Monday, April 16, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6356, 2012-04-16

CONTESTANTS
Trevor Bryan, an academic advisor from Tallahassee, Florida
Michelle LaLonde, a law librarian from Novi, Michigan
Judy Nichols, a mystery writer from Wilmington, North Carolina (whose 2-day cash winnings total $46,500)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny, and thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome. [Imitates Cary Grant] "Judy, Judy, Judy." Nice to see you again. [Normal voice] Judy celebrated her anniversary on Friday by winning her second game. Has close to 50 grand now. Michelle and Trevor would like to have some money also. Let's see who winds up winning this one. Good luck. Here we go. The Jeopardy! Round and these categories today to start off the week...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
THE ELIZABETHAN ERA (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
IT'S USEFUL IN THE KITCHEN (2/5)
2 Zs, PLEASE (5/5)
BEHIND THE SONGS (5/5)
WORDS ON A FACEBOOK PAGE (5/5)
"THE" NOVEL (3/3) (Alex: Each correct response will be The followed by a single word.)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Trevor: 10 R, 1 W
Michelle: 10 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 1 W
Judy: 4 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,200



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Michelle found the Daily Double on the 5th clue. Judy was in the hole with -$400, Michelle had $1,000, and Trevor was at $200. Michelle made it a True Daily Double, wagering $1,000.

THE ELIZABETHAN ERA $600: In 1598 Thomas Bodley began rebuilding this school's library with his own money & books

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Michelle: $3,000
Trevor: $2,600
Judy: $0

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Unpleasant experiences with animals--that sort of characterizes our two challengers today. Trevor Bryan from Tallahassee, near-death experience with an alligator when you were just a kid?

Trevor: Well, yeah. Of course. I'm from Florida. I think that happens to everyone down there.

Alex: It does?

Trevor: Oh, sure. There's lots of 'em. Uh, I was, uh, a toddler going out to get the mail with my grandmother, and there was a drought, and the alligator had been out of the--out of the lake looking for water and ended up in our drive later, uh, driveway, uh, about a 10-foot gator. I said, "alligator", and my grandmother turned around, saw, ran, and scooped and saved me from, uh, possible doom.

Alex: Did the alligator make any, uh, overt moves toward you? Because, uh, you were small... uh... and... lunch.

Trevor: Depending on--on when grandma was telling the story.

Alex: Oh. [Chuckles] Okay.

Trevor: There could have been embellishment.

Alex: All right. I understand.




Alex: Michelle LaLonde is from Michigan, but she was visiting Malaysia and was kinda shocked by...

Michelle: Uh, a very, very large spider. In Michigan, our spiders are not particularly large. Uh, in Malaysia, I happened to encounter one that was, well, bigger than my hand and was eating a songbird when I came upon it.

Alex: A songbird?

Michelle: Yes. [Chuckles]

Alex: Okay. Good for you.




Alex: Judy Nichols is our champion. She's a mystery writer, and I understand that, uh, you're down to very few items left on your bucket list, and this was one of them, right?

Judy: Yes, and the other is to run a full marathon. I ran a half marathon, and I don't know. You would think, in math, that, you know, two halves would make a whole and I could run another half marathon, but that's not the way it works, so I have to--

Alex: 26 miles. That's a lot of running.

Judy: Yeah. [Chuckles]

Alex: You really want to do that?

Judy: Well... [chuckling] Maybe. No.

Alex: Maybe. Good. I'm glad. We'll talk you out of it.

Judy: Jeopardy! is more fun.

Alex: You bet it is.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
THE ELIZABETHAN ERA $800: In 1568 Elizabeth I had this cousin, a possible claimant to the throne, put under house arrest
(Michelle: Who was, uh, Lady Jane Grey?)

IT'S USEFUL IN THE KITCHEN $600: Edward Lear wrote of the jumblies, who "went to sea in" this bowl-shaped item; seems like a bad idea

IT'S USEFUL IN THE KITCHEN $800: The name of this hand-operated rotary device is also a kick useful in treading water

IT'S USEFUL IN THE KITCHEN $1000: Keep your kitchen & chef's whites clean by covering pans with this stainless steel alliterative item

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Trevor: $6,600
Michelle: $4,400
Judy: $1,000

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
EVENTS AROUND THE USA (5/5)
EXTREME ANIMALS (5/5)
QUOTE "UN"QUOTE (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
NAACP SPINGARN MEDAL WINNERS (5/5)
GREAT DEPRESSIONS (2/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
1930s COMEDIES (2/3)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Trevor: 8 R, 1 W
Judy: 8 R (including 2 rebounds), 1 W (including 1 DD)
Michelle: 6 R (including 1 DD), 2 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 5
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,600



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Judy snagged the next Daily Double on the 4th clue. Judy had $2,200, Michelle had $3,200, and Trevor was at $6,200. Judy wagered $1,500.

QUOTE "UN"QUOTE $1600: Carl Gustav Jung said that this "is not just evil by nature, it is also the source of the highest good"
(Judy: What is... un... unselfishness?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Michelle who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 24th clue. Judy had $7,500, Michelle had $6,800, and Trevor was at $14,600. Michelle wagered $1,800.

GREAT DEPRESSIONS $1200: Part of the Great Basin, the Carson Sink is in this western U.S. state
(Alex: You're in third place. You can get close to second, and we have about a minute left.)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
QUOTE "UN"QUOTE $400: Calvin Coolidge is reported to have said, "When a great many people are unable to find work", this "results"

1930s COMEDIES $400: In "Sons of the Desert" this comic duo sneaks off to their lodge convention without telling their wives

GREAT DEPRESSIONS $400: The Plaine du Cul-de-sac is a 20-mile-long depression in this French-speaking Caribbean island country

GREAT DEPRESSIONS $800: Between the Black Forest & Vosges Mountains, this river flows through a graben, or depression, named for it

GREAT DEPRESSIONS $1600: This 900,000-square mile desert on a mideastern peninsula has mushy depressions called sabkhas

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Trevor: $14,600
Judy: $11,100
Michelle: $10,600

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
2011 MEMOIRS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Three-quarters for first place. Stratton's Dilemma.
Trevor: Wager $7,601 to cover Judy.
Judy: You ought to wager to cover Michelle, but since you cannot win on a Triple Stumper if you do so, you should choose between wagering $0 and maximizing your winnings with a wager of all $11,100. You are in Stratton's Dilemma, calling for a wager of more than $10,100 (to shut out Michelle) or less than $4,100 (risking the possibility of being passed from behind by Michelle). Go with the smaller bet if you believe a Triple Stumper is more likely than a singleton miss by Trevor.
Michelle: Consider risking between $501 and $3,600. This will top a $0 wager by Judy while still beating Trevor on the Triple Stumper (should Trevor wager to cover Judy's doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
He titled his 2011 memoir "Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain"

FINAL SCORES
Michelle: $10,600 + $7,900 = $18,500 (Who is Hal Holbrook?) (New champion: $18,500)
Judy: $11,100 - $10,000 = $1,100 (Who is Samuel Clemons Hal Holbrook?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Trevor: $14,600 - $8,000 = $6,600 (Who is Harry) (2nd place: $2,000)
(Alex: [To Michelle] You are, of course, correct. He's been doing Mark Twain for half a century.)
[Judy's response was not accepted as she did not cross out "Samuel".]

Total Potential Lach Trash: $6,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Trevor: $14,600, 18 R, 2 W
Judy: $12,600, 12 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Michelle: $9,600, 16 R (including 2 DDs), 3 W
Combined Coryat: $36,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Trevor: 18/58 = .310
Michelle: 17/60 = .283
Judy: 12/59 = .203
Team: 47/63 = .746

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
THE ELIZABETHAN ERA $400: By the time this circumnavigator reached the Pacific in August 1578, only his flagship remained of the 5 that left England
(Judy: Who was Magellan?)

BEHIND THE SONGS $200: Tom Higgenson's flirtation with a girl in New York & a promise to write her a song led to this megahit for the Plain White T's
(Trevor: What is "Delilah"?)

"THE" NOVEL $600: Mitch McDeere is the newest associate at Bendini, Lambert & Locke in this Grisham thriller
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

QUOTE "UN"QUOTE $1200: In 1875 William Ernest Henley wrote, "Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but" this
(Trevor: What is unharmed?)
(Michelle: What is unbroken?)

EXTREME ANIMALS $1200: (Sarah of the Clue Crew presents the clue from Norway's Svalbard Islands.) Traveling distances as great as 25,000 miles gives the Arctic type of this the record for the longest migration of any bird

NAACP SPINGARN MEDAL WINNERS $1200: 1976:
This big-league slugger
(Michelle: Uh, who is Robinson?)

NAACP SPINGARN MEDAL WINNERS $1600: 1983:
This brassy singer & activist who died in 2010

CORRECT RESPONSES
Oxford University
Mary, Queen of Scots
a sieve
an eggbeater
a splatter screen
the unconcious
Nevada
unemployment
Laurel & Hardy
Haiti
the Rhine River
the Arabian Desert
Hal Holbrook
Drake
"Hey There Delilah"
The Firm
unbowed
a tern
Hank Aaron
Lena Horne

[jeff6286]

2011 Memoirs
He titled his 2011 memoir "Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain".

Spoiler: show

Who is Hal Holbrook? Trevor had just Harry; Judy had Samuel, then Clemons crossed out, then Hal Holbrook, but because she forgot to cross out Samuel she was ruled incorrect.

Trevor Bryan: $14,600-$8,000=$6,600
Judy Nichols: $11,100-$10,000=$1,000
Michelle LaLonde: $10,600+$7,900=$18,500...now a 1-day champion with $18,500

[goforthetie]

I guess that's another reason not to bother with first names. Ouch.

[ACW]

Scores? Final J! Clue? I've got playoff hockey tonight.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Does anyone here ever wonder if Jeopardy is in our minds sometimes? I was on my bike this afternoon and thinking of a Jeopardy category and clue ideas, I thought of it as Today's Country song -> artist. One of the 5 I came up with was "When I Said I Do" by Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black (I've seen credits of both Hartman and Hartman Black). Then it appears in the Behind the Songs today. Odd coincidence.

[TenPoundHammer]

Ran 2 Z's and Facebook, but struggled to get right answers anywhere else in J! Also ran Extreme Animals in DJ!

Kitchen in particular seemed quite alien. Splatter screen? Really? Who uses those?! The Sieve clue also seemed wide open — I WAGged colander because it seemed logical.

I'm sure you know which was my only get in Behind the Songs. Actually surprised Clint Black wasn't a TS.

Once again, no LTaM before the abrupt end of J! round. This seemed to be an actual forgetfulness this time.

Picked up lach trash on Unemployment and Laurel & Hardy. I knew that Sons of the Desert was a Laurel & Hardy film because a country band took its name from the film. (By the by, "Leaving October" is an excellent song.)

No clue on FJ! Who the Hal are they talking about?

Adam: The song is credited to "Clint Black with Lisa Hartman Black" according to Joel Whitburn.

[econgator]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I thought that the "Hey There, Delilah" clue may be the most undervalued $200 clue ever. I've never heard of the writer, the band, or the song. Is it all that well-known?

No way I was making the jump from Harold to Hal in FJ.

[DWS]

Ouch, it has to hurt to lose that way.

I had no chance on FJ.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but I thought that the "Hey There, Delilah" clue may be the most undervalued $200 clue ever. I've never heard of the writer, the band, or the song. Is it all that well-known?

No way I was making the jump from Harold to Hal in FJ.

The Plain White Ts are a 2007-2008 fad. A major fad at the time. I agree it and Chicago's Saturday in the Park should've been reversed.

[TenPoundHammer]

I was gonna say the same thing about Plain White T's. I remember my sister liking them when they first came out, but I couldn't name the song or anything. To be fair, it was a #1 hit, so it's not like they had a clue about, say, Bill LaBounty.

[CyrusChan]

boy you gotta feel for Judy. Was surprised nobody got Haiti or Arabian Desert though.

[lisa0012]

I'm thinking both Hey There Delilah and FJ! are generational. That song was insanely overplayed on the radio, and anyone my age (I'm 30something) and younger would have found it simple. Hal Holbrook, meanwhile, became famous way before my time, and I had no idea what roles he was known for. So my theory is that most people 40ish (or maybe mid to late 30s?) and younger knew about Delilah but not Hal, and vice versa.

[heisman65]

Having been in the audience, I can tell you that Judy's loss was even more painful than what we saw on TV. Alex initially ruled her correct, then they immediately stopped taping, had a confab with the producers and writers, and eventually ruled her incorrect. Heartbreaking. If she had only left off Holbrook's first name, she might have had time to cross out the Samuel bit.

I had breakfast with her the next morning at the hotel and she was still kicking herself over it. Despite her torment, I still got the sense that she was genuinely happy with the whole experience. She's just a very upbeat, positive woman, which I think came through loud and clear on TV.

Good game overall, I thought. Everyone was in it till the end, and everyone had moments where they looked like they belonged up there. Wasn't sure about Michelle's bet, but as so often happens when you get Final right and no one else does, it didn't matter.

Shout out to the Dec. 19 crew from this crazy Canuck (especially Dan and Nathan)! Hope they're lurking and will have something to add to the conversation.

[Bamaman]

boy you gotta feel for Judy. Was surprised nobody got Haiti or Arabian Desert though.

I think part of the problem on Haiti was that they called it an "island country". While it is on an island, the country of Haiti is part of an island that includes another country.

Tough break for Judy, i noticed her quickly scribbling at the end. However, her bet put her at risk from being passed from behind by not covering third place. A shame though, that a small error cost her at least $21,100.

Like TPH, my only song get was Clint Black.

I knew Holbrook does a Twain stage act and was an instaget, though I was unaware of the book.

[StevenH]

I think that it was undervalued just because most contestants are older and because the clue required the exact wording of the title, but yes, "Hey There Delilah" is a well known song and was very overplayed. When I saw the clue I couldn't help but wonder if Sarah Whitcomb knew it

I really liked this board. I think that we are in a phase of well-written boards right now, so I am happy.

I was hoping that the Facebook terms category would find a way to have "unfriend" or "defriend" as a correct response. After the $800 clue I did precall "poke" at $1000.

When I heard the male contestant's interview story all that I could think of was that scene in Live and Let Die where Roger Moore almost gets eaten by crocodiles.

This was a very good game. It was ridiculous that both rounds had two clues uncovered.

I hate to admit it but I have never heard of Hal Holbrook. I guess that this was a FJ clue where it will either be an instant get or you stare blankly at the screen. I was the latter.

[Johnblue]

No wonder Judy was making noises! Too bad she didntcross out the first name. Great game though & I was glad the woman in the middle won if Judy didn't. Not a big fan of bow ties.

[alamble]

No clue on FJ! Who the Hal are they talking about?

This guy.

As soon as I finished reading the clue, I thought to myself, "that has to be Hal Holbrook, but isn't he dead?" I swear I thought he'd passed not long after Dixie Carter, but he is still with us.

[teapot37]

I guess I was in the generational sweet spot to have gotten both "Hey There Delilah" and Hal Holbrook.

[Doug527]

That. Was. AGONIZING.