetable was used
(Alex: ...with less than a minute to go.)

MARSUPIAL MATTERS $1000: Though it can't spin like a mini tornado through a boulder, this marsupial still looks fierce, doesn't it?

CORRECT RESPONSES
Pittsburgh
Lexington
Birmingham
a length
the Liberty Bell
"(Goodbye) Ruby Tuesday"
Swedish Fish
possums
termites
Las Vegas
thrust
a turnip
the Tasmanian devil

[floridagator]

Many congratulations to the new champion! Bill appears to be a genuinely well-rounded contestant. I like him a lot. What happened to the defending champ, anyway? He seemed to go clam for most of the DJ round, then got back in the game when it was too late to do much good.

[Bamaman]

Matthew seemed to be nervous throughout his run, though he got better as time went by. I was surprised to hear he does Karaoke with his stage fright.

I think he lost steam after missing the DD in the first round. I thought Louisville (home of the Kentucky Derby) was big negbait, though nobody rebounding with Lexington was bad.

Close to an instaget FJ for me, as soon as I could connect the dots for where they were going.

[jeff6286]

Rock & Roll
A restaurant chain took its name from a British band's fourth chart-topper, this 1967 song.

Spoiler

What is Ruby Tuesday? Dori crossed out Fridays and wrote "Moody Blues"; Bill said "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday", which was accepted.

Bill Albertini: $14,800+$4,750=$19,550...now a 1-day champion with $19,550
Dori Phillips: $5,000-$2,500=$2,500
Matthew LaMagna: $3,900+$3,900=$7,800

[dhkendall]

Cue Sonyrage (or I guess it's Facebookrage now) in 3 ... 2 ...

[TenPoundHammer]

Lach Trash: Liberty Bell.

I thought Kirkland was a huge jump in difficulty in Candy. It's a total lockout if you've never had a membership to Costco; most people could probably name at least a dozen other towns in Washington state before they ever hit Kirkland; and a store brand is IMO way too trivial to be asked about. Target is a much more accessible store, and I doubt they'd ever ask about Up & Up.

(Also, the four-hour drive from BFE to my nearest Costco takes me past at least three Sam's Clubs…)

Ran Marsupials. There are only so many that they'll ask about.

0/5 in Halloween. What led to "speaking" at $200?

In J!, I got the first 9 clues right. In DJ! I missed the first 9 clues. I knew Fleming, Joyce, Updike, David, and Starry Night, but couldn't spit any of them out in time. No way was I getting "Cars" at $400 though.

4/5 in Coins, missing only Phonecia.

3/5 in Add a Letter. Lend/blend wasn't coming to me and I clammed on slice/splice since the latter didn't seem to fit the definition.

"Blah blah restaurant chain blah blah song" = Ruby Tuesday. Got it before Alex was done reading the clue. I knew it because I had once checked the page on the restaurant chain, and wondered why it was disambiguated as "Ruby Tuesday (restaurant)". That's because the non-disambiguated title is for the Rolling Stones song.

[Austin Powers]

I'm usually pretty liberal about accepting song title variants, if actual lyrics and the actual title are included, but for some reason accepting "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" didn't feel right here...

[jpr281]

I'm usually pretty liberal about accepting song title variants, if actual lyrics and the actual title are included, but for some reason accepting "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" didn't feel right here...

I concur.

[Bamaman]

It is in the rules they take it if it an actual lyric. But I agree it feels a little odd taking it for some reason. I actually rewound the tape to see if they wanted the song or the restaurant.

[Abraxas]

Bill had a stong game. Defending champ Matthew stumbled badly. Maybe not getting that true DD early in the game shook his confidence. I got 27 clues correct including Lexington and FJ.

I'm usually pretty liberal about accepting song title variants, if actual lyrics and the actual title are included, but for some reason accepting "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" didn't feel right here...

I concur.

I concur also.

[Golf]

Gotta root for any academic contestant who flaunts Road House on national TV! He should've told Alex "I thought you'd be bigger".

[silverscreentest]

0/5 in Halloween. What led to "speaking" at $200?

It was a dumb clue.

[StevenH]

A European History category and Art category with clues left uncovered = not cool. For the second game in a row the DJ round categories looked like my dream board, and this time I actually did pretty well in them.

The female contestant had some good gets...and some negs that made me scratch my head. Glengarry Glen Ross, really?

FJ was an instant get. It's hard to determine how exact song titles need to be, but I am another one who wouldn't have accepted the new champ's FJ response.

[alietr]

Many congratulations to the new champion! Bill appears to be a genuinely well-rounded contestant. I like him a lot better than the blowhard. What happened to the defending champ, anyway? He seemed to go clam for most of the DJ round, then got back in the game when it was too late to do much good.

Seriously? Do you have to be insulting to a contestant each and every time? How about, "I preferred him to the defending champ." I didn't find anything blowhard about him, and I really think we can do without these types of comments.

Thank you,
The Management

[doihavetoreally]

0/5 in Halloween. What led to "speaking" at $200?

It was a dumb clue.

Good one.

Also same thoughts as TPH on Costco clue? Never been there, so no idea.

DJ had some wild guesses. No clue on FJ. said Olive garden to have something. ..seemed better than all the other.

[Paucle]

I'm usually pretty liberal about accepting song title variants, if actual lyrics and the actual title are included, but for some reason accepting "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" didn't feel right here...

I concur.

I've never eaten at a Good-bye Ruby Tuesday. Never even seen one. Google doesn't seem to be able to find any, even.

[StevenH]

I've never eaten at a Good-bye Ruby Tuesday. Never even seen one. Google doesn't seem to be able to find any, even.

You're not missing much.

[nightreign]

Lash trash: Lexington, Birmingham, Chromeo (my proud get of the night)
No clue for Final-said Johnny Rockets just to have something.

It wasn't a great clue, but "dumb" is what led me to speaking.

[bpmod]

I'm usually pretty liberal about accepting song title variants, if actual lyrics and the actual title are included, but for some reason accepting "Goodbye Ruby Tuesday" didn't feel right here...

I concur.

I've never eaten at a Good-bye Ruby Tuesday. Never even seen one. Google doesn't seem to be able to find any, even.

Be that as it may, they were asking for a song title, and as per their long-established rules, adding extra lyrics to the title, provided said lyrics are correct, makes the response acceptable.

Brian