Tuesday, April 24, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[alietr]

Was bummed the Hawai'i category had no humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

They should've made that an FJ response.

[dhkendall]

I just played this off the archive, and I'm going to say this board was written just a wee bit too easy. I was 30/30 in J!, 28/30 in DJ! with both clams things I should have known in 'magazines' but couldn't access quickly enough, and an immediate correct response in FJ!

Curious, when playing off the Archive, how do you determine "quickly enough"? Usually my goal, if watching the actual broadcast, is if I get it out before the player does (he may have rung in first, he may have been called on first, but if I say it before him, even if a millisecond, I count it),l but of course you don't have that luxury when playing off the Archive. (I usually go by the "if it's not an instaget, it's a clam" when playing off the Archive, but then I notice a few that I don't get instantly, and notice the correct response was a triple stumper, finding me kicking myself that the extra time taken by the contestants would probably have been enough for me to pull it.)

The J round felt way too easy - any of the ores could have been $200 or $400 level it felt like.

The $400 one was Preschool Week level. "Add a letter to 'melting'"? That was most likely the easiest clue that regular J! has aired (I notice even TPH said that he got it)

The champ looks good, though she did has some funny gaps

The thing that bugged me about the champ is her self-defeating attitude vibe I got from her - throwing her hands up in an "I don't know" gesture often, saying "Well I won't be in the lead for long" when asked to wager on a DD, and the few times she prefixed her response with "I'll just guess 'What is ... '?" I got the impression that this is what TPH would look like if he was playing. (And, before you complain that "I won't be playing because I don't know a freaking thing they ask", you've said you pull Coryat scores similar to mine, and I think I can do all right on the show, so ... ) Cindy, if you're reading this, it's not meant as a mean jab at you (from what I've heard from other champs' experiences, there'll be plenty of those around the 'net, so tread carefully on the Information Superhighway for a while) but it's a self-confidence thing. You've pulled out some surprising gets and you were selected to be on Jeopardy! I'd be pretty darn pleased of my knowledge! (I know, it's a bit late now, as more than likely it's well past your last game's tape date, but ... )

Gotta brush up on Cabinet Departments and officially add it to The Study List. I did get that one, but I wasn't even sure if there was such a thing as a Commerce Department. After I familiarize myself as to what the departments are, what should I learn about them, firsts like for tonight's FJ or the current position holders or something else? What is most frequently asked about the Cabinet on the show?

[TenPoundHammer]

I got the impression that this is what TPH would look like if he was playing. (And, before you complain that "I won't be playing because I don't know a freaking thing they ask", you've said you pull Coryat scores similar to mine, and I think I can do all right on the show, so ... )

My Coryats have taken a nosedive lately though. Remember the game two weeks ago where I gave only one right answer?

Also, as I've said, my handwriting would shoot me down in FJ!

[trainman]

Also, as I've said, my handwriting would shoot me down in FJ!

If you are absolutely, completely unable to write in a legible manner...

...then you wouldn't have to worry about FJ!, because they wouldn't have called you to be a contestant, because they wouldn't have been able to read your 50-question written test from the live audition.

But I suspect you're being your oh-so-adorable self-deprecating self.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Was bummed the Hawai'i category had no humuhumunukunukuapua'a.

They should've made that an FJ response.

And correct spelling and punctuation are required.

[MarkBarrett]

I suspected there would be at least one 30/30 for the J! round since my sheet showed 26. Pupu, Knight, Astaire and Creme Brulee were blanks, chickens, or slows for me. The rest were ones to work the buzzer.

The players had a strong combined Coryat of 45,800 (could have been 47800 if anyone knew shank) and it was great to get all the clues tonight.

For the fleeting clue in Longfellow I tried Fame. That clue seemed like one where people like to guess.

How much money did Andrea cost Cindy by not betting more on her DD? Sure Byzantine in the $1600 box is intimidating and $5000 was better than some would do, but with only four clues to go the situation called for even more on the wager.

More of a remind-alike, but Matt gave me flashback to mr bungle. It was half appearance and half apparel.

The FJ clue for me was like others with NYSE = business = commerce.

[Bamaman]

I thought the $600 clue in Ore was even easier than the one about smelting.

"Blah blah blah 5 cents blah blah blah"

[TenPoundHammer]

Also, as I've said, my handwriting would shoot me down in FJ!

If you are absolutely, completely unable to write in a legible manner...

...then you wouldn't have to worry about FJ!, because they wouldn't have called you to be a contestant, because they wouldn't have been able to read your 50-question written test from the live audition.

Exactly. At least the WOF written test has fewer questions and more space to write them in, to make up for the fact that I can't write in anything smaller than 96 point.

And correct spelling and punctuation are required.

<Linkara>Because poor literacy is kewl!</Linkara>

Seriously, few people I know are better at spelling and grammar than I.

…See?

[Paucle]

The $400 one was Preschool Week level. "Add a letter to 'melting'"?

You'd think so, but I was stunned when my "meltxing" was WRONG!!

[billy pilgrim]

The $400 one was Preschool Week level. "Add a letter to 'melting'"?

You'd think so, but I was stunned when my "meltxing" was WRONG!!

I said "melfting' . Turns out i spelled it wrong.

[Woof]

Btw Khosrow is Persian, okay, I guess, but really it's the Sassanid Empire.

Yeah, I had the same qualm. The Achamaenid Empire didn't survive Alexander's incursions, and they're what's commonly thought of when one refers to the "Persian Empire."

Very easy boards for me as well, though the magazine category exposed one of my weaknesses (2/5 on it, I think). And, really, gold a TS? When spotted "precious metal" and it's the low value clue? Don't overthink it, folks.

[marpocky]

Exactly. At least the WOF written test has fewer questions and more space to write them in, to make up for the fact that I can't write in anything smaller than 96 point.

Wait...WOF has a written test? There are actually standards to be on that show? Or is it just that the answer to every question is "I'd like to buy a vowel"?

[jeff6286]

Everybody, how would you wager on the final if you were Matt? It seems like kind of a tough situation to me, and a lot of guesswork as to what the second-place player will do. But I guess that's every day.

I thought all 3 players wagered perfectly tonight. The scores: Cindy 24,000, Andrea 18,400, Matt 6,200.

Cindy's shutout wager (MSB) is 12,801, which is what she bet, and on a miss she would have 11,199. Matt has to bet at least 5,000 to have a chance to beat Cindy, which leaves him at 1,200 or lower on a miss, which will almost definitely be 3rd place, so he might as well bet it all, which he did, giving him 12,400 on the double-up. Andrea was in great shape for 2nd place, as she was in a position to bet at least 5,601 to cover a 0 bet by the leader (This almost never happens, but might as well cover it if you can.) while still betting less than 6,000 to leave Matt with no chance to win. She picked 5,999, the most she could wager while still keeping Matt locked out. Nice job by all 3 players making the ideal wager for their respective positions. Matt was in a bad spot, as he had no chance to win if Andrea makes the proper wager, but he did all he could by betting it all, as he at least could have finished 2nd if Cindy had missed. This was the rare game where all 3 players bet exactly the amount I had predicted for them on my scoresheet.

Andrea's late DD wager was probably less than ideal, but since Cindy got FJ correct anyway, she shouldn't need to lose any sleep over it. It's a situation we see come up fairly often, a player facing a late DD and needing to bet a bunch to either get close to or overtake the leader. Cindy had 21,200 and Andrea had 13,400, with 4,800 remaining on the board after the DD. (All but the 1,200 in "This or That") She bet 5,000, which was just enough to keep her within 3/4 of Cindy even after Cindy added 2,800 on the final clues. The problem was that if she missed, she would drop to 8,400, and have to pick up at least 2 of the remaining clues (including at least one of the 1,600 or 2,000, assuming Cindy didn't get the other) just to break Cindy's lock. If she misses the DD, she is almost definitely going to enter FJ out of contention, while if she gets it, she still most likely enters FJ in second place. Strategically she would have given herself a better chance of winning the game by just betting all, or nearly all of her money on that DD, but we very rarely see a player bold enough to make that move when they are sitting on a 5-figure total. I can understand that, from a psychological perspective, it could be very scary to bet 13,400 when that amount has taken you the entire show to accumulate. I've seen players comment that they were afraid that making such a huge wager would make them so nervous that they might be unable to come up with the correct response even if they knew it. I suspect that as soon as Andrea saw the clue (the response was Ottoman Empire) she was wishing she had been a bit more bold, but like I said, at least Cindy got FJ and Andrea missed, so there would be no reason for her to obsess over the DD wager as a reason for losing. (That's our job!)

[Volante]

Second day in a row I didn't listen to my second guessing and ended up losing because of it:
Treasury was my first guess. Questioned with commerce, but while I felt wary about treasury, couldn't convince myself to change my guess.

Outside of that, loved the boards. Might have been "easy" but they also felt written better.

[TenPoundHammer]

Exactly. At least the WOF written test has fewer questions and more space to write them in, to make up for the fact that I can't write in anything smaller than 96 point.

Wait...WOF has a written test? There are actually standards to be on that show? Or is it just that the answer to every question is "I'd like to buy a vowel"?

Yeah. The standard is, "When presented GLO_E and told that GLOVE is not the answer, what is your response? 1.) Say GLOBE, or 2.) Stare at the puzzle board blankly for 10 seconds? If you said 1.), you're too smart for this show." (Yes, that really happened with that exact puzzle.)

In all seriousness, they give you 4 puzzles each in 4 categories with some letters filled in. They don't weigh the written test as much as the mock games played at tryouts.

[SavoyGirl]

FDR had appointed a woman to that post, and talked myself into the actual cabinet department FDR appointed Francis Perkins to. :/

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! Her name is spelled FRANCES...with an "e". That is how the feminine version of the name is spelled. "Francis" is the male spelling. I've been spending my entire life trying to get people to spell my name correctly. Even when they're responding to messages with my name quite visible, spelled correctly, they go and write FRANCIS!!!! It drives me crazy. This is the Jeopardy board, wherein smart people reside. If I can't get it spelled correctly here, I've got no hope with the rest of the world.

Frances
10/3/96 winner
aka Savoygirl

[Onairb]

Exactly. At least the WOF written test has fewer questions and more space to write them in, to make up for the fact that I can't write in anything smaller than 96 point.

Wait...WOF has a written test? There are actually standards to be on that show? Or is it just that the answer to every question is "I'd like to buy a vowel"?

Yeah. The standard is, "When presented GLO_E and told that GLOVE is not the answer, what is your response? 1.) Say GLOBE, or 2.) Stare at the puzzle board blankly for 10 seconds? If you said 1.), you're too smart for this show." (Yes, that really happened with that exact puzzle.)

In all seriousness, they give you 4 puzzles each in 4 categories with some letters filled in. They don't weigh the written test as much as the mock games played at tryouts.

I hear that after the tests, they serve ROADSIDE FRUIT SALAD.

[Sage on the Hudson]

The hardest question was the Astaire/Kelly coinflip (but not really, Kelly's just a little too young to have been vaudeville).

No, not really. While thirteen years younger than Astaire, Kelly (b. 1912) was eight years older than Mickey Rooney (b. 1920) and fifteen older than Sammy Davis, jr (b. 1925), both of whom appeared in Vaudeville, albeit as children. Vaudeville (whose first "e" is not silent, by the way) lasted well into the 1930s.

[harrumph]

Cindy has an amazing variety of facial expressions, in a good way.

[ACW]

Wasn't Perkins Labor? Yes, yes she was.