Tuesday, November 21, 2017 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7637, 2017-11-21

CONTESTANTS
Wilbur Farley, a lecturer from Patchogue, New York
Kiana Nakamura, a graduate student from Corona, California
Eric Maher, an attorney from Epping, New Hampshire (whose 1-day cash winnings total $31,500)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you were watching yesterday, you saw a very impressive performance by our new champion, Eric Maher. $31,500. He played as if he were competing in that recent Tournament of Champions. But today, he defends for the first time. Things are different. Kiana and Wilbur, welcome. Here we go, players. Good luck. Now the categories for the Jeopardy! Round of play...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
BIBLE STUDY (2/5)
WORDS FROM THE GREEK (3/5)
STATE CAPITAL HAIKU (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
PARTS OF THE "HOLE" (4/5)
A 1- THROUGH 5-STAR RATING (4/5)
20/20 AT 40 (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Eric: 13 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 3 W
Kiana: 6 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Wilbur: 4 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 7
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $5,200



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Eric found the Daily Double on the 13th clue. Eric had $2,800, Kiana had $600, and Wilbur had a deficit with -$400. Eric made it a True Daily Double, wagering $2,800.

STATE CAPITAL HAIKU $1000: Mark Twain called it home /
Founded 1635 /
Knows Courant events

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Eric: $5,600
Kiana: $1,000
Wilbur: -$200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Wilbur Farley is a lecturer from New York who is fascinated by Hamlet.

Wilbur: Hamlet. I think I own maybe ten different productions of Hamlet, ranging from Olivier all the way through Ethan Hawke.

Alex: Who was the best Hamlet?

Wilbur: I am partial to Kenneth Branagh.

Alex: Oh, good. I was about to say, he's my favorite also.

Wilbur: Yeah. I liked his production.

Alex: Good. We have something in common.




Alex: Kiana Nakamura from Corona, California. Graduate student who has worked as an intern at the Cooper Center for Paleontology, Archaeology and History.

Kiana: Yes.

Alex: You can't figure--you can't narrow it down?

Kiana: No, I have a wide range of interests, as does the Cooper Center. And I got to sort their--help sort their collection of artifacts, which--they have so many that they think it'll take years to catalog.

Alex: Okay. Good for you.




Alex: Eric Maher from Epping, New Hampshire. He's our champion, and yet he and his friends often debate something that sounds kind of strange. What is it?

Eric: It's the zombie apocalypse, Alex. We debate the best way of surviving the zombie apocalypse. I will say that being in L.A., it is my nightmare.

[Laughter]

Alex: Damn.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BIBLE STUDY $400: Used to refer to the first 5 books of the Bible, this Hebrew word is usually translated as "law"
(Kiana: What is the Pentateuch?)

BIBLE STUDY $600: In Genesis he is sold to Pharaoh's officer Potiphar & Mrs. P. tries to seduce him
(Eric: Who is Moses?)

PARTS OF THE "HOLE" $800: Nasal plug, phonic lips, air sacs

BIBLE STUDY $1000: Rembrandt painted this prophet, sad that his book says all the houses of Jerusalem were burned
(Eric: Who is Elijah?)

WORDS FROM THE GREEK $600: A synonym for predicament, it's made up of 2 words that together mean "two propositions"

WORDS FROM THE GREEK $800: From Greek for "world citizen", it describes someone who is worldly & sophisticated

A 1- THROUGH 5-STAR RATING $1000: 4 stars for BNP Paribas, one of Europe's major banks; Paribas is short for Paris et des Pays-Bas, Paris & this country

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Eric: $7,200
Kiana: $2,200
Wilbur: $2,000

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7637, 2017-11-21

CONTESTANTS
Wilbur Farley, a lecturer from Patchogue, New York
Kiana Nakamura, a graduate student from Corona, California
Eric Maher, an attorney from Epping, New Hampshire (whose 1-day cash winnings total $31,500)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you were watching yesterday, you saw a very impressive performance by our new champion, Eric Maher. $31,500. He played as if he were competing in that recent Tournament of Champions. But today, he defends for the first time. Things are different. Kiana and Wilbur, welcome. Here we go, players. Good luck. Now the categories for the Jeopardy! Round of play...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
BIBLE STUDY (2/5)
WORDS FROM THE GREEK (3/5)
STATE CAPITAL HAIKU (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
PARTS OF THE "HOLE" (4/5)
A 1- THROUGH 5-STAR RATING (4/5)
20/20 AT 40 (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Eric: 13 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 3 W
Kiana: 6 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Wilbur: 4 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 7
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $5,200



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Eric found the Daily Double on the 13th clue. Eric had $2,800, Kiana had $600, and Wilbur had a deficit with -$400. Eric made it a True Daily Double, wagering $2,800.

STATE CAPITAL HAIKU $1000: Mark Twain called it home /
Founded 1635 /
Knows Courant events

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Eric: $5,600
Kiana: $1,000
Wilbur: -$200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Wilbur Farley is a lecturer from New York who is fascinated by Hamlet.

Wilbur: Hamlet. I think I own maybe ten different productions of Hamlet, ranging from Olivier all the way through Ethan Hawke.

Alex: Who was the best Hamlet?

Wilbur: I am partial to Kenneth Branagh.

Alex: Oh, good. I was about to say, he's my favorite also.

Wilbur: Yeah. I liked his production.

Alex: Good. We have something in common.




Alex: Kiana Nakamura from Corona, California. Graduate student who has worked as an intern at the Cooper Center for Paleontology, Archaeology and History.

Kiana: Yes.

Alex: You can't figure--you can't narrow it down?

Kiana: No, I have a wide range of interests, as does the Cooper Center. And I got to sort their--help sort their collection of artifacts, which--they have so many that they think it'll take years to catalog.

Alex: Okay. Good for you.




Alex: Eric Maher from Epping, New Hampshire. He's our champion, and yet he and his friends often debate something that sounds kind of strange. What is it?

Eric: It's the zombie apocalypse, Alex. We debate the best way of surviving the zombie apocalypse. I will say that being in L.A., it is my nightmare.

[Laughter]

Alex: Damn.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BIBLE STUDY $400: Used to refer to the first 5 books of the Bible, this Hebrew word is usually translated as "law"
(Kiana: What is the Pentateuch?)

BIBLE STUDY $600: In Genesis he is sold to Pharaoh's officer Potiphar & Mrs. P. tries to seduce him
(Eric: Who is Moses?)

PARTS OF THE "HOLE" $800: Nasal plug, phonic lips, air sacs

BIBLE STUDY $1000: Rembrandt painted this prophet, sad that his book says all the houses of Jerusalem were burned
(Eric: Who is Elijah?)

WORDS FROM THE GREEK $600: A synonym for predicament, it's made up of 2 words that together mean "two propositions"

WORDS FROM THE GREEK $800: From Greek for "world citizen", it describes someone who is worldly & sophisticated

A 1- THROUGH 5-STAR RATING $1000: 4 stars for BNP Paribas, one of Europe's major banks; Paribas is short for Paris et des Pays-Bas, Paris & this country

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Eric: $7,200
Kiana: $2,200
Wilbur: $2,000

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
CLASSIC ALBUMS

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Hailed as the “Greatest Album of All Time”, in 2017 it returned to the top of the charts 50 years after its first release

Eric Maher: 9200-7000=2200
Kiana Nakamura: 9200+1300=10500 (New Champ)
Wilbur Farley: 10200-8201=1999

Correct response:

Spoiler

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Eric – The White Album The Wall) (Wilbur – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart)

Daily Doubles
Eric: 2800+2800
Kiana: 3000+1000
Wilbur: 11600-1400

Coryats
Eric: 7400
Kiana: 9400
Wilbur: 11600

Combined: 28,400

Scores at the end of the Jeopardy! Round:
Eric: 7200
Kiana: 2200
Wilbur: 2000

[MarkBarrett]

Eric went for a wave and a fist banging in his hand for the opening. His story was about preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

The 20/20 category was played last in the J! round, so in wanting that to be shown in its entirety even with time running over that ate up time for the DJ! round causing 5 clues not to be played.

Was the WE ASKED: ELIZABETH VARGAS the first one of this season?

Predictable neg of the game was in BIBLE STUDY $600: In Genesis he is sold to Pharaoh’s officer Potiphar & Mrs. P. tries to seduce him

Eric bit and no one capitalized on the rebound opportunity.

I was helped on the FJ! clue by knowing what it was immediately to give me plenty of time to write it in full. That is a lot to write with the light pen and the earlier you get working the better. It did not work out for Wilbur and the judges had no choice in not accepting the incomplete response, unfortunately.

The question is whether the judges would have taken just the first two words? I imagine that would have flown since the precedent is yes, from this game: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=4312

Too bad Wilbur did not know there was an acceptable short cut.

[squarekara]

I was sitting with Wilbur's entourage in the studio audience during this game. The episode hasn't aired here yet, but if anyone noticed a tire-screechy gasp of horror when they ruled against Wilbur's FJ, that was me. With single-letter FJ's still in recent memory ("Q" and "K"), this ruling is a heartbreaker. That's an awful lot to scrawl in the time given, and I believe Wilbur's response should have been accepted. Colloquially, the album is known by the first two words of the title, including the variant given by Wilbur. (My response was "Revolver.") Kiana is a deserving champ, but I think Wilbur should be brought back for another game. Write your congressman.

[Elijah Baley]

I was sitting with Wilbur's entourage in the studio audience during this game. The episode hasn't aired here yet, but if anyone noticed a tire-screechy gasp of horror when they ruled against Wilbur's FJ, that was me. With single-letter FJ's still in recent memory ("Q" and "K"), this ruling is a heartbreaker. That's an awful lot to scrawl in the time given, and I believe Wilbur's response should have been accepted. Colloquially, the album is known by the first two words of the title, including the variant given by Wilbur. (My response was "Revolver.") Kiana is a deserving champ, but I think Wilbur should be brought back for another game. Write your congressman.

Someone will likely be along to tell us whether there's been a longer response required in any previous game but in the meantime, I agree that it's a LOT to write in 30 seconds. It was kind of an instaget kind of clue, but still ...

[StevenH]

I got FJ since I'm a Beatles fan and I even saw a cover band play the album all the way through for the 50th anniversary earlier this year, but this strikes me as an awful FJ clue. This one needed more TOM.

[MarkBarrett]

I was sitting with Wilbur's entourage in the studio audience during this game. The episode hasn't aired here yet, but if anyone noticed a tire-screechy gasp of horror when they ruled against Wilbur's FJ, that was me. With single-letter FJ's still in recent memory ("Q" and "K"), this ruling is a heartbreaker. That's an awful lot to scrawl in the time given, and I believe Wilbur's response should have been accepted. Colloquially, the album is known by the first two words of the title, including the variant given by Wilbur. (My response was "Revolver.") Kiana is a deserving champ, but I think Wilbur should be brought back for another game. Write your congressman.

Someone will likely be along to tell us whether there's been a longer response required in any previous game but in the meantime, I agree that it's a LOT to write in 30 seconds. It was kind of an instaget kind of clue, but still ...

Using a term from the OJ trial, yes Kara, a "plaintive wail" is heard.

For long clues some from the past came up here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3963&hilit=longest+ ... 60#p237415

Keep reading on that page for a post by Sg and cgt for others.

[Bamaman]

His story was about preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

Just me, but I was very underwhelmed by his story after the buildup.

The question is whether the judges would have taken just the first two words? I imagine that would have flown since the precedent is yes, from this game: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=4312

Too bad Wilbur did not know there was an acceptable short cut.

From the discussion of that game...

It really would have been bad if Jared had only written down "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hea" when time ran out and got negged.

Do I get credit for a precall, though two letters short?

I did precall this album today. I got it then as well. And just like then, I did consider the White Album, but Pepper (I did write down the whole thing) just seemed more "classicy" to me.

I was rooting for my fellow older guy Wilbur. He got off to a slow start, but turned it on late to take the lead. I liked his DD bet. Time was almost up and more clock got burned giving Kiana her money back. So this was probably the last clue. But he left enough margin so if one of the others got the $800 in spelling (another time wasting category), he still has the lead. I could tell he was disappointed in being judged wrong, but he handled it with grace, clapping for Kiana.

He also made a smart FJ bet. Not sure what the others were thinking.

With all the negs and the celeb category in the first round, it was almost certain we wouldn't see 61 clues today.

[acthomas]

I was sitting with Wilbur's entourage in the studio audience during this game. The episode hasn't aired here yet, but if anyone noticed a tire-screechy gasp of horror when they ruled against Wilbur's FJ, that was me. With single-letter FJ's still in recent memory ("Q" and "K"), this ruling is a heartbreaker. That's an awful lot to scrawl in the time given, and I believe Wilbur's response should have been accepted. Colloquially, the album is known by the first two words of the title, including the variant given by Wilbur. (My response was "Revolver.") Kiana is a deserving champ, but I think Wilbur should be brought back for another game. Write your congressman.

Someone will likely be along to tell us whether there's been a longer response required in any previous game but in the meantime, I agree that it's a LOT to write in 30 seconds. It was kind of an instaget kind of clue, but still ...

If you abbreviate it as "Sgt.", then it has 37 characters.

This recent one is a contender at 37 characters, and was also a heartbreaker for the contestant who ran out of time:

http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=5520

[squarekara]

Just viewed this episode, and was disappointed to see that the interviews were edited way down. Eric's deadpan humor killed all the way through his segment. In the promo for this episode, they used a snippet of his interview that didn't actually make it into the final show, but there was even more to it. And someone please correct me if I'm not remembering right, but I recall that Wilbur also mentioned a Klingon "Hamlet" during his interview, but that too was cut out. Come on! Elizabeth Vargas has a lot to answer for.

[Tencent]

Tough break for Wilbur. I think he should have gotten credit myself.

Also the j-archive is loaded with examples of them accepting the White Album as the title for that album
whose correct title is "The Beatles". Jeopardy has some explaining to do.

[acthomas]

Tough break for Wilbur. I think he should have gotten credit myself.

Also the j-archive is loaded with examples of them accepting the White Album as the title for that album
whose correct title is "The Beatles". Jeopardy has some explaining to do.

With this level of correctness I had to look up in the archive what they would do about Led Zeppelin IV. It comes up exactly once, and as a quote from a movie, so they've ducked it entirely.

http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?g ... eppelin+iv

[jpr281]

Is it not so outlandish to think that TPTB would have allowed What is Sgt. Pepper's? and What is Sgt. Pepper? but not a half written response like Wilbur had?

[Vowela]

I just checked, and it took me 24 seconds to write it down large on a sheet of paper. In my experience, light pens can be finicky at times, so I don't even know if I could've written that whole thing down in time even if I instagot it, which I didn't (had to go through all the Beatles albums).

[TenPoundHammer]

Had a blank on Juneau to end up 4/5 in Capitals. Guess I'm moving up.

That was a tough bible category. Greek seemed very YEKIOYD too.

Also had a blank on the name of the current Pope.

Lach Trash: Torah

1967 seems a little late for a Beatles album. I spent the whole 30 seconds hopping around various other 60s artists and couldn't come up with anything before the time ended. I agree that this is an awful clue.

[opusthepenguin]

Oh, that's awful! I was already cheering for Wilbur when Alex adopted his somber tone and I read the response more closely. What a rough break. Would they have accepted "What is Sgt. Pepper?" Did Wilbur lose because he started writing too soon? I just want to bury my head and cry for the poor man.

Congrats to Kiana for keeping her head in the game and eking out a win. I precalled the reversal on her DD. I gave their expected response of "installation." But when Kiana said "instating," I couldn't think of a good reason not to accept it.

Speaking of precalls, how many of us precalled the correct FJ response? I'll check the box that says, "I spent Monday's think music making sure my precall was actually right."

Kara was right. Eric's Day 2 interview was fun. He spoke with exactly the right levels of "mock" and "serious" in his mock-serious tone.

[opusthepenguin]

Oh, and thanks to the contestants for going back to that Bible category. It didn't seem strategically sound for them, but I enjoyed going 5 for 5.

[badgerfellow]

From re-watching that Final, Kiana began writing almost immediately and took almost all 30 seconds to get the correct Final. Wilbur started writing about 15 seconds in and probably needed about 5 more seconds to get that right. That's pretty much akin to running out of timeouts at the end of a football game. Tough end.

[hscer]

Seems like it would have been appropriate for the staff to mention during FJ that common short forms of the correct answer would be accepted, or something of that nature. Disappointing ending.