Wednesday, July 8, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7108, 2015-07-08

CONTESTANTS
Jenny Thorngate, a chemist from Madison, Wisconsin
Ian Borland, a professor from Baltimore, Maryland
Sawyer Morgan, an engineering student originally from Fishers, Indiana (whose 1-day cash winnings total $11,590)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: All right, thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I'm feeling a little crazy today, a little like that camel in those television commercials because it's hump day. And we're happy to welcome Ian and Jenny as the challengers to our champion, Sawyer. Let's see how this half-hour works out. Good luck. Here we go. And now the categories. First off...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
FEWER THAN A THOUSAND ISLANDS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
TRIPLE HOMOPHONES (4/5)
PLAYING THE INTERNAL ORGAN (5/5)
IT SHOULDA BEEN A CONTENDER (3/4) (Alex: Films that didn't get an Academy Award Best Picture nomination.)
MATERIAL (3/5)
WITNESS (2/2)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Sawyer: 11 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 2 W
Ian: 8 R, 2 W
Jenny: 3 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W

Clues revealed: 26
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,200



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Ian: $2,400
Sawyer: $2,200
Jenny: $600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: The information I have on Jenny Thorngate, who is a chemist, tells me that she once jumped into a hole in a frozen lake dressed as Mary Poppins. There has to be a story, perhaps involving alcohol.

Jenny: No alcohol, actually. It was a fundraiser for Special Olympics called a Polar Plunge, where you jump into ice-cold water.

Alex: Where was this lake?

Jenny: This was in Madison, Wisconsin, where I'm from.

Alex: Oh, gosh. And when was it? The time of--

Jenny: February. So, yeah, they just cut a hole in the ice.

Alex: How big a hole?

Jenny: Pretty big. It was about 10 feet down. The worst part is, when you jump in, you can't remember how to swim because it's so cold. [Laughs]

Alex: Let me guess that you only did this once.

Jenny: No, I did it twice, actually.

Alex: Oh, gosh.

Jenny: But only once dressed as Mary Poppins.

Alex: Oh, there you go. That makes it a lot better.




Alex: All right, Ian Borland is a professor from Maryland, who rafted the Grand Canyon without one of those commercial guides that you are supposed to use down there.

Ian: That's right. You can get a private permit every so often, every 10 years if you're lucky. And we got one a few years back, and--

Alex: How many of you?

Ian: A party of about 20 of us. A lot of guys from Idaho, yeah.

Alex: All right, and you did the whole Grand Canyon, or just part of it?

Ian: You can go all the way to Vegas. We didn't get that far. But we spent about 20 days down there.

Alex: Ah. Well, let me ask you the same question that I was sort of going for with this young lady, and that is, "Was there alcohol involved at all?"

Ian: So much alcohol.

Alex: So much?

Ian: Yeah. Nothing else to do.

Alex: Okay. Yes, you're down at the bottom of the canyon.




Alex: Sawyer Morgan is our champion. He is, like so many Jeopardy! players, a collector. He is a numismatist.

Sawyer: That's right. I collect coins and bills from around the world.

Alex: Okay, your favorite part of the collection?

Sawyer: Um, I really love the ones that I collected myself during my travels. Um, I spent some time in Singapore, so those have really interesting bill designs.

Alex: Okay, we're talking about current currency, not antique currency.

Sawyer: I have mostly current currency, but I do have older money, as well, including some my grandfather got in World War II.

Alex: [Interrupting] You know you're not gonna be able to spend the current currency because it'll go out of style in a few years, and they will not accept it, even at banks. Been there, done that.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Sawyer found the Daily Double on the 18th clue. Sawyer had $2,400, Ian had $2,400, and Jenny was at $1,600. Sawyer made it a True Daily Double, wagering $2,400.

FEWER THAN A THOUSAND ISLANDS $600: A part of this island that's on the Susquehanna hit 4,000 degrees in a hurry in 1979
(Alex: Yes, that's it. Good memory. Even though you were not born.)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
MATERIAL $400: Reddish soil called laterite gets its name from later, Latin for this reddish building material
(Sawyer: What is clay?)
(Ian: What is terra-cotta?)

TRIPLE HOMOPHONES $1000: A sense,
a place &
to quote

MATERIAL $800: Raden is the Japanese name for this "familial" type of inlay used decoratively in lacquer ware

IT SHOULDA BEEN A CONTENDER $1000: 1956:
Give this classic John Ford/John Wayne western a nomination? That'll be the day!

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Sawyer: $6,200
Ian: $3,600
Jenny: $2,200

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
STARTS & ENDS WITH DIFFERENT VOWELS (5/5)
AN AGATHA CHRISTIE MYSTERY (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
SHADOW PLAY (3/5)
FIGHT OR FLIGHT (4/5)
NAME-DROPPING SONG LYRICS (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851 (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Jenny: 8 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Sawyer: 9 R, 2 W
Ian: 7 R (including 1 DD), 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 6
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $9,600



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Ian snagged the next Daily Double on the 25th clue. Sawyer had $9,800, Ian had $7,600, and Jenny was at $8,600. Ian wagered $1,600.

AN AGATHA CHRISTIE MYSTERY $1600: In this 1934 novel the solution to the murder is revealed in a dining car
(Alex: Yes, you see, if you waited long enough, you'd get to say it again.)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Jenny who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 30th clue. Sawyer had $11,000, Ian had $10,400, and Jenny was at $11,800. Jenny wagered $3,000.

NAME-DROPPING SONG LYRICS $800: Pink complained, "Tired of being compared to damn" this blonde singer; "She's so pretty, that just ain't me"

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
AN AGATHA CHRISTIE MYSTERY $800: The Temple of Abu Simbel is one of the stops on a cruise in this 1937 mystery
(Ian: What is Murder on the Orient Express?)
...
(Alex: Abu Simbel is in Egypt, so it's [*].)

THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851 $1600: Frederick Bakewell demonstrated his "image telegraph", an early version of this; the images were received on cylinders
(Sawyer: What is a camera?)

SHADOW PLAY $1600: The fictional character of radio drama known as the Shadow had "the power to" do this to "men's minds"

FIGHT OR FLIGHT $2000: It's the last name of the Galveston man who took off for L.A. but went the wrong way & landed in Dublin on July 17, 1938
(Sawyer: Who is Charles Lindbergh?)
...
(Alex: Who is "Wrong Way" [*]?)

NAME-DROPPING SONG LYRICS $1600: (Bob Costas gives the clue.) In "Hip Hop Quotabtes'", this rapper name-checked me with "Now I roll up torpedoes, get blunted with Rastas, & for a hefty fee, I'm on your record like Bob Costas"

SHADOW PLAY $2000: Sean O'Casey penned "The Shadow of a Gunman", & this other Irish playwright penned "In the Shadow of the Glen"

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Jenny: $14,800
Sawyer: $11,000
Ian: $10,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
THE THOMAS JEFFERSON ADMINISTRATION

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Two-thirds for first place. Stratton's Dilemma.
Jenny: Wager $7,201 to cover Sawyer.
Sawyer: You ought to wager to cover Ian, but since you cannot win on a Triple Stumper if you do so, you should choose between wagering $0 and maximizing your winnings by betting all $11,000. You are in Stratton's Dilemma, calling for a wager of more than $9,800 (to shut out Ian) or less than $3,400 (risking the possibility of being passed from behind by Ian). Go with the smaller bet if you believe a Triple Stumper is more likely than a singleton miss by Jenny.
Ian: Consider risking between $601 and $2,800. This will top a $0 wager by Sawyer while still beating Jenny on the Triple Stumper (should Jenny wager to cover Sawyer's doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Of this agreement, Thomas Jefferson said he "stretched the Constitution until it cracked"

FINAL SCORES
Ian: $10,400 + $10,400 = $20,800 (What was the Louisiana Purchase?) (3rd place)
Sawyer: $11,000 + $10,900 = $21,900 (What is the Louisiana Purchase) (2nd place)
Jenny: $14,800 + $7,201 = $22,001 (What is the Louisiana Purchase) (New champion: $22,001)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $12,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Jenny: $12,600, 11 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Ian: $10,400, 15 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Sawyer: $9,200, 20 R (including 1 DD), 4 W
Combined Coryat: $32,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Sawyer: 21/59 = .356
Ian: 16/59 = .271
Jenny: 12/59 = .203
Team: 49/63 = .778

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
MATERIAL $200: (Kelly of the Clue Crew fondles a bolt of fabric.) As you might know from a petting zoo, this fiber, when twisted, naturally springs back; that's why it's perfect for suits that you don't want to wrinkle

PLAYING THE INTERNAL ORGAN $600: It breaks down alcohol & destroys old red blood cells
(Sawyer: What is the spleen?)

IT SHOULDA BEEN A CONTENDER $200: 1933:
The Academy didn't go ape for this RKO adventure starring Bruce Cabot & some gal
(Alex: Fay Wray was the gal.)

MATERIAL $600: The almost-see-through Asian noodles shown here are called by the name of this material
(Alex: Less than a minute to go now.)

WITNESS $800: Literally millions witnessed this man murder another on Nov. 24, 1963
(Ian: Who is Lee Harvey Oswald?)
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

SHADOW PLAY $400: Seen here, the Silver Shadow was a classic luxury offering from this company

NAME-DROPPING SONG LYRICS $1200: "Liston beats Patterson" is a line from his hit "We Didn't Start The Fire"
(Alex: Less than a minute to go now.)

CORRECT RESPONSES
Three Mile Island
brick
sight/site/cite
mother-of-pearl
The Searchers
Murder on the Orient Express
Britney Spears
Death on the Nile
a fax machine
cloud
Corrigan
Ludacris
John Millington Synge
the Louisiana Purchase
wool
the liver
King Kong
cellophane (or glass)
Jack Ruby
Rolls-Royce
Billy Joel

[jeff6286]

The Thomas Jefferson Administration
Of this agreement, Thomas Jefferson said he "stretched the Constitution until it cracked".

Spoiler

What is the Louisiana Purchase?

Jenny Thorngate: $14,800+$7,201=$22,001...now a 1-day champion with $22,001
Sawyer Morgan: $11,000+$10,900=$21,900
Ian Bourland: $10,400+$10,400=$20,800

[floridagator]

What a great game. Great contestants, great action, lots of excitement. Jenny from Madison is fun and exciting. Very ebullient contestant. I hope we'll see her be more than just a one-time champion.

I predict a high solve rate for FJ. Instaget city.

[skullturf]

Today's show was an instance where it's very possible to guess the correct FJ response before the break, simply from knowing the FJ category.

[dhkendall]

Today's show was an instance where it's very possible to guess the correct FJ response before the break, simply from knowing the FJ category.

Pretty much a "what else could it be"? I mean, besides writing the constitution, what else is T-Jeffs known for?

[econgator]

Brick is not a "reddish building material". Sure, it can be red, but it can also be numerous other colors.

[econgator]

I mean, besides writing the constitution, what else is T-Jeffs known for?

Not that, for one.

[xxaaaxx]

Slightly annoyed that they kept going to the one category that they knew the other DD wasn't in. Even more annoyed that she got that DD right after wagering out of the lead on the last clue; such things should be punished.

And then they seal the victory with a rejected Kids Week FJ. The only reason I didn't precall it is because I got distracted by a phone call and didn't see the category befoere the break.

[Abraxas]

This was a well-played game by all three contestants, and very enjoyable to watch. I had 36 correct responses including three triple stumpers: brick, mother-of-pearl, and Corrigan. Instaget FJ.

[danspartan]

Can't go along with the well played game comments. DD wager at the end is about the nut worst. Risked the lead for absolutely no reward. Second was still >75%. Either keep the lead or go for the lockout right then and there (which is actually the better play mathematically assuming an $800DD is easier than FJ).

And then 3rd bets it all on FJ which is very poor play.

Didnt Sawyer seem tall yesterday and really short today? Wish I hadnt deleted yesterday to go back and look. He grew on me, was rooting for a little run.

[Tencent]

Being in first place, being given the final DD and betting enough to lose the game but not enough to make it a lock game seems uniquely
poor play. People in first place have a 70% chance of winning, so betting enough to loose first place seems crazy to me. Did I understand this incorrectly?

Betting 100% on final in third place also seems crazy to me.

Ugg. Bad bad bad game play. The champ was really really lucky.

[doihavetoreally]

What a great game. Great contestants, great action, lots of excitement. Jenny from Madison is fun and exciting. Very ebullient contestant. I hope we'll see her be more than just a one-time champion.

I predict a high solve rate for FJ. Instaget city.

Really?? Did we see the same game? No one wants to win with DD begging to be chosen -- and the last DD wager, oh my? Wrong bad guesses - Lindbergh at 2K? Abu Simbel is Orient express??

There were some great games recently, but this is not at that level.

[9021amyers]

If I was in Jenny's position, I would have made a $10,201 wager on that last Daily Double. The entire category up to that point was weak sauce; there's no way I was going to be stumped by the $800 clue. Plus, I'd still be alive in the case of catching a singleton in Final in the unlikely scenario of giving an incorrect response.

And what was Ian doing with those $800/&1600 selections when he had control of the board? That was annoying.

[Stanislaus Jacob]

I wanted Jenny to win after she repeatedly humorously frustrated Alex's expectations about her story, but there is no such book as Curtains. It probably did not affect the game, though - I suspect neither of the two other two contestants would have known the right answer (Curtain), and she had the last correct response before that, so she would still have been entitled to choose the final Daily Double clue.

[naurae29]

I wanted Jenny to win after she repeatedly humorously frustrated Alex's expectations about her story, but there is no such book as Curtains. It probably did not affect the game, though - I suspect neither of the two other two contestants would have known the right answer (Curtain), and she had the last correct response before that, so she would still have been entitled to choose the final Daily Double clue.

I came here to discuss this, because my anger knows no bounds. When they came back for FJ! and didn't make any attempt to fix it, I said, "Well, now I'm mad!" to an empty room multiple times.

BTW, had she been ruled wrong in a timely way, there's a decent chance one of the other contestants would have caught on to the fact that the clue asked for a singular. I'm not sure that DD was hers, after all.

[TenPoundHammer]

My daily "NHOs in the top box": Shetlands, Miss Marple, Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow.

Lach Trash: Cite/site/sight, "Wrong Way" Corrigan. Read about the latter in a Bathroom Reader once.

Anyone else join me in clamming on "stomach" because they thought "between the esophagus and small intestine" made it WAY too easy for $1,000? I also couldn't pull "liver" in time, but I had no hope on "gallbladder".

4/5 in Triple Homophones, missing weigh/way/whey. I couldn't understand what the first 1/3 of the clue at $400 was even saying, so I tried attacking the second and third portions and got nowhere. Lane, street, avenue? Nope. Part of milk?! Um, calcium…?!?

Ran Starts and Ends with a Different Vowel.

WLT "elephant" on 1851 for $400?

Thomas Jefferson? Well, for as little as I know about presidents, it could be anyth— oh wait, I do know this one, Louisiana Purchase.

[squizzle]

Today's show was an instance where it's very possible to guess the correct FJ response before the break, simply from knowing the FJ category.

Pretty much a "what else could it be"? I mean, besides writing the constitution, what else is T-Jeffs known for?

Madison is the father of the Constitution, Jefferson wrote the Declaration (although I for one never understand why we still say he did since he himself said that others edited it so much after his first draft that it was basically unrecognizable from the document he drafted).

That being said, instaget FJ! Way too easy IMO.

[DBear]

When the category came up, I thought of the 12th Amendment and Marbury vs. Madison, as I thought the Lousiana Purchase would be way too obvious.
Agree with above poster that this was a teen-level FJ. Got brick, Death on the Nile, and Corrigan TS.

[Spaceman Spiff]

For some reason, the phrasing of the question made me doubt the La. Purchase, but I went back to it because I had nothing else.

And once again, the clue card spelled P!NK's name wrong.

BTW, are there any other old timers whose first experience with Hessians was this:



(This was the only image of the show I could find that had the Hessians in it.)