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Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 7:04 am
by teapot37
Well. Had one of the rarest ties, the dreaded 8(4)-8(4). He did not know the Gamecube or W.C. Fields, and I could not remember Lebanon (I vaguely recall this but I couldn't bring it up) and Booknotes (I see a show called "Book TV" on C-SPAN in the TV listings when flipping around every now and again, but it's a different show, I guess).

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:03 am
by alietr
An average get rate for the day of 34.8% is quite low. I haven't been tracking those, but it was definitely one of the harder days this season.

ETA: I found where you can see each day's get rate. 35% is the lowest. Monday's was 38%, which is the second lowest. Tough week so far.

Is it just me, or when you see that one of your friends has forfeited, do you want to send them a message like, "Hey, are you OK?!?"

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:11 am
by MarkBarrett
That's how to start the day with a 3(3) - 0(1) and getting a 15%er correct. We game GameCubed each other for zero and I made a rare save off first instinct when some of the movie names sounded familiar. I wrote Grouch Marx and changed when I took a second to realize Groucho would not play Mr. Micawber.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:12 am
by ilcap
Was very stoked to see the Booknotes question -- it's a show before my time, but I happened to visit its online archives while writing a couple of history papers years ago. TV is not a strong suit of mine, so it felt good to get an obscure one in that category.

From anyone who got the W. C. Fields question right, I'm interested in hearing what specifically tipped people off -- was it one of the character names in particular?

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:13 am
by This Is Kirk!
alietr wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:03 am An average get rate for the day of 34.8% is quite low. I haven't been tracking those, but it was definitely one of the harder days this season.

ETA: I found where you can see each day's get rate. 35% is the lowest. Monday's was 38%, which is the second lowest. Tough week so far.
Second straight day where my opponent only got one answer correct. I'll take the easy wins!

I put Peter Sellers for the "legendary performer" question, FYI. Also missed Lebanon and Booknotes.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:26 am
by teapot37
ilcap wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:12 am Was very stoked to see the Booknotes question -- it's a show before my time, but I happened to visit its online archives while writing a couple of history papers years ago. TV is not a strong suit of mine, so it felt good to get an obscure one in that category.

From anyone who got the W. C. Fields question right, I'm interested in hearing what specifically tipped people off -- was it one of the character names in particular?
I watched The Bank Dick about a month ago. His character in that was Egbert Sousé and his writing credit was Mahatma Kane Jeeves ("my hat, my cane, Jeeves!"). Those were the ins for me.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:33 am
by teapot37
Although lacking formal education, Fields was well read and a lifelong admirer of author Charles Dickens, whose characters' unusual names inspired Fields to collect odd names he encountered in his travels, to be used for his characters.
Fields often contributed to the scripts of his films under unusual pseudonyms. They include the seemingly prosaic "Charles Bogle", credited in four of his films in the 1930s; "Otis Criblecoblis", which contains an embedded homophone for "scribble"; and "Mahatma Kane Jeeves", a play on Mahatma and a phrase an aristocrat might use when about to leave the house: "My hat, my cane, Jeeves".

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:41 am
by alietr
teapot37 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:33 am
Although lacking formal education, Fields was well read and a lifelong admirer of author Charles Dickens, whose characters' unusual names inspired Fields to collect odd names he encountered in his travels, to be used for his characters.
That would explain why I first thought of Dickens. Dismissed him. Went to Clemens. Dismissed him. Then realized that, even though I didn't know he wrote, realized those names were silly enough for Fields.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:43 am
by morbeedo
Too many old-timey clues this season

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:53 am
by RandyG
ilcap wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:12 am From anyone who got the W. C. Fields question right, I'm interested in hearing what specifically tipped people off -- was it one of the character names in particular?
I'm hardly a WC Fields fan and have not seen that many of his works, but The Bank Dick is actually quite good. Mahatma Kane Jeeves and Egbert Sousé were both memorable names. (IIRC, it's emphasized in the film that the name is pronouced Soo-Zay´, not souse.) And his portrayal of Mr Micawber in that Dickensian film from the 1930s would likely be an instaget for anybody reasonably well-versed in that era.
morbeedo wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:43 am Too many old-timey clues this season
Hadn't really noticed, but if so that would explain my QPct being well above my long-term average.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:03 pm
by Woof
RandyG wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:53 am
morbeedo wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:43 am Too many old-timey clues this season
Hadn't really noticed, but if so that would explain my QPct being well above my long-term average.
This. Precisely this.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:08 pm
by econgator
Woof wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:03 pm
RandyG wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:53 am
morbeedo wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:43 am Too many old-timey clues this season
Hadn't really noticed, but if so that would explain my QPct being well above my long-term average.
This. Precisely this.
I'm the opposite, but it doesn't seem to matter this season. Last season, I had a .603 QPct (a bit above my .582 lifetime), but finished 10-12-3 and in 17th place. This season I'm at .578, but I'm 9-4-4 and in 4th. Go figure.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:37 pm
by jjwaymee
alietr wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:03 am An average get rate for the day of 34.8% is quite low. I haven't been tracking those, but it was definitely one of the harder days this season.

ETA: I found where you can see each day's get rate. 35% is the lowest. Monday's was 38%, which is the second lowest. Tough week so far.

Is it just me, or when you see that one of your friends has forfeited, do you want to send them a message like, "Hey, are you OK?!?"
Not pointing a finger at your friend, but, in general, I have a much more cynical reaction to people who have been playing all season and then suddenly forfeit on a day when the get rate is really tough.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:33 pm
by twelvefootboy
georgespelvin wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:30 am
I know this is old, but my most proud moment in Learned League so far was the COBRA question last week because I had no clue but figured out the TOM in the question. :idea:
For some reason, my first reptilian guess was the cobra, then I visited non-snake critters (since he said "reptiles" and not "snakes", and I've learned to read. every. word., lol) and finally noticed the three cities matched the three letters.

And then the conundrum - how to defend this? Easy once you make the connection, and a vague YEKIOYD otherwise. I went soft on it since the WAG is so confident once you see it.

My best guess so far is Prague. Serendipity - we just watched the 2019 Spiderman movie where they visited Prague and mentioned a bridge, so I knew Prague had an unknown river and was a European capital city where the two weird names might fit the river.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:14 pm
by This Is Kirk!
jjwaymee wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:37 pm
alietr wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 8:03 am An average get rate for the day of 34.8% is quite low. I haven't been tracking those, but it was definitely one of the harder days this season.

ETA: I found where you can see each day's get rate. 35% is the lowest. Monday's was 38%, which is the second lowest. Tough week so far.

Is it just me, or when you see that one of your friends has forfeited, do you want to send them a message like, "Hey, are you OK?!?"
Not pointing a finger at your friend, but, in general, I have a much more cynical reaction to people who have been playing all season and then suddenly forfeit on a day when the get rate is really tough.
If it's the same person I noticed, difficult questions wouldn't be a reason they'd forfeit.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 1:47 am
by trainman
teapot37 wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 7:04 am...and Booknotes (I see a show called "Book TV" on C-SPAN in the TV listings when flipping around every now and again, but it's a different show, I guess).
"Book TV" is the entire weekend block of book-related programming that airs on C-SPAN 2, which grew out of "Booknotes."

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 5:42 am
by Bamaman
My American History is over 85% and I get three for Teapot Dome?

A benefit of being old is you can get Suzy Quatro.

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 7:30 am
by georgespelvin
twelvefootboy wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:33 pm
georgespelvin wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2019 6:30 am
I know this is old, but my most proud moment in Learned League so far was the COBRA question last week because I had no clue but figured out the TOM in the question. :idea:
For some reason, my first reptilian guess was the cobra, then I visited non-snake critters (since he said "reptiles" and not "snakes", and I've learned to read. every. word., lol) and finally noticed the three cities matched the three letters.

And then the conundrum - how to defend this? Easy once you make the connection, and a vague YEKIOYD otherwise. I went soft on it since the WAG is so confident once you see it.

My best guess so far is Prague. Serendipity - we just watched the 2019 Spiderman movie where they visited Prague and mentioned a bridge, so I knew Prague had an unknown river and was a European capital city where the two weird names might fit the river.
Speaking of serendipity, I can't tell you how many questions there have been this season that I've known at least in part because of recent vacations I've taken (Victoria and Albert, Space X) , a recent book I've read (Bob Hope and his Road pictures), or recent songs I've heard (Luther Vandross).

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 7:38 am
by triviawayne
Bamaman wrote: Thu Dec 12, 2019 5:42 am My American History is over 85% and I get three for Teapot Dome?

A benefit of being old is you can get Suzy Quatro.
Would Suzy Q have been taken as acceptable?

I was going to put Suzy Q, but then thought, "isn't that some blonde girl with a high voice?"

Re: LL83: Learned League

Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 7:54 am
by classicroadster
Pretty much run the gamut the last few days. First off, I get my best ever showing in MSC with 8/12, almost perfect moneying for 393 points, and highest score in D Magnolia. Who hoo! Then the last MD16-18 happen...4/18 (2,0,2). Ouch. Somehow I went 1-1-1 those three days. MD 16 was frustrating as my daffodil/crocus koin happened and my wife and I watched Smash but I couldn't get it. MD17, I had no chance with no inkling on any of the questions (not a gamer, but I had heard of gamecube after the reveal and gang of 4 briefly crossed my mind). MD18, first read through I was again in panic mode but re-reading I got SpaceX and Earl Grey but none of the others were things I heard of. I got as close as quatroi but was given credit. I'm in 5th but only a point out of promotion so I'm hoping theres a regression up to the mean coming.