Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Volante]

They pre-empted Jeopardy but we're getting Wheel? Bah.

LA aired it today, so Thursday's going to air Friday and Friday better air Saturday...

I can't believe people don't know what Dahomey is called these days?

I don't play that.

Instafinal; thank you Sporcle.

[groovitude]

Didn't see the episode, but played off J-Board.

$21,800 Coryats (34 correct, 4 wrong, 16 clammed)
LT: Top Chef, sheep, hulls, thoughtcrime, Ty Cobb

FJ:

I'm terrible with geography and international politics, so I'm not surprised I whiffed here.

I was really surprised by the Lach trash I picked up. "Sheep" seems obvious once they've given you "goat," and I thought catamaran was well-known as a two-hulled craft. I also figured "Tiger" would be Pavlovian for Cobb on a baseball question, barring questions about current players or pitchers. (Al Kaline has only been the correct response when matched with "alkaline.")

[harrumph]

If there's a preemption for a news story, it's smart to dvr a chunk of late night hours on your Jeopardy affiliate.

[Volante]

If there's a preemption for a news story, it's smart to dvr a chunk of late night hours on your Jeopardy affiliate.

Not saying that's a bad initial strategy, but after enough incidents you learn what your affiliate does regularly, and that's not how mine works...though they do delay it during NBA finals. For news preemptions, they either bump each episode a day and swap the repeat for the new one Saturday...or just drop it into the ether.

And enough incidents have happened that I'd actually be confident enough to bet on this, which is flat out messed up.

[9021amyers]

If there's a preemption for a news story, it's smart to dvr a chunk of late night hours on your Jeopardy affiliate.

Not saying that's a bad initial strategy, but after enough incidents you learn what your affiliate does regularly, and that's not how mine works...though they do delay it during NBA finals. For news preemptions, they either bump each episode a day and swap the repeat for the new one Saturday...or just drop it into the ether.

And enough incidents have happened that I'd actually be confident enough to bet on this, which is flat out messed up.

In Atlanta, the NBC station that airs the Wheel/Jeopardy bloc also owns the local MyNetworkTV affiliate. Usually, if something on NBC takes over the 7:00 slot, the shows air at the usual time on the sister station. I imagine there must be other markets where this happens.

[harrumph]

If there's a preemption for a news story, it's smart to dvr a chunk of late night hours on your Jeopardy affiliate.

Not saying that's a bad initial strategy, but after enough incidents you learn what your affiliate does regularly, and that's not how mine works...though they do delay it during NBA finals. For news preemptions, they either bump each episode a day and swap the repeat for the new one Saturday...or just drop it into the ether.

And enough incidents have happened that I'd actually be confident enough to bet on this, which is flat out messed up.

In Atlanta, the NBC station that airs the Wheel/Jeopardy bloc also owns the local MyNetworkTV affiliate. Usually, if something on NBC takes over the 7:00 slot, the shows air at the usual time on the sister station. I imagine there must be other markets where this happens.

They ran Jeopardy in the middle of the night on both the NYC and Philadelphia affiliates, and there was no updated listing for dvr purposes on either channel.

[opusthepenguin]

What was Joyce thinking with that FJ wager? With a $12,000-$11,400 lead, she decided to wager small, but she wagered just enough that an incorrect response would have dropped her below third place's doubled score by one dollar. One of the most perplexing wagers I've ever seen.

I'm guessing she did a round-number calculation to get to $800 and knew she needed $1 more to avoid a tie.

[opusthepenguin]

Also, I did not hear Brad say "What is?" on his (white tailed) Deer response. I was waiting for a reversal but it never came.

Same here. I suspect Alex, expecting to hear the word "what" at the beginning of the response, processed "white" as "what" and then blanked over the next word not being "is," and since "deer" alone would have been acceptable he saw nothing wrong with the response he heard. It's strange that it wasn't reversed, though.

I don't think they'd reverse something like that. If Alex says yes rather than staring at you frog-faced and you pick the next clue, you're home free.

[opusthepenguin]

I can't believe people don't know what Dahomey is called these days?

I don't play that.

Oh. Huh. Do you play Uppdog?

[seaborgium]

While I don't fault Joyce for trying to outsmart Brad with a shortagey wager, she got it all wrong on the math. She should have tried 400 or 798.

I don't think she was trying to outsmart Brad ($400 would have been the wager for that), but instead to guarantee herself a finish ahead of Nicole, and she just added the dollar instead of subtracting it.

Also, it's Shoretegy (named for Bob Shore), and it's limited to scenarios in which second can bet to get ahead of first without letting third back in the game. Since Brad was $800 behind Joyce and $200 into his lock over Nicole, a small wager from Joyce (even a properly small one) is not technically Shoretegy.

If she finds herself in anymore crush wagering scenarios like tonight, she could be in trouble. She made a serious calculation error that left her with only one combination to win, and she was fortunate that it fell into place.

"Crush" is used to refer to a situation where first leads second by over half second's score (i.e., where second has more than half but less than two thirds of first's score).
Also, Joyce would have won on a sole get or a triple stumper. Along with the RWR scenario that played out, that makes three of the eight possible right/wrong combos victorious for her. That's worse than the 50/50 that the cover wager would have been, but it's three times better than "only one combination" (and had she wagered how I think she meant to, that also would have been 50/50, with her victory hinging on Brad's response instead of her own).


Upon seeing the category tonight, I precalled South Sudan, East Timor, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Eritrea in that order. I'm glad I made the effort, because I always seem to think of Bosnia first when trying to think of Kosovo, and I found myself stuck on Sarajevo next for a few moments before I was able to pull up the name of Kosovo. Had I done that during the think music, I might not have been able to pull out of the nosedive. As it was I just had to convince myself it wasn't Montenegro.

[Bamaman]

I was working out of town this week and my schedule conflicted with its regular showing in Atlanta, so I would not have seen it anyway. I got home early today and see it got bumped by the talking heads talking about nothing. Thanks to The penguin who shall remain nameless for getting it for us.

I also missed the question word in the deer clue. Once it was clear he was staying away from the sports category, I knew we would not see much of it, if at all. Nobody getting Ty Cobb when given Tigers, peach and "played in WWI era" was a sign we didn't miss much. I'm giving myself $6,000 for the entire category in Lach Trash. Unless Pat Tillman or David Robinson was up there, I bet everyone played before I was born, which is my area of expertise in sports.

I think Joyce just decided to lock out third place and added a dollar rather than subtracted it so I wish she had missed FJ. Not sure why she was ignoring Brad. I'd have probably bet $199 from second place, which would have screwed me in that scenario.

I thought of South Sudan and Kosovo during the break. Kosovo comes up a lot on Sporcle so that was an instaget.

[Cat Hammarskjold]

I'm not sure if I didn't notice it on Monday or Tuesday, but Joyce pronounced "hundred" the same way Laura Ashby did on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm just surprised that people haven't been criticizing her the same way they did to Laura.

[opusthepenguin]

I'm not sure if I didn't notice it on Monday or Tuesday, but Joyce pronounced "hundred" the same way Laura Ashby did on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm just surprised that people haven't been criticizing her the same way they did to Laura.

My theory is that everyone learned their lesson and we'll never have those kind of silly conversations again.

[triviawayne]

If there's a preemption for a news story, it's smart to dvr a chunk of late night hours on your Jeopardy affiliate.

Some will bump each episode one day and show Friday's on Saturday.

[triviawayne]

Alex unwittingly gave out one of the upcoming responses in the Ship category when he said "Battle Cruiser" before changing it to "Battleship". Bad, Alex.

Also, I did not hear Brad say "What is?" on his (white tailed) Deer response. I was waiting for a reversal but it never came.

I got the Lach Trash on Battleship, Hulls and Ty Cobb. I can't remember if someone came up with Cruiser but I had that also.

There are many times I would swear I didn't hear what is, and often wonder if it was cut during editing.

[TenPoundHammer]

I could've gotten all but Sense and Sensibility in the Working Titles, but my brain was a bit too slow and I got only $600.

"Well, fishing for eels has to be snuffle, since that's the only one that sounds like an actual word to me, right?" WRONG. See why I never guess?!?!

WLT Copenhagen on City Walk for $200?

There was a fire of London?

Lach Trash: Trimester.

Easily ran State Animal, and got all but the bottom box in both Podcasts and "Rime".

No guess on FJ! My knowledge of Kosovo begins and ends with "There is a place called Kosovo".

[chmmr]

I guessed on fishing for eels and got it right

[seaborgium]

WLT Copenhagen on City Walk for $200?

There was a fire of London?

if the Little Mermaid statue isn't Pavlovian for Denmark, you can connect it to Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

Probably the most famous (accidental) citywide fires were in San Francisco in 1906 (following an earthquake), Chicago in 1871, and London in 1666.

[TenPoundHammer]

Seaborgium: Of course. What tripped me up is that I went mermaid = Norfolk, whoops, that's not a capital, then hit a dead end. International capitals never occurred to me.

If there's a preemption for a news story, it's smart to dvr a chunk of late night hours on your Jeopardy affiliate.

Not saying that's a bad initial strategy, but after enough incidents you learn what your affiliate does regularly, and that's not how mine works...though they do delay it during NBA finals. For news preemptions, they either bump each episode a day and swap the repeat for the new one Saturday...or just drop it into the ether.

And enough incidents have happened that I'd actually be confident enough to bet on this, which is flat out messed up.

WNEM doesn't delay if something blocks out J! and/or Wheel. If they decide to air a winter weather road show (because, you know, winter has never occurred in Michigan before), a Time-Life infomercial, a special on where to get the best deals in Mid-Michigan, or one of their news anchors doing armpit farts for 30 minutes, then tough. Go torrent it.

[CailinGaoilge]

There was a fire of London?

Google The great fire of London. Take note of other facts that may come up: where it started; the famous diarist who documented it; early use of fire engines; and early principles of urban planning for fire safety in the rebuilding of the sections of London destroyed. Oh, and the link between the Great Fire and the Black Death. You never know when that information may become useful