Friday, July 6, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6415, 2012-07-06

CONTESTANTS
Susan Cohen, an arts administrator from Belmont, Massachusetts
Henry Doering, a retired public defender from Palm Springs, California
Stephanie Fontaine, an analyst from Arlington, Virginia (whose 1-day cash winnings total $12,700)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex:
Thank you, Johnny Gilbert.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Our last two games have been closely contested ones, and that means the players, the champions, don't win a great deal of money, because they're not making big wagers.
Are we gonna break away from that pattern today?
We'll find out soon enough.
To have you back.
Henry and Susan, the challengers.
Welcome.
Good luck.
Here we go.

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
STARTING WORDS (1/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
E BAY (5/5)
DECONSTRUCTING THE NURSERY RHYME (2/3)
THE WEBS OF WEBSITES (5/5)
ICE CREAM (5/5)
JIMMY'S ON TOP (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Susan: 9 R (including 3 rebounds), 1 W
Stephanie: 7 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W (including 1 DD)
Henry: 7 R, 4 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,000



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Stephanie found the Daily Double on the 2nd clue. Stephanie had no money, Henry was scoreless, and Susan had nothing in the bank. Stephanie wagered $800.

STARTING WORDS $400: To begin a process, or to admit a pledge into a college fraternity
(Stephanie: What is rush?)

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Susan: $2,200
Stephanie: $1,200
Henry: $1,200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex:
Susan Cohen is from belmont, Massachusetts, and she turned down an opportunity to be a contestant on our program--

Susan:
Yes.

Alex:
--on a couple of occasions.
Why?

Susan:
I didn't have an anecdote that was interesting or funny.

[Laughter]

Alex:
So...

Susan:
Now I do, apparently, by--by saying this to you.

[Laughter]

Susan:
You could ask me about myself.
You could ask if there's anything interesting in my life.

Alex:
What's--tell me some things--the craziest thing that happened to you when you were traveling?

Susan:
It hasn't happened yet.

[Laughter]




Alex:
Henry Doering from Palm Springs, California.
Former public defender, and like many people, had his 15 minutes of fame, but in a special way.

Henry:
Yes, Alex.
I actually had my 15 minutes of fame with Andy Warhol.

Alex:
What were the circumstances?

Henry:
Well, I was living in New York, and a friend of mine was opening in a show on Broadway, and I went to the after party at Sardi's, and was sitting there, and Andy Warhol came up and sat at my table and started taking Polaroid pictures with his little Polaroid camera.
And the most amazing thing about it, after 15 minutes, was that I realized he had absolutely no personality.

[Laughter]

Alex:
But did you wind up as one of his paintings, as a subject?

Henry:
No, I don't think so. I think I am in a Polaroid.

Alex:
But that's it?

Henry:
That's it.

Alex:
Okay.




Alex:
Now Stephanie... this is Stephanie fontaine.
She's our champion.
And she can do something remarkable.
Tell us what it is, with your hands.

Stephanie:
Well, I can write backwards with my left hand, and forwards with my right hand at the same time.

Alex:
Get out.
Gosh.

Stephanie:
Yeah.

Alex:
See, I used to write backwards when I was in school also.
That's why I didn't get good grades.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
STARTING WORDS $200: On May 17, 2010 Meryl Streep spoke at this graduation ceremony at Barnard College

DECONSTRUCTING THE NURSERY RHYME $1000: Obviously involved in a troubled marriage, this man locked his wife in a large version of the fruit of his dining choice
(Susan: Who is Jack Sprat?)

STARTING WORDS $1000: In 1790, explorer James Bruce published "Travels to discover" this origin point "of the Nile"
(Henry: What is, uh... uh...)
(Alex: Oh, too much time. Susan or Stephanie?)
[out of time beep]
(Alex: I think you're overcomplicating it. Discover [*] of the Nile.)

STARTING WORDS $800: Every 4 years the U.S. holds a day named for this ceremony
[end of round signal sounds]

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Susan: $3,600
Stephanie: $3,200
Henry: $1,800

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
NEWS OF THE 2010s (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
SUB TITLES (4/5)
CITY MUSEUMS (5/5) (Alex: We will give you the [*], you identify the city for us.)
COLOR TV (5/5)
RHYME QUICK (4/5) (Alex: We want you to rhyme the response with "QUICK.")
IF IT AIN'T BAROQUE... (3/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Stephanie: 8 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Henry: 9 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Susan: 8 R (including 1 DD), 2 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 4
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $5,200



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Henry snagged the next Daily Double on the 10th clue. Stephanie had $4,000, Henry had $10,600, and Susan was at $4,000. Henry wagered $2,000.

NEWS OF THE 2010s $2000: In January 2012 this Mideastern president vowed "an iron hand" against protests
(Henry: Who is Kadaffi?)
...
(Alex: No, you picked the wrong country. Who is [*] in Syria?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Susan who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 24th clue. Stephanie had $8,000, Henry had $11,400, and Susan was at $6,800. Susan wagered $2,000.

IF IT AIN'T BAROQUE... $1600: Edward Hopper captured the isolation of urban life in this 1942 masterpiece depicting a diner that's open late
[less than a minute to go now]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
IF IT AIN'T BAROQUE... $400: A 1912 work by Marc Chagall is titled after this musician found in the title of a Broadway show
(Alex: And the artwork is called the [*], as in [*] On The Roof.

IF IT AIN'T BAROQUE... $800: This Spaniard called some of his pieces "hand-painted dream photographs"
(Stephanie: Who is Picasso?)
(Susan: Who is Miro?)
...
(Alex: Dream--who is [*]?)

SUB TITLES $2000: "Cry From The Deep" recounts the tragic 2000 loss of this Russian nuclear submarine with all hands
(Alex: And that Russian sub was [*].)

RHYME QUICK $2000: An unbranded calf, or someone who doesn't conform
(Henry: Uh--sorry...)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Susan: $11,200
Stephanie: $11,200
Henry: $9,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
OPERA CHARACTERS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Tortoise and the hares.
Susan: You can't let Tortoise Henry or Hare Stephanie catch up to you. Bet $11,200.
Stephanie: Don't get caught napping. Wager all $11,200.
Henry: Slow and steady wins the race. Risk $1,801.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In a play subtitle, she's called "the Chinese Sphinx"; in a later opera her suitor calls her "Principessa di Morte"

FINAL SCORES
Henry: $9,400 - $5,000 = $4,400 (Who is Aidi) (3rd place: $1,000)
Stephanie: $11,200 + $11,200 = $22,400 (Who is Turandot?) (2-day champion: $35,100)
Susan: $11,200 - $5,000 = $6,200 (Who was Cleopatra ?) (2nd place: $2,000)
(Alex: Main character in a Puccini opera.)
...
(Alex: [Revealing Henry's response] You were going for Aida--that's Verdi--that's incorrect.)
...
(Alex: [Revealing Stephanie's response] She had those terrible riddles for her suitors.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $8,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Stephanie: $12,000, 15 R, 3 W (including 1 DD)
Henry: $11,400, 16 R, 6 W (including 1 DD)
Susan: $10,800, 17 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Combined Coryat: $34,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Susan: 17/59 = .288
Stephanie: 16/59 = .271
Henry: 16/59 = .271
Team: 49/63 = .778

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
ICE CREAM $600: An "ice cream parade" through the Blue Hall of Stockholm's city hall is part of the banquet after these awards
(Henry: What is the Nobel Peace Prize?)

ICE CREAM $1000: Top off a Japanese meal with these golf-ball-sized ice cream treats wrapped in soft dough

THE WEBS OF WEBSITES $600: AOL owns patch.com & this site for information about films playing in your area
(Henry: What is Fandango?)

DECONSTRUCTING THE NURSERY RHYME $200: This small boy based the perception of his behavior on the removal of a fruit item from pastry
(Stephanie: Who is LIttle Boy Blue?)

E BAY $400: Englishman's Bay is on the leeward, or northern, side of this island that's just to the northeast of Trinidad
(Henry: What is Jamaica?)

E BAY $800: The East Bay that produced punk musician East Bay Ray is the eastern shore of this California bay
(Alex: You got it, with less than a minute to go.)

RHYME QUICK $400: Sturdiest 3-pig construction material
(Susan: What are bricks?)
...
(Alex: Yes, singular. Has to rhyme with "QUICK.")

CORRECT RESPONSES
initiate
commencement
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
the source
inauguration
Bashar Assad
The Nighthawks
Fiddler
Salvador Dali
the Kursk
a maverick
Turandot
Nobel Prizes
mochi
Moviefone
Little Jack Horner
Tobago
San Francisco Bay
brick

[JFanForever]

I had an incredibly good day. I got 12 right both the first round and DJ. It was just my day. Sadly, I missed some I should have gotten.

As far as FJ, I know absolutely nothing about opera. You could walk up to me on the street and tell me something completely made up about opera and I wouldn't know any better.

[Austin Powers]

I don't recall the exact wording, but was there something in the clue leading one to pick moviefone over Fandango (which I'd argue is way more popular?).

Yeah the Nobel Peace Prize(s?) is too specific there.

Another contestant story about meeting a celebrity. I'll have to make one up, I guess.

Henry had two strange negs with Jamaica (instead of Tobago) and blanking on source of the Nile. In fact that whole starting words category wasn't that tough yet four went unanswered. "Initiate," the DD, was probably the toughest since it had that use as a noun and a verb thing going on.

Another surprise was Nursery Rhymes. Usually a couple of these are obscure but I knew all three
that we saw, which is unusual.

Then to start DJ round Bam! Henry had a nice run only to be derailed by the Assad DD (Khadafi was dead by then yes? I suspect he didnt catch the date because he almost certainly knows Assad.)

The rest of the round had mostly nice gets (good get recalling Rudolph over Frosty the Snowman, but not surprised that the Kursk is already forgotten.) I thought the art category played easy with all the paintings well known and Nighthawks felt like free money given how they mentioned Hopper. The words rhyming with quick played easy, too, though I suppose Henry will disagree. I have to assume he was being defensive ringing in at the end... obviously not a fan of James Garner or Dirk Nowitzki. Possibly he got hung up on the answer being more than one syllable.

Chinese female title character ---> Turandot. I figured two would say Madame Butterfly and kinda had a hunch the champ would get it. So I was half wrong about that.

[xxaaaxx]

That last category was like a tennis match between two contestants who didn't want the lead. Then the leader foolishly rings in and throws the lead away.

And then she wagers 5000 on FJ while tied for the lead!??!

WTF did I just watch?

[TenPoundHammer]

Bitten pretty hard by categories I thought would be easy, but still got 15/28. To wit: I have no idea how you'd know Ice Cream for $400 to be Good Humor vs. Dove; didn't pick up on the Sweden->Nobel in $600 since I didn't think those would be followed by a parade; and NHO Mochi.

Also, I didn't know About.com was owned by the NYT; have only barely heard of Moviefone (when there are only 3 movie screens within an hour of you, the need for such a site is minimal); and NHO Daily Beast. The only reason I got last.fm is because I happened to see a CBS logo on it when checking my last.fm page just yesterday.

Jimmy Cliff (NHOI) cost me a run in that category.

Source was super overvalued at $1000. The Inauguration clue above it threw me because I was thinking of de facto holidays.

====

DJ! was a totally different story. Before they got to Color TV, I had one neg (I also fell for the Picasso/Dali trap) and two clams (layaway and U-Boat) but no right answers. Got the first two in Color TV and three in Rhyme Quick, but that was it. (I've never used "crick" in my life, and "maverick" threw me since it was the only one that wasn't just one syllable.)

Can't believe I didn't get Rudolph — had Santa Claus Is Coming to Town stuck in my head for some reason.

"Nighthawks" = diner that's open late? So that's what the Pearls Before Swine collection "Nighthogs" is a parody of!

Opera characters? Yeah, I'm marking that as a "no" on my score card before the clue even comes up. No hope for me on that.

[Bamaman]

Yeah the Nobel Peace Prize(s?) is too specific there.

It also isn't awarded in Stockholm.

[Austin Powers]

Yeah the Nobel Peace Prize(s?) is too specific there.

It also isn't awarded in Stockholm.

Hence it being too specific an answer. Goofy as it would be, the "Nobel Chemistry Prize Ceremony" would be right I'd assume.

[alamble]

I don't recall the exact wording, but was there something in the clue leading one to pick moviefone over Fandango (which I'd argue is way more popular?).

Yes: the fact that it's owned by AOL.

[soxfan99]

I liked the "Jimmy's on top," simply because a category title usually doesn't have such a regionalism in it. Am I correct that people outside New England don't use that term?

It seemed like the contestants struggled from overthinking a lot of the clues, especially in the "Starting Words" category. It kept looking like it wanted a more difficult response, when the correct ones were things like "commencement" and "source."

[teapot37]

I was never getting Turandot. Having no familiarity with the opera other than knowing there's an opera called "Turandot" will tend to do that. I also had no idea there were multiple operas with that character and don't think the name sounds all that Asian. Yep, it wasn't gonna happen.

[Bamaman]

I knew when I saw the category I wasn't going to get it unless it was super easy. I have never even heard of that character and wrote down Pygmalion just to have something.

The starting words category was simple but I think it was just one of those none of the three players clicked in on.

[TenPoundHammer]

So yeah. Dove vs. Good Humor. Anyone wanna explain that one?

[dhkendall]

So yeah. Dove vs. Good Humor. Anyone wanna explain that one?

I'm wondering if any other Canadians even know what a Good Humor Bar is ... (I didn't)

The only reason I got last.fm is because I happened to see a CBS logo on it when checking my last.fm page just yesterday.

Or, you know, that huge "eye" TOM that lead me to it instantly, knowing no other facts ...

For some reason, I *always* call the leader of Syria "Bashier", getting him mixed up with Sudan's (and it doesn't help that his first name is quite close to Bashier)

Judges: "missile" for "torpedo" in Subs $1200? A category run is on the line here ...

[Johnblue]

GH is much older. The clue stated that it started in the Depression.

I went with Madame B because my opera knowledge is weak. I might have bet $1000 no matter where I was positioned.

[Johnblue]

Speaking of Bashir Assad, I hope his end is coming real soon. Truly despicable.

[econgator]

I was never getting Turandot. Having no familiarity with the opera other than knowing there's an opera called "Turandot" will tend to do that.

Ditto, but my knowledge only went so far as I know that there was "something" called Turandot. I had no clue who or what it was.

Judges: "missile" for "torpedo" in Subs $1200? A category run is on the line here ...

Sorry, David. Not a chance.

They are very similar, but each type of munition has a specific name:

a missile is a self-powered, guided weapon that travels in the air/space
a rocket is the unguided version
a bomb is dropped, not fired
a shell is fired
a torpedo is in the water

[davey]

Speaking of Bashir Assad, I hope his end is coming real soon. Truly despicable.

And to ask what's really important - would the judges have required "Bashir" to distinguish him from his father?
I've seen very few operas - luckily Turandot is one of them....though the aria Nessun Dorma is so famous (and gorgeous) I might have read about the opera anyway...

[econgator]

Speaking of Bashir Assad, I hope his end is coming real soon. Truly despicable.

And to ask what's really important - would the judges have required "Bashir" to distinguish him from his father?

Actually, they'd want "Bashar". "Bashir" is the doctor from DS9.

and no, "(al-)Assad" would likely be just fine.

[davey]

I was never getting Turandot. Having no familiarity with the opera other than knowing there's an opera called "Turandot" will tend to do that. I also had no idea there were multiple operas with that character and don't think the name sounds all that Asian. Yep, it wasn't gonna happen.

Are there "multiple operas with that character"? Only Puccini's is famous - though he died before finishing it, the standard ending was written by another composer, and others have tried to write endings based on the sketches Puccini left.