Friday, May 9, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[seaborgium]

Right before FJ I thought that Pam was dead if the clue were "Keynesian" easy, but fortunately (as I am rooting for her) it was not.

Given the wagers, she was in no matter how the clue went. WCs are $19,500, $15,000, $14,798, and $11,000, with Mark at $8,600 missing the cut. On a triple get, Colby and Mark tie at $12,600 (with Colby's pre-FJ lead over Mark putting him into the semis ahead of Mark), and Pam remains exactly where Thursday's game left her.

I took note of the use of "work" and "premiered" with the latter date in the FJ clue, but was unable to make anything of it. I said Pride and Prejudice just to say something, even though it's older than 1830, and "and Zombies" makes it a different title.

[Dr. J]

I took note of the use of "work" and "premiered" with the latter date in the FJ clue...

Now if only you'd gone from "latter date" to "latter day," you might've been in business. (I spent some time in Austen land, too, before honing in on the "premiere" part.) Was "popular" part of the clue phrasing?

[eboettch]

Didn't put anything down for FJ. Wonder if they purposely didn't put that in Ken's game...

I wonder about that as well. If they had done it, I'll bet Facebook would have just exploded with allegations!

Grrr.... the contestants are chosen without knowledge of what the questions are. The questions are written without knowledge of who the contestants will be.

I agree with the former. But I find it hard to completely believe the latter, especially considering how much the show had us prepping for the eventual Ken'n'Brad show. No matter when this show was written, Jennings had to be in their head somewhere. How much they tried to stay neutral while writing categories and questions? We may never know. I myself wondered if we'd see any Geography FJs, considering Ken's well-known expertise in that area.

Plus, there was "Our Old Pal Watson" in Ken's prelim. That had to be deliberate.

I don't know how condemnatory that is. It's not quite the same as "Your Old Pal Watson," for example; "our" could be interpreted as "Jeopardy, and all the people associated with it." It wouldn't be so weird for it to show up in a non-Ken/Brad game.
Assuming it was targeted, the fact that Watson is connected to Ken (and Brad) is something the Jeopardy clue writers would obviously be aware of. But how aware are they of contestants' backgrounds, specifically religious backgrounds, otherwise? Probably not very, even in a tournament like this. Of course, Ken Jennings is a little more well-known than the average returning contestant...

So yeah, we may never know.

[gnash]

The only guess I could come up with for FJ was 32 years off for the book and 21 months off for a derivative work. Les Misérables.

[MarkBarrett]

How do they determine the matchups for the semifinals? Are they random? I can't be the only one who's champing at the bit for a finale between the three Jeopardy juggernauts, and I'd be real disappointed if they didn't all go on separate shows.

You can see the matchups for the semis in a different thread. No one knows exactly how the 9 are divided. We can guess some factors about having played each other previously. The powers will say they just want three good games.

****************

I would say the boards were written for the BOTD and the writers knew it. If there are six boards and five are selected for the week randomly then there was a percentage chance that Ken could have played tonight's FJ! clue. Yes, FB posters would have lost their minds.

It's a good clue and I don't think it's right for the writers to try to avoid everything they might think a player knows. It would be insane to try to filter all the clues for all the players and their various backgrounds.

***********
Unlike others who picked up a heap of trash, ran through much of the material and were not sufficiently challenged I felt like it was back to 2005 and the UTOC. My scoresheet was 22/60 and five of those were from running That '70s Show. All the players got into five figures, so well done by all of them.

I had nothing on the FJ! clue. With time almost out it was pick a famous work from the 1800s and I scribbled "On The Origian of Species" Only about 30 years off.

This week the players were 5/15 (one game a 3/3), but the comments around here make it seem like each clue will poll over 50%. The results should be interesting to see how the numbers go.

As each player was shown to be wrong tonight it was tense waiting to see each wager. Okay, Pam is in. Rachael is out. It was a big surprise to see Chuck go low and win the match. I thought Colby's bet was going to keep his streak alive. I can't imagine Chuck had a problem with the category.

Chuck played it more strategically than I predicted. Good for him to use his lead to his advantage. Mark Dawson's exit with the guys left and right of him making it has to not feel great, but he was in third place. If he had found his DD later with a better score then who knows. These three guys figured to be in a tight match.

[Dr. J]

Look, I'm not trying to insinuate that the writers wrote anything with Ken specifically in mind or to help him; Ken doesn't need any help (or any stinking badges, probably). But I also have no doubt that they fully expected that both Ken and Brad would go deep in this tournament and knew this as they wrote. That knowledge may or may not have changed the way they approached the clues -- they may have tried harder to NOT include stuff that was in either of their wheelhouses, for example -- but they knew those two would be playing, which IS different than regular J! play. Hence Watson categories. I'm fine with that, actually; it's part of the history of the show, and there were enough fierce competitors in this Tourney that neither Ken nor Brad should have had an advantage from a knowledge standpoint.

There was a narrative for this tournament that TPTB had pre-crafted, and it's playing out exactly as they hoped, due in no small part by the high-quality play of the guys at the top. There's a reason they were chosen to play Watson on air, after all!

[Golf]

Anybody who thinks the games were crafted with Brad and/or Ken in mind would be better served trying to prove aliens captured MH370.

[karoliner]

As a former fan of BBC’s Sherlock I was thrilled to see the Sherlock Holmes category. The only one I missed was the $200 clue which didn’t seem to be related to the TV series.

[TenPoundHammer]

Ran "Sounds Like a Letter". That could've been in a regular game.

Pedal pushers was tough at $200.

3/5 in South American. NHO fer-de-lance (I'm apparently weak on snakes) and clammed on jaguar, but got "spix's macaw" because of the movie Rio.

I thought carol/madrigal was massive negbait.

1830, 2011, same name, book. Book of Mormon. How in God's name did I instaget that? And a TS in this tournament no less?!?! I think I had the Book of Mormon on the brain since I recently stayed at a Marriott and was tickled to see one in the desk alongside the Gideon Bible.

[seaborgium]

I took note of the use of "work" and "premiered" with the latter date in the FJ clue...

Now if only you'd gone from "latter date" to "latter day," you might've been in business.

Nice. I didn't set you up on purpose.

[hscer]

Ran "Sounds Like a Letter". That could've been in a regular game.

Pedal pushers was tough at $200.

3/5 in South American. NHO fer-de-lance (I'm apparently weak on snakes) and clammed on jaguar, but got "spix's macaw" because of the movie Rio.

I thought carol/madrigal was massive negbait.

1830, 2011, same name, book. Book of Mormon. How in God's name did I instaget that? And a TS in this tournament no less?!?! I think I had the Book of Mormon on the brain since I recently stayed at a Marriott and was tickled to see one in the desk alongside the Gideon Bible.

Wait, what? WHAT?

[seaborgium]

1830, 2011, same name, book. Book of Mormon. How in God's name did I instaget that? And a TS in this tournament no less?!?! I think I had the Book of Mormon on the brain since I recently stayed at a Marriott and was tickled to see one in the desk alongside the Gideon Bible.

You should have said it was too easy for this tournament and stayed clam.

[Dr. J]

Don't get TOO excited...did he say he wrote it down?!?!?

[TenPoundHammer]

Don't get TOO excited...did he say he wrote it down?!?!?

I never write down. If I say it out loud, it counts.

[seaborgium]

Don't get TOO excited...did he say he wrote it down?!?!?

I never write down. If I say it out loud, it counts.

So is the deal that you're watching this with other people and you're afraid of giving incorrect responses in front of them, to the point of clamming on your only idea when you're not sure of it?

[OrangeSAM]

...
1830, 2011, same name, book. Book of Mormon. How in God's name did I instaget that? And a TS in this tournament no less?!?! I think I had the Book of Mormon on the brain since I recently stayed at a Marriott and was tickled to see one in the desk alongside the Gideon Bible.

OMG! I fear that TPH and I had a brain exchange!

I stayed at a Marriott two weeks ago in AZ and noted the Book of Mormon in the nightstand as well (apparently, I wasn't tickled to see it), but could not, could not, pull it up tonight. Best guess I had was Gray's Anatomy, even though I noted the difference in spelling with the TV show just this Tuesday and was 99.99999999999999% sure the show was older than 2011. I was also trying all the Austen works I could think of.

Anyways, my hat's off to TPH. (At least until I get my brain back.)

[OrangeSAM]

Don't get TOO excited...did he say he wrote it down?!?!?

I never write down. If I say it out loud, it counts.

So is the deal that you're watching this with other people and you're afraid of giving incorrect responses in front of them, to the point of clamming on your only idea when you're not sure of it?

TPH: Whatever you have in your head, say it loud, say it proud!

[Oh, no! Now, I'm trying to change TPH. I must be sick. Time to see the J!Board Doctor.]

[darkgreenblue]

As a former fan of BBC’s Sherlock...

Heh. When did you bail? Sometime in the third series, I would guess? (I know some fans felt insulted by the opening fake-out, revealed as Anderson's wacky theories, but I loved that stuff. The stupid Magnussen case drove me up the wall, though. Photographic memory is all you need to be a supervillain! Still, some excellent scenes in that ep, of course.)

[opusthepenguin]

It took me a while to get Montreal Island too - I originally thought that the island wasn't called Montreal Island (why would it be a $2000 clue otherwise?)

Because I, for one, did not know until today that Montreal was on an island. I didn't even know it after the correct response was given. All that told me was that there's an island called Montreal Island. I had to look THAT up later to maker sure the island is home to the city of Montreal. After your country's Vancouver stunt, I figured this was a "fool me once" situation.

[dhkendall]

Time to see the J!Board Doctor.

Her office is just down the hall, second door on the right. Can't miss it, thers a logo of two snakes entwined around a pitchfork on the door.