Thursday, January 12, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6289, 2012-01-12

CONTESTANTS
Stephanie Walker, a museum archivist from Richmond Heights, Ohio
Brandon Libby, an actor and Phillie Phanstormer from Mount Ephraim, New Jersey
Dan McShane, a baseball game logger from West Islip, New York (whose 4-day cash winnings total $62,001)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, all, Johnny. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another half-hour of answers and questions. Jeopardy!, as you know, is a game of knowledge, nerves, and a certain amount of luck, and so far, Dan has benefited on all three counts. Today, though, he faces Stephanie and Brandon. We're happy to welcome you aboard, we wish you all good luck, and we start you off now in the Jeopardy! Round... And we start you off with these categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
DID YOU GET THE NUMBER OF THAT SYMPHONY? (3/4)
BUSINESS BIGGIES (5/5)
MEDAL OF FREEDOM ATHLETES (5/5)
WORLD POTPOURRI (4/5)
LITERARY CHARACTER PERSONAL TRAINER (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
SPELL IT: -ABLE OR -IBLE? (5/5) (Alex: And you have to spell the response here...)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Stephanie: 11 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 1 W
Dan: 12 R, 2 W
Brandon: 4 R, 0 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,600



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Dan: $4,600
Stephanie: $1,800
Brandon: $1,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Stephanie Ealker is a museum archivist who has taught classes about James Bond and Eric Clapton. That's a... big distance between those two.

Stephanie: Well, I have a very dear friend who said to me once that she didn't understand what the big deal was about Eric Clapton.

Alex: Mm-hmm.

Stephanie: And I resolved to show her what the big deal was. I made listening assignments, homework, tests. At the end of the ten weeks, she was absolutely able to tell me what the big deal was about Eric Clapton.

Alex: Yeah, I think most of our viewers know what the big deal about Eric Clapton is.




Alex: Brandon Libby, from Mount Ephraim, New Jersey--actor and Phillie Fan-Stormer. What's a Fan-Stormer?

Brandon: Uh, we, uh, pump up the crowd, get the crowd excited about the game, um, and--

Alex: Wait a minute. Are you the guy in the Phillie Fan outfit?

Brandon: No, no, no, the Phillie Phanatic is a near, dear friend of mine, but, uh, I am not him. Um, but, we, you know, we hand out prizes, just keep people interested in the game, which, I mean, the team does, it speaks for itself, but we help out.

Alex: Mm-hmm. This year, the team didn't speak for itself quite as often-

Brandon: Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Hey.

Alex: --as it could have. [Chuckles]




Alex: Dan McShane is our champion. He's won more money than he has earned in his... entire life?

Dan: Oh, yeah, definitely.

Alex: But you're very young.

Dan: Yeah!

Alex: How long have you been out there in the workplace?

Dan: Oh, two or three years, I guess.

Alex: Oh, well, okay.

Dan: But--

Alex: Pick up that signaling device and see if you can earn some more money right now. Make a selection.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Stephanie found the Daily Double on the 18th clue. Dan had $4,200, Brandon had $1,000, and Stephanie was at $3,200. Stephanie wagered $1,600.

LITERARY CHARACTER PERSONAL TRAINER $800: OK, Mr. "Christmas Carol" ghost! Time to use that chain you "forged in life", "link by link" for resistance work!

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
WORLD POTPOURRI $1000: Dr. Bob Pierce started this organization to help kids orphaned in the Korean War; today it helps kids all over the globe
(Stephanie: What is the Shriners?)
...
(Alex: It's a charity I've been associated with for over a quarter of a century--[*]. Very good one, too.)

DID YOU GET THE NUMBER OF THAT SYMPHONY? $600: Schumann's last; his first is called "Spring"
(Dan: What is Winter?)
...
(Alex: Brandon, back to you, with a minute to go.)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Stephanie: $7,200
Dan: $4,800
Brandon: $1,800

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
SOLVE FOR EX (5/5)
HISTORY (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
PIC THE CRITTER (3/4)
WINDMILLS (4/4)
U.S.A. (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
IT'S GOOD TO BE "KING" (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Dan: 14 R (including 2 rebounds), 1 W
Brandon: 7 R (including 2 rebounds and 1 DD), 0 W
Stephanie: 6 R (including 1 DD), 3 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 1
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Stephanie snagged the next Daily Double on the 10th clue. Dan had $10,400, Brandon had $2,200, and Stephanie was at $10,000. Stephanie wagered $3,000.

HISTORY $2000: In 1720 Victor Amadeus II of Savoy gave Sicily to Austria in exchange for this other large island

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Brandon who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 20th clue. Dan had $13,600, Brandon had $8,200, and Stephanie was at $11,800. Brandon wagered $3,000.

U.S.A. $2000: From 1863 to 1865 this Northern Louisiana city served as the Confederate state capital

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
PIC THE CRITTER $2000: Yes, yes! It's the rodent-like lemur seen here

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Dan: $18,800
Stephanie: $13,400
Brandon: $11,200

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
WOMEN AUTHORS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Two-thirds for first place. Stratton's Dilemma.
Dan: Wager $8,001 to cover Stephanie.
Stephanie: You ought to wager to cover Brandon, but since you cannot win on a Triple Stumper if you do so, you should choose between wagering $0 and maximizing your winnings by betting all $13,400. You are in Stratton's Dilemma, calling for a wager of more than $9,000 (to shut out Brandon) or less than $2,600 (risking the possibility of being passed from behind by Brandon). Go with the smaller bet if you believe a Triple Stumper is more likely than a singleton miss by Dan.
Brandon: Consider risking $400, thereby beating Dan on the Triple Stumper (should Dan wager to cover Stephanie's doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
1 of the 2 American women authors nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938

FINAL SCORES
Brandon: $11,200 + $8,000 = $19,200 (Who is Margaret Mitchell) (New champion: $19,200)
Stephanie: $13,400 - $13,000 = $400 (Who is Harper Lee?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Dan: $18,800 - $8,801 = $9,999 (Who is Welty?) (2nd place: $2,000)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $3,600

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Dan: $18,800, 26 R, 3 W
Stephanie: $11,600, 17 R (including 2 DDs), 4 W
Brandon: $10,200, 11 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Combined Coryat: $40,600

BATTING AVERAGES
Dan: 26/58 = .448
Stephanie: 17/60 = .283
Brandon: 12/59 = .203
Team: 55/63 = .873

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
MEDAL OF FREEDOM ATHLETES $800: Golfer who won the Masters in 1960, '62, & '64, & received the Medal of Freedom in 2004

WORLD POTPOURRI $800: In 1999 50,000 people protested in Seattle against this international business group
(Dan: What is the G7?)

BUSINESS BIGGIES $600: In summer 2010 this insurance giant paid back nearly $4 billion of its bailout loan; only $97 billion to go!
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

HISTORY $400: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew shows a map on the monitor.) Before his death in 323 B.C., he expanded his empire until it stretched from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Indus River

HISTORY $1200: In 1281 a sudden typhoon saved Japan from this Mongol's invasion force of 150,000 men
(Stephanie: Who is Genghis Khan?)

U.S.A. $800: This Michigan city is the former HQ of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church & is home to some famous cereals
(Dan: What is General Mills?)

U.S.A. $1200: There's no place like this Alaskan city, pop. 3,500, which faces Norton Sound of the Bering Sea
(Stephanie: What is Home?)

PIC THE CRITTER $400: The axolotl is a salamander from this country south of the border

PIC THE CRITTER $800: Sweater the details & name this type of rabbit

WINDMILLS $400: With 627 turbines, the world's largest onshore wind farm is north of San Angelo in the wide-open west of this state
(Stephanie: What is Montana?)
...
(Alex: Right, with a minute to go.)

PIC THE CRITTER $1200: Ferdinand Marcos would have known the animal seen here is known as this country's tarsier; here's looking at you

WINDMILLS $1600: This French cabaret is named for a red windmill, & has one on its roof
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

CORRECT RESPONSES
Jacob Marley
World Vision
the Fourth
Sardinia
Shreveport
the aye-aye
(1 of) Pearl Buck & Margaret Mitchell
Arnold Palmer
the World Trade Organization (WTO)
AIG
Alexander the Great
Kublai Khan
Battle Creek
Nome
Mexico
Angora
Texas
the Philippines
the Moulin Rouge

[thenextofken]

Congrats to Brandon on the come-from-behind win, and sole get on FJ. But while I'm glad it worked out for him, I wasn't crazy about his wager. If he'd bet no more than $400, he could've won on a TS. As such, he wagered enough that he had to get it right in order to win. Nice bet by Stephanie, although I'm curious as to why she offered Brandon the tie. Not sure what was up with Dan's bet either, although it didn't put him at any increased risk in case of a TS.

I got Pearl Buck on FJ, although I'm not sure it was anything more than a WAG.

[thejeopardyfan]

Painful J round:
"available" for "eligible"
"malleable" for "pliable"
"Google Maps" for "Google Earth"
"WHO" for "WTO"
"GMC" for "GM"

I found my groove in DJ, though, and got the Final.
Good luck tomorrow, Preston! Did it make any difference to you when you knew you wouldn't have to play Dan?

[xxaaaxx]

Would flexible work for pliable?

More early LTaM warnings...I know I said a few days ago that it's almost not worth mentioning, but come on guys, these aren't slow rounds

Instaget FJ, with Mitchell, based on the year alone. If I had to name both, I don't know if I would've gotten to Buck.

[econgator]

Instaget FJ, although I picked Buck, not being that sure about Mitchell for a Nobel.

I'm counting "flexible" for "pliable" (1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin flexibilis pliant, easily bent.).

[DWS]

I was so close in FJ. Came up with the first name Margaret right away, had an inkling that her last name started with an M, but couldn't get to Mitchell...

[Austin Powers]

Would flexible work for pliable?

Not sure, because they gave the Latin root which I can't recall (this is an example of lazy writing, if you ask me, because I doubt many people know Latin so well, but it means you can't claim an alternative answer is acceptable. I think malleable and hammer could have worked a little better if that's the route they wanted to go).

I was surprised to see such completely off guesses on Final Jeopardy. I toyed with Wharton, but I wasn't sure if she was still alive then (she died the year before, as it turns out), but I knew Buck won the Nobel in the late 30s, so I went with Buck and called it a day. Mitchell occurred to me, but I didn't think she would be nominated having only one published work at that point (or ever, as it turns out).

Welty, on the other hand, didn't publish anything in book form until the 40s, and To Kill a Mockingbird came out in 1960. At least they aren't Canadians (looking at Watson).

[econgator]

Not sure, because they gave the Latin root which I can't recall

The root they wanted was "bend", which as I showed above works.

[barandall800]

Things certainly got interesting with Brandon's DD in DJ! I have to admit, I was rooting for Dan or Stephanie, but Brandon (nice name... ) did quite well to climb like he did and have the sole get in FJ.

Ran two fairly different categories: the spelling one in J!, and the Celebrity Exes one in DJ!. (When I saw the latter one came out, I could already hear the groans in the game thread. ) Overall, these boards were pretty nice.

Something driving me bonkers: There's been quite a few unfinished boards lately.

Margaret Mitchell was my instaget in FJ. I've definitely heard of Buck and "A Good Earth," but I had it pegged for being written much later. Surprised to see Harper Lee as a guess (it's pretty well-known TKAM was her only novel, and that's a pretty large time gap).

[CyrusChan]

what were the totals going into final Jeopardy? something 18k,13k,11k
Brandon should've wagered something like 1000.

[xxaaaxx]

Ran two fairly different categories: the spelling one in J!, and the Celebrity Exes one in DJ!. (When I saw the latter one came out, I could already hear the groans in the game thread. )

Nah, the Literary Character Personal Trainer category was the one that had me cursing the writers today...bleh

[jpsultan]

Painful J round:
"available" for "eligible"
"malleable" for "pliable"
"Google Maps" for "Google Earth"
"WHO" for "WTO"
"GMC" for "GM"

I found my groove in DJ, though, and got the Final.
Good luck tomorrow, Preston! Did it make any difference to you when you knew you wouldn't have to play Dan?

I think Google Maps would have been accepted. You can definitely access street view from there. If I remember correctly they gave the launch year, but Google Earth and Google Maps both launched in 2005 according to Wikipedia.

[StevenH]

That spelling category was just awful. Spelling categories have no place on the show to begin with, but if you are going to have them the words should at least be fairly challenging to spell. The clues that led you to the words were ridiculously easy, to boot.

Even with the spelling category, I liked this board better than the ones we have seen recently. We may have just entered the next "phase" of boards.

Stephanie had some very good gets but she also had some incorrect guesses (like her FJ guess) that were...yeah.

I guessed Mitchell on FJ, with Buck as my second guess. I briefly considered Katherine Anne Porter and Edna Ferber.

I wouldn't bet on Dan qualifying for the next ToC, as he has a pretty low money total for four games. There was a year and a half layoff between the 2006 and 2007 ToCs, and there were no special tournaments or super champions in that time period, although there were two Teen Tournaments instead of just one. The 2007 ToC still ended up with two 3x champions in it, so all hope may not be lost for Dan. If Dan qualifies for it I doubt that he'll be gold group, but I still think that he could make some noise. He would need to get his negging under control, though.

[thejeopardyfan]

jpsultan: I figured it wasn't acceptable because the category was "World Potpourri." I'll take it if I can...

[Budphrey]

I was proud — proud, I tell ya — of tonight's contestants for going through the entire spelling category early in the round. Usually people approach that with the same zest with which they tear into the opera category.

Says the Dear Wife: "Dan had a good run. He was kinda cute." (I knew she'd instaget Pearl S. Buck as she's a West Virginia native.)

I also guessed "flexible" instead of "pliable."

[TenPoundHammer]

14/29, 13/28.

Pretty decent game all around for me. Nothing felt out of my range, but on the other hand, nothing was a wheelhouse either.

What do I need to know about Alexander the Great? All I know is that he was great in some way.

I, too, am counting Google Maps and Flexible/Pliable.

Can't believe I didn't pick up on yes-yes/aye-aye, particularly since I watch Penguins of Madagascar, nor Marcos on $1200.

FJ!? Female author + 1930s = Mitchell. I thought Gone with the Wind was the most boring thing I'd ever read since The Grapes of Wrath (both read over the course of one summer in a failed attempt to comp English II), but eh.

[econgator]

Can't believe I didn't pick up on yes-yes/aye-aye

There's just too many of them, though. I thought of Ayeaye, Sisi, and Wewe (Ouioui), but wouldn't ring in on a $2k guess.

[dhkendall]

jpsultan: I figured it wasn't acceptable because the category was "World Potpourri." I'll take it if I can...

Actually, personally I'd side with it being a neg, for the exact reason you gave (and was why I was careful in the phrasing of my response). It *could* be argued thusly, as the category is sufficiently vague, but as I'm not a real Jeopardy! judge, nor do I play one on TV, "neg" is my verdict.

I found it quite interesting with Dan's interview stating how he "won more money than he's earned in his life" - that shows that he would have *had* to have written his card comment that day (whereas I thought you had to write 5 when you first get there, then if you turn out to be a superchamp they have you write more, and if you turn out to be Ken Jennings, they eventually say "ah screw it, we'll find something to talk with you about.") Anyone else have insight as to how many topics you had to write, and how often you have to supply new ones? (I know someone (I think it was on here, but maybe it was on Facebook) supplied pictures once of interview cards that are in the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame with 5 stories on them.)

That spelling category was odd, I was expecting words that would have spellings that most people would mix up -ible and -able endings on, instead it seems the greater challenge was solving the clue rather than getting the spelling right. Maybe it's just because I hang out with smart people and not YouTube commenters or Yahoo "How is babby formed" Answerers, but I don't think most people would have a hard time with getting the right suffix for those words.

FJ: Came up with [Willa] Cather first, tried to think of others - Mitchell (or, more precisely, "the author of GWTW") came to mind, but since I already had Cather (and maybe because of the vagueness of my original stab at guessing Mitchell) I stuck with it. (Turns out the work I was thinking of, "O Pioneers!", was two decades too early, I don't think she wrote anything prize-worthy in the time period stated.)

[jpsultan]

jpsultan: I figured it wasn't acceptable because the category was "World Potpourri." I'll take it if I can...

Good point - I had marked it as a neg and to double check it. By the time I went to check the dates Google Maps and Google Earth had come out I had forgotten the category (I was probably a bit fuzzy on it in game as well).