Tuesday, October 23, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[harrumph]

Has anyone besides me never used or received a text message they had in that category. I had never heard of any of them but was able to run the category. Although I said SLAP was sounds like a problem, don't see why that wouldn't work.

SLATS = Sounds like a triple stumper

[Sherm]

... got three of the capitols,

There were no capitols mentioned.

Brian

Still makes me 3 for 5, I think all of the capitals start with capitols.

The moral from last night, as long as I don't have to cook food, buy food, or look at food before being force to attend the opera be it in a state capital or some other city. I'll be alright.

[julycoaron]

Those of you who remember my 1988 appearance on Jeopardy! probably heard my anguished groan when the Ann Rutledge clue was revealed.

In my game, I was in third place going into Final Jeopardy, having run into some bad luck on both Daily Doubles. The Final Jeopardy category was either Famous Women or American Women. The clue was something like: "She died in 1832, at the age of 22, in a log cabin in New Salem, Illinois." All of us knew this had something to do with Abraham Lincoln. One contestant guessed "Lincoln's mother." Another guessed "Nancy Hanks" who WAS Lincoln's mother. I knew that Lincoln was born in 1809, so it couldn't be his mother. I racked my brain to try to remember if he had been married before he wed Mary Todd and came up empty. Even if he had, I didn't know her name, so without anything better to write, I guessed "Who was Lincoln's first wife." Turns out I was the closest, but you know what they say about close.... History is a wheelhouse for me, or so I thought, so I wagered it all and ended with zero. Had I bet zero, I would have won.

Others have mentioned that this was one of the toughest FJ questions ever. Now whenever I speak Ann Rutledge's name, I add a middle name that's not very nice. Good thing I wasn't on last night's show.

Brian

[opusthepenguin]

Proving a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, ...

And this is why leading articles are so important. The expression is "little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

I feel as though I'm missing a joke here. The statement as Pope wrote it is "A little learning is a dangerous thing."

[Leander]

Proving a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, ...

And this is why leading articles are so important. The expression is "little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

I feel as though I'm missing a joke here. The statement as Pope wrote it is "A little learning is a dangerous thing."

I thought someone was going to explain the joke to me. I'm puzzled too.

[bpmod]

Well, colour me corrected.

No joke. I had always heard (and used) the expression "little knowledge...", also not knowing said expression (or a reasonable likeness) came from Alexander Pope.

Mea culpa.

Brian

[someday]

Who is Cliff Clavin?

Cliff Clavin is a character on the sitcom Cheers. He is a mailman and a bit of a know-it-all (to put it mildly). In one episode he got the chance to appear on Jeopardy! and all of the categories were ideally suited for him ("Bar Trivia", "Beer", "Civil Servants", for example). Going into FJ! he had a lock game, bet everything he had and lost.

My favorite category that Cliff got was "Celibacy."

Makes me chuckle every time.

[Vanya]

I'm reasonably sure Betsy wasn't considering this, but it could be argued that it's pretty interesting advanced betting strategy assuming rational bettors.

The scores going into FJ were

B: $18,600
S: $9,200
M: $5,800

That means Betsy has a lock up to a $199 bet. However, Susan still has something to play for. Susan's logical betting range is between 2401-3399 or so. This range guarantees her 2nd place with a correct answer and forces Martin to get it right if she does not. Susan's actual bet (2401) reflected this, and accepted the lock game for what it was.

If you accept this range as reality, the highest Susan could end up with while keeping these conditions was $12,599 or so. That would open up Betsy's actual betting range up to 6k. She had to be pretty comfortable with the category and the ability to earn an extra 6k in real money might be worth it to some.

With that said, it's too risky to take the risk considering how many people bet irrationally for an extra few thousand when you have 18k locked down, but I think the argument can be made.

Maybe the lesson is, never accept a lock and wager for second place.

[Bamaman]

Now whenever I speak Ann Rutledge's name, I add a middle name that's not very nice. Good thing I wasn't on last night's show.

Is it the same as Bucky Dent's middle name? (At least in Boston)

[Vanya]

I hated the text message category. The only one I got was the triple stumper (jump in). I don't see how they could justify ruling against someone who came up with any old phrase that fit the acronym. It's not as if there is a board or committee defining those things absolutely.

[bpmod]

I hated the text message category. The only one I got was the triple stumper (jump in). I don't see how they could justify ruling against someone who came up with any old phrase that fit the acronym. It's not as if there is a board or committee defining those things absolutely.

Yeah, kinda like the English language in that respect, isn't it?

Brian

[erak]

I hated the text message category. The only one I got was the triple stumper (jump in). I don't see how they could justify ruling against someone who came up with any old phrase that fit the acronym. It's not as if there is a board or committee defining those things absolutely.

I said "jut in" for that. I wonder if I would've gotten credit for it.

[billy pilgrim]

I said 'join in'. I don't see how they could refuse to accept it.

[bomtr]

I said 'jitterbug in'. More fun than jumping, but just as intrusive.

[Sherm]

Now whenever I speak Ann Rutledge's name, I add a middle name that's not very nice. Good thing I wasn't on last night's show.

Is it the same as Bucky Dent's middle name? (At least in Boston)

Never heard of Ann Homer Rutledge, but then I'm not from Boston.

[glennfleishman]

Nice knowledge, Betsy, on Alice Waters. I never heard of her in my life. I was ready to say Julia Child. I remembered a J! clue about Julia Child being a California girl.

I had a friend who worked for Alice Waters and I've read so many articles about her and ... whatever. School nutrition is her thing now.

[glennfleishman]

I'm going to just be honest and say I am pleased as punch that Betsy made over $20,000 on her second win. A) I'm pleased for her. B) It doesn't feel like a fluke that I lost to her! The Monday game was so weird (and besides you fine people, I have heard all sorts of folks tell me that it was the weirdest Jeopardy game they had seen for broken rhythm, odd clues, and scoring stuff) that I didn't mind losing, but I really wanted the person to beat to have beat me by a huge margin! Well, Betsy second win makes me feel better.

Interesting, though: if you watch the weekly promo video at Jeopardy.com, they didn't play me up (which makes sense), which was a tell that I wasn't around all week. Then they showed two full panels of people that didn't contain Betsy! Which means, I guess, that she loses tonight and there are two one-game winners for Wednesday and Thursday who are defeated the next day. Or am I reading too many tea leaves?

I'm still waiting to see 8 other people I met on that Wednesday play!

[billy pilgrim]

I'm going to just be honest and say I am pleased as punch that Betsy made over $20,000 on her second win. A) I'm pleased for her. B) It doesn't feel like a fluke that I lost to her! The Monday game was so weird (and besides you fine people, I have heard all sorts of folks tell me that it was the weirdest Jeopardy game they had seen for broken rhythm, odd clues, and scoring stuff) that I didn't mind losing, but I really wanted the person to beat to have beat me by a huge margin! Well, Betsy second win makes me feel better.

Interesting, though: if you watch the weekly promo video at Jeopardy.com, they didn't play me up (which makes sense), which was a tell that I wasn't around all week. Then they showed two full panels of people that didn't contain Betsy! Which means, I guess, that she loses tonight and there are two one-game winners for Wednesday and Thursday who are defeated the next day. Or am I reading too many tea leaves?

I'm still waiting to see 8 other people I met on that Wednesday play!

Many people avoid looking at the weekly video because it frequently has spoilers.

[marpocky]

I was wondering if someone was going to mistakenly say "Who is Rubiks" for the Rubik's Cube clue, but Martin avoided the issue altogether with his (not quite correct) response of "What is a Rubik's cube?"

[jkbrat]

The Monday game was so weird (and besides you fine people, I have heard all sorts of folks tell me that it was the weirdest Jeopardy game they had seen for broken rhythm, odd clues, and scoring stuff)

Alex Trebek: "Yesterday was a strange game."

Yes. Yes, it was.