Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

This is where all of the games are discussed.

Moderators: alietr, trainman, econgator, dhkendall

Post Reply
User avatar
triviawayne
Hoping I don’t drown in this contestant pool
Posts: 2677
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by triviawayne »

alietr wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 1:20 pm
triviawayne wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 12:45 pm In this stack are the FU stacks (really hard ones, no joke questions in the first five), ...
I don't believe there are any of these. I'll admit they've badly estimated how difficult a particular question is, but I can't remember a stack that I wasn't able to get through to $5k that required any mental exertion. They're all pretty much gimmes to that point unless you make a dumb mistake.
have you seen my episode?

The first three questions were obvious, but not the usual joke type. The 4th question and 5th questions needed actual knowledge.

Which of these Oscar hosts has actually won an Oscar?
A. Ellen DeGeneres
B. Billy Crystal
C. Hugh Jackman
D. Whoopi Goldberg

notice it doesn't specify what type of Oscar. I could easily see Billy Crystal having won a writing award. I only got this not because I pay attention to the Oscars, but because I studied the EGOT list right before the show and saw Whoopi on it. She won for Ghost.


The 5th question wasn't a total sloucher either, but was easy enough to figure out while standing there:

A 2015 study by Hopper.com found that since "sparsely-populated states with fewer airports have higher prices," the most expensive states to fly from are what?

(here is where I figured there would be one state per answer, not three)

A: Maryland, Pennsylvania & Massachusetts
B: Illinois, California & Texas
C: Arkansas, Ohio & Florida
D: Wyoming, Delaware & North Dakota

I've seen this stuff through the run of the show where one stack seems designed to get people to use lifelines really early.
Total game show career losings = $171,522
User avatar
alietr
Site Admin
Posts: 8978
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Bethesda, MD

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by alietr »

triviawayne wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 3:50 pm
have you seen my episode?
1stlvlthinker
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 512
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2011 12:01 am

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by 1stlvlthinker »

alietr wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 1:20 pm
triviawayne wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 12:45 pm In this stack are the FU stacks (really hard ones, no joke questions in the first five), ...
I don't believe there are any of these. I'll admit they've badly estimated how difficult a particular question is, but I can't remember a stack that I wasn't able to get through to $5k that required any mental exertion. They're all pretty much gimmes to that point unless you make a dumb mistake.
In my practicing, there were plenty of stacks where I need the audience at $5K to help me with a pop culturey question I just wasn't totally sure of. Maybe that's just me though, but I was fully prepared to do what I needed to do to get to that first threshold.
Now swimming in the J! pool.
User avatar
morbeedo
Loyal Jeopardista
Posts: 3065
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:58 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by morbeedo »

LucarioSnooperVixey wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 3:43 pm For Tyler, Don Quixote's horse was Rocinante.

Knew $30,000 before choices came up. It is mentioned in a fact book I have and that I have scanned many times. Pavarotti's applause record was beaten just a few years later when fellow Tenor, Placido Domingo performed Otello in Vienna in 1991. Receiving an applause that lasted for 1 hour 20 minutes.
No lifelines needed til that question. I was also tempted by Baryshnikov but hesitated, thinking pre-Berlin wall a Russian defector wouldn’t find himself there.

Tough miss for the Thousandaire!! Ugh. Chris really wanted to give her that cash money, honey! Boo hiss!
User avatar
triviawayne
Hoping I don’t drown in this contestant pool
Posts: 2677
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by triviawayne »

1stlvlthinker wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 5:32 pm
alietr wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 1:20 pm
triviawayne wrote: Thu May 02, 2019 12:45 pm In this stack are the FU stacks (really hard ones, no joke questions in the first five), ...
I don't believe there are any of these. I'll admit they've badly estimated how difficult a particular question is, but I can't remember a stack that I wasn't able to get through to $5k that required any mental exertion. They're all pretty much gimmes to that point unless you make a dumb mistake.
In my practicing, there were plenty of stacks where I need the audience at $5K to help me with a pop culturey question I just wasn't totally sure of. Maybe that's just me though, but I was fully prepared to do what I needed to do to get to that first threshold.
When I was tracking my performance, I had over 99% of first round questions correct. But if they had asked me a Harry Potter question, I would've had to ATA...unless they made it obvious like they did with my 80s heavy metal question (I didn't need them to make that particular one obvious, but they did make it obvious with the wording of the question).
Total game show career losings = $171,522
User avatar
CasketRomance
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2559
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by CasketRomance »

morbeedo wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 8:36 pm

Furniture (geography question)
Spoiler
I'd never heard of an Adirondack chair, but recognize it after looking it up. All you needed to know was the state where you'd find the Adirondacks? OK.
wtf, dude? even i got that one right
User avatar
CasketRomance
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2559
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by CasketRomance »

nm
Last edited by CasketRomance on Fri May 03, 2019 1:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
CasketRomance
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2559
Joined: Fri May 22, 2015 2:40 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by CasketRomance »

Vintsanity wrote: Wed May 01, 2019 8:31 pm I'm working my way through a backlog of recorded shows, but I just got caught up. I haven't been reading this thread, so apologies if this has already been discussed. Have the mid level questions suddenly gotten much harder in the past few episodes, or it it just me? On the questions from several weeks and months ago, I probably could have gotten to $50,000 with lifelines to spare more often than not, but recently I'd have to burn a few lifelines just to have a chance on the 5k and 10k questions. It seems to me the show has exhausted its prize budget and is making sure very few people leave with more than 5k.
econgator wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:53 pm
MarkBarrett wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:01 pm The math made my brain hurt. I narrowed it down to the right one by thinking what could a human do. To me it was, sure why not, gotta be, can't be, and no way.
I didn't even bother with the math. I can run 18 mph and no human can get close to 38 or 48, so that leaves 28.


Yeah, no reason to resort to math on that one. "What is the fastest foot speed a human has ever attained in an official race?" With answers in 10mph increments that's trying to disguise an easy sports question as a tricky math problem.

i think they have as well, though they can be hit or miss...last week i was able to run through someone's game without needing to use lifelines...person bailed on the 20k question...the following game in the same episode i would have needed to use 2 lifelines through the 7k question
Jurimetrician
Contributor
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:26 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by Jurimetrician »

There definitely are easier and harder stacks, and I would say by design and not merely accident. For example, the $2,000 question may have obvious joke answers or not; on the 20 September 2018 episode Jay's $2,000 question had obvious joke landmarks for the wrong answers, whereas on the 22 November 2018 episode all the answer choices for Adam's $2,000 question were real-world oceanside vacation destinations. That's about as apples-to-apples as it gets.
User avatar
boson
Trivial
Posts: 1719
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:01 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by boson »

Today is our gracious host's game - best of retro luck Andy/alietr!
User avatar
Woof
Swimming in the Jeopardy! Pool
Posts: 5125
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:53 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by Woof »

Jurimetrician wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 2:38 am There definitely are easier and harder stacks, and I would say by design and not merely accident. For example, the $2,000 question may have obvious joke answers or not; on the 20 September 2018 episode Jay's $2,000 question had obvious joke landmarks for the wrong answers, whereas on the 22 November 2018 episode all the answer choices for Adam's $2,000 question were real-world oceanside vacation destinations. That's about as apples-to-apples as it gets.
You're correct that there's less humor in Adam's $2K set, but both are equally gettable to me. Spotted Floribama, how many people would choose anything other than the Gulf Coast?
User avatar
MarkBarrett
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 16467
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:37 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by MarkBarrett »

boson wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 7:16 am Today is our gracious host's game - best of retro luck Andy/alietr!
This is the complete 5/3 episode (Classic thumbnail spoiler that can't be changed) Click in the middle of the video without looking:
Spoiler
User avatar
gnash
Jeopardy! Champion
Posts: 1678
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:24 am

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by gnash »

Woof wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 11:05 am
Jurimetrician wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 2:38 am There definitely are easier and harder stacks, and I would say by design and not merely accident. For example, the $2,000 question may have obvious joke answers or not; on the 20 September 2018 episode Jay's $2,000 question had obvious joke landmarks for the wrong answers, whereas on the 22 November 2018 episode all the answer choices for Adam's $2,000 question were real-world oceanside vacation destinations. That's about as apples-to-apples as it gets.
You're correct that there's less humor in Adam's $2K set, but both are equally gettable to me. Spotted Floribama, how many people would choose anything other than the Gulf Coast?
I don't know, it's obvious to me that it has to be on the border of Tuscany and Kenya...
mahatma
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 972
Joined: Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:52 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by mahatma »

gnash wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 11:32 am I don't know, it's obvious to me that it has to be on the border of Tuscany and Kenya...
I'll have what Gnash is having.
User avatar
morbeedo
Loyal Jeopardista
Posts: 3065
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:58 pm

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by morbeedo »

MarkBarrett wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 11:06 am
boson wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 7:16 am Today is our gracious host's game - best of retro luck Andy/alietr!
This is the complete 5/3 episode (Classic thumbnail spoiler that can't be changed) Click in the middle of the video without looking:
Spoiler
Congrats, Andy! Played like a pro. Thought that was a very fair stack.

The Mona Lisa question unnerved me. I figured it had to be landscape but might have been rattled there!

Nice assist by the audience on the $30K. No clue there. (I still wonder if ATA would have helped me at $50K on the Carole Spinney question)

1stlvlthinker had me thinking you were going to see the million dollar question. Trust no one!

At $100K, guinea pig was tempting, but wise of your +1 to discount it as too obvious. I couldn't find any good reason to eliminate turtles. Goldfish need water - I thought that might be too messy in space. Don't know that I would have picked fruit flies.

Now stay loose and go spend that cash money!

ETA:
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/gu ... -in-orbit/
seaborgium
Undefeated in Reruns
Posts: 8937
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:31 am

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by seaborgium »

Spoiler
My thought before the choices appeared was that it had to be an insect, but goldfish was such an odd choice that it won out in my mind.
User avatar
alietr
Site Admin
Posts: 8978
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Bethesda, MD

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by alietr »

seaborgium wrote: Fri May 03, 2019 4:33 pm
Spoiler
My thought before the choices appeared was that it had to be an insect, but goldfish was such an odd choice that it won out in my mind.
Spoiler
Yeah, you and me and Scott, unfortunately.
I'll be posting a detailed report over the weekend after most people have had a chance to see it.
MDCSWildcats86
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 303
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:57 am
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by MDCSWildcats86 »

I thought "D: Turtle" was a less obvious wrong answer than "B: Goldfish".

But that's me.
Prizes
Just Started Her First Lap in the Jeopardy! Pool!
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2015 3:31 pm
Contact:

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by Prizes »

Spoiler
Very, very nicely done Andy. Loved how youwere direct in explanations and ensured you verified within your own knowledge for each question. Best way to play, and it was a joy to watch you. You are the best kind of contestant. Logical, precise, and an excellent executioner. Personally, yay for someone else who went to school in the Ocean State. :)

Was trying to send retroactive vibes on the $100K. Had a similar question last summer once on one of the cash trivia apps about which of the given choice animals was sent to space first, where turtles was correct. In turn, this had me curious to research what animal was first overall, knew it was an insect from there. In a similar vein, the Tupac fact came up a few weeks ago. Small world.
User avatar
twelvefootboy
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2701
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:18 pm
Location: Tornado Alley / Southwest Missouri

Re: Millionaire 2018-19 Season Discussion [SPOILERS]

Post by twelvefootboy »

Great job Andy!

I crashed and burned on Mona, and I've seen her 3 times plus had a reproduction on the wall for a long time.

I cringed a little when Scott used the "DNA" logic for 1947 science. But maybe it was a known constituent, with just the structure to be divined in the 50's.

I can't imagine the scientific purpose, but fruit flies are a go-to organism for mutation studies, and maybe they thought some cosmic rays might be involved. The g-forces and brief weightlessness might have been an angle as well, but the logistics of containing a goldfish bowl of liquid with an air space in zero gravity?? Easy to do if there's a reason, and can't question your decision under any circumstances.

Now the wait is over - they made you sweat for the 50 grand! Nice victory lap, I hope your fitbit caught it!
Disclaimer - repeated exposure to author's musings may cause befuddlement.
Post Reply