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

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7654, 2017-12-14

CONTESTANTS
Brennan Summers, a food truck owner from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Craig Tollin, a professor from Roanoke, Virginia
Bryce Johnson, an analytics manager from Evanston, Illinois (whose 1-day cash winnings total $32,401)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome, as always, to a half-hour of answers and questions. You wanna make a good impression on viewers of Jeopardy!, do what Bryce did yesterday: win $32,400 in just one half-hour. Craig and Brennan, the good news for you is that it could happen to you also. We'll find out in this half-hour. Good luck. Here we go. Categories for the three of you gentlemen are as follows...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
CAMP DAVID (5/5)
SPORTS RECORD HOLDERS (5/5)
WORLD FACTS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
"M"MMM! (5/5)
STEINBECK WORKS BY CHARACTERS (2/5)
IT WAS SO COLD... (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Bryce: 10 R (including 2 rebounds), 0 W
Brennan: 9 R, 0 W
Craig: 7 R (including 1 DD), 2 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,600



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Craig found the Daily Double on the 15th clue. Bryce had $3,200, Craig had $2,000, and Brennan was at $2,000. Craig wagered $1,000.

WORLD FACTS $800: This 4-letter African country has a short coastline along the Bight of Benin

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Bryce: $3,200
Craig: $3,000
Brennan: $2,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Brennan Summer, the first player we introduced, is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. You're a food truck owner...

Brennan: Correct.

Alex: Who once conducted the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?

Brennan: That's right, Alex. When I was living in Minneapolis, they had a contest when the choir came to town.

Alex: Ah.

Brennan: Sponsored by a radio station, asking why you would make the ideal guest conductor in 350 characters or less.

Alex: And to cut it very short, what was your response?

Brennan: When my parents were moving from California to Michigan, they stopped in Salt Lake City to see the choir, and I was short of two years old and cried through the entire concert. So my dad missed it.

Alex: That's a good reason. I'd have used you as a conductor also.




Alex: Now, Craig Tollin is a professor from Roanoke, Virginia who keeps cockroaches in his office. What is all that about?

Craig: More their office than my office at this point. Well, they're about that big [indicates with index and thumb].

Alex: That big? Hello.

Craig: That big. Big cockroaches. And my students do experiments on them in the spring semester, so I have to husband cockroaches all the time.

Alex: What kind of experiments are we talking about here?

Craig: So...

Alex: Are you being mean to cockroaches? They've been around for millions of years, you know.

Craig: A little. Yes, we are being a little mean to them.

Alex: Okay. I understand.




Alex: Bryce Johnson is our champion. He's from Illinois. He enjoys playing the piano, but especially when he's doing covers of which great popular singer's songs?

Bryce: Well, Britney Spears.

Alex: Of course.

Bryce: Yeah, so I love playing piano for people, and I've played it since I was about five years old. But when you play Mozart or Chopin, you sort of get a response like, "Oh, that was nice," like, "I enjoyed that." But when you play Britney Spears, people get into it, right. "Toxic" is one of the best pop songs of all time.

Alex: Especially with the costumes you wear.

Bryce: Yes. Have you seen those?

Alex: But we won't talk about that right now.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
IT WAS SO COLD... $200: Hitchhikers were holding up photos of this digit
(Alex: You don't like our writers' sense of humor?)
(Bryce: It was lovely.)

STEINBECK WORKS BY CHARACTERS $600: Twin brothers Aron & Caleb Trask

STEINBECK WORKS BY CHARACTERS $800: Jody Tiflin, a young boy, & Gabilan, a young colt

STEINBECK WORKS BY CHARACTERS $1000: Doc, owner of a biological lab, & Dora, madam of a brothel

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Bryce: $6,800
Brennan: $5,400
Craig: $1,800

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
CAMP DAVID (5/5)
JUST A SITAR (5/5)
NEW EPONYMOUS ANIMALS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
EXILED! (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
SOUNDS LIKE THE MOVIE'S SEQUEL (5/5)
ALL "CAP"s (3/5) (Alex: Each response will begin with the letters "C-A-P."...)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Bryce: 13 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Craig: 9 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Brennan: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 3
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,600



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Bryce snagged the next Daily Double on the 7th clue. Bryce had $11,600, Craig had $1,800, and Brennan was at $7,000. Bryce wagered $4,600.

NEW EPONYMOUS ANIMALS $800: John Cleese is "absurdly fond" of these Madagascar animals, works to conserve them & got one named for him

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Craig who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 23rd clue. Bryce had $21,400, Craig had $7,400, and Brennan was at $8,200. Craig wagered $5,000.

EXILED! $1200: While in exile in Paris, Thomas Hobbes completed this work named for a Biblical sea monster

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
ALL "CAP"s $1200: Adjective meaning involving the loss of the head
(Craig: What is decapitate?)
(Brennan: What is decapitated?)

ALL "CAP"s $2000: Impulsive or unpredictable

EXILED! $400: After being exiled from this city in 1302, Dante wrote, "Bitter is the taste of another man's bread"

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Bryce: $22,200
Craig: $16,800
Brennan: $11,000

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
AMERICANA

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Three-quarters for first place.
Bryce: Wager $11,401 to cover Craig.
Craig: You'll want to wager $5,401, and you'll win the game if Bryce wagers enough and gets it wrong.
Brennan: Think about risking $200, thereby beating Bryce on the Triple Stumper (should Bryce wager to cover Craig's doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In 2016 the Wingfoot Two, one of these, was christened near Akron

FINAL SCORES
Brennan: $11,000 + $0 = $11,000 (What is a blimp?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Craig: $16,800 + $5,201 = $22,001 (What is a blimp) (New champion: $22,001)
Bryce: $22,200 - $11,401 = $10,799 (What is a tire?) (3rd place: $1,000)
(Alex: [To Brennan] The Goodyear [*].)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $6,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Bryce: $18,400, 23 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Craig: $12,800, 16 R (including 2 DDs), 3 W
Brennan: $11,000, 14 R, 1 W
Combined Coryat: $42,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Bryce: 23/59 = .390
Craig: 17/60 = .283
Brennan: 15/58 = .259
Team: 55/63 = .873

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
"M"MMM! $600: This sweet yeast bread is made by arranging small clumps of dough in a pan

"M"MMM! $1000: The weird-looking cap tells you it's this kind of mushroom

WORLD FACTS $600: Hey, it's easy to kick back, relax & float on this body of water, 9 times saltier than the ocean & extremely dense

WORLD FACTS $1000: Approximately 78% of Cypriots are of this religion
(Craig: What is Islam?)

IT WAS SO COLD... $600: In Maine these critters, Homarus americanus, were throwing themselves into pots
(Craig: What are frogs?)

CAMP DAVID $200: Here's this future president with his grandson David, for whom the retreat would be renamed

CAMP DAVID $600: In 1978, Jimmy Carter welcomed the leaders of these two countries to Camp David for historic peace talks

ALL "CAP"s $1600: Italian name for the pasta seen here

CAMP DAVID $800: In 2017 fans of his "Late Show" were saddened to learn of his mom Dorothy's passing at age 95

CAMP DAVID $1600: In 1866 this officer who damned the torpedoes was named the first full admiral of the U.S. Navy

JUST A SITAR $400: (Kelly shows a guitar and a sitar.) On a guitar, these metal ridges used to produce notes are fixed to the fingerboard; on a sitar, they can be moved to adjust the tuning

JUST A SITAR $1200: This sitar master got four Grammys, influenced John Coltrane & Philip Glass & still had time to father Norah Jones

JUST A SITAR $1600: Most sitars have 5 melody strings & one or 2 of this type that produces low sustained tones
(Bryce: What are sympathetic strings?)

CORRECT RESPONSES
Togo
the thumb
East of Eden
The Red Pony
Cannery Row
lemurs
Leviathan
capital
capricious
Florence
a blimp
monkey bread
a morel
the Dead Sea
Greek Orthodox
lobsters
Eisenhower
Egypt and Israel
capellini
David Letterman
David Farragut
frets
Ravi Shankar
drone strings

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
AMERICANA

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In 2016 the Wingfoot Two, one of these, was christened near Akron

Bryce Johnson: 22200-11401=10799
Craig Tollin: 16800+5201=22001 (New Champ)
Brennan Summers: 11000+0=11000

Correct response:

Spoiler

blimp (Bryce – tire)

Daily Doubles
Craig: 2000+1000
Bryce: 11600+4600
Craig: 7400+5000

Coryats
Bryce: 18400
Craig: 12800
Brennan: 11000

Combined: 42,200

Scores at the end of the Jeopardy! Round:
Bryce: 6800
Craig: 1800
Brennan: 5400

[MarkBarrett]

The writers won the STEINBECK category with 2 for the players and 3 in the TS column. I got the first 4 and clammed on the coin toss of what was left for the bottom box figuring it had to be either Row or Flat.

Brennan got EXILED! For $800 and switched to CAMP DAVID $800. Where was DD3? EXILED! For $1200. One of those things Brennan may be looking back at if he knew the Hobbes work.

Bryce missing the FJ! clue is something I can understand as I initially had a wrong turn as well. The clue had Akron and I processed it as Dayton. Thinking Wright Bros. and some kind of anniversary thing I wrote “biplane.” That was crossed out soon after when I got my Ohio cities straight and knew where to go for an easy switch.

Bryce’s error could happen to anyone on stage with the obvious escaping while the music plays and the time counts down. This week has shown more than once how TOC potential contestants can fall far short of the needed victory totals.

[Elijah Baley]

The writers won the STEINBECK category with 2 for the players and 3 in the TS column. I got the first 4 and clammed on the coin toss of what was left for the bottom box figuring it had to be either Row or Flat.

Brennan got EXILED! For $800 and switched to CAMP DAVID $800. Where was DD3? EXILED! For $1200. One of those things Brennan may be looking back at if he knew the Hobbes work.

Bryce missing the FJ! clue is something I can understand as I initially had a wrong turn as well. The clue had Akron and I processed it as Dayton. Thinking Wright Bros. and some kind of anniversary thing I wrote “biplane.” That was crossed out soon after when I got my Ohio cities straight and knew where to go for an easy switch.

Bryce’s error could happen to anyone on stage with the obvious escaping while the music plays and the time counts down. This week has shown more than once how TOC potential contestants can fall far short of the needed victory totals.

But Bryce was on the right track on FJ, right? He just got off the train a station early.

[opusthepenguin]

The writers won the STEINBECK category with 2 for the players and 3 in the TS column. I got the first 4 and clammed on the coin toss of what was left for the bottom box figuring it had to be either Row or Flat.

I thought The Winter of Our Discontent was also possible, based on knowing nothing about the novel. I wouldn't have rung in on the clue unless I was desperate to avoid getting locked out or something. I was disappointed not to run the category.

[Foretopman]

For Final I said "What is an airship?" Can I have a ruling from the judges, please?

[econgator]

What was the clue about losing the head? The one where they were looking for 'capital' (at least that's what it sounded like). If that was the word, I'm not familiar with that definition.

[heppm01]

I'm no wagering savant but I thought that a poor FJ bet by Craig. He was apparently trying to protect against a double by Brennan, but since if he misses the answer he drops to third he might as well have bet $5401 to have a shot at winning if Bryce misses or bet $0.

[MarkBarrett]

What was the clue about losing the head? The one where they were looking for 'capital' (at least that's what it sounded like). If that was the word, I'm not familiar with that definition.

ALL "CAP"S $1200: Adjective meaning involving the loss of the head

Decapitate & decapitated were the incorrect responses. Alex said "capital" was the adjective.

I took a spin on Google and it looks like something Latin about caput.

[9021amyers]

For Final I said "What is an airship?" Can I have a ruling from the judges, please?

The Wingfoot generation of Goodyear Blimps are actually semi-rigid, and thus not truly blimps at all. Count it.

[opusthepenguin]

What was the clue about losing the head? The one where they were looking for 'capital' (at least that's what it sounded like). If that was the word, I'm not familiar with that definition.

ALL "CAP"S $1200: Adjective meaning involving the loss of the head

Decapitate & decapitated were the incorrect responses. Alex said "capital" was the adjective.

As in "a capital offense," I guess. I'm calling bogus. That may have been the original meaning, but no one uses it that way now. Meanwhile, "decapitated" can function as an adjective--e.g. "the decapitated corpse"--and should have been accepted.

[Category 13]

I'm no wagering savant but I thought that a poor FJ bet by Craig. He was apparently trying to protect against a double by Brennan, but since if he misses the answer he drops to third he might as well have bet $5401 to have a shot at winning if Bryce misses or bet $0.

It was poor strategy decision but not an entirely poor bet. You are correct he would be wise to wager enough to force the leader to get it correct. He could have bet up to $5599 in anticipation of a 199-200 wager by Brennan.

[zerobandwidth]

What was the clue about losing the head? The one where they were looking for 'capital' (at least that's what it sounded like). If that was the word, I'm not familiar with that definition.

ALL "CAP"S $1200: Adjective meaning involving the loss of the head

Decapitate & decapitated were the incorrect responses. Alex said "capital" was the adjective.

As in "a capital offense," I guess. I'm calling bogus. That may have been the original meaning, but no one uses it that way now. Meanwhile, "decapitated" can function as an adjective--e.g. "the decapitated corpse"--and should have been accepted.

While "decapitated" is certainly classifiable as an adjective, IIRC Alex gave a specific instruction at the start of the round that all responses would begin with (not merely include) "CAP". So the adjectival sense of "capital" (i.e. "…punishment", beheading) is the sole solution.

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

37 R
FJ:
LT: Thumb, East of Eden, Cannery Row, Florence

[goatman]

37 R
FJ:
LT: Thumb, East of Eden, Canary Row, Florence

Er... Cannery Row eh? I got FJ but confess I did first wonder; "Who would christen a TIRE?!"

[AndyTheQuizzer]

I'm no wagering savant but I thought that a poor FJ bet by Craig. He was apparently trying to protect against a double by Brennan, but since if he misses the answer he drops to third he might as well have bet $5401 to have a shot at winning if Bryce misses or bet $0.

I think I can safely call myself a wagering savant and I think Craig's bet was perfectly cromulent.

[Foretopman]

For Final I said "What is an airship?" Can I have a ruling from the judges, please?

The Wingfoot generation of Goodyear Blimps are actually semi-rigid, and thus not truly blimps at all. Count it.

Thank you.

[opusthepenguin]

While "decapitated" is certainly classifiable as an adjective, IIRC Alex gave a specific instruction at the start of the round that all responses would begin with (not merely include) "CAP". So the adjectival sense of "capital" (i.e. "…punishment", beheading) is the sole solution.

YDIRC, so "decapitated" is inadmissible. However unsatisfying the desired response was, it did fulfill the stipulation of the category.

[TenPoundHammer]

Monte Cristo was my only miss in "M"mmmm.

Grand Cayman = Caribbean was new to me.

Ran the "Cold" category and Eponymous Animals. "Anubis" was overvalued at $2,000.

So with no other TOM, I'm supposed to know that Camp David was named for Eisenhower's son?

My mom is a huge Steinbeck fan, but I didn't recognize the bottom 2 titles.

I joined the contestants in trying to turn "decapitate" into an adjective with no success. "Capital" having the same root never crossed my mind.

Why should I know where Dante was exiled from? That seemed obscure for the top box.

Lach Trash: Thumb, "East of Eden"

Yet another FJ! that's a billion miles over my head. Can they make this crap any goddamn harder?! What kind of insane leap of logic made this 2/3?!?