Thursday, February 2, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6304, 2012-02-02

2012 College Championship quarterfinal game 2.

CONTESTANTS
Connie Shi, a junior at the University of Michigan from Okemos, Michigan
Anne Rozek, a junior at Eastern Illinois University from Perry, Illinois
Jaime Alayon, a sophomore at the George Washington University from Miami, Florida

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny, and thank you, ladies and gentlemen. They're young, they're bright, they're in college, and they enjoy playing games. Otherwise, they would not be with us today. Connie, Anne, and Jaime, welcome aboard and good luck to you. Let's go to work. The Jeopardy! Round will have one Daily Double, and you'll find it in one of these categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
YOU'RE HISTORICAL! (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
NEW FADS (5/5)
TALES OF THE WINDY CITY (4/5)
1 WORD, 2 MEANINGS (5/5)
BELL CURVES (5/5)
BAND NAME ADJECTIVES (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Jaime: 16 R (including 2 rebounds), 1 W
Connie: 7 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Anne: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,600



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Connie found the Daily Double on the 8th clue. Jaime had $3,000, Anne had $200, and Connie was at $400. Connie wagered $1,000.

YOU'RE HISTORICAL! $600: This explorer & courtier for whom a state capital is named actually spelled his last name without an "I"

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Jaime: $3,000
Connie: $1,600
Anne: $600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: This was a good year for Michigan football teams. Connie shi is a junior at the University of Michigan. Tell me about the work you do for the Red Cross.

Connie: Yep, I'm a member of the first aid support team with the Washtenaw County Red Cross. And basically, we provide, uh, first aid at University of Michigan sporting events--football games, basketball games. Uh, people maybe fall on the stairs and--and need some--need some help.

Alex: Okay, let me ask you--and be honest with me now--

Connie: Mm-hmm.

Alex: Did you volunteer for that particular assignment because you get in free to all these great sporting events?

Connie: That's definitely a perk--

Alex: Uh-huh.

Connie: --but that's not the reason I joined.

Alex: Okay, I believe you.




Alex: Anne Rozek. My first job, when I was about your age, was a great one, working in a soft drink plant. Your first job was not so pleasant. I want to hear about that.

Anne: I worked in a kids' shoe store, and ironically, I don't like feet, I think they smell nasty, and kids are not my favorite.

Alex: Why did you apply for that job?

Anne: My sister was going to college, so I took it over.

Alex: Okay.

Anne: Yes.

Alex: Good reason.




Alex: Jaime... Alayon...

Jaime: Mm-hmm.

Alex: From Miami. Sophomore at George Washington University. This young man had a favorite cereal which was discontinued, right? Can you tell us what it was?

Jaime: Well, um, I went to many stores in the three-county area, and I just took hours and hours to try to find this cereal. Turns out, it'd been discontinued everywhere except for South Korea.

Alex: And did you find enough of this cereal to keep you going for a while?

Jaime: At the end, I found four boxes in, like, some backwoods place, and it satiated me for a good day.

[Laughs]

Alex: A-a-a good--a good day. Poor Jaime.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
YOU'RE HISTORICAL! $1000: For conspiring to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, she was the first woman executed by the U.S. government

TALES OF THE WINDY CITY $600: Henry Fuller's 1893 novel "The Cliff-Dwellers" deals with "The Tribe" inhabiting a lofty Chicago one of these
(Anne: What is... a... bluff?)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Jaime: $9,600
Connie: $4,400
Anne: $400

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
ENTRANCE EXAM (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
FRESH, MAN (4/5)
THE SOPHOMORE JINX (4/5)
JUNIOR YEAR ABROAD (5/5)
SENIORITIS (5/5)
"POST" GRADUATE (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Jaime: 8 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Anne: 9 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Connie: 9 R (including 1 DD), 2 W

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



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Connie snagged the next Daily Double on the 20th clue. Jaime had $17,600, Anne had $6,800, and Connie was at $8,400. Connie wagered $1,600.

"POST" GRADUATE $1600: William Barry in 1829 was the first & Winton Blount in 1969 was the last to be this as a cabinet member

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Anne who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 25th clue. Jaime had $18,400, Anne had $10,400, and Connie was at $8,000. Anne wagered $2,000.

ENTRANCE EXAM $800: The Anne Boleyn Gatehouse at Hampton court is in this historic architectural style
(Anne: What is Gothic?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
THE SOPHOMORE JINX $1200: This novelist made less of an impact with "The Almost Moon" than with "The Lovely Bones"
(Connie: Who is Angela Ash?)

ENTRANCE EXAM $1200: In 1921 C.G. Johnson invented a door that folds upward to use in this structure
(Jaime: What is a submarine?)

FRESH, MAN $1200: The 18th c. book "Art of Cookery" says a fresh one of these will sink in water & a rotten one will float
(Anne: What is a grape?)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Jaime: $18,800
Connie: $12,400
Anne: $7,200

PREFINAL REMARKS
Alex: The students in our college championships compete not just for the glory of winning, but also... for the money. There's $100,000 that goes to the winner, $50,000 guaranteed for second place, and $25,000 is the guarantee for third place. So we have three players in good position today as they deal with 19th CENTURY AUTHORS, and here is the clue for you...

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
19th CENTURY AUTHORS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Crush for first place.
Jaime: Wager $6,001 to cover Connie.
Connie: You have the hope of surpassing Jaime if you come up with the correct response. Bet at least $6,401 to force Jaime to wager to win while also protecting your position from being usurped by Anne.
Anne: Your only hope of a win is that you're the only one to give a correct response, so bet $7,198 or so, leaving a few bucks behind in case someone wagers it all.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
One of this author's greatest successes came after remarking, "I want to write about a fellow who was two fellows"

FINAL SCORES
Anne: $7,200 + $4,300 = $11,500 (Who was Robert Louis Stevenson?) (3rd place: $5,000 if eliminated)
Connie: $12,400 + $6,600 = $19,000 (Who is R.L. Stevenson?) (Automatic semifinalist)
Jaime: $18,800 - $6,001 = $12,799 (Who was Kafka?) (2nd place: $5,000 if eliminated)
(Alex: [To Anne] And he was referring, of course, to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the two fellows in one fellow.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $5,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Jaime: $18,800, 24 R, 2 W
Connie: $12,000, 16 R (including 2 DDs), 2 W
Anne: $9,200, 14 R, 5 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $40,000

BATTING AVERAGES
Jaime: 24/58 = .414
Connie: 17/60 = .283
Anne: 15/59 = .254
Team: 56/63 = .889

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
BAND NAME ADJECTIVES $1000: Metal band that wants to share the welt:
____ ____ Death Punch
[Applause for Jaime's run of the category]

YOU'RE HISTORICAL! $800: Gian Gastone's death in 1737 brought an end to this dynasty that long ruled over Florence & Tuscany
(Jaime: Who are the Lombards?)

NEW FADS $400: Vanna's caught up in the Internet fad seen here that goes by this wooden name
(Alex: Poor Vanna. The things that she will do, even for our show.)

NEW FADS $1000: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew "works out".) Dynamic inertia is part of this dumbbell-like workout technology
...
(Alex: Yep. I bought one of those, too. Haven't used it yet. I've only had it four months.)

1 WORD, 2 MEANINGS $200: To recline indolently, or a public sitting room in a hotel
(Anne: What is lobby?)

TALES OF THE WINDY CITY $800: This Richard Wright work about a racially charged murder trial was the first best-selling novel by an African American
(Anne: What is Black Boy?)

ENTRANCE EXAM $2000: An ancient Roman gateway, the Janus Geminus was closed only in times of this--so twice in 600 years
(Connie: What is war?)

ENTRANCE EXAM $1600: Lorenzo Ghiberti's doors for Florence's baptistery were called "The Gates of" this by Michelangelo

CORRECT RESPONSES
(Sir Walter) Raleigh
Mary Surratt
a skyscraper
Postmaster General
Tudor
Alice Sebold
a garage
eggs
Robert Louis Stevenson
Five Finger
the Medici
planking
the Shake Weight
lounge
Native Son
peace
Paradise (Heaven accepted)

[jeff6286]

19th Century Authors
One of this author's greatest successes came after remarking, "I want to write about a fellow who was two fellows."

Spoiler

Who is Robert Louis Stevenson? Jaime said Kafka.

Jaime Alayon (George Washington): $18,800-$6,001=$12,799
Connie Chi (Michigan): $12,400+$6,600=$19,000
Anne Rozek (Eastern Illinois): $7,200+$4,300=$11,500

[thejeopardyfan]

Judges, will you accept "avocado" for "guacamole"?
TPH, I smiled and thought of you on the "Hot Chelle Rae" clue.
Anne's response of "grape" was almost as good as yesterday's "Dolly Parton." But not quite.

[xxaaaxx]

Anne's response of "grape" was almost as good as yesterday's "Dolly Parton." But not quite.

Oh I thought Jaime's 'submarine' was much better

Instaget FJ...that is, I instantly realized that they were talking about Jekyll/Hyde. Embarrassingly, it took a good 20 seconds for me to dig Stevenson's name out

Not a fan of Jaime's wager. I would've wagered 0 there; if four other non-winners somehow finish with 19K+, so be it, but I think that would've been the safest bet.

[ACW]

Vanna planking

[thejeopardyfan]

Anne's response of "grape" was almost as good as yesterday's "Dolly Parton." But not quite.

Instaget FJ...that is, I instantly realized that they were talking about Jekyll/Hyde. Embarrassingly, it took a good 20 seconds for me to dig Stevenson's name out

A get's a get. I wouldn't be embarrassed! I was helped immensely because there a clue connecting Stevenson and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde on a recent GSN rerun.
And I'd never have gotten the clue about "planking" were it not for a recent episode of American Idol.

[TenPoundHammer]

19/30, 10/30.

Never heard of planking, but I lol'd at them showing Vanna.

Entrance, Sophomore, Junior and Senior all felt completely impenetrable to me. I just couldn't scope out the TOMs at all, if there even were any; many of the clues just seemed to be "you either know this or you don't" stuff. For instance, how would I know that Australian university is in Sydney and not one of the many other major cities in Australia?

My sister would've gotten the RuneScape clue, since she plays it. Except for Pokémon, I dislike RPGs. (Protip: dyscalculia and D&D don't mix.)

And yes, Hot Chelle Rae sucks. "Tonight Tonight" is dreadful. It's just the same party rock clichés that radio spammed us with in 2011, only even less original and more sterile. Now I know why they called their album Whatever — they really truly sound like they care not in the least about what they're singing. Todd in the Shadows nailed exactly what all is wrong with this song.

Instaget FJ! Yay. Those only happen like twice a season for me.

[alietr]

Not a fan of Jaime's wager. I would've wagered 0 there; if four other non-winners somehow finish with 19K+, so be it, but I think that would've been the safest bet.

Not a fan? You're being too kind; that was a terrible wager. Hopefully it won't come back to bite him. He probably would have had a lock on a wild card if he'd wagered nothing.

In my book, that's just plain unfair to throw a ridiculous FJ like last night at that set of contestants, and then lob a soft one over the plate the next night. They usually do a much better job of calibrating the FJ's so they're relatively similar, and they just really missed the mark last night if tonight's is more representative of the level of difficulty they're shooting for. Tsk, tsk.

[bpmod]

April Fool's!

It looks like the writers didn't do any research on the Rio Carnival clue. The carnival ends 43 days before Easter. I am wondering if they said "40 days" to put you in mind of Lent? But then, "before Easter" puts you in mind of Lent.

Brian

[jeff6286]

Judges, will you accept "avocado" for "guacamole"?

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have been acceptable, because they asked for a "south of the border dip". While it may be made from avocados, I think for this clue you would have had to name the dip.

[TenPoundHammer]

It looks like the writers didn't do any research on the Rio Carnival clue.

And yet the creators of the animated film Rio did reasonable amounts of research.

And I think Blu's owner, Linda, is proof that nerds can be hot.

ETA: This is the 138th post in this account. That's my lucky number.

[opusthepenguin]

In my book, that's just plain unfair to throw a ridiculous FJ like last night at that set of contestants, and then lob a soft one over the plate the next night. They usually do a much better job of calibrating the FJ's so they're relatively similar, and they just really missed the mark last night if tonight's is more representative of the level of difficulty they're shooting for. Tsk, tsk.

I had the same thought about the ridiculous disparity between the two clues. I'm not sure what level of difficulty they're shooting for. I think it should be harder than tonight's clue (unless Jekyll & Hyde isn't as much a part of cultural literacy today as it used to be, making this harder for college students than my intuition suggests). I'd say tonight's clue undershot on the difficulty by about half as much as last night's clue overshot. If I were Charlie Rooney from last night's game, I'd likely own a broken TV by now.

[MarkBarrett]

Isn't there something about humor being subjective? Submarine, grape and Vanna were all good ones. But for me the howler was Angela Ashe for Alice Sebold.

There was no way I did it, but I did wonder during FJ if anyone left themselves a pauper by guessing Twain?

I'll take tonight's 37R and FJ correct over last night's 47R and FJ wrong anytime. The material is all over the place so far.

[Bamaman]

19th Century Authors
One of this author's greatest successes came after remarking, "I want to write about a fellow who was two fellows."

Spoiler

Who is Robert Louis Stevenson? Jaime said Kafka.

Jaime Alayon (George Washington): $18,800-$6,001=$12,799
Connie Chi (Michigan): $12,400+$6,600=$19,000
Anne Rozek (Eastern Illinois): $7,200+$4,300=$11,500

I'll never understand why people bet for the win with a huge total in FJ. Yes, there is the glory of winning, but you have to look at the big picture. I'm guessing people who do that haven't watched the past tournaments and don't know what you usually need for a wild card spot. Connie's bet wasn't much better. Yes, her pre-FJ total is borderline, but I think I'd have bet $2,000 in her spot to sew up second place in the game, or maybe $400 to top Jaime's total if he makes the MSB and is wrong.

If Anne is going to risk that much, she might as well put another $1,300 out there or just go for it all.

Never heard of any of those bands in the first category.

I knew the book, but did not know who wrote it. Somehow the name Edward G. Robinson came into my mind. I guess somehow I knew it was a three word name but didn't get any further.

[trainman]

Isn't there something about humor being subjective? Submarine, grape and Vanna were all good ones. But for me the howler was Angela Ashe for Alice Sebold.

Sure, Angela Ashe. She wrote "Angela's Ashes."

[dhkendall]

Anne's response of "grape" was almost as good as yesterday's "Dolly Parton." But not quite.

I think Anne might have had a mental picture of the raisin perpetually rising and bobbing in champagne to lead to her answer - I know that the image popped in my mind, but ruled it out quickly.

Despite Alex's comments about it being harder if you didn't know what they were talking about, like xxaaaxx I instantly knew it was referring to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I realized that I didn't know for the life of me who on earth wrote it! (Said "[Arthur Conan] Doyle" for something to have down, despite I knew it was wrong). Wouldn't have guessed that Stevenson wrote it, but now I learned something!

[goforthetie]

19th Century Authors
One of this author's greatest successes came after remarking, "I want to write about a fellow who was two fellows."

Spoiler

Who is Robert Louis Stevenson? Jaime said Kafka.

Jaime Alayon (George Washington): $18,800-$6,001=$12,799
Connie Chi (Michigan): $12,400+$6,600=$19,000
Anne Rozek (Eastern Illinois): $7,200+$4,300=$11,500

If Anne is going to risk that much, she might as well put another $1,300 out there or just go for it all.

Another $1300, sure, but the latter? No, no, no, a thousand times no. You should always leave at least some on the table when betting in the QFs. Let's examine wagering $7200 vs. $7050, say. Get it right, and you're looking at $14400 vs $14250. Wrong, and you're looking at $0 vs $150. Of the 9 other QF non-winners, you're trying to beat the 4th place finisher. Is it more likely for that score to be between 14250 and 14400, or between 0 and 150? Remember, we're comparing the probabilities that it's actually IN the given intervals, not just "in the ballpark". Clearly the former is fairly unlikely whereas the latter is quite plausible. So unless you're in an absolute wheelhouse category for FJ, hedging just a bit is always the prudent thing.

[BigDaddyJ]

For instance, how would I know that Australian university is in Sydney and not one of the many other major cities in Australia?

Eh, it's a top row question in a College Championship. In such cases, it usually pays to make the obvious guess. If it had been the bottom box, I wouldn't have guessed Sydney.

I instantly knew it was referring to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I realized that I didn't know for the life of me who on earth wrote it!

Ditto. I most closely associate Stevenson with Treasure Island and couldn't have named another work of his.

[barandall800]

The J! board ate my lunch, but I did really well with the DJ! board. Loved the Fleet Foxes mention in the Band Names category. Never heard of the song they mentioned for Hot Chelle Rae ("Tonight Tonight" is much, MUCH more ubiquitous on the radio...and to be honest, I'd rather it wasn't. ), and never heard of that last band in the category. Otherwise, smooth sailing.

That Vanna planking picture? Gold. (I thought it was Photoshopped at first...well, I suppose it still could have been...and then realized, holy crap, that was actually Vanna White, of all people, planking. ) Jeanie, "American Idol" helped me get that too.

Instaget FJ!. That Stevenson wrote the book is the kind of thing I usually forget, but for some reason I had it ready and waiting in my brain, I guess.