Thursday, May 30, 2019 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[TenPoundHammer]

You got it exactly backwards. If the answer were Germany, spotting "Nazi" would make it too obvious and too easy.

So making it a negbait-hole the size of the Grand Canyon is the better option here?

[gnash]

You got it exactly backwards. If the answer were Germany, spotting "Nazi" would make it too obvious and too easy.

So making it a negbait-hole the size of the Grand Canyon is the better option here?

If you can read, you know I said it was a silly clue. But a negbait that's too obvious is no longer a negbait; it becomes a strong hint.

[cheezguyty]

How many times has this happened where Alex skips a contestant interview? I can only think of one other:

He skipped two in this game: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=2452 (see Wanda's player page for the details).

[TenPoundHammer]

How many times has this happened where Alex skips a contestant interview? I can only think of one other:

He skipped two in this game: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=2452.

Was that the one that told a really long story? The only other one I remember was the Quikrete-eating goat.

[opusthepenguin]

And James drops below $77k per game again. Still he had enough going into FJ that his competitors could have pooled their earnings and still been locked out. How many of his games have been like that?

I'm not a fan of their accepting "What is beach volleyball?" when the clue was looking for volleyball AS DISTINCT FROM beach volleyball. Are there other examples where responses like that have been accepted?

The show often accepts "In Search of Lost Time" when asking about Proust's novel. In this case, of course, they presumably wouldn't since that was provided as the literal translation of the French title. But with a clue asking about "The French title of this epic 7-part novel" would they have accepted "ce qui est À la recherche du temps perdu?" One could presumably get that far with no knowledge of the novel and a decent grasp of high school French.

I'm surprised Shakespeare's birthday/death day are that unknown. Fun fact: Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616. Miguel de Cervantes died 11 days earlier on April 22, 1616.

Like others I knew exactly the song being referred to. I also knew Haydn was Austrian. But I'm with TPH on this one, the hymn says Deutschland, fer cryin' out loud. How is the correct response not "What is Deutschland (i.e. Germany)?" Why would AUSTRIA have a national anthem proclaiming that Deutschland rules? I spent the think music trying to decide whether to put a West in front of Germany. Finally decided I ought to, but (spoiler!) it ended up not mattering.

[threearruda]

Odd (and tough, I thought) DJ categories; props to all three players for strong performances. Picked up the first three in "Dates" - couldn't quite pull $1600 fast enough, and clammed on $2k.

I thought FJ was rather straight forward -- but then again, I locked in on Haydn immediately, thought of the composer Haydn, knew he was Austrian, and wrote Austria without any hesitation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[DBear]

I thought FJ was a 50/50 between West & East Germany...

[Bamaman]

Germany seemed too obvious so I went with James' response.

Right thinking. I thought it was a silly FJ clue. Germany is an obvious trap, so what else could it be? Plus, Haydn was Austrian.

Suprisingly suboptimal $5,000 DD wager by James. If he thought he wouldn't get it, why not wager $5? A little after-lunch lapse?

He is a professional gambler. Plus it isn’t like he couldn’t afford the risk.

[BRD-98]

Haydn = Austrian. Just pavlovian.

[opusthepenguin]

Haydn = Austrian. Just pavlovian.

He also has a strong association with London where he wrote many of his most famous works.

[Ironhorse]

I'm curious how many here came up with Elizabeth I's death year. I certainly did not.

[CasketRomance]

"Can we skip me? I'm not topping that." Loved it.

Baseball has captains? That seemed like a very negbaity clue if even the sports gambler missed it.

Bambino and surprisingly, "It" Me were 0/5 for me.

I think the writers overshot the difficulty on that Date category.

My mom drinks Twinings Earl Grey tea all the time and I still said Tetley.

I recognized "Kowalski" as a Madagascar reference but still went 0/5 in the category.

Tainted by association with Nazis -> "Deutschland über Alles" -> Germany. What? It's not Germany?! But... but Deutschland! That's Germany! HOW IS THAT WRONG?!? I still don't see how that ends up being Austria instead and I've read the Wikipedia article on it.

dude doesn't miss many clues, but when he does it seems to be a sports related clue...that is 3 i count that he missed in sports related categories and also gave no answer on a clue that went as a triple stumper

yes there are captains in baseball...not many teams have used them though and don't believe there are any teams that have a current team..most notable team to use them is the new york skanks...jeter the most famous of all baseball captain

i didn't see it is a negbait..i got it right

[harrumph]

I'm curious how many here came up with Elizabeth I's death year. I certainly did not.

I remembered the 1603 date from the start of King James' reign

[CasketRomance]

I'm curious how many here came up with Elizabeth I's death year. I certainly did not.

i got it right because i remembered that was when that jimmy dude, who 2 years later guy fawkes tried to kill, began his reign

[dhkendall]

Why would AUSTRIA have a national anthem proclaiming that Deutschland rules?

dhkendall here, to clear up common anthem misconceptions.

Das Deutschlandlied (the actual name of the song) does not, and has never, been about how Germany is the greatest country in the world and all other countries are run by little girls. You’re thinking of Kazakhstan. “Deutschland über alles” was a unification cry at a time when what is now Germany was a bunch of loosely confederated city states. Hoffman’s lyrics were basically telling the residents of the area to think of themselves as German first. “Germany” above all else in the world. Above your allegiance to your small city state. Work together for Germany first. Leave it to a bunch of putzes with arm bands to misinterpret the lyrics. Good thing no one mistakes noble sentiments for nationalistic ideologies any more!

BUT THERE’S MORE!

Today you get two debunking for the price of one!

Why would Austria have an anthem talking about about how great Germany was? Because from the time of the Aunschluss in 1938 to the end of WWII, Austria *was* Germany. It was as part of Germany as pretzels and humourless efficiency. Before 1938, for 9 years they had the same melody as the German anthem but different lyrics. It did mention “German” in a glowing light, but as an ethnicity not a nationality. (Remember Austrians do speak German, which is what brought on the Aunschluss in the first place. Heck, the most famous German leader of WWII (Herr Funnymustache) was Austrian by birth!). And the anthem used by Austria Hungary until its dissolution in 1918 also used the same melody. That tune you associate with “Deutschland über alles”? That’s an Austrian song that Austrians strongly identified with and didn’t want Germany to get their grubby hands on after the war.

This has been the board’s friendly anthem expert.

[TenPoundHammer]

BUT THERE’S MORE!

Confirmed: dhkendall is Billy Mays.

Oh wait, I spelled that wrong. BILLY MAYS!

Seriously though, that does make sense now. I was utterly confused as to how Germany could be wrong, and looking it up didn't clarify anything.

One congregation member in one of the churches I play for happens to be a Holocaust survivor. If we do the hymn "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken", I set it to the tune "Abbot's Leigh" instead of "Austrian Hymn"/"Deutschlandleid".

[econgator]

I'm curious how many here came up with Elizabeth I's death year. I certainly did not.

I know it.

[CasketRomance]

BUT THERE’S MORE!

Confirmed: dhkendall is Billy Mays.

Oh wait, I spelled that wrong. BILLY MAYS!

Seriously though, that does make sense now. I was utterly confused as to how Germany could be wrong, and looking it up didn't clarify anything.

One congregation member in one of the churches I play for happens to be a Holocaust survivor. If we do the hymn "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken", I set it to the tune "Abbot's Leigh" instead of "Austrian Hymn"/"Deutschlandleid".

you know who billy mays is but never heard of the movie pretty woman?

[gnash]

Haydn = Austrian. Just pavlovian.

He also has a strong association with London where he wrote many of his most famous works.

He spent a total of about two years there, and UK was probably not a candidate answer for any sane person.

[twelvefootboy]

Suprisingly suboptimal $5,000 DD wager by James. If he thought he wouldn't get it, why not wager $5? A little after-lunch lapse?

He is a professional gambler. Plus it isn’t like he couldn’t afford the risk.

This decision by James confirmed my suspicion that he will be on a long time. He may be labeled a gambler, but what he does is way further from gambling than investing in Wall Street. He's managing risk and reward, and he chose against the low risk of losing his lock game, which opens him to another low risk of actually losing. But, there were 5 extra dimes in his pocket... I'm not thinking of him as an adrenaline junkie, and he probably doesn't get too high from winning - it's just all business.

I wasn't sure Haydn was Austrian, but I thought I saw some tourist info to that effect when we were in Austria last year. I didn't know the name of the piece, so had no issues with confusion. Poland would have got my next guess.

On a side note - I considered boycotting the show until the last week or two when the challengers have the benefit of knowing what kind of kraken they are facing. It is an unfair advantage to James that he gets to continue playing chess while worthy opponents are bringing knives (mixed metaphors are my fave).
In lieu of a boycott, then, I thought about watching a Judge Judy episode to remind me how lucky we are to have any version of Jeopardy to watch. But I'm afraid I could never cleanse a Judge Judy from my brain, so now am happily scared straight and will continue to watch the evening slaughter - for now.