Friday, May 10, 2019 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Caboom]

Surprised they negged "I Get by With a Little Help from My Friends" but didn't neg "Baby, You Can Drive My Car."

He didn't phrase it correctly.

They did accept "I Get by With a Little Help from My Friends" from Benjamin, even though he only got as far as "I Get by With" and was then cut off by Alex saying no, but still finished his answer. I guess it paid off not to stop after Alex negged him, as it was reversed before the first DJ DD. Or perhaps they would have accepted it regardless, as his first answer was "a Little Help from My Friends", before adding the beginning part.

[seaborgium]

Surprised they negged "I Get by With a Little Help from My Friends" but didn't neg "Baby, You Can Drive My Car."

He didn't phrase it correctly.

They did accept "I Get by With a Little Help from My Friends" from Benjamin, even though he only got as far as "I Get by With" and was then cut off by Alex saying no, but still finished his answer. I guess it paid off not to stop after Alex negged him, as it was reversed before the first DJ DD. Or perhaps they would have accepted it regardless, as his first answer was "a Little Help from My Friends", before adding the beginning part.

Here's a transcript of exactly how the clue played out.
Dave: "I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends."
Alex: No.
Benjamin: What is "A Little Help from My Friends"? ... or "I Get by with a—
Alex: No.
Benjamin: —Little Help from My Friends"?
Alex: No.

(The long dashes don't indicate a pause on Benjamin's part; they just make room for Alex's interjection in the middle.)

Dave was rightly negged for failing to respond with a question, although Alex might have negged him anyway for adding words to the title. Then Alex tried to rightly neg Benjamin for removing a word from the title, but Benjamin began correcting himself (or overcorrecting, as it were) before Alex got his "no" out. Since the last response he gave before the ruling comprised accurate lyrics that included the full song title, the neg was reversed.

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

59 R (Outrigger was my only miss today.)
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: Alps, Limestone, White Sands, Challenger, *Tamarin*, With A Little Help From My Friends, All You Need Is Love, (Libel), Sir Thomas Malory, Seven Against Thebes, Finland, Peripheral, Paul Allen

Anyone else notice that all of the male contenders made it to the semi-finals. That is definitely a first.

[CailinGaoilge]

So some random Z-string British politician who reigned in the 1840s is $200 box material, huh?

His name was irrelevant. I've never heard of him, but I got it right. Two principal political parties in the UK in the 19th century: Tories (Conservatives) and Whigs. The Z-string politician was a member of the nobility (an earl); ergo Conservative. Besides, even if you didn't know that men with titles were far more likely to be Conservative, it's a 50:50 toss up. So of course it was top box.

That's a lot of dots to connect and leaps of faith. Where's the Labor Party? The Bull Moose, or Greens, or Democrats for that matter. For $200, I expect something like : "This pompous ass was a member of this party which is also a political philosophy characterized by bigotry and intolerance in the US now."

UK. The Labour Party was not around in the 19th century - nor was the Green Party, though I assume you're aware of that, and that the other two parties you name never existed in the UK. Your second sentence is just fine, however

[CailinGaoilge]

So some random Z-string British politician who reigned in the 1840s is $200 box material, huh?

His name was irrelevant. I've never heard of him, but I got it right. Two principal political parties in the UK in the 19th century: Tories (Conservatives) and Whigs. The Z-string politician was a member of the nobility (an earl); ergo Conservative. Besides, even if you didn't know that men with titles were far more likely to be Conservative, it's a 50:50 toss up. So of course it was top box.

What part of the clue said "member of nobility"?

And I would think a top box would be a 1 in 1, not 1 in 2, 1 in 3, or 1 in 62,783.

The title Earl.

[twelvefootboy]

Why did Alex say "wend" instead of "wind" for that Alps clue?

Probably because that's what is said on his answer sheet.

My TV screen said "winds" at the same time, and I thought it was the written clue presented graphically. Must have been the closed caption which I tune out because it's always on my set.

The closed captioner didn't get the memo, and I deployed Occam's rozaR to explain the discrepancy. I've wended and I've wound and I've windied ( - doing this while going to your seat on a plane is called "crop dusting" ) , but rivers and roads usually wind. I don't know how a foreigner ever learns this damn language.

[This Is Kirk!]

I really boned this FJ. I thought of Maine immediately and then didn't write it down because I thought it separated from New Hampshire. Pretty strange we had a state that was non-contiguous.*

* I know Washington still has Point Roberts as an exclave, but it hardly seems comparable.

[opusthepenguin]

2 of the 5 Beatles songs were from Sgt Pepper. I knew all 5 but got spooked by the "With a Little Help from My Friends" fiasco. I might have been too afraid to ring in on "Drive My Car" since I might get negged for adding or not adding the words "You Can" and "Baby".

It does seem kind of unfair that the song explicitly says "All You Need Is Love". Yet when that's all Benjamin gave them, Alex said he was wrong.