Thursday, September 14, 2017 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7589, 2017-09-14

CONTESTANTS
Larry Coben, an archaeologist and foundation executive director from New York, New York
Ellen Wernecke, a social media analyst from Chicago, Illinois
Jen Sosnowski, a high school science teacher from Roanoke, Virginia (whose 1-day cash winnings total $28,801)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you wanna make a big impression as a contestant on Jeopardy!, do what Jen did on yesterday's program. Win big. If you wanna make an even bigger impression, win big on the second day. Larry and Ellen will have something to say about that. But good luck to you, players. Here we go into the Jeopardy! Round, which today features these categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
U.S. BUILDINGS (5/5)
CLAM UP (4/5)
3 OF A KIND (5/5)
"LIKE" A SONG (5/5)
SYMBOLS (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
IT'S AN INTERJECTION! (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Jen: 11 R, 1 W (including 1 DD)
Larry: 8 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Ellen: 8 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,400



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Larry: $2,600
Ellen: $2,200
Jen: $1,400

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Larry Coben is an archaeologist from New York, but I'd like to hear about your non-profit that you run.

Larry: Well, thank you, Alex. It's called the Sustainable Preservation Initiative, and we provide business skills and training and financing for poor women who live near archaeological sites, so that they have the opportunity to build futures as well as save their past and their heritage.

Alex: Okay. Good work. Thank you.




Alex: Ellen Wernecke from Chicago, Illinois. Works with dairy farmers every day, yet you live in Chicago.

Ellen: Yes, I work with some of the great dairy farmers of the U.S., talking--helping them talk to consumers about what they do.

Alex: Okay, good.




Alex: Jen Sosnowski is from Roanoke, Virginia. She is a high school science teacher. She works at the only high school in the country with a very special team.

Jen: A Quidditch team.

Alex: No.

Jen: Yes. That is our only sports team.

Alex: What?

Jen: It's a very small school, 65 students. Community High School. Hi guys! It's quirky, the students are wonderful, and I guess about four or five years ago--this is entirely student-run, they decided that they wanted to have a Quidditch team. They got everything, they made the materials. They got it recognized as the very first high school Quidditch team in the country. Very proud of them. It's a lot of fun.

Alex: Okay. Hopefully it'll spread.

Jen: Hope so.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Jen found the Daily Double on the 27th clue. Jen had $5,200, Ellen had $3,800, and Larry was at $3,600. Jen wagered $3,500.

SYMBOLS $1000: The caduceus is symbolic to many cultures, but it really took off when these were added above the serpents
(Jen: What are staffs?)
(Alex: No. "Really took off" because they added [*].)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
CLAM UP $600: This soft-shell clam named for 1 way it's cooked is pronounced in New England to rhyme with "Lima"

IT'S AN INTERJECTION! $800: Exciting 3-letter palindromic audio term!

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Ellen: $4,800
Larry: $3,600
Jen: $3,500

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
THE SUMMER OF LOVE: 1967 (5/5)
THEIR FIRST PUBLISHED NOVEL (4/5)
LANGUAGES OF AFRICA (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
MOVIE QUEENS (4/5)
THE ORIENT EXPRESS (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
IT'S IN INTERJECTION (3/5) (Alex: Each correct response will be a word made up of some of the letters that you find in the word "interjection".)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Ellen: 9 R (including 2 rebounds), 1 W
Jen: 8 R (including 2 rebounds), 3 W (including 1 DD)
Larry: 6 R, 4 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 5
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $8,400



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Larry snagged the next Daily Double on the 23rd clue. Jen had $7,500, Ellen had $10,000, and Larry was at $8,400. Larry wagered $2,000.

LANGUAGES OF AFRICA $1600: It's the official language in 5 African countries, including Mozambique & Cape Verde
(Larry: What is French?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Jen who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 29th clue. Jen had $9,100, Ellen had $12,800, and Larry was at $6,400. Jen wagered $4,000.

THE ORIENT EXPRESS $1600: The Orient Express went as far Orient as this city, after a few days' trip from Paris
(Jen: What is... Shanghai?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
IT'S IN INTERJECTION $800: A personal quirk, or an involuntary muscle contraction
(Larry: What is a twitch?)

IT'S IN INTERJECTION $1600: This term for a stupid person sounds like someone from a Greek isle

THEIR FIRST PUBLISHED NOVEL $2000: "Player Piano"
(1952)

MOVIE QUEENS $2000: This actress received her first of 7 Oscar nominations for playing Queen Victoria in 1997's "Mrs. Brown"

THE ORIENT EXPRESS $2000: The scenery on an Orient Express journey includes the view in this Alpine pass from Austria into Italy

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Ellen: $12,800 (lock-tie game)
Larry: $6,400
Jen: $5,100

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
BUSINESSMEN

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock-tie for first place; three-quarters for second place.
Ellen: Wager $0 to guarantee your return for the next game, or, if you'd rather lose today than face Larry tomorrow, wager $12,800 to maximize your winnings (or $2,599 to keep from dropping into third place).
Larry: Ellen will probably be betting to tie, and so should you, so be brave and put your whole $6,400 on the line.
Jen: Risk between $1,301 and $2,500 to cover Larry's $0 bet.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
The corporation of this British man got its name from his early inexperience in business

FINAL SCORES
Jen: $5,100 + $0 = $5,100 (Who is Richard Branson?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Larry: $6,400 - $6,400 = $0 (Who is Murdoch - Murdoch) (3rd place: $1,000)
Ellen: $12,800 - $6,300 = $6,500 (Who Mackintosh) (New champion: $6,500)
(Alex: [To Jen] The name of his corporation, of course? Virgin.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $9,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Ellen: $12,800, 17 R, 2 W
Jen: $12,600, 19 R, 4 W (including 2 DDs)
Larry: $8,400, 14 R, 4 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $33,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Jen: 20/60 = .333
Ellen: 17/58 = .293
Larry: 14/59 = .237
Team: 51/63 = .810

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
U.S. BUILDINGS $600: A sculpture in this New York City building depicts its founder holding one of the nickels used to create his five-and-dime empire

3 OF A KIND $200: This animated character's nephews are Huey, Dewey & Louie
(Ellen: Who is Scrooge McDuck?)

SYMBOLS $400: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew presents the clue.) Many countries have special names for their flags; we have the Stars and Stripes, Denmark has its Dannebrog & then there's this flag

CLAM UP $1000: The tide exposes clam-digging areas called these, a 5-letter plural; Essex, Massachusetts has a hotline devoted to them

IT'S IN INTERJECTION $400: To repeat a lesson's words from memory for the teacher
(Larry: What is rote?)

IT'S IN INTERJECTION $2000: In printing books, a left-hand page is called a verso, and its other side is called this, from the Latin for "right"

THE SUMMER OF LOVE: 1967 $800: Pope Paul VI ordained 27 new cardinals, including one from Poland who would later become this pope

THE SUMMER OF LOVE: 1967 $1600: Media response to all the love included the CBS special "The Hippie Temptation", that being mainly this drug
(Ellen: What is marijuana?)

LANGUAGES OF AFRICA $1200: The world's Austronesian languages include Tagalog, Javanese & Malagasy, spoken mainly on this island nation
(Larry: What is Indonesia?)
(Jen: What is Malaysia?)

MOVIE QUEENS $800: Young Freya Wilson played future Queen Elizabeth II in this 2010 film
(Jen: Who is The Other Boleyn Girl?)

CORRECT RESPONSES
wings
a steamer clam
wow
Portuguese
Istanbul
a tic
a cretin
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Judi Dench
the Brenner Pass
Richard Branson
Woolworth (Building)
Donald Duck
the Union Jack
flats
recite
a recto
John Paul II
LSD
Madagascar
The King's Speech

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
BUSINESSMEN

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
The corporation of this British man got its name from his early inexperience in business

Jen Sosnowski: 5100+0=5100
Ellen Wernecke: 12800-6300=6500 (New Champ)
Larry Coben: 6400-6400=0

Correct response:

Spoiler

Richard Branson (Ellen – Makintosh) (Larry: Murdoch – Murdoch)

Daily Doubles
Jen: 5200-3500
Larry: 8400-2000
Jen: 9100-4000

Coryats
Jen: 12600
Ellen: 12800
Larry: 8400

Combined: 33,800

Scores at the end of the Jeopardy! Round:
Jen: 3500
Ellen: 4800
Larry: 3600

[MarkBarrett]

That looked like some lively chatter going into break one with Larry animated.

Jen’s sole solve from the champ’s spot did her no good thanks to the wager and the previous DD misses. Ellen took the high road on her FJ! wager when most would wager either $1 or zero.

My solve on the FJ! clue was a brainstorm of British businessmen and I was done after dismissing Lloyd & Harrod with the third name bringing the aha of inexperience in the clue’s wording.

In the four openings this week there have been:
International Space Station, Grand Piano, Wright Brothers
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Declaration of Independence (Independance incorrectly shown), Extremely Large Telescope
Microscope, Vincent van Gogh, Gothic Architecture
Santa Maria, Photosynthesis, Michelangelo

Any guesses for day 5?
I’m not seeing a distinctive landmark represented so I will not bet on Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Mount Rushmore or Great Wall of China.

I’ll try the moon, panda, and pizza.

[BobF]

Looking at the scores, was Jen's last daily double on the final clue of the game? If so that would make two terrible wagers in the course of a couple of minutes.

[PanthersFan1]

Looking at the scores, was Jen's last daily double on the final clue of the game? If so that would make two terrible wagers in the course of a couple of minutes.

How is that? If That was the last clue of the game the 4000 would had put Jen in the lead going into FJ(13,100-12800) Which was the right move now she could went all in for a bigger lead but aslong as you for the lead I don't see the problem with her dd bet.

[MarkBarrett]

Looking at the scores, was Jen's last daily double on the final clue of the game? If so that would make two terrible wagers in the course of a couple of minutes.

How is that? If That was the last clue of the game the 4000 would had put Jen in the lead going into FJ(13,100-12800) Which was the right move now she could went all in for a bigger lead but aslong as go for the lead I got no problem with that bet.

It was clue 29 and clue 30 was TS.

[opusthepenguin]

Ouch. Larry made the only good wager but couldn't solve the clue for a win. Ellen chose a wager that left her vulnerable to Larry AND Jen. Had she wagered $0, she'd have been vulnerable only to Larry and then only to loss on a tiebreaker if Larry both got FJ and wagered everything. Instead Jen, with the sole solve, could and should have been a 2-day champ. I'm scratching my head over her $0 decision. Seems practically guaranteed to lose.

[Golf]

Looking at the scores, was Jen's last daily double on the final clue of the game? If so that would make two terrible wagers in the course of a couple of minutes.

How is that? If That was the last clue of the game the 4000 would had put Jen in the lead going into FJ(13,100-12800) Which was the right move now she could went all in for a bigger lead but aslong as you for the lead I don't see the problem with her dd bet.

Because if she misses the clue, she gets locked out going into FJ assuming no changes on the final clue. Therefore if she's going to go for the lead, she may as well wager everything.

Not sure if we will ever see two worse wagers from contestants in FJ. It is truly amazing how little certain groups understand about wagering and/or game theory. I'm thinking about creating a thread to compile stats on S34's FJ wagers good or bad.

The champ should have wagered all but $2 seeing as how 2nd place was going to either wager everything or everything minus $1.

Who am I kidding? Of course we'll see worse wagers.

[MasterCone]

Branson was an instaget for me, and I'll just tell myself it would have been even without all the news articles about him I've seen lately regarding his house in the Virgin Islands being destroyed.

Meanwhile, Alex saying "Kurt Vonnegut JR." as the answer on the triple stumper gave me distracting flashbacks of giant hair flower Anthony Hopkins woman from last season.

[xxaaaxx]

"Don't say French, don't say Fr--"....damnit. I guess calling it Cabo Verde would've made it too easy, but Mozambique should've made it obvious, so maybe not.
"Istanbul! ISTANBUL!!!" *sigh*

What was Ellen thinking? Did it just slip her mind that Jen could catch her from behind if she doubled up? No good reason to let 3rd place back in the game. Jen's wager...*shrug* Just leave behind a dollar or so, you never know.

Not-quite-instaget-but-close-enough FJ.




Gandhi, Grand Canyon, Saturn.

[TenPoundHammer]

Knowing too much cost me the $200 box in "Like". I like Steve Miller Band a lot, and had too many of his song titles in my head to filter out "Fly Like an Eagle" in time. Probably didn't help that I fell into my far too common trap of thinking that "word in quotes" means "this word will be FIRST in the correct response".

At least I didn't know the $1,000 outright, because I'd hate for a song that I really like to deny me a run. (I like "Like a Surgeon" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" too, for the record.)

"Wait, the caduceus is just two snakes around a staff, isn't it?" Honestly never noticed that those other things were wings.

Reciting can be done to a teacher?

African Languages and you guess Malaysia and Indonesia? Dafuq?

NHO in the top box: "bar car"

Lach Trash: "tic".

Neither Richard Branson nor Virgin rings any bells for me.

[Bamaman]

With one win in the bank, there was no real reason to protect a chance at second. But she had no reason to expect the leader to make such a horrible wager.

A fairly quick get for me on FJ.

[hbomb1947]

A much-needed instaget FJ gives me my first correct FJ of the season. I'm a huge fan of Branson and especially his airlines.

I thought the clue about what island Malagasy is spoken on was awkwardly worded, and although I was able to parse it, I'm not surprised a couple of the contestants had trouble with it.

I got thrown by the "wow!" clue's referring to that word as an "audio term."

[NoWhammies10]

Coryat: $15,800
DDs: 0/3
FJ!:

Ran "Like" A Song (though Steve Miller initially Pavlov'ed to "The Joker").

Two moronic mistakes in First Published Novel (Ray Bradbury instead of Joseph Heller, Jules Verne instead of H.G. Wells).

Could not for the life of me spit out Agatha Christie. I said "Hercule Poirot... Murder on the Orient Express" and just couldn't get the name out.

No guess on FJ!, though as soon as I heard the right answer it seemed so obvious.

Wonder what it takes for a Canadian to get on Wheel of Fortune these days...

[mxc_takeshi]

37 right.

U.S. (3), Clam (2), Kind (3), "Like" (4), Symbols (4), An Interjection (3)
1967 (5), Novel (3), Africa (5), Queen (4), Express (1), In Interjection (0)

Lach Trash: Wow!, Dame Judi Dench; Daily Double: Portuguese

I knew the right person instantly, but I wanted to make sure I said "Richard Branson" instead of "Richard Bronson" (thinking of Charles Bronson); I've mixed the names up in past games.

[TenPoundHammer]

Ran "Like" A Song (though Steve Miller initially Pavlov'ed to "The Joker").

My problem was that I pavloved to The Joker, Take the Money and Run, Rock'n Me, Jet Airliner, Abracadbra, etc. pretty much all at once and couldn't push through to the only one that fit the category.

Also, I'm thankful that "Body Like a Back Road" wasn't in that "Like" category.

[Bamaman]

I thought it was interesting that FJ was about a company named Virgin when there was a reference to Like a Virgin earlier in the game.

[Wheatley]

I knew the right person instantly, but I wanted to make sure I said "Richard Branson" instead of "Richard Bronson" (thinking of Charles Bronson); I've mixed the names up in past games.

Write it in cursive so that it looks like both an "a" and an "o".

[cf1140]

Time for Season 34's first

BAD WAGER ALERT