Thursday, November 3, 2016 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[MarkBarrett]

Did anyone else hear Johnny's voice crack when saying "whose" before Vivek's total?

I noticed nothing on first viewing. I listened again and heard an extra oomph on the "43-thousand" portion of the total that sounded unusual.

[IronNeck]

The players not getting Pravda or W.J. Bryan seemed like ones that would not get past TOC players.

I agree those were unexpected, and I was kicking myself for not getting William Jennings Bryan. Then again, there were a great many TS's during Seth Wilson's run that I wouldn't expect a ToC player to miss, too. And look how far he got.

[This Is Kirk!]

I spent the 30 seconds looking at Eeyore and Eyeore on my paper

[seaborgium]

Sharon's neg on the Pravda clue is sort of an oblique reversal of what happened to Yael Sofaer on her FJ in the ToC: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=412

[Cat Hammarskjold]

Today's Final is going to poll over 95% on Mark's poll. It was easy enough without an impression.

Like mrparadise, I've passed the test each time I've taken it, although unlike mrparadise, I haven't been invited to an audition yet. I also clicked the "I got all five FJs this week" box on the poll each of the last two weeks, albeit I only got Tuesday's FJ right this week (said iTunes on Monday and Alfred Hitchcock on Wednesday). Is getting two presents for a birthday something abnormal in either a children's book or in real life? I take it that this voice impression must be something really famous, because I doubt that most people would think that getting two birthday presents would be that abnormal. And why are people saying "only two"? There are a lot of people who are lucky to get one. Could someone please explain why this clue would've been easy enough without an impression?

[This Is Kirk!]

Could someone please explain why this clue would've been easy enough without an impression?

Eeyore is Pavlovian for a gloomy children's book character.

[bpmod]

... and I'm pretty sure I had a lock from the 4th podium tonight...

That's funny. I didn't count anywhere near $29000 worth of triple stumpers.

Brian

[StevenH]

For the second week in a row I missed a FJ that should poll above 95%. I honestly had no idea on this one.

[BobF]

This should hold the title of easiest FJ! of the seasonever. Period. End of story.

Fixed that for you.

[alietr]

This should hold the title of easiest FJ! of the seasonever. Period. End of story.

Fixed that for you.

Except we've already had several people admit they didn't get it.

[opusthepenguin]

Sharon's neg on the Pravda clue is sort of an oblique reversal of what happened to Yael Sofaer on her FJ in the ToC: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=412

Interesting. It sort of is.

I felt bad for Sharon there. She seemed to realize her mistake fairly quickly. And she's the only contestant who even had a clue what the right response should be. One brain fart or mis-guess and she's penalized for knowing more than the other two. C'est la Jeopardie, I suppose.

[opusthepenguin]

For the second week in a row I missed a FJ that should poll above 95%. I honestly had no idea on this one.

We'll see. I thought it would poll high too; but several boardies are saying they missed it. It may turn into one of those things where those of us familiar with the stories had no idea other people weren't.

[opusthepenguin]

This should hold the title of easiest FJ! of the seasonever. Period. End of story.

Fixed that for you.

Except we've already had several people admit they didn't get it.

Yep. I will say this, though. I'm not surprised that several of us found this to be one of the easiest FJs ever. Both Mrs P and I announced we knew the correct response before Alex was halfway through the clue. We were joking about that when Alex did his Eeyore impression and had to rewind to hear that part again. Off the top of my head, I can't recall an instagettier clue for both of us.

Regarding Alex's ad lib, has he done that before? This wasn't just reading a clue about Dracula in a Dracula voice. He effectively made his instructions into an unwritten part of the clue. "And you have 30 seconds to figure out who I am." Did this make the difference between a miss and a get for any boardies? That might be a pollworthy question.

[BobF]

"And you have 30 seconds to figure out who I am."

Would "Alex Trebek" have been an acceptable answer?

[Elijah Baley]

Today's Final is going to poll over 95% on Mark's poll. It was easy enough without an impression.

Like mrparadise, I've passed the test each time I've taken it, although unlike mrparadise, I haven't been invited to an audition yet. I also clicked the "I got all five FJs this week" box on the poll each of the last two weeks, albeit I only got Tuesday's FJ right this week (said iTunes on Monday and Alfred Hitchcock on Wednesday). Is getting two presents for a birthday something abnormal in either a children's book or in real life? I take it that this voice impression must be something really famous, because I doubt that most people would think that getting two birthday presents would be that abnormal. And why are people saying "only two"? There are a lot of people who are lucky to get one. Could someone please explain why this clue would've been easy enough without an impression?

I'm not sure if I'm following your question because I don't remember anything mentioned about the number of presents. As for Alex's impersonation, I didn't think it was particularly good - I'm not a fan of his attempts to do impressions at all - but it was kind of unnecessary.

I was also wondering if this FJ clue had been intended for the upcoming Teen Tournament and somehow made it's way into the regular schedule. Because while Winnie the Pooh characters apparently weren't on everyone's radar, the stories are about as universal as they come in terms of kiddie lit.

[cf1140]

I got this FJ wrong playing off the Clue of the Day. I don't know if hearing Alex would have made a difference.

There is a birthday cake and party at the end of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland and that birthday cake is for POOH, not Eeyore, so I said Pooh. I was pretty surprised when I read the summary on Fikkle Fame and realized I had missed the FJ.

[cf1140]

I was also wondering if this FJ clue had been intended for the upcoming Teen Tournament and somehow made it's way into the regular schedule. Because while Winnie the Pooh characters apparently weren't on everyone's radar, the stories are about as universal as they come in terms of kiddie lit.

The Teen tournament was filmed in April, well before yesterday's match was taped.

[Elijah Baley]

I was also wondering if this FJ clue had been intended for the upcoming Teen Tournament and somehow made it's way into the regular schedule. Because while Winnie the Pooh characters apparently weren't on everyone's radar, the stories are about as universal as they come in terms of kiddie lit.

The Teen tournament was filmed in April, well before yesterday's match was taped.

Huh; I didn't know that. It seems like a long time to make kids wait for their friends and family to see them. Not to mention they're presumably asked to keep it all a secret - again, a long time for a teen when days seem like months and months like years.

(And my question was more in jest; I assume that the process for developing clues doesn't lead to clues wandering off into other tourneys, etc.).

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not happy about the Csonka TS though, and not just because I'm a football fan and grew up watching American Gladiators.

Same here, and not just because I'm old.

I remember seeing Csonka playing with the World Football League's Memphis Southmen vs. the Birmingham Vulcans. Sadly, that game was the last weekend of the league, as the second incarnation of the WFL collapsed roughly halfway through the season.

[A Wray]

Regarding Alex's ad lib, has he done that before? This wasn't just reading a clue about Dracula in a Dracula voice. He effectively made his instructions into an unwritten part of the clue. "And you have 30 seconds to figure out who I am."

That's exactly what I thought when he said that, and for me it turned an easy FJ into an insultingly easy one. But even the impression alone seemed inappropriate, unless he specifically consulted with the writer of the clue. The quotation refers to Eeyore in the third person; the clue isn't written to be read in Eeyore's voice. And presumably the writers put great effort into constructing clues of appropriate difficulty. I mean, would he ever consider reading this FJ in an exaggerated Boston accent?