Thursday, April 2, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[mrparadise]

Spain - Bullfighting - The Sun Also Rises

Most of the time, yes, but Death in the Afternoon (1932) was Papa's non-fiction paean to bullfighting in Spain. 11 hits in the archive though they give the title and ask for the author. Surprising that asking for the title has not made a TOC appearance.

[floridagator]

For eighth wonder of the world, I said the Empire State Building. Judges?

[Woof]

Kids books for $1,000 was a bad misfire on the writers' part. I also said "snow day" because "nieve" is snow, and was dumbstruck when it was ruled wrong. "Snowy day" would be Día nevado in Spanish. Should this be tagged as erratum?

That's why you never, ever touch Libros en Español unless you know the English title. Some of the translations are way off.

Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with that translation. Dia Nevado is nothing a Spanish-speaking person would say as it would imply that there is snow physically on the day, as if it were an object. Dia de Nieve translates to day of snow, which is exactly what that title means.

[twelvefootboy]

Mark B: Throw Huckleberry Finn out of your 20th century Rolodex .

In a category of CLASSIC AMERICAN NOVELS I will always have Huck on the short list of precalls. 1926 (20th century) only came up after the clue was revealed.

Why am I still allowed to post? I forget that it is allowable to actually remember the category, create pre-calls, and make edumacated guesses.

FWIW, I have trouble thinking of Twain or Arthur Conan Doyle as "Classic" Novel authors. I suppose the genre of Young Adult literature came later, and their writing was contemporary with education levels at the time. Even if it was consumed by adults, their stuff isn't Moby Dick or Dickens (I mean that in a good way ).

For eighth wonder of the world, I said the Empire State Building. Judges?

Me too. There's a ton of googles that confirm it was hyped that way in the 1930's. I'm not sure of the phrasing of the clue. The writers had to know about the ambiguity.

[morbeedo]

For eighth wonder of the world, I said the Empire State Building. Judges?

Me too. There's a ton of googles that confirm it was hyped that way in the 1930's. I'm not sure of the phrasing of the clue. The writers had to know about the ambiguity.

That's what I said! But then I figured it was wrong because the category was MOVIE MONSTERS

[AFRET CMS]

Questions & Answers for $1,600 felt like a dreaded game of "Guess the Synonym". I matched neither the contestants nor the writers with "vow". Anyone else misfire on that one?

I have heard the oath given as "swear or attest" and that's what I said. Can hardly believe that would have been negged. Judges?

"Affirm" is given as an alternative to "swear" in the Constitution in the oath of assuming a federal office, including the presidency. It's also given as an alternative in the commissioning oath of a military officer. So, that was my answer, hoping that the inclusion of North Dakota was a distractor and not because North Dakota went their own direction. I had a bit of a "whew" when the answer was revealed.

[Lefty]

Chronology and geography would have helped retrospectively - The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms are in the 20s, while For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms are both set in Spain.

A Farewell to Arms is set in Italy.

Oops, I messed up juggling the three Wikipedia pages, and trying to do the Venn diagram in my head. This is easier:

TSAR: 20s, Spain.
AFTA: 20s, but Italy.
FWTBT: Spain, but 40s.

FWTBT is Spanish Civil War, so 1930's

The book, though, was published in 1940. Likewise, the action in A Farewell to Arms is mainly WWI, but the book was 1929.

[cthulhu]

FWIW, I have trouble thinking of Twain or Arthur Conan Doyle as "Classic" Novel authors. I suppose the genre of Young Adult literature came later, and their writing was contemporary with education levels at the time. Even if it was consumed by adults, their stuff isn't Moby Dick or Dickens (I mean that in a good way ).

ACD is basically a good pulp writer before the pulps, but you're questioning Twain's bona fides? Huckleberry Finn is a legitimate contender for the title of The Great American Novel (in my view, it's better than Moby-Dick), and Twain wrote plenty of other worthwhile stuff. Even Tom Sawyer is deeper than you might think. He was definitely not writing YA fiction.

[twelvefootboy]

FWIW, I have trouble thinking of Twain or Arthur Conan Doyle as "Classic" Novel authors. I suppose the genre of Young Adult literature came later, and their writing was contemporary with education levels at the time. Even if it was consumed by adults, their stuff isn't Moby Dick or Dickens (I mean that in a good way ).

ACD is basically a good pulp writer before the pulps, but you're questioning Twain's bona fides? Huckleberry Finn is a legitimate contender for the title of The Great American Novel (in my view, it's better than Moby-Dick), and Twain wrote plenty of other worthwhile stuff. Even Tom Sawyer is deeper than you might think. He was definitely not writing YA fiction.

As a Missourian, I'm all about Mr. Clemens . But the highbrows and mucky-mucks that decide what is "Classic" may not care to elevate a humorist and iconoclast. I found a random reading list and see Tom Sawyer and Sherlock Holmes at 8th grade and Huck Finn and The Great Gatsby at 11th grade. I don't remember Huck Finn being that dense, but do know about all the social undertones within it.

Good description of ACD, and my viewpoint wasn't that Twain wrote for young adults at all, it's just as likely that nobody wrote for them. Just like ACD was the progenitor of pulp writing, Twain's material was more suitable to morph into the YA genre before it was a genre. I just can't see the J! writers placing him in a hoity toity category as "Classic". Now "Epic", I can go with .

Interesting reading list:

Spoiler

(as pasted, the columns are run together. First title is 8th grade, second is 9th. Rinse and repeat 10/11.)
Eighth Grade Ninth Grade
Across Five Aprils The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Deathwatch Animal Farm
The Giver The Illustrated Man
Johnny Tremain A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Murder on the Orient Express The Miracle Worker
Nothing but the Truth Of Mice and Men
The Pearl Raisin in the Sun
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Romeo and Juliet
Shades of Gray To Kill a Mockingbird
Slave Dancer
To Be a Slave
Tom Sawyer

Tenth Grade Eleventh Grade
All Quiet on the Western Front The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Antigone Catcher in the Rye
A Place Where the Sea Remembers The Crucible
A Separate Peace Death of a Salesman
The Bean Trees East of Eden
Fahrenheit 451 A Farewell to Arms
The Joy Luck Club Farewell to Manzanar
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Franny and Zooey
Lord of the Flies The Grapes of Wrath
Macbeth The Great Gatsby
Oedipus Rex Inherit the Wind
The Sound of Waves My Antonia
The Taming of the Shrew Red Badge of Courage
Twelfth Night The Scarlet Letter
Warriors Don’t Cry

Twelfth Grade
The Alchemist
Brave New World
Canterbury Tales
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Great Expectations
Hamlet
Jane Eyre
Man’s Search for Meaning
1984
Othello
Siddhartha
Tale of Two Cities
Things Fall Apart
Utopia
Wuthering Heights

[talkingaway]

For eighth wonder of the world, I said the Empire State Building. Judges?

Me too. There's a ton of googles that confirm it was hyped that way in the 1930's. I'm not sure of the phrasing of the clue. The writers had to know about the ambiguity.

That's what I said! But then I figured it was wrong because the category was MOVIE MONSTERS

Even so, I'd say they might give it, if there's enough good sources from the 1930s that refer to the Empire State Building as the eighth wonder. Even though the category is MOVIE MONSTERS, the bottom two correct responses aren't the monster, because the monster is referred to in the clue. So, it's not quite like 7-LETTER WORDS, where the category restricts responses. Of course, there's no monster in the clue, so you'd have to wonder why they'd have it written that way if there isn't a monster in the response.

For what it's worth, I would have been greatly helped if they'd gone for the second row clue before this one, since I answered Godzilla for the Fay Wray clue. I did get Godzilla right when it finally popped up.

[davey]

As a Missourian, I'm all about Mr. Clemens . But the highbrows and mucky-mucks that decide what is "Classic" may not care to elevate a humorist and iconoclast.

"Classic" for J! is what endures, making room for Conan Doyle and, say, Bram Stoker.
But if you're talking about literary reputation, the "highbrows and mucky-mucks" have decided...
one reason he's still read today. Ever heard of Artemus Ward, Sydney Smith, Dean Swift, John Hay? All contemporary humorists of Twain's time, all forgotten.
You can't get more "highbrow" than T.S. Eliot-
In the preface to an English edition, Eliot would speak of “a master piece. … Twain’s genius is completely realized"
https://lithub.com/a-brief-survey-of-gr ... an-novels/
Whether readers-
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-americ ... nker-books
teachers-
https://www.perfectionlearning.com/top- ... ure-titles
or writers-
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainme ... rs/252209/
Twain's literary standing is high.

[twelvefootboy]

As a Missourian, I'm all about Mr. Clemens . But the highbrows and mucky-mucks that decide what is "Classic" may not care to elevate a humorist and iconoclast.

"Classic" for J! is what endures, making room for Conan Doyle and, say, Bram Stoker.
But if you're talking about literary reputation, the "highbrows and mucky-mucks" have decided...
one reason he's still read today. Ever heard of Artemus Ward, Sydney Smith, Dean Swift, John Hay? All contemporary humorists of Twain's time, all forgotten.
You can't get more "highbrow" than T.S. Eliot-
In the preface to an English edition, Eliot would speak of “a master piece. … Twain’s genius is completely realized"
https://lithub.com/a-brief-survey-of-gr ... an-novels/
Whether readers-
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-americ ... nker-books
teachers-
https://www.perfectionlearning.com/top- ... ure-titles
or writers-
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainme ... rs/252209/
Twain's literary standing is high.

Thanks for the links. I'm always glad to see Mary Ann prevailing over Ginger . Now where the hell are my Artemus Ward novels?

[alietr]

Thanks for the links. I'm always glad to see Mary Ann prevailing over Ginger . Now where the hell are my Artemus Ward novels?

I had posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago (before the world went to hell):

Mary Ann Ginger.jpg (57.02 KiB) Viewed 3197 times

[davey]

As a Missourian, I'm all about Mr. Clemens . But the highbrows and mucky-mucks that decide what is "Classic" may not care to elevate a humorist and iconoclast.

"Classic" for J! is what endures, making room for Conan Doyle and, say, Bram Stoker.
But if you're talking about literary reputation, the "highbrows and mucky-mucks" have decided...
one reason he's still read today. Ever heard of Artemus Ward, Sydney Smith, Dean Swift, John Hay? All contemporary humorists of Twain's time, all forgotten.
You can't get more "highbrow" than T.S. Eliot-
In the preface to an English edition, Eliot would speak of “a master piece. … Twain’s genius is completely realized"
https://lithub.com/a-brief-survey-of-gr ... an-novels/
Whether readers-
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-americ ... nker-books
teachers-
https://www.perfectionlearning.com/top- ... ure-titles
or writers-
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainme ... rs/252209/
Twain's literary standing is high.

I should have realized that "Dean Swift" is (probably) a reference to Jonathan Swift, so not too obscure, but the other writers in that list are at least 19th C., and Artemus Ward was a friend of Twain's.
https://bookmarks.reviews/the-1885-revi ... erry-finn/

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

52 R (Missed Jason Aldean(Though I have heard of him.), and Milodoxil.)
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: *The Snowy Day*, Philadelphia, Herbert Hoover, Maren Morris, (Miniskirt), Hobble Skirt, Starship Troopers, Affirm, Silver Dollars, Niagara, Abyssinia

[econgator]

(Missed Jason Aldean(Though I have heard of him.), and Milodoxil.)

Still missed it. It's minoxidil.

[Linear Gnome]

(Missed Jason Aldean(Though I have heard of him.), and Milodoxil.)

Still missed it. It's minoxidil.

I'm not sure what it says about me that I was too slow to pull out "minoxidil", but, when spotted "minoxidil', instantly converted it to "dimoxinil" from a Simpsons episode that's nearly 30 years old.

[TenPoundHammer]

I'm just surprised that LSV knew Maren Morris but not Jason Aldean, when Maren's polling like 15% right now and they had another clue about Aldean about two weeks ago.

Also for like the hundredth time, first syllable is "Al", as in "Weird Al", not "All".

[threearruda]

I'm just surprised that LSV knew Maren Morris but not Jason Aldean, when Maren's polling like 15% right now and they had another clue about Aldean about two weeks ago.

LSV correctly ID'ed Maren Morris - from the same song, no less - in a TD I ran about a year ago (scroll down a bit to question six).

I agree with you that it's probably a bit surprising, but the Morris clue as written requires basically no knowledge of her country career. I'd just assume that he hasn't gotten around to reading about or listening to Aldean in that two week span.