Thursday, April 30, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7059, 2015-04-30

Greg Seroka game 6.

CONTESTANTS
Robert Sale, a government relations liaison from Washington, D.C.
Valerie Braun, a homemaker from Cincinnati, Ohio
Greg Seroka, a chef from Steamboat Springs, Colorado (whose 5-day cash winnings total $133,200)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Want to start off today's program with a personal note. I want to send out happy anniversary greetings to my beautiful wife Jean. Exactly 25 years ago, she changed my life for the better by saying, "I do." Thank you, darling.

[Applause]

Alex: All right, Valerie and Robert are the newcomers today. Greg is the champion. You heard how much money's he won. I'm sure you would like to win that much also. Let's see what happens in this half-hour. Start you off with these categories in the first round of play...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY (5/5)
STARTS & ENDS WITH T (4/5)
LONG-RUNNING MUSICALS IN SHORT (4/5)
ADVERTISING ICONS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
COUNTRIES BY HOTEL (3/5) (Alex: We'll give you the hotel.)
PRESENTED IN 2D (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Greg: 18 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Robert: 7 R, 1 W
Valerie: 1 R, 0 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,400



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Greg: $4,400
Robert: $1,400
Valerie: $0

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: They don't do them anymore, at least they don't do them as often as they used to. I'm referring to Saturday Night Live and the takeoffs on Jeopardy! Robert Sale, one of the characters as a contestant on Saturday Night Live is Sean Connery, and a lot of people ask me how I feel about this celebrated actor whom I do not like because of that.

[Laughter]

Alex: But you do a good impression of that bit.

Robert: That's--that's what my grandfather told me, and, uh, he told me that if I got on Jeopardy! I have to do the impression for you.

Alex: All right, remember, this is a family show.

[Laughter]

Robert: [Imitating Sean Connery] So I pose a conundrum to ya. A riddle, if you will. What's the difference between you and a man with a cold? Can't remember how it ends.

[Laughter]

[Applause]

[Robert chuckles.]




Alex: Valerie Braun, homemaker... plays violin in a community orchestra, has visited all 50 states, and you can still do handstands in yoga?

Valerie: Absolutely. Uh, when I was a child, I was always upside down, and my mother told me if I do a handstand every day, I'll be able to do it when I'm 70, so I'm well on my way.

Alex: Good for you. Boy, I'm--I'm dazzled by that.

[Valier chuckles.]

Alex: Greg Serok--I can barely stand on my two legs.




Alex: Greg Seroka is our champion. Like many other contestants on the program, he has good luck charms, and he has one with him today, and he's had it all week, and show the folks...

Greg: Here it is. When I get the call to be on the show, I was driving somewhere, sort of a long drive, three or four hours, and I didn't have a pen with me in the car, and not knowing how it worked, I was freaked out that they wouldn't call me back if I didn't have a pen, so I stopped off at the nearest store, bought a souvenir pen, and here I have it. It doesn't work at all.

[Laughter]

Alex: But it works, folks. He's won a lot of money. A lot of money.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Greg found the Daily Double on the 29th clue. Greg had $9,400, Valerie had $400, and Robert was at $3,200. Greg wagered $3,000.

ADVERTISING ICONS $800: Appropriately, a brainstorming session produced the little girl under an umbrella for this brand

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
STARTS & ENDS WITH T $400: Varieties include Mead's 6" X 9" 100-sheet & Sony's Xperia Z2

LONG-RUNNING MUSICALS IN SHORT $800: Marvin Hamlisch composed the music for it:
"A.C.L."

COUNTRIES BY HOTEL $400: The Victoria Falls Hotel, just south of the falls
(Greg: What is South Africa?)
(Robert: What is Tanzania?)

COUNTRIES BY HOTEL $800: The Fairmont Chateau Laurier
(Alex: What is [*]? It's in Ottawa.)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Greg: $12,400
Robert: $4,200
Valerie: $400

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
THE HUMAN BODY (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
MILITARY TV (4/5)
6-LETTER CROSSWORD CLUES (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
18th CENTURY AMERICA (4/5)
RANKS (5/5)
TITLES (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Robert: 10 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Greg: 7 R, 1 W
Valerie: 7 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 4
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $7,200



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Valerie snagged the next Daily Double on the 4th clue. Greg had $12,400, Valerie had $1,600, and Robert was at $5,400. Valerie wagered $2,000.

6-LETTER CROSSWORD CLUES $1600: Tom Canty, at the start of a Twain novel
(Valerie: [Whispers] Shoot... What is... prince?)
(Alex: Ooh, you picked the wrong one.)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Robert who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 20th clue. Greg had $16,400, Valerie had $2,400, and Robert was at $12,200. Robert wagered $6,000.

THE HUMAN BODY $1600: The endometrium is the tissue that lines this organ
(Alex: Bring out the Sean Connery in you. Come on.)
(Robert: [Imitating Sean Connery] I'll, uh, I'll wager $6,000, Trebek.)
...
(Alex: No. Valerie is smiling because she knows it's [*].)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
TITLES $1600: Liam O'Flaherty wrote this novel whose title refers to one who tells the authorities about a comrade
(Greg: What is The Informant?)

THE HUMAN BODY $2000: This gland's main duct, the duct of Wirsung, collects its juices & empties into the duodenum
(Robert: What is the... gallbladder?)
...
(Alex: Robert, you're going in the wrong direction.)

18th CENTURY AMERICA $1600: In the 1780s this "Gouverneur" proposed the decimal monetary system & devised the name "cent" for the basic coin

MILITARY TV $2000: Surprise! surprise! surprise! "Opie Joins the Marine Corps" was an episode of this classic sitcom
(Valerie: What is The Andy Griffith Show?)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Greg: $18,800 (lock game)
Robert: $6,200
Valerie: $4,000

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
WORLD CITIES

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; crush for second place.
Greg: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $6,399 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Robert: Wager $1,801 to cover Valerie.
Valerie: You have the hope of surpassing Robert for second place if you come up with the correct response or if your opponent fails to. Bet between $400 and $3,998.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
According to U.N. statistics, it's the most populous city in the Americas not attached to the mainland

FINAL SCORES
Valerie: $4,000 + $2,500 = $6,500 (What is Havana?) (2nd place)
Robert: $6,200 - $1,801 = $4,399 (What is NYC) (3rd place)
Greg: $18,800 - $1,200 = $17,600 (What is Victoria, B.C.?) (133201-day champion: $17,600)
(Alex: And in the not-too-distant future, many more Americans are going to be visiting this city, so Valerie's feeling really good now, folks.)
...
(Alex: [To Valerie] Yes, indeed. Over 2 million people.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $9,600

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Greg: $16,600, 25 R (including 1 DD), 2 W
Robert: $12,200, 17 R, 3 W (including 1 DD)
Valerie: $6,000, 8 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $34,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Greg: 25/59 = .424
Robert: 17/59 = .288
Valerie: 9/59 = .153
Team: 51/63 = .810

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
PRESENTED IN 2D $400: In wiring schematics, the symbol shown here is one of these, maybe on a wall to break the circuit

PRESENTED IN 2D $800: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew shows a globe and map on the monitor.) The curved surface of the Earth, represented on a flat sheet of paper, is called this; the Mercator one here is from the 19th century

THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY $400: Assume the warrior pose, mountain pose or seated twist while practicing this
(Alex: [Recognizing her signal-in] Get in there, Valerie!)

THINGS TO DO ON A RAINY DAY $600: Cook up this classic dish with ground lamb or beef & don't forget the mashed potato crust on top
(Alex: Yep. Chef got it.)

ADVERTISING ICONS $400: Some people get a giggle out of collecting figures of this advertising icon
(Greg: Who is [*]?)
(Alex: [Giggling like the correct response] Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!)

THE HUMAN BODY $1200: The name of these heart valves mean "half moon"

MILITARY TV $1600: The Vietnam War was seen through the eyes of nurses near the front lines on this Dana Delany show

CORRECT RESPONSES
Morton's salt
tablet
A Chorus Line
Zimbabwe
Canada
pauper
the uterus
The Informer
the pancreas
Gouverneur Morris
Gomer Pyle
Havana, Cuba
a switch
a projection
yoga
shepherd's pie
the Pillsbury Doughboy
semilunar
China Beach

[jeff6286]

World Cities
According to U.N. statistics, it's the most populous city in the Americas not attached to the mainland.

Spoiler

What is Havana? Robert said New York City; Greg said Victoria, B.C.

Greg Seroka: $18,800-$1,200=$17,600...now a 6-day champion with $150,800
Robert Sale: $6,200-$1,801=$4,399
Valerie Braun: $4,000+$2,500=$6,500

[floridagator]

For the second day in a row, a contestant goes "I think I can I can, I think I can, I think I can..." but no, he can't. Robert blew the game on endometrium, which was easy! Hasn't he ever heard of endometriosis? To use a modern word from psychobabble, do you suppose that schematic diagram was triggering for Greg after yesterday's FJ? (Probably not, since he got it.)

I got the TSs tablet, Canada (Canada!), Morris, and Gomer Pyle. I could have gotten the musicals just from the initials alone, except T.W.

That giggle on Pillsbury Doughboy was truly not necessary.

LOL at Victoria, B.C., which isn't even the largest Canadian city not on the mainland. St. John's, NL and Sydney, NS are both bigger. Hell, Victoria isn't even the largest city on Vancouver Island anymore. Nanaimo has surpassed it. There must be at least 20 cities in the Caribbean bigger than Victoria.

[dhkendall]

I'm wondering if some words were cut out of Robert's impression by the editors. (Proving that it's impossible to do a "clean" Sean-Connery-from-Celebrity-Jeopardy! impression)

I said "harbor" for "6 LETTER CROSSWORD CLUES" $1200 but I"m guessing since the clue was worded "Where to harbor your yacht" it might not be counted.

Valerie seemed to be a bit over her head during most of the game, a bit sad to see, but I guess being on the stage playing Jeopardy! for reals can be a bit overwhelming.

Tossup between Havana and Santo Domingo here. Picked the wrong one (but I'm guessing it was a close pick).

I forsee a lot of Facebook outrage over the fact that NYC was negged. ("But it's on an island!" they'll say. "Manhattan, Staten, Long, all islands!" But it's not *all* on an island. My bet: 12 people outraged over an NYC snub by midnight.)

[dhkendall]

That giggle on Pillsbury Doughboy was truly not necessary.

Then why did I do it at home then?

Spoiler

Because it's fun. Same reason why Alex did.

[Bamaman]

If not for the yoga clue, the lady in the middle would have had zero ring ins in the first round.

I got FJ, but spent part of the time trying to think of a city that is on an island. Nothing came to me, so I wound up in Havana. Ole!!!

[MitchO]

Why you assuming the woman knows the uterus question, Alex? (Kidding, he obviously saw her expression).

The Bronx is the only borough of NYC that's not on an island. I forget it myself (having grown up on the usually ignored Staten Island). I wanted to assume it was in the Carribean, but couldn't pick one I liked better than Honolulu (which seemed too obv)

[TenPoundHammer]

Lach Trash: "tablet".

Ran 2D and Advertising Icons, and got all but "transient" in Starts and Ends with T.

Titles was completely over my head. When the top box is Le Morte d'Arthur, I know I'm going 0/5.

Also 0/5 in 18th Century America, but somehow got Army Wives to keep me from 0/5 in Military TV. NHO The Civil War in the Ken Burns sense, and I knew JAG but clammed on it.

Havana is really that big?!? It never crossed my mind since I never went over that far.

[econgator]

Never even considered Havana. I know Brooklyn's not a city any more, so the best I could come up with was Montreal.

[OSXpert]

I guessed Port-au-Prince, girlfriend guessed Havana.

According to this link, some of the other island cities (including port-au-prince)have bigger metro areas, but not cities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_me ... est_Indies

[Abraxas]

Congratulations, Greg, on another strong win! I had 39 correct responses including four triple stumpers: tablet, Canada, pancreas, and Gomer Pyle. I also got FJ.

[Leander]

Never even considered Havana. I know Brooklyn's not a city any more, so the best I could come up with was Montreal.

I briefly considered Montreal before going with Havana. Interesting question whether they would consider Montreal "not on the mainland".

Also thought about Kingston and Port au Prince.

[econgator]

Man, I just realized I'm 0-fer-the-week so far.

[xxaaaxx]

For a second there, I thought we were going to have a shootout to the end...and then my jaw hit the floor when he missed the endometrium DD. Ouch.

For FJ, after considering just about every major island capital, I settled on Havana, fearing that it was some sort of "trick" question or that I was underestimating how many people are packed into Santo Domingo/Port-au-Prince/Kingston.

Another week, another superchamp. I could get used to this

[Austin Powers]

It's not clear to me that Montreal is wrong.

It's also not clear to me that Havana is obviously bigger than Santo Domingo.

[Zee2]

NYC without the Bronx has 7,000,000. The clue did not say "completely on an island." I am not on Facebook so I am complaining here. Sorry.

[floridagator]

It's not clear to me that Montreal is wrong.

Montreal is absolutely, totally wrong.

Under its present boundaries, Montreal is 1.6 million, well short of Havana. At an earlier time, when the whole island was a single city, Montreal was closer to 2 million, but still smaller than Havana. So we need not even reach the question of whether Montreal is part of the mainland.

If it were possible to bet, I would bet on 100-1 odds that the wording "not attached to the mainland" was devised specifically to exclude New York City.

[Zee2]

And I forgot to add that Santo Domingo proper (not greater Santo Domingo) has a population of 2.9 million, which is more than Havana's 2 million, per Trebek.

[whatisbishkek]

I guessed Santo Domingo, which turns out to have the largest metro population. Is this really a question to which it would be reasonable to expect Jeopardy! contestants to know the answer? It seems to be more about lucky guessing to me.