Tuesday, May 29, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6387, 2012-05-29

Joel Pool game 7.

CONTESTANTS
Daphne Moulton, a finance administrator from Lakeville, Massachusetts
Richard Block, an editor and writer from Diamond Bar, California
Joel Pool, a real estate developer from Oakland, California (whose 6-day cash winnings total $116,800)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, players. He's done it quietly, and on occasion, he has done it impressively, but he has won... a lot. Joel is a good player. We know that. Richard and Daphne, we're about to discover how good you are. Good luck. Let's go to work. Jeopardy! Round. One Daily Double. Where will it be? In which of these categories?

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
ANNUAL EVENTS (3/3)
PSYCHOLOGY (4/5)
READINGS FROM 1984 (2/3)
ORG. ABBREV. (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
COMIC BOOKS (5/5)
"OW"! "OOF"! "ACK"! (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Richard: 12 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W
Joel: 7 R, 1 W
Daphne: 3 R, 1 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 26
Triple Stumpers: 3
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,600



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Daphne found the Daily Double on the 8th clue. Joel had $3,000, Richard had $200, and Daphne was at $400. Daphne made it a True Daily Double, wagering $400.

ORG. ABBREV. $600: "Fighting for air" (medically):
ALA
(Daphne: What's the American Legal Association?)

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Joel: $2,800
Richard: $2,400
Daphne: $600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Daphne Moulton is from Massachusetts. Daphne, I have a friend who is a big Jimmy Buffett fan, and every year, she goes off and joins a group of people--either on a cruise or something like that--somewhere in the sun, and they party and spend a lot of time with Jimmy Buffett music. Now you had an unpleasant experience at a Jimmy Buffett concert, I know.

Daphne: I did. I had my nose broken. Some people who had had a little too much tequila were playing football, and they got me.

Alex: Were you one of the drinkers, also?

Daphne: No, I think I was the only sober person at the concert.

[Laughter]

Alex: Okay, you see what that points out?

Daphne: I know.

Alex: There's a danger for sober people.

Daphne: [Laughs] Right.

Alex: There's always a danger.

Daphne: Right.

Alex: You got to be careful. Next time, do a little.

[Laughter]




Alex: Richard Block is from Diamond Bar, California.

Richard: Mm-hmm.

Alex: Editor and writer...

Richard: Yes.

Alex: Who spent some time teaching... where?

Richard: Yeah. Um, well, I spent two years recently, uh, teaching French high school students the difference between "bear" and "beer".

[Laughter]

Richard: They--

Alex: Teaching English?

Richard: Yes, teaching English.

Alex: In France?

Richard: In France.

Alex: And how was that? What kind of an experience was it?

Richard: Um, well, it was very fulfilling. I had a great time and learned a lot, so...

Richard: Okay, good.




Alex: Joel Pool is our champion. Quite often in life we acquire nicknames. You have one--"Meatball". How did you get that nickname?

Joel: Well, I have a very traditional Moroccan mom, and they don't let their kids go hungry even for a second. So I was on a high school event. The bus was pulling out of the high school parking lot, and on the highway I see my mom pull up in the car next to us, do a police-style maneuver and pull over the bus, and rush on board with a jar of meatballs...

[Laughter]

Joel: And, uh, scanning for me as I slouch behind a seat. And, uh, to this day, even my parents--uh, even my high school friends' parents--know me as "Meatball".

[Laughter]

Alex: Okay.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
PSYCHOLOGY $1000: When one abandons adult behaviors for more childlike patterns, he is exhibiting this defense mechanism
(Richard: What is infantilization?)

READINGS FROM 1984 $600: To answer charges of misogyny, he wrote about middle-aged women in "The Witches of Eastwick"
(Richard: Who is Tom Wolfe?)

ORG. ABBREV. $1000: We'll save its co-star, the AFL, for another day:
CIO
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Richard: $4,600
Joel: $2,800
Daphne: $800

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
KNIGHT WEAR (3/3)
13-LETTER WORDS (5/5)
RUBBER (2/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
CABLE DRAMAS (4/5)
VIRTUOSI (4/4)
AMERICAN GOVERNMENT (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Richard: 10 R (including 2 rebounds and 1 DD), 1 W
Daphne: 7 R, 2 W
Joel: 6 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 4 W

Clues revealed: 27
Triple Stumpers: 4
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $6,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Richard snagged the next Daily Double on the 5th clue. Joel had $4,400, Richard had $4,600, and Daphne was at $2,000. Richard wagered $800.

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT $800: Federal accountants may be hung over on October 1, the first day of this year

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Joel who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 19th clue. Joel had $5,600, Richard had $8,200, and Daphne was at $2,800. Joel wagered $1,600.

RUBBER $1600: In 1853 this American wrote about his vulcanization discovery in "Gum Elastic and its Varieties"

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
CABLE DRAMAS $2000: This AMC series details the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad

RUBBER $800: During WWII the Soviet Union & the U.S. experimented with latex from this lawn weed to produce rubber
(Daphne: What's crabgrass?)
(Alex: In the summer when you play with it, you break the stem? [*]. You notice the white liquid.)

RUBBER $1200: Rubber-soled shoes were first mass-marketed with this now-familiar name by U.S. Rubber around 1916
(Richard: What is Vibram?)
(Joel: What are tennis shoes?)

RUBBER $2000: In 1770 this oxygen discoverer noticed that rubber could be used to rub out pencil marks, thus giving it its name
(Joel: [Long pause, shaking head] Who is Newton?)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Richard: $13,800 (lock game)
Daphne: $6,000
Joel: $3,200

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
CLASSIC MYSTERY NOVELS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; crush for second place.
Richard: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $1,799 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Daphne: Wager $401 to cover Joel.
Joel: You have the hope of surpassing Daphne for second place if you come up with the correct response or if your opponent fails to. Bet between $2,400 and $3,198.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
A letter in this mystery says, "We are going... to Luxor and Assuan by steamer, and perhaps on to Khartoum"

FINAL SCORES
Joel: $3,200 - $3,200 = $0 (What is Murder on the Orient Express) (3rd place: $1,000)
Daphne: $6,000 - $4,000 = $2,000 (What is Murder on the Orient Express?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Richard: $13,800 - $1,799 = $12,001 (What is Murder on the Orient Express?) (New champion: $12,001)
(Alex: Those three names should take you to the proper locale.)
...
(Alex: [After Joel's reveal] Right author, wrong work.)
...
(Alex: [After Daphne's reveal] Is that the only one you guys know?)
...
(Alex: [After Richard's reveal] No. Luxor, Assuan, and Khartoum are cities in Africa, on the Nile. We are talking about Agatha Christie's [*], Hercule Poirot story.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $8,600

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Richard: $13,800, 22 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Daphne: $6,400, 10 R, 3 W (including 1 DD)
Joel: $3,200, 13 R (including 1 DD), 5 W
Combined Coryat: $23,400

BATTING AVERAGES
Richard: 22/59 = .373
Joel: 13/59 = .220
Daphne: 10/59 = .169
Team: 45/63 = .714

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
COMIC BOOKS $1000: The debut issue of this Marvel group including Thor & Iron Man cost 12 cents in 1963; a mint copy today can fetch $15,000
[Applause for Joel's running the category]
(Alex: You spent a lot of time reading comic books.)
(Joel: I did.)
(Alex: Well, it paid off.)
(Joel: [Laughs] It did.)

"OW"! "OOF"! "ACK"! $1000: An iron ring for securing the wrist or ankle
(Joel: [Long pause, then just as time is out] What is [*]?)
(Alex: [Looking at the judges] Did he get it in in time? No, sorry. Time ran out.)
[Richard rings in immediately.]

ORG. ABBREV. $800: For those who've served:
VFW
(Richard: What's the Veterans for For--of Foreign Wars?)

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT $1200: Chicago has 50 wards, each represented by one of these elected officials
(Daphne: What's a councilman?)

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT $1600: (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presents the clue.) According to a 1792 law, a presidential resignation is addressed to the Secretary of State; Richard Nixon's resignation became effective only when this man initialed it

13-LETTER WORDS $400: (Kelly of the Clue Crew stirs packing peanuts into a clear liquid.) Packing peanuts made from corn & potato starch could one day replace Styrofoam & reduce landfill waste, because unlike Styrofoam, these peanuts are this, meaning they are readily decomposable

13-LETTER WORDS $1200: This oily liquid explosive is used in the production of blasting gel
(Joel: What is... napalm?)

13-LETTER WORDS $1600: A domesticated cat with black & red markings is referred to by this "turtle" name
(Alex: Good, less than a minute to go now.)

13-LETTER WORDS $2000: Meaning "immeasurably small", it comes from a word meaning "immeasurably large"
(Joel: What is infintesimal)
...
(Alex: That's it, you left out one syllable, Joel.)

KNIGHT WEAR $1200: It's not dinnerware, it's the type of armor that superseded chain mail in 14th century Europe
[end-of-round signal sounds]

CORRECT RESPONSES
the American Lung Association
regression
John Updike
Congress of Industrial Organizations
the fiscal year
Goodyear
Hell on Wheels
dandelion
sneakers
Joseph Priestley
Death on the Nile
the Avengers
a shackle
Veterans of Foreign Wars
an alderman
Henry Kissinger
biodegradable
nitroglycerin
a tortoiseshell
infinitesimal
plate

[bpmod]

You can't give a rebound after a ruling.

Oh, wait! I guess you can.

Sheesh.

Brian

[debramc]

You can't give a rebound after a ruling.

Oh, wait! I guess you can.

Sheesh.

Brian

I know, right? Not that it would have changed anything probably but it was strange. (BTW, are you in Dallas or something? I thought you got the show later in the day...)
My FJ! precall: "It'll either be Poe or Agatha Christie. They really like Murder on the Orient Express, I bet that's it." I guess the contestants were thinking the same thing.

[jeff6286]

Classic Mystery Novels
A letter in this mystery says, "We are going...to Luxor and Assuan by steamer, and perhaps on to Khartoum."

Spoiler

What is Death on the Nile? (by Agatha Christie) All 3 players said Murder on the Orient Express.

Richard Block: $13,800-$1,799=$12,001...now a 1-day champion with $12,001
Daphne Moulton: $6,000-$4,000=$2,000
Joel Pool: $3,200-$3,200=$0

[bpmod]

You can't give a rebound after a ruling.

Oh, wait! I guess you can.

Sheesh.

Brian

I know, right? Not that it would have changed anything probably but it was strange. (BTW, are you in Dallas or something? I thought you got the show later in the day...)
My FJ! precall: "It'll either be Poe or Agatha Christie. They really like Murder on the Orient Express, I bet that's it." I guess the contestants were thinking the same thing.

During the NHL playoffs, CBC shows J! at 4pm. But I try to use the WKBW recording for keeps as it is (usually) all there.

Is there not a signal of some sort (other than the lights which we can see at home, but I don't believe the contestant can see) that tells the contestant his time is up? Usually Alex will interrupt with "Oooh... too much time..." But it was, "OK are you going to come up with it? OK, you came up with it and you're correct, but let's ask the judges if you came up with it in time. Judges? No, you did not come up with it in time. Anybody else?"

And it was sad watching Joel self-destruct before my very eyes.

I got Death On The Nile quickly, but Murder On The Orient Express was calling me incessantly. I wasn't answering. But I almost had heart failure when the first response was revealed.

Brian

[Austin Powers]

What an unusual run for Joel. I got curious so I calculated all of his bottom row clues. They are as follows:

He answered 18 of 74 questions correctly. I should add that this includes Friday's episode, where Joel went 5/6 on the bottom row in the J round; otherwise he was 13 of 68, or just about 19%.

In addition, he had six misses (three today).

The above doesn't include five daily doubles, none of which were answered by him. Indeed, of the 20 DDs during his matches, he had the opportunity to answer only 5 of them. He answered all five of these correctly.

[ihsh]

As a fan of Agatha Christie, I am ashamed that I could only come up with "Murder on the Nile."
I even read the book before...

[TenPoundHammer]

Considering I don't "get" superheroes (they all seem like Mary Sues to me), I was surprised that I got 3/5 in that category and recognized the other two.

DJ! was a beast, with only 5 right from me. Nothing in Cable Dramas sounded remotely familiar. I've heard of "throwing down the gauntlet", but honestly never knew what a gauntlet even was.

I wouldn't have gotten FJ! if you had spotted me "____ on the Nile".

[xxaaaxx]

Well...that was an ugly way for it to end. Good run.

The Hulk is the Hulk because of radiation? The Flash's real name is Barry Allen? How on earth did I not know either of those things until today? Time to brush up on comic book facts.

We got through a painfully slow video category yesterday without so much as a warning, and now we're back to running out of time again? Grrr. I wanted them to finish that Knight Wear category.

Instaget FJ...after Alex's hint. My head is officially up my ass this week. Hopefully I can salvage a 3/5...again.

[corvo]

Pretty shocked that the FJ! was a TS.

Alex was probably right when he said that was the only Agatha Christie novel they knew.

[econgator]

As a fan of Agatha Christie, I am ashamed that I could only come up with "Murder on the Nile."
I even read the book before...

I've seen Davis Suchet's masterful portrayal of Poirot on Masterpiece Mystery late last year, so this was an instaget (although I must admit, I did start off with "What is 'Murder on" ... no wait ... 'Death'...").

Joel is still a mystery to me. He comes up with some great stuff and then goes and responds, "What is napalm?" on 13-LETTER WORDS. That wasn't his only head-scratcher, either.

I, too, was not a fan of that rebounded clue. They need to change that (and I can't say I remember hearing the beep-beep-beep, either). Yes, you can argue that if time's running short, you should just shut your mouth and say nothing, but that just rubs me wrong.

[Austin Powers]

BTW, is it just me, or does "shows no one watches" seem to be a recurring theme in the questions this year? Perhaps it is just the proliferation of cable alternatives, but it seems like "shows no one watches" has become as much a part of the show's repertoire as Shakespeare.

[econgator]

BTW, is it just me, or does "shows no one watches" seem to be a recurring theme in the questions this year? Perhaps it is just the proliferation of cable alternatives, but it seems like "shows no one watches" has become as much a part of the show's repertoire as Shakespeare.

Yeah. I got Spartacus and F&B, but the others were just blank stares.

[xxaaaxx]

BTW, is it just me, or does "shows no one watches" seem to be a recurring theme in the questions this year? Perhaps it is just the proliferation of cable alternatives, but it seems like "shows no one watches" has become as much a part of the show's repertoire as Shakespeare.

Well, IMO, alot* of them are "shows more people should be watching." I can't wait for season 2 of Homeland. Franklin & Bash and Spartacus? Meh.

[ACW]

"Sajak's house o' letters"

[Magna]

BTW, is it just me, or does "shows no one watches" seem to be a recurring theme in the questions this year? Perhaps it is just the proliferation of cable alternatives, but it seems like "shows no one watches" has become as much a part of the show's repertoire as Shakespeare.

Does Sony own a big interest in cable channels or production companies?

[bomtr]

What an unusual run for Joel. I got curious so I calculated all of his bottom row clues. They are as follows:

He answered 18 of 74 questions correctly. I should add that this includes Friday's episode, where Joel went 5/6 on the bottom row in the J round; otherwise he was 13 of 68, or just about 19%.

In addition, he had six misses (three today).

The above doesn't include five daily doubles, none of which were answered by him. Indeed, of the 20 DDs during his matches, he had the opportunity to answer only 5 of them. He answered all five of these correctly.

Quite true.

In seven games, he entered FJ with the lead only twice, neither a lock. He did play with poise and showed no nerves; he handled FJs well, perhaps large credit to that poise.

If I were handicapping TOC, I believe I would give him long odds based on these seven games.

I was 0/5 on the cable shows; that doesn't happen very often.

[DWS]

As someone who enjoys reading classic mystery novels, and has read several by Agatha Christie (but not the one that was the correct response), I was ashamed of myself for not getting FJ. I simply did not think carefully about the clue.

[StevenH]

I am really enjoying these high quality boards while they last.

Spartacus was my only get in the television category. Television is always a weak spot for me so I didn't judge the category at the time. I will say that I had no idea that Kelsey Grammer had a new show.

I had no idea on FJ. I said Murder on the Orient Express just to have something. I am not sure that I had ever heard of Death on the Nile. And I love how Alex made it sound like the locales of northeastern Africa that were mentioned in the clue were supposed to give it away; I feel pretty confident that all three contestants caught onto the Geography connection but had nothing better to guess.

Congrats to Joel on the run!