Tuesday, September 30, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6907, 2014-09-30

CONTESTANTS
Silvia Lesko, a director of religious education from Denton, Texas
Alex Champlin, a copywriter from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Elisa Korb, a professor from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (whose 1-day cash winnings total $26,400)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex Trebek: Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome aboard. So far, the voting about the mustache is running... even. Some want to keep it, some want to get rid of it. So, it'll be here for a little while longer. Elisa started slowly on yesterday's program, but came on strong at the end, and won a lot of money. Today, she defends for the first time, against Silvia and Alex. We are happy to welcome you to our show. Good luck, players. Here we go. The first round of play, with these categories, starting off with...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUM NICKNAMES (2/3)
FABRICS (3/5)
SAME-LETTER SWAP (5/5)
WHAT A FOSSIL! (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
A BLOODY BUSINESS (5/5)
WHERE WOULD YOU FIND... (4/5) (Alex: And we'll give you certain words.)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Alex: 10 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Silvia: 9 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 2 W
Elisa: 4 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 5
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $4,000



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Alex: $3,800
Silvia: $1,400
Elisa: $0

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex Trebek: Silvia Lesko is from Texas and this lady is familiar with trekkies--people who are big fans of Star Trek. And you once turned down a marriage proposal from a trekkie, am I correct?

Silvia: Yes, I did, Alex. And it was a very weird situation. I met him on a church retreat, 'cause I don't like Star Trek at all. And he was a regular guy, but then he started talking nothing but Star Trek all the time. I kept dating him, hoping we'd get back to the first guy, but it never happened. And, so, just as I was about to break up, he proposed. I said, "Mm, no." And he said, "But I made you third in command," which I thought was the oddest thing, ever.

[Laughter]

Alex Trebek: You were holding out for vice commander.

Silvia: That's exactly it.




Alex Trebek: All right, Alex Champlin is a copywriter from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who collects trashy sci-fi and fantasy paperback novels. Not comic books, now?

Alex Champlin: No, no.

Alex Trebek: You're talking about novels?

Alex Champlin: Yep, the trashier, the better. I love the covers. My grandfather actually had a library full, massive room dedicated to fantasy and science fiction from the '50s through the '80s, and some--some a little earlier. And though I never met him, just walking through this room, pulling the books off the shelves, it really just started my love of reading, and I want to keep that tradition going on.

Alex Trebek: Anything that starts anyone's love of reading is good.

Alex Champlin: Exactly.

Alex Trebek: All right.




Alex Trebek: Let's go to our champion now, Elisa Korb from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This woman's life was changed by two postcards.

Elisa: It's true. When I was 15, I went to this shop that was sort of selling, um, you know, importations, and things like that. We were on vacation in New Hampshire. And I saw this postcard that I thought was just sort of magical-looking and I wanted to find out more about it, and it's actually what made me become an art history major, really transformed my life. So, I have it in my office.

Alex Trebek: What was the postcard?

Elisa: It's this, uh, painting called The Masque of the Four Seasons, by the 19th-century artist and illustrator Walter Crane.

Alex Trebek: Ah.

Elisa: Yeah.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Silvia found the Daily Double on the 23rd clue. Elisa had $200, Alex had $4,600, and Silvia was at $3,600. Silvia wagered $600.

WHAT A FOSSIL! $600: Of the 3 types of rock, it's the one in which you'll mainly find fossils

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
WHERE WOULD YOU FIND... $1000: An azimuth clamp

FABRICS $600: Despite its name this fabric doesn't come from a great white but is often wool with rayon or acetate

FABRICS $1000: From the Persian for "rag", this bed sheet fabric is finer than muslin
(Alex Trebek: Bet you have some in your home. [*].)

WHAT A FOSSIL! $1000: The fossil called Archimedes resembles one of these tools that Archimedes was famous for inventing

COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUM NICKNAMES $400: This Trojans home field is known as "The Grand Old Lady"
(Elisa: What is Ole Miss?)
...
(Alex Trebek: What is [*], here in Los Angeles.)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Alex: $5,400
Silvia: $4,400
Elisa: $400

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
LIGHTHOUSES (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
SPACE STUFF (5/5)
LAYING THINGS M TO M (5/5)
THE PLAYS OF GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1/3)
ARMS AND THE MAN (4/5) (Alex: That's one of his plays.)
MRS. WARREN'S PROFESION (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Elisa: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Alex: 11 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 3 W
Silvia: 3 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 5
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $4,400



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Alex snagged the next Daily Double on the 26th clue. Elisa had $7,600, Alex had $15,400, and Silvia was at $6,800. Alex wagered $5.

LIGHTHOUSES $1200: First lit in 1792, Virginia's Old Cape Henry Lighthouse on this bay was the first authorized by the federal government

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
THE PLAYS OF GEORGE BERNARD SHAW $400: About this title character, the executioner says, "Her heart would not burn, my lord"
(Alex Champlin: Who was Mary, Queen of Scots?)
...
(Alex Trebek: Who is [*]?--who was burned at the stake.)

THE PLAYS OF GEORGE BERNARD SHAW $800: "Heartbreak House" is set in the Sussex home of Captain Shotover on the eve of this war

ARMS AND THE MAN $800: All that dunking & dribbling has been good for the muscle tone of this man's arms
(Alex Trebek: L.A. Clipper [*].)

LIGHTHOUSES $400: In 2007 Diamond Head Lighthouse on this island joined 4 others in a 5-stamp set issued by the U.S. Postal Service

MRS. WARREN'S PROFESION $2000: Mrs. Warren championed the creation of & was the interim director of this bureau, CFPB for short

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Alex: $15,405
Elisa: $11,200
Silvia: $6,800

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
WORLD LEADERS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Two-thirds for first place.
Alex: Wager $6,996 to cover Elisa.
Elisa: You need to wager $2,401 to cover Silvia's doubled score, but no more than $2,790 if you want to top Alex on a Triple Stumper.
Silvia: Seeing as you don't have enough money to win on a Triple Stumper (you will lose by at least $1,610), you might try betting $4,401, playing for a win if Elisa tries to two-thirds Alex (though, from this position, a wager of all $6,800 is acceptable and perhaps preferred as it forces Elisa to cover you).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
He came to power 34 days before FDR & left it 19 days after him

FINAL SCORES
Silvia: $6,800 - $5,800 = $1,000 (Who is Stalin) (3rd place: $1,000)
Elisa: $11,200 - $500 = $10,700 (Who was Harry Truman) (2-day champion: $37,100)
Alex: $15,405 - $7,000 = $8,405 (Who is Winston Churchill) (2nd place: $2,000)
(Alex Trebek: [To Alex Champlin] No, a very negative figure in world history, [*].)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $8,400

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Alex: $16,600, 21 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Elisa: $11,200, 13 R, 2 W
Silvia: $6,800, 12 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Combined Coryat: $34,600

BATTING AVERAGES
Alex: 21/59 = .356
Elisa: 13/58 = .224
Silvia: 12/59 = .203
Team: 46/63 = .730

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
A BLOODY BUSINESS $200: In 1792 highwayman Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier became the first person executed by this recent invention
(Silvia: What is the electric chair?)
...
(Alex Trebek: Yes. He was a Frenchman.)

A BLOODY BUSINESS $600: This out-of-favor English queen was executed by the sword in 1536
(Silvia: Who is Mary?)

A BLOODY BUSINESS $800: In 1957 Albert Anastasia of Murder, Inc. was gunned down in this type of tonsorial establishment
(Elisa: What is a dentist's office?)

A BLOODY BUSINESS $1000: Nice head on this Scottish hero. Too bad it ended up, in 1305, adorning London Bridge as a warning

WHAT A FOSSIL! $800: The three lobes of the arthropod fossil seen here give it its name
(Alex Trebek: Good, with less than a minute to go.)

COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUM NICKNAMES $600: This school's Gamecocks rough it up in "The Cockpit"
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]
(Alex Trebek: And with that, you're back on the plus side. And you're in third place, which is where you were yesterday, and you picked first in Double Jeopardy!, and started a great run that wound up in a victory for you. So, we'll see what happens today, when we come back.)

SPACE STUFF $800: You get an "A" if you know the U.S. ended its manned space program with the final landing of this shuttle in 2011
(Alex Champlin: What is the Apollo?)

SPACE STUFF $1200: Seen during a total lunar eclipse in 2014 was the phenomenon known by this sanguine term

MRS. WARREN'S PROFESION $800: Mrs. Warren is on the Senate committee known as HELP: Health, Eduction, Labor & these retirement benefits
(Alex Champlin: What is Social Security?)

ARMS AND THE MAN $400: This Aussie worked with trainer Mike Ryan to get ripped arms to reprise his role of Wolverine
(Alex Trebek: Yes, and you're smiling as you mentioned his name.)
(Elisa: Sorry.)
[Laughter.]

SPACE STUFF $2000: (Jimmy.) A triple eclipse shows the shadows of three moons in a rare alignment across Jupiter's face. Out here is Callisto, whose shadow is here. Ganymede's shadow is here, and the white circle is this moon, and here's its shadow

MRS. WARREN'S PROFESION $1600: An expert on bankruptcy, Elizabeth Warren wrote a 2008 text on the essentials of this part of the bankruptcy code
(Silvia: What is Chapter 13?)

LIGHTHOUSES $2000: Le Phare de Cordouan, France's oldest working light, lies at the mouth of the Gironde on this bay
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

CORRECT RESPONSES
sedimentary
a telescope
sharkskin
percale
a screw
the Coliseum
the Chesapeake Bay
Joan of Arc
World War I
Blake Griffin
Oahu
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Adolf Hitler
the guillotine
Anne Boleyn
a barbershop
William Wallace
a trilobite
the University of South Carolina
Atlantis
a blood moon
Pensions
Hugh Jackman
Io
Chapter 11
the Bay of Biscay

[jeff6286]

World Leaders
He came to power 34 days before FDR & left it 19 days after him.

Spoiler

Who is Adolf Hitler? Sylvia said Stalin; Elisa said Harry Truman; Alex said Winston Churchill.

Alex Champlin: $15,405-$7,000=$8,405
Elisa Korb: $11,200-$500=$10,700...now a 2-day champion with $37,100
Sylvia Lesko: $6,800-$5,800=$1,000

[JeopardyBill]

Spoiler

Not a good game at all. Tons of unnecessary negs; bad DD wagering; many surprising Triple Stumpers; and a Triple Stumper FJ that should have been an Instaget. The contestants seemed lethargic.

[floridagator]

This was a lukewarm game that reinforces my belief that Elisa is a weak player. She seemed completely uncomfortable with the categories for single J! Elisa was not as weak as Silvia -- how the L did she make it through contestant screening? Contestant Alex's repeated, repeated pregnant pauses were annoying. At one point, AT prompted him twice to pick a category. $5 DD bet? LAME!

FJ was no instaget, but once I worked through the dates, I knew the answer. I thought at least one of them would get it right, and I suspected it would be Alex. So once again Elisa is champ as a result of other people stumbling on a relatively easy FJ.

[Bamaman]

Silvia got the game off to a good start by placing the electric chair in 1792. Apparently executions weren't their strong suit as we had Mary Queen of Scots being burned at the stake and the wrong Queen Anne being beheaded. (I'm glad that blooper from yesterday got out, we know why Elisa laughed at the Anne Boleyn clue).

Then they save college football stadiums for last, dragging out the full category name to keep us from seeing all the clues.

I'm sure he is a nice guy and I found his interview story quite charming, but I am glad Alex did not win with his long pauses before selecting a clue. Could they not edit that out? We missed a Daily Double because of that.

I don't think Elisa is a weak player. She won yesterday, defeating two champs who each won over $35,000. She was in a solid second place today. However, I did not like her bet today. If she and Silvia had both gotten it right, she loses to someone she led going into FJ. I thought her going all in yesterday was the right move based on the scores, but now I'm thinking she just went all in for the heck of it.

I got FJ right, but it took some time. It is one of the type clues I hate. It had random numbers thrown in that seemed to have no relation to each other. Then I remembered Hitler died not long after FDR did and I was home free.

[heelsrule1988]

Ohhhhhh MAN did I rage when College Football Stadium Nicknames wasn't finished. I knew everyone would leave it for last and thus it wouldn't get finished, yet I was still super mad. $1800 I could have had... gone.

Thank goodness Sports Jeopardy is a thing now... haha.

[xxaaaxx]

Once they left the college football for last (and unfinished), I stopped caring about who won. Hate you all

I wasn't a fan of Alex even before that $5 DD bet -- pick a clue! some time today, damnit!! -- but I was laughing when that gimme of a clue popped up. Elisa probably couldn't believe her luck.

A world leader who came to power in 1933 and, ahem, left office in 1945? I had it as soon as I said the years to myself. How was this a TS?

[heelsrule1988]

Look at other people being mad about the college football category not getting finished! I'm so... happy... :')

[Abraxas]

There were two men named Alex from Canada on today's show...and only one of those two will be returning tomorrow. Elisa made a nice recovery after being in third place after the first round. I agree with others above that the game itself was only lukewarm. That basketball player that was pictured was a triple-stumper. I know next-to-nothing about basketball and wondered whether he's well-known among basketball fans. I was 5/5 in Same Letter Swap but 0/5 in the Arms category. I got 32 clues correct but guessed Churchill for FJ.

[xxaaaxx]

...I did not like her bet today. If she and Silvia had both gotten it right, she loses to someone she led going into FJ. I thought her going all in yesterday was the right move based on the scores, but now I'm thinking she just went all in for the heck of it.

I don't know what to think of her wagering. Clearly, tonight eliminates any thoughts of advanced wagering prowess, but if she's the type to make the usual all-in suicide wager, what stopped her tonight? Do they just pick random numbers?

That basketball player that was pictured was a triple-stumper. I know next-to-nothing about basketball and wondered whether he's well-known among basketball fans.

I don't watch the NBA much, but I love the college game, and have followed Blake Griffin since his days at Oklahoma. I'd be very surprised if that one got past many basketball fans. And since I'm such a sports fan, I've given up trying to gauge how well-known any sports trivia is to non-fans

[TenPoundHammer]

Ran 5 Letter Swap.

Got everything but the DD in Fossil. There are three types of rocks?! Also odd that "sedentary" was a correct response two days in a row.

Lach Trash: Sharkskin, screw.

I thought Elizabeth Warren was undervalued at $400. Again, why should I know another state's senators?

Lighthouses for $400 shows why I don't " go for the obvious" at $400. I went with Hawaii because it's the biggest, but nooooooo, they wanted Oahu. NOW DO YOU SEE WHY I HATE GOING FOR THE OBVIOUS?!?!?

DJ! would've been cleared if the middle guy didn't take 30 freaking seconds to pick a clue.

Not a guess on FJ! Briefly considered Hitler, but figured nah, he MUST have been around longer. It's gotta be something totally obscure.

[CrunchyTaco]

Look at other people being mad about the college football category not getting finished! I'm so... happy... :')

You can count me in as another one.

[StevenH]

This was another easy board.

I didn't mind the college football category being unfinished, though I surprised myself by going 2/3 in it.

There's never anything boring about a $5 DD wager.

I was between Mussolini and Hitler on FJ and picked the right one. Hitler seemed too obvious, but the dates given in the clue seemed to fit perfectly.

[naurae29]

There are three types of rocks?! Also odd that "sedentary" was a correct response two days in a row.

Sedimentary.

[silverscreentest]

Also odd that "sedentary" was a correct response two days in a row.

Rock is sedimentary. A couch potato is sedentary.

[TenPoundHammer]

Also odd that "sedentary" was a correct response two days in a row.

Rock is sedimentary. A couch potato is sedentary.

And the closed captioners suck at telling the two apart.

[floridagator]

There are three types of rocks?! Also odd that "sedentary" was a correct response two days in a row.

Posts like this make me wonder if TPH is really for real or just someone having a joke.

I thought Elizabeth Warren was undervalued at $400. Again, why should I know another state's senators?

This adds more fuel to the fire that J! has become a partisan outlet. When has there ever been a category celebrating a relatively new Republican senator?

[BADuBois]

What a bleh game. I mean... bleh.

Too many pauses and blank views.

Name of the last space shuttle to land, they spot you the letter 'A', and you come up with... Apollo? Gah.

Electric chair in the 1790's? Gah.

FJ a triple stumper? For real? And the answers... Harry Truman (d. 1972) Winston Churchill (d. 1965) Stalin (d. 1953)!

And another bleh reason... c'mon, writers. There was a whole category devoted to the Draft Elizabeth Warren for President Campaign?

Definitely not an episode to be proud of.

[danspartan]

$600 on SJ DD (Silvia)
$5 on DJ DD with a real chance for a lockout and not much chance of losing the lead (Alex)
$500 on FJ wager (Elisa)

I kinda wish Silvia AND Elisa had gotten FJ correct just to reward the least egregious wager of the 3 listed above (and punish the other 2)