Tuesday, January 30, 2018 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[This Is Kirk!]

I get the Worst FJ Response Award today with Mary Poppins.

and I'll raise you a Superman.

I skipped right past the category, so I came up with ... Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Top that!

I went with Atticus Finch, which is at least equally silly.

Major Major Major Major here.

That is, until I saw the "Mythology" portion of the category and switched to Icarus as a guess. I was closer than anticipated.

I actually considered Yossarian but dismissed it since I couldn't see how the name connected to either flying or mythology.

[tiwonge]

If you know French, how do you guess Mardi (Tuesday) Gras when the clue said Mecredi, or Wednesday? Or is it just that you know the clue was French?

1. I don’t know French, but I can usually identify words and phrases as being French.

2. As I recall, the whole category was about translating French phrases.

3. The TOM led to something tied to lent.

4. Forgetting the category (and the fact I don’t know French), I come up with the first French phrase I can think of that’s associated with Lent. Which is, naturally, wrong in a Homer Simpson “Doh!” kind of way.

Translating from one French phrase to another French phrase generally isn't a good translation.

[Peter the accountant]

Translating from one French phrase to another French phrase generally isn't a good translation.

Yep. That kind of gets back to my point. While I was only off by a day, it's a patently wrong answer because it's in French, not English. Fat Tuesday would have be the way to answer. Still wrong, of course. (As is my habit.) But at least not wrong in an embarrassing way.

I need to stick to the two French phrases I actually know: "aw rivwa" and "skoo say mossy vu play"

[MDaunt]

I got as far as "Well it's not The Flying Nun, because that already came up..."

Bonus question: Where in the United States did The Flying Nun take place?

Spoiler

Your first 50 guesses are wrong

Spoiler

San Juan, Puerto Rico

If memory serves:

Spoiler

Puerto Rico

Source: I am old.

[IronNeck]

I'm not a fan of the clue, since it's so general and open-ended. When "20th century novels" came up, there was an overload of hundreds of famous works that I've read that flooded through my head. And naturally, I thought of works that involved flying.

When "20th century novel" is part of a Jeopardy clue, or any trivia question, Ulysses should always be our starting point unless accompanied by an obvious disqualifier like "French" (In Search of Lost Time). There really is no close second in the English language to it in terms of influence, plaudits, and notoriety. It's a simple step to APotAaaYM/Stephen Dedalus after considering it.

Which is precisely why I don't like the clue. It's more "be aware of the extremely limited Jeopardy literary canon and the books the writers love to go back to again and again" than "know a bunch of trivia about a lot of books".

[OrangeSAM]

I really need to stop guessing on clues that are based on knowing French. "Mardi Gras" is not a good answer for some other phrase in French.

If you know French, how do you guess Mardi (Tuesday) Gras when the clue said Mecredi, or Wednesday? Or is it just that you know the clue was French?

Also, there is the other French word in the clue: "cindres". Switch two of the letters and you get an English synonym for "ashes".

[Linear Gnome]

I got as far as "Well it's not The Flying Nun, because that already came up..."

Bonus question: Where in the United States did The Flying Nun take place?

Spoiler

Your first 50 guesses are wrong

Spoiler

San Juan, Puerto Rico

If memory serves:

Spoiler

Puerto Rico

Source: I am old.

Yes, specifically

Spoiler

Convent San Tanco

and the series was based on the book The Fifteenth Pelican by Tere Rios. I'm a little bothered that I have perfectly good brain cells being used to remember those facts.

I did get FJ!--I don''t recall ever reading any Joyce, but the name Stephen Dedalus stuck in my mind. I probably heard it either on J! or in quiz bowl practice (or both).

[seaborgium]

I really need to stop guessing on clues that are based on knowing French. "Mardi Gras" is not a good answer for some other phrase in French.

If you know French, how do you guess Mardi (Tuesday) Gras when the clue said Mecredi, or Wednesday? Or is it just that you know the clue was French?

Also, there is the other French word in the clue: "cindres". Switch two of the letters and you get an English synonym for "ashes".

The word was cendres, so it was just a cognate, not an anagram.

[MDaunt]

and the series was based on the book The Fifteenth Pelican by Tere Rios. I'm a little bothered that I have perfectly good brain cells being used to remember those facts.

I feel your pain.

I did get FJ!--I don''t recall ever reading any Joyce, but the name Stephen Dedalus stuck in my mind. I probably heard it either on J! or in quiz bowl practice (or both).

Read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man somewhere in college. Hated it. The Dubliners is readable. Everything else - not so much.

[IronNeck]

I did get FJ!--I don''t recall ever reading any Joyce, but the name Stephen Dedalus stuck in my mind. I probably heard it either on J! or in quiz bowl practice (or both).

Read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man somewhere in college. Hated it. The Dubliners is readable. Everything else - not so much.

I agree with this assessment. Also, anyone who pretends to have liked Finnegan's Wake is a pretentious liar.

[OrangeSAM]

I really need to stop guessing on clues that are based on knowing French. "Mardi Gras" is not a good answer for some other phrase in French.

If you know French, how do you guess Mardi (Tuesday) Gras when the clue said Mecredi, or Wednesday? Or is it just that you know the clue was French?

Also, there is the other French word in the clue: "cindres". Switch two of the letters and you get an English synonym for "ashes".

The word was cendres, so it was just a cognate, not an anagram.

Acknowledged. THX.

[TenPoundHammer]

Ah, "sounds like". The most subjective TOM ever, and thus my least favorite.

[seaborgium]

Ah, "sounds like". The most subjective TOM ever, and thus my least favorite.

It's French. Nobody said it sounded like its cognate.

[twelvefootboy]

Ah, "sounds like". The most subjective TOM ever, and thus my least favorite.

I don't even mind a subjective TOM, it's better than nothing. But my bitch about the Tuesday clue:

The “very name embodies the idea of flight”

This is complete bullfeathers. A name like Dedalus is more reminiscent of some kind of troglodyte or tortoise. Hell, Ten Pound Hammer sounds more airworthy than Dedalus . And twelvefootboy is about how high the Wright Flyer flew on the first flight!

This BS clue is why we got guesses like the Flying Nun, Johnathan L. Seagull, etc.. At least let us be wrong without the bullcrap quote from some pretentious critic!

[Volante]

Nobody named the "main character" from a 20th century novel today, so I'm a hair's breadth away from dredging up Sergeant Pepper. (oops.)

Seems to have been alluded to, and lots are picking up on Ulysses where he gets supporting credit, but just so it's officially on record Daedelus is the main character of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Which is just awful. 2nd worst book I was ever subjected to in school. (The Sound and the Fury coming in at #1. Sure, when THEY throw convention out the window, they're praised. When I do it, out comes the red pen... )

[squarekara]

Nobody named the "main character" from a 20th century novel today, so I'm a hair's breadth away from dredging up Sergeant Pepper. (oops.)

Seems to have been alluded to, and lots are picking up on Ulysses where he gets supporting credit, but just so it's officially on record Daedelus is the main character of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

No, indeed. "Daedalus" is a mythological figure. "Stephen Dedalus" is the Joyce character. As written, the response "Daedalus" did not necessarily refer to Joyce. Uncle Alex added the "Stephen," not the player. As I observed earlier, asking for author or title would have precluded this ambiguity. If the clue had been "the very name of this scientist and defender of The Sacred Scrolls embodies the authority of an ancient deity," they wouldn't've accepted "Zeus" for "Dr. Zaius."

[PowerofHoodoo]

Nobody named the "main character" from a 20th century novel today, so I'm a hair's breadth away from dredging up Sergeant Pepper. (oops.)

Seems to have been alluded to, and lots are picking up on Ulysses where he gets supporting credit, but just so it's officially on record Daedelus is the main character of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

No, indeed. "Daedalus" is a mythological figure. "Stephen Dedalus" is the Joyce character. As written, the response "Daedalus" did not necessarily refer to Joyce. Uncle Alex added the "Stephen," not the player. As I observed earlier, asking for author or title would have precluded this ambiguity. If the clue had been "the very name of this scientist and defender of The Sacred Scrolls embodies the authority of an ancient deity," they wouldn't've accepted "Zeus" for "Dr. Zaius."

In checking after I spelled it with an ae, I found sources that say an early version called "Stephen Hero" did spell it as Daedalus.

[davey]

Ah, "sounds like". The most subjective TOM ever, and thus my least favorite.

I don't even mind a subjective TOM, it's better than nothing. But my bitch about the Tuesday clue:

The “very name embodies the idea of flight”

This is complete bullfeathers. A name like Dedalus is more reminiscent of some kind of troglodyte or tortoise. Hell, Ten Pound Hammer sounds more airworthy than Dedalus . And twelvefootboy is about how high the Wright Flyer flew on the first flight!

This BS clue is why we got guesses like the Flying Nun, Johnathan L. Seagull, etc.. At least let us be wrong without the bullcrap quote from some pretentious critic!

The anonymous critic may be wrong< but working for SparkNotes probably doesn't leave much room for pretension...To be fair, the "analysis" goes on to say-
we can see Stephen as representative of both Daedalus and Icarus, as Stephen's father also has the last name of Dedalus. With this mythological reference, Joyce implies that Stephen must always balance his desire to flee Ireland with the danger of overestimating his own abilities—the intellectual equivalent of Icarus's flight too close to the sun...

[davey]

I did get FJ!--I don''t recall ever reading any Joyce, but the name Stephen Dedalus stuck in my mind. I probably heard it either on J! or in quiz bowl practice (or both).

Read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man somewhere in college. Hated it. The Dubliners is readable. Everything else - not so much.

I agree with this assessment. Also, anyone who pretends to have liked Finnegan's Wake is a pretentious liar.

I know, right? And don't get me started on those who can never restrain themselves from pointing out that the title has no apostrophe...

[squarekara]

Forgive me for potentially spoiling "tomorrow's" FJ, but if

Spoiler

people are going to fulfil a craving for tater tots inspired by the 1/31 FJ,

is anyone inspired to read or re-read Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man today? That would be awesome.