Friday, November 13, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7170, 2015-11-13

2015 Tournament of Champions quarterfinal game 5.

CONTESTANTS
Michael Bilow, a Ph. D. student in computer science from Los Angeles, California
Scott Lord, a construction attorney from Santa Monica, California
Alex Jacob, a currency trader from Chicago, Illinois

OPENING REMARKS
Alex Trebek: Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to the new Jeopardy! musical, Hair!

[Laughter]

Alex Trebek: Scott, you and I are together in this against the two blacks. The two grays against the two blacks.

Scott: Do what I can.

Alex Trebek: Okay, thank you. Michael, Scott, Alex, good to see you again. Here we go, the Jeopardy! Round. And here come the categories for you, starting you off with...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
NAMING THE FIRST PRESIDENT (5/5)
COUNTING TO 2 (5/5)
WRITING YOUR OWN NAME (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
PLAYING THEMSELVES (4/5)
FALLING OFF A LOG (4/5)
THIS SHOULD BE "EZ"! (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Alex: 15 R (including 1 rebound), 4 W
Scott: 7 R (including 2 rebounds and 1 DD), 1 W
Michael: 6 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $800



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Scott found the Daily Double on the 11th clue. Alex had $2,600, Scott had $600, and Michael was at $2,800. Scott wagered $1,000.

WRITING YOUR OWN NAME $1000: (Kelly of the Clue Crew shows handwriting samples on the monitor.) A study finds that people who put the dots to the left of their I's & J's tend to habitually do this, from the Latin cras, meaning "tomorrow"

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Alex: $4,000
Michael: $2,200
Scott: $1,600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex Trebek: Michael Bilow is from Los Angeles, and in one of his earlier appearances on Jeopardy! we talked about hair, didn't we?

Michael: Mm-hmm.

Alex Trebek: And I mentioned that many years ago, my hair was similar to yours. And, by golly, you went out and did what?

Michael: I, uh, did a Google image search and found, uh, a picture of you back from your High Rollers days, and it was a bit eerie.

[Laughter]

Alex Trebek: I looked eerie?

Michael: I mean, a-a bit eerie in--in the resemblance. I was flattered.

[Laughter]

Alex Trebek: You didn't--you don't have a mustache, and I had one at that time.

Michael: I--and I can't grow one.

Alex Trebek: Really?

Michael: Yeah.

Alex Trebek: Oh. Poor boy.

[Laughter]




Alex Trebek: Scott Lord is a Jeopardy! champion, a construction attorney. Now after your appearances on Jeopardy! a lot of you guys get recognized. You got recognized not only in a general way, but specifically.

Scott: Yeah, I was standing in the street in Santa Monica, looking at a half-built building, uh, a new case I had, and a couple drove by in car, stopped, backed up, and said, "Aren't you Scott Lord, construction attorney?" And...

[Laughter]

Scott: Turned out they'd been watching the show and they said, "We were thinking, this building needed a construction attorney."

[Laughter]

Alex Trebek: Okay.




Alex Trebek: Alex Jacob got married after his appearance on our program. And I hear that your now-wife made a Jeopardy! cake, a special Jeopardy! cake for the rehearsal dinner?

Alex Jacob: Yes.

Alex Trebek: And we have a picture of it?

Alex Jacob: Yeah, she designed this amazing cake. Um, category good grooming... [Laughs] "I" DO--"I" in quotation marks, of course.

Alex Trebek: Uh-huh.

Alex Jacob: And, uh, it was just basically my favorite thing ever for--for the rest of my life.

Alex Trebek: No, there'll be other favorite things. Trust me.

[Laughter]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
PLAYING THEMSELVES $600: "Wes Craven's New" one includes Heather Langenkamp as herself, terrorized by Freddy Kreuger
(Michael: What is Halloween?)
(Alex Jacob: What is... Nightmare on Elm Street?)
...
(Alex Trebek: It's not Nightmare on Elm Street, just [*].)

FALLING OFF A LOG $200: A lizard may choose a log to sun himself, or this 4-letter word; don't knock him off!

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Alex: $7,200
Scott: $3,000
Michael: $3,000

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
TIME MAGAZINE'S PERSON OF THE YEAR (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
'80s FICTION (5/5)
DESERTS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
POP CULTURE (5/5)
HETERONYMS (4/5)
A LA DESCARTES (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Alex: 12 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Scott: 8 R, 1 W
Michael: 8 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 1
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $400



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Alex snagged the next Daily Double on the 2nd clue. Alex had $8,400, Scott had $3,000, and Michael was at $3,000. Alex wagered $5,600.

DESERTS $1600: The name of this desert of the Middle East is from the Hebrew for "dry"

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Michael who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 6th clue. Alex had $16,000, Scott had $4,600, and Michael was at $4,200. Michael made it a True Daily Double, wagering $4,200.

TIME MAGAZINE'S PERSON OF THE YEAR $1600: 1991:
This mouthy media mogul
(Michael: Who is Larry Flynt?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
HETERONYMS $400: An additional choice &
to switch back & forth

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Alex: $26,800 (lock game)
Scott: $10,200
Michael: $8,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
GREEK MYTHOLOGY

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; three-quarters for second place.
Alex: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $6,399 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Scott: Wager $6,601 to cover Michael.
Michael: Risk between $1,801 and $4,800, covering Scott's $0 bet.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Famous mother of Pyrrha, who survived the Great Flood & with her husband repopulated the Earth

FINAL SCORES
Michael: $8,400 - $8,400 = $0 (Who is Thisbe) (3rd place)
Scott: $10,200 - $4,000 = $6,200 (Who is Demeter) (2nd place)
Alex: $26,800 - $143 = $26,657 (Who is Gaea) (Automatic semifinalist)
(Alex: Ah, this was a tough one. She was the first woman created to punish man.)
...
(Alex: You're coming back next week to play for a quarter-million dollars against these other semifinalists...)
(Catherine: Catherine Hardee, Kinston, North Carolina.)
(Brennan: Brennan Bushee, Malden, Massachusetts.)
(Matt: Matt Jackson, Washington, D.C.)
(Kerry: Kerry Greene, Manchester, New Hampshire.)
(Alex: And, of course, added to all of those people, we have these four high scorers among the non-winners...)
(Andrew: Andrew Haringer, Squamish, British Columbia.)
(Vaughn: Vaughn Winchell, Columbia, Maryland.)
(Jon: John Schultz, Ann Arbor, Michigan.)
(Dan: Dan Feitel, Gillette, New Jersey.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $1,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Alex: $22,800, 27 R (including 1 DD), 4 W
Michael: $12,600, 14 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Scott: $10,200, 15 R (including 1 DD), 2 W
Combined Coryat: $45,600

BATTING AVERAGES
Alex: 27/59 = .458
Scott: 15/59 = .254
Michael: 14/59 = .237
Team: 56/63 = .889

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
NAMING THE FIRST PRESIDENT $1000: Of Israel: L'him!
(Alex Jacob: Who is David Ben-Gurion?)

FALLING OFF A LOG $800: In Madagascar, the hissing type of this insect is semi-social as they nest together and take care of their offspring

FALLING OFF A LOG $1000: It's on the log, off the log, over & over, if you're this type of ant, whose name you can guess by what they're carrying
(Michael: What is a leaf ant?)
(Alex Trebek: Mmmmm, no.)
(Michael: A [*]!)
(Alex Trebek: Yeah, okay, you got it in.)

THIS SHOULD BE "EZ"! $800: These eyeglasses are kept in place by a spring gripping the bridge of the nose
(Scott: What are wire-rim glasses?)

WRITING YOUR OWN NAME $600: The first name is easier to read in the signature of this great international athlete
(Alex Jacob: Who is Pelé?)

FALLING OFF A LOG $600: The badger may be looking for a larval insect called this, also a word for human food

WRITING YOUR OWN NAME $400: Micrographia is a common symptom of this disease that also causes tremors; hand exercises help some patients
(Alex Jacob: What is writer's cramp?)

WRITING YOUR OWN NAME $200: (Sarah of the Clue Crew writes left.) Lefties have it easier writing from right to left without smudging, like my name "Sarah" in this language

'80s FICTION $1200: In 1984 he served up the bestseller "The Sicilian"
[Scott makes the first selection.]

TIME MAGAZINE'S PERSON OF THE YEAR $1200: Among the controversial choices, 1938 Hitler, 1939 & 1942, this man

POP CULTURE $1600: 2015 marks 50 years of this TV special in which Linus quotes from the Gospel of Luke to enlighten his friends
(Scott: What is A Peanuts Christmas?)

CORRECT RESPONSES
procrastinate
Nightmare
bask
the Negev
Ted Turner
alternate
Pandora
(Chaim) Weizmann
cockroach
leafcutter ant
pince-nez
(Diego) Maradona
grub
Parkinson's
Hebrew
(Mario) Puzo
Stalin
A Charlie Brown Christmas

[theFJguy]

Greek Mythology

Famous mother of Pyrrha, who survived the great flood & with her husband repopulated the earth.

Spoiler

Who is Pandora? Michael had Thisbe; Scott had Demeter; Alex had Gaea

Alex Jacob: $26,800-$143=now a semi-finalist with $26,657

Scott Lord: $10,200-$4,000=$6,200

Michael Bilow: $8,400-$8,400=$0

[MTGcollegestudent]

Well...this is it...the moment of truth, the last quarterfinal match. We'll just have to wait and see the final results and see who goes and who stays...ARGH!!! The suspense is really looooooooooooooooooooong!

[JonathanHenke]

Whew! Great game! I had Matt as my pick for the eventual champion, but after Alex's dominant performance today, I think I might be changing my mind.

[JonathanHenke]

How on earth was I supposed to have gotten that Final Jeopardy, though? Was there any hint? Or was it simply a "You either know it or you don't"?

[zakharov]

Jeopardy is almost certainly getting pre-empted in many markets today for Paris coverage.

[9021amyers]

Jeopardy is almost certainly getting pre-empted in many markets today for Paris coverage.

A game show is insignificant in a time like this, but God, I hope my station doesn't pre-empt. I'm going to need some distraction from the hours of watching CNN in despair that inevitably awaits me tonight.

[Bamaman]

It aired here earlier without being bumped. I don't foresee the networks going wall to wall with the coverage.

[grindcore]

Jeopardy is almost certainly getting pre-empted in many markets today for Paris coverage.

Yep. missed all of DJ! but sure seems like Alex had his way. Can someone post the DDs from the second round please?

No clue on FJ.

[rmfromfla]

First 4 categories listed in DJ, then Lester Holt popped up on screen.
One of the two area NBC stations (Dothan) went to news coverage; the other (Panama City) kept with J!.

[9021amyers]

It's 7:00, and my local station is airing Wheel. I'm assuming today's episode will air in Atlanta at its scheduled time.

[econgator]

How on earth was I supposed to have gotten that Final Jeopardy, though? Was there any hint? Or was it simply a "You either know it or you don't"?

Pretty much. I had no clue, but was watching Sleepy Hollow over at my mother's house last night and they kept mentioning Pandora, so I just WAGged her.

No interruption for me, thankfully.

[MitchO]

I'm surprised we got to watch it in NY/NJ.

I'm also guessing Alex's bizarre hair commentary is the part that the #TOC2015 folks on Twitter are all cracking up about?

I didn't get FJ either, but I think that if you think of Greek myths that specifically mention named female humans (rather than gods or demi-gods), then you might get there.

[MitchO]

Oh, and Michael posted his found picture of High Rollers era Alex:



But I think I topped him by replying with my picture of Alex as a Toronto morning DJ:

[Abraxas]

Alex played an excellent game. I had 41 correct responses including two triple stumpers: Nightmare and bask. I also got the missed DD of Ted Turner. I got lucky in FJ by guessing Pandora.

[zakharov]

Well after ABC in NYC went wall-to-wall on various recent plane crashes I thought it was a sure thing that we'd get pre-empted, but there you go.

I know Pandora for her box and nothing else.

Great game by Alex but come on dude get some shirts that fit!

[OSXpert]

Yeah, I definitely think they need to make sure the FJs are comparably hard. I guessed Gaia, eventually got Pandora with Alex's extra information, but that was soooooooooooo much harder than yesterday.

[Golf]

In the Mythology section of the Jeopardy bible it states Pandora - the first woman. Good book to know.

Nice to see that one player under $10k knew to bet it all.

Obviously an impressive game by Alex.

[econgator]

Well after ABC in NYC went wall-to-wall on various recent plane crashes I thought it was a sure thing that we'd get pre-empted, but there you go.!

I'm ABC also. They just pre-empted Wheel.