Friday, November 21, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[StevenH]

Congrats to Ben on winning the tournament! He was downright scary over those four games. Also, congrats to Arthur and Julia on their very impressive performances!

I didn't do very well on this board, but it was mostly enjoyable. Despite the hard difficulty overall I still couldn't believe some of the easy clues that were sprinkled in--"Biblical king who was Solomon's father" at the bottom of the board and "name the capital of South Australia" as a DD should not be coming up in the ToC finals, or really in any game.

I had to laugh when the "Channing Tatum" category came up. I couldn't name a single film that he had been in, and of course that category turned out to be a doughnut for me.

The DD on Marshall McLuhan was at the tip of my tongue. I had heard the quote, but could only come up with "community." At least I was on the right track.

I once again went the wrong way between Stuyvesant and Minuit. I was happy to get the Lach trash on Phillis Wheatley, though.

The FJ category looked good to me, and given the past trend of ToC game 2 finals FJs being easy I was expecting a slam dunk that would save me from the 0/5. When I saw the clue I thought to myself "Okay, I can get this in 30 seconds." It turned out that the only Shakespeare play that I could even think of during the Think Music that had a city in it was The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and I knew that it couldn't be correct. This one was never going to come to me in 30 seconds, especially since I've often heard the title of that play referred to as just Pericles. I'll also confess that even if I had thought of the play then I might have actually thought that Tyre was in Europe. I was hoping for Ben to keep his FJ streak alive, but this was a great a clue, and 12 in a row is definitely something to be proud of!

Is it possible that we will see all three of the finalists again? I hope so, but Julia is the only one who I think is a lock to be invited back if there is another super tournament. Either way this was an awesome finals and a great tournament. Congrats to all 15 contestants, and thanks to everyone who made it such a fun event to watch!

[Lore]

Congratulations to Ben. Just think of how many beds he can buy with $250,000.

[mxc_takeshi]

27 right.

Adam- 1; Park- 4; Bubble- 3; Media- 2; Add- 3; Role- 1
McWrite- 0; Colonial- 4; Peak- 3; I'm- 2; Possess- 4; Common- 0

Lach trash: "Phyllis Wheatley"

I've heard of Pericles of Tyre, but not well enough to recall it. Congrats to Ben; misses his first FJ, but wins TOC!

[Category 13]

Depending on its theoretical size, all 3 of the finalists ought to make it to any future all-time tournament.

If it's anything like Survivor, They'll have to bring back Arthur & Julia in the interest of ratings.

[Category 13]

I felt the next to last (or 2nd to last) DJ clue was undervalued and extra difficult, even for ToC.
I knew who they were going for (Jeffery McDonald) but could not dredge it out of my memory. I remember seeing the made-for-TV movie with Karl Maldin as the murdered wife's father, but good grief, that was thirty years ago.
Julia made an uncharacteristically bad guess with "Kevorkian".

[NYCScribbler]

...and then we all went up the pub.

Well, okay, the college kids couldn't go, and I don't remember seeing Jared or Joshua, and Drew left early and Julia came late (with cake!) and Sarah didn't actually play trivia, but yes, the remainder of us felt the best way to celebrate the ToC was to go play pub trivia at O'Brien's.

[TomKBaltimoreBoy]

Great way to end the day!

[whatisbishkek]

Is it possible that we will see all three of the finalists again? I hope so, but Julia is the only one who I think is a lock to be invited back if there is another super tournament.

I'd say Arthur's place on the all-time victories list and the attention he garnered during his run make him a lock, and Ben's status as "guy who beat Arthur Chu and Julia Collins" should make him a lock as well, unless the field is unusually small.

[goatman]

Wow! What a fantastic TOC and the last game was a doozy; as Arthur said; "This has become a kind of a sport!" Congrats Ben, you earned it man!

What a tough FJ: I came up with Verona (2 Gentlemen of), Venice (Merchant of), Windsor (Merry Wives of), Athens (Timon of); and struggling for more ended up with Coriolanus (He was named for a conquered city in Volscia, which of course is in Italy. I reckon that would be unacceptable on so many levels... lol. This question is highly suspect since Pericles is a disputed play which likely was wrongly attributed to Will S, appearing at the end of his life, it was not in his usual style and was probably a knock-off. So that's my excuse and I'm stickin to it! (Who's Wrong-Way Corrigan?!)

On the brighter side I got 32 on these extremely challenging boards. The trouble with TOC for mere mortals watching at home is they can't respond to any of the clues,feel stupid, and so change channels to watch bikini-clad mud wrestlers and America's Funniest Home Videos instead. J! has to find balance with difficulty and challenging enough game to be interesting- such a fine line!

J: Coat of may colors = Joseph (Pavlov: Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat); Aaron's rod turned into a serpent in one account, and bore almonds in another; Noah herded the animals; cutesy "not rare or well-done = medium"; PLeased as punch to correctly attribute "Ode to A Nightingale" to John Keats, as well as St Louis to Lindy, Alamo to Davy Crockett, Hawk's Nest to WV (Country Roads, take me home...), Natchez Trace to MS (Meriwether Lewis was murdered on the Trace in 1809, for many years illogically ruled a suicide, but he was shot twice, in the gut and in the back of his head, which would be extraordinarily difficult, even for a most determined suicide!);

"This is the place" is Pavlov for Utah (Brigham Young) but Alec giving it as TMO not found in the clue didnt' help a bit! Got embolism (A kind of stroke, I think that's what they were trying to convey); photography (silver salts); and swordplay. Nailed the word puzzles, incl: denture>denature; aspirin>aspiring; confer>conifer; defied>deified and 212F - 194F = 18 (know boiling point of water!) and guessed correctly "video games > ideas by Justice Scalia.

Instaget Christ, Wrigley, Magic Mike but never saw "Dear John" about John Tyree and also gave Media Circus; NHO Media Consolidation, what an odd clue!

NHO Beqaa Valley, I gave Jordan Rift which does appear in wiki as the principal feature in which Beqaa is found, and maybe acceptable, but in TOC level play they would probably just BMS for it.

DJ: Lucky guess on "The New Yorker" only b/c my dad subscribes and actually reads it; instaget Martha's Vineyard for island off the coast south of Cape Cod; "Uhuru" = Swahili, 'freedom' name for highest point on Kilimanjaro; Justice is "Blind"; HMS Fortune sailed second to Plymouth COlony, Pandora's Box contained only Hope when all the evil was let out; 1664 Gov Stuyvusant surrendered New Amsterdam (NYC) to the English; Birds of the Galapagos whose observation led to his theory = Darwin's Finches; clam on 1962 "A global Village", and also clam "This too shall pass."

1670s King Phillips war named for a Chief (Metacomet was his Indian name, son of Massasoit, another DD fav, chief of the Wampanoag Tribe that aided Plymouth Pilgrims); 1682 Deleware was a cession from Penn's PA land grant; Canary Island Group = Tenerife (see, didn't we just see the Azores too?!? LOL... NB The canary islands are NOT named for birds, but for DOGS; Latin Canus = dog; the islands were overrun with wild mutts when Romans discovered them. Nailed capital of S. Australia = Adelaide (True DD WTG Arthur!); got Oglethorpe for Georgia Governor battling in the "War of Jenkins Ear" and Pavlov for African American writer born in Sengal = Phyllis Wheatley, she wrote to Washington and they had lunch. Her poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America:

Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic dye."
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

[ElendilPickle]

Congratulations, Ben!

[alietr]

I'll add my congratulations to Ben, who was especially gracious in victory. That's the kind of sportsmanship I always I appreciate. And to Arthur and Julia as well. Great job by all three of you.

And, uh, doesn't Troilus mean Troy or something like that? That's the best guess I could hazard.

[ArthurChu]

ICYMI I made a video expressing my feelings about the events of tonight's Tournament of Champions final match so I wouldn't have to talk about them with people.

http://youtu.be/3HmizQEznFo

[TomKBaltimoreBoy]

ICYMI I made a video expressing my feelings about the events of tonight's Tournament of Champions final match so I wouldn't have to talk about them with people.

http://youtu.be/3HmizQEznFo

Well done!

[schoe]

ICYMI I made a video expressing my feelings about the events of tonight's Tournament of Champions final match so I wouldn't have to talk about them with people.

http://youtu.be/3HmizQEznFo

[TenPoundHammer]

Lach Trash: Staff.

Bubble Trouble is my favorite Ambrosia Software game. I was squishing fish with bubbles since I was a kid.

Couldn't think of any gum companies, not even Wrigley. Duh.

I misread the first clue and thought they wanted to know how many colors were in Joseph's coat.

State Parks was entirely an "oh yeah, I knew that" for me. I could've run the category if I could just get my brain to work a hair faster.

I thought "media consolidation" was a total Sheldon Cooper type clue.

Ran Add a Letter.

There's more than one "I Kissed a Girl"? Never heard of Jill Sobule. Thought this was particularly tough for $400 since Sobule's song wasn't a pop hit, and she seems to have been completely under the radar until Katy's song came out.

So that's what Martha's Vineyard is. Noted.

I think they overshot the difficulty on that McWriters. All TSes, no? I've at least heard of Terry McMillan, since she shares a name with a (male) session harmonica player.

Merry Wives of Windsor... nah, that's in England. Merchant of Venice... no, also in Italy. Can't say I recognize the correct response, or have any idea where Tyre is, so I wasn't getting this one ever.

I would've been happy to see any of these three win,

[periwinkle]

Congratulations to Ben!! Well done.

Three terrific players, well played by all of them. Some very tough questions there.

I agree about Jeffrey McGinniss's book - asking for his name or for "Fatal Vision," pretty reasonably hard, but asking for the name of the doctor seems far more trivial than normal.

FJ! was tremendously difficult, even for Shakespeare fans. I definitely would not have gotten it on my own - my son who goes to Shakespeare summer camp after a while (with the show on pause) said 'Pericles?' but didn't remember the city, and once he said that I thought of Tyre. But I was running through all the plays I could think of, and could not come up with Pericles.

[cosmos]

Arthur's video made me laugh and cry at the same time. I never knew I could get that emotional about a game show contestant. Thank you, Arthur!!

[Rex Kramer]

I agree about Jeffrey McGinniss's book - asking for his name or for "Fatal Vision," pretty reasonably hard, but asking for the name of the doctor seems far more trivial than normal.

Personally I always remember the doctor's name.

Rex

[Robert K S]

Great job.

But I don't know. There's no such thing as "losing" the Tournament of Champions. There's only never having tried out.

[RKane]

Haha! Yes! My favourite (in both senses of the word, incidentally) wins for the third ToC in a row!! And second was as I predicted too! And due in no small part to Ben getting a FJ that Arthur missed, as I predicted as well! I love it!

I am sure that the quarter million and the likely (at this point) to never be broken record are more than enough consolation for Ben missing that clue (on the other hand, a 1/6 get rate in a final????????!!!!!)

No doubt all three of them will be invited to the next greatest hits tournament if they do one more before Alex retires.

Good tournament on the whole.