The Official TPH Education Thread (POTENTIAL GAME DAY SPOILERS)

[dhkendall]

Another suggestion for TPH and the TPH-inclined among us: do crossword puzzles. A lot of stuff in crosswords come up on the show.

And, no don't expect to be good at it when you start. (Although, since you claim to be good at Wheel, you might stand a chance with crosswords). The beauty of crosswords, though, is that if you fill in some, you'll get some letters of mystery clues filled in, which could help.

But doing them will expose you to new things, and might help you with reading TOMs, the wording of crossword clues could help with J! clues too.

And for heaven's sake, when you first start out, do it in pencil!

[davey]

Another suggestion for TPH and the TPH-inclined among us: do crossword puzzles. A lot of stuff in crosswords come up on the show.

And, no don't expect to be good at it when you start. (Although, since you claim to be good at Wheel, you might stand a chance with crosswords). The beauty of crosswords, though, is that if you fill in some, you'll get some letters of mystery clues filled in, which could help.

But doing them will expose you to new things, and might help you with reading TOMs, the wording of crossword clues could help with J! clues too.

And for heaven's sake, when you first start out, do it in pencil!

Or if you hate pencils like I do, just write over your wrong letters in ink. It's not like you're going to put the final result up on the wall!

[TenPoundHammer]

Another suggestion for TPH and the TPH-inclined among us: do crossword puzzles. A lot of stuff in crosswords come up on the show.

And, no don't expect to be good at it when you start. (Although, since you claim to be good at Wheel, you might stand a chance with crosswords). The beauty of crosswords, though, is that if you fill in some, you'll get some letters of mystery clues filled in, which could help.

But doing them will expose you to new things, and might help you with reading TOMs, the wording of crossword clues could help with J! clues too.

And for heaven's sake, when you first start out, do it in pencil!

I actually used to do crosswords a lot, but I just kinda got tired of them. It seemed like every one I ever tried was either too easy (oh joy, there's EPEE again!) or too hard (and I'm not just talking about the cryptic ones), never in between.

[BobF]

Another suggestion for TPH and the TPH-inclined among us: do crossword puzzles. A lot of stuff in crosswords come up on the show.

And, no don't expect to be good at it when you start. (Although, since you claim to be good at Wheel, you might stand a chance with crosswords). The beauty of crosswords, though, is that if you fill in some, you'll get some letters of mystery clues filled in, which could help.

But doing them will expose you to new things, and might help you with reading TOMs, the wording of crossword clues could help with J! clues too.

And for heaven's sake, when you first start out, do it in pencil!

I actually used to do crosswords a lot, but I just kinda got tired of them. It seemed like every one I ever tried was either too easy (oh joy, there's EPEE again!) or too hard (and I'm not just talking about the cryptic ones), never in between.

Years ago, when I used to work for Discovery Channel, there was a huge research department and in those days they combed through lots of newspapers. It gave me access to a very wide variety of different crossword puzzles with different difficulty levels.

Of course, these days there's the internet (which was just in its early days back then). Find something to your liking.

[Andromus]

Another suggestion for TPH and the TPH-inclined among us: do crossword puzzles. A lot of stuff in crosswords come up on the show.

And, no don't expect to be good at it when you start. (Although, since you claim to be good at Wheel, you might stand a chance with crosswords). The beauty of crosswords, though, is that if you fill in some, you'll get some letters of mystery clues filled in, which could help.

But doing them will expose you to new things, and might help you with reading TOMs, the wording of crossword clues could help with J! clues too.

And for heaven's sake, when you first start out, do it in pencil!

I actually used to do crosswords a lot, but I just kinda got tired of them. It seemed like every one I ever tried was either too easy (oh joy, there's EPEE again!) or too hard (and I'm not just talking about the cryptic ones), never in between.

Check out the New York Times crosswords, they increase in difficulty as the week goes on. The range of difficulty from easiest to hardest isn't nearly as wide as it used to be, but there's still a difference nonetheless. Start at a Monday puzzle and work your way through a week of puzzles, and you should be able to find your sweet spot in terms of challenge.

[MarkBarrett]

All right I'll be the first to use this thread this season:

Hammer: I thought "Women's Wear Daily" was extremely undervalued at $200, judging from the stand-and-stare. Can we poll it?

Canadiens also seemed steep for $200 IMO.

Yes, I can poll WWD. You often have a habit of placing too much emphasis on first box clues that none of the contestants get and then making the jump to the value being incorrect. Those things do not always go together.

I did not get WWD, but I've heard of it and was close to working out the acronym in time. First or second box is fine by me. The Canadiens clue was 100% first box value. It was just the wrong 3 players tonight to get it and it being a stumper warrants cyber checks into the boards.

No matter the player (even the elite) there are first box clues that J! players do not know or get in time. Each game has 12 of them and while 100% will happen in many games there will be times it does not. It's not that big of a deal.

[OrangeSAM]

All right I'll be the first to use this thread this season:

Hammer: I thought "Women's Wear Daily" was extremely undervalued at $200, judging from the stand-and-stare. Can we poll it?

Canadiens also seemed steep for $200 IMO.

Yes, I can poll WWD. You often have a habit of placing too much emphasis on first box clues that none of the contestants get and then making the jump to the value being incorrect. Those things do not always go together.

I did not get WWD, but I've heard of it and was close to working out the acronym in time. First or second box is fine by me. The Canadiens clue was 100% first box value. It was just the wrong 3 players tonight to get it and it being a stumper warrants cyber checks into the boards.

No matter the player (even the elite) there are first box clues that J! players do not know or get in time. Each game has 12 of them and while 100% will happen in many games there will be times it does not. It's not that big of a deal.

I did get WWD. Since I've never read it and my only experience with women's wear is a Halloween costume was being a cheerleader when my girlfriend (now Mrs. OS) was a football player, I thought it was properly valued.

For the other clue, my response was "Qui sont les Habitants?" So min value it is.

[MarkBarrett]

Cam Newton is a famous QB of the Carolina Panthers. Cam Neely played in the NHL for a lot of years. Since those are sports stars I can see why they were not on your radar to go along with tonight's Cam contestant.

[MarkBarrett]

J! has four places for viewers to always take a guess (some home players will guess on everything) with the Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy! You should always try to say something when those come up. 85% of the guesses may be wrong; that's okay. All we want to see is a guess in the FJ! round for a city, a country, a British king or a president when relevant. We'll save movies, TV shows or books for 2016.

WOF thing...

Mark... you harshin' on my man TPH?!? This is an EdThread not a BeatTPHonHisHeadThread!!

TPH take no notice of the small man behind the curtain! I am the great and powerful Goatman!

Also: We're from the Government and we're here to help!

I mean no malice with Hammer. I was just having a little fun with the WOF thing. We've both been around here long enough that the give and take is nothing new.

I'm the 5'2" guy who played J! on a big box. Why you bringing my height into this? At least you didn't target the lack of hair.

ZOMG I had no idea who you are the oblique reference to Oz is entirely spurious! Are your episodes on U-Tube! I gotta watch! Sheepin it so sorry!

Height, hair, glasses...I've heard it all and I can take it. I of course knew you were not doing anything intentional with the OZ reference, but you set the table for a comeback. If my games are on YouTube they are not there from me. I might do a small portion of one for my upcoming 10th anniversary using my tried and true method of digital camera on video mode pointed at TV screen later this year.

Others have posted saying they did not see me play and wonder how I sound. I would naturally have to pick portion of a game when I got some clues right, while avoiding parts featuring the silly guesses I erred with more than once.

(Eliminating one wisecrack) It will be a short clip. [rimshot]

Following through on the threat:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibLP6vA7FBo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xihzeEna-LM

[This Is Kirk!]

Cam Newton is a famous QB of the Carolina Panthers. Cam Neely played in the NHL for a lot of years. Since those are sports stars I can see why they were not on your radar to go along with tonight's Cam contestant.

Certainly not an uncommon name. Usually it's a nickname for Cameron. More often it's a male name, but I know another female Cameron, too.

[Rafferty Barnes]

Speaking of comebacks...when I was on WWTBAM MarkBarrett called me "a disappointment to the Board" for only winning $16K. I was so mad I looked up his record on J! Archive and swore that I would do my utmost to beat his record. My haters are my motivators, so thanks!

Height, hair, glasses...I've heard it all and I can take it. I of course knew you were not doing anything intentional with the OZ reference, but you set the table for a comeback. If my games are on YouTube they are not there from me. I might do a small portion of one for my upcoming 10th anniversary using my tried and true method of digital camera on video mode pointed at TV screen later this year.

Others have posted saying they did not see me play and wonder how I sound. I would naturally have to pick portion of a game when I got some clues right, while avoiding parts featuring the silly guesses I erred with more than once.

(Eliminating one wisecrack) It will be a short clip. [rimshot]

Following through on the threat:

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibLP6vA7FBo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xihzeEna-LM

[MarkBarrett]

Speaking of comebacks...when I was on WWTBAM MarkBarrett called me "a disappointment to the Board" for only winning $16K. I was so mad I looked up his record on J! Archive and swore that I would do my utmost to beat his record. My haters are my motivators, so thanks!

Humor on message boards does not always translate. Glad to help towards your J! run although there was no malice behind my original comment. The other one I have used when someone I know is going on J! is to tell them to feel free to win $15,999 if they are "only" going to win one game.

[brick]

Thanks for sharing those clips MarkBarrett.

[MarkBarrett]

WLT "dragon" on Game of Thrones for $200? The whole category seemed YEKIOYD.

Lach Trash on "snowmobile" resulted in me running Winter. Also got "Trappist".

No idea how I've heard of the Bayeux Tapestry, but "restitchings" was enough to get me there.

Some good Lach Trash and the FJ! clue solve. Very nice.

As for answering your GoT question: by being alive the past five years
It's first box current pop culture material. You have a narrow lane for picking up such things while others have a much wider highway.

For the category as a whole yes it's advantage to someone who watches the show.

[zakharov]

FWIW I've never watched the show but I went 4/5. Being somewhat aware of current pop culture is a big advantage, but you knew that already.

[dhkendall]

FWIW I've never watched the show but I went 4/5. Being somewhat aware of current pop culture is a big advantage, but you knew that already.

One would think so ...

(I also have never watched, but I got $200 and $600.)

[Volante]

FWIW I've never watched the show but I went 4/5. Being somewhat aware of current pop culture is a big advantage, but you knew that already.

One would think so ...

(I also have never watched, but I got $200 and $600.)

Never watched/read it, went 5/5, though I will concede that Joffrey would be really obscure for that same crowd normally.

[TenPoundHammer]

I generally don't like it when they ask about shows that are only on a "premium" channel that you have to pay extra megabucks for, such as HBO, since there's that degree of lockout. Sure, you can pirate watch it online, but that's not always instantaneous with some shows.

Until today, my knowledge of "Game of Thrones" began and ended with "based on George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire'."

[trainman]

I generally don't like it when they ask about things that are only in "foreign" countries that you have to buy a megabucks plane ticket to visit, since there's that degree of lockout.

[zakharov]

I generally don't like it when they ask about shows that are only on a "premium" channel that you have to pay extra megabucks for, such as HBO, since there's that degree of lockout. Sure, you can pirate watch it online, but that's not always instantaneous with some shows.

Until today, my knowledge of "Game of Thrones" began and ended with "based on George R. R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire'."

I don't get HBO and I've never watched the show or read the books. I know the basics because I talk to people and read about stuff. Once again, you have to be curious to do well on Jeopardy.