Friday, February 5, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Robert K S]

This is an embarrassingly-dumb take.

*embarrassingly dumb (we don't hyphenate adverb–adjective compounds)

[BigDaddyMatty]

Coryat: $39,800
48 R/1 W
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: Carl Weathers, governor of California, smelt, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, laying on of hands

I was 100% sure I had missed this FJ! I'll take it as a make-up for the mythology near miss earlier this week.

I am aware of the existence of Doubt, but I didn't know enough about it to have any chance at DD1.

Rather appropriate that the stay-at-home Mom got the "hand that rocks the cradle" clue.

"(Blank)SmithKline" does not a $2000 clue make.

I think it was a little unfair of the writers to call Reagan's gubernatorial win his "first political victory". Starting in the early '40s he was elected to the board of directors of the fledgling Screen Actors Guild, then to the vice presidency, then to the presidency of the organization. To characterize these elections as anything other than political victories is to place unnatural constraints on the word "political".

My first thought on that clue was definitely that he'd been president of SAG. There's no way around acknowledging that as a "political victory". I wonder how the clue might be phrased to eliminate the ambiguity. I rejected the SAG response solely because 1966 seemed a bit late for it and about right for his election to the governorship.

I would have acknowledged the SAG presidency in the clue, with something like "Though he had previously been president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan's first election to public office was to this job in 1966."

Also, "second hand" for "hand me down"? I guess it's not specific enough from the "older sibling" part, but it certainly fits a garment that's passed on from someone to someone else.

I know I'm really bad in college sports, so I don't have much room to complain, but is "Pac 12 + Huskies = University of Washington" really a top row clue? For a top row college team clue, I expect something like "The Fighting these, from South Bend".

I'd give you "second-hand." The clue isn't pinned so tightly as to exclude it. As for the Huskies clue, I think "name of Power 5 conference + mascot" should be enough for the top row.

[mas3cf]

Fell for the GB negbait on Islands $800.

I'm not down with that characterization. If you don't know the answer there, the right move is to let someone else be the guinea pig.

I use that term sparingly, but those place names sound pretty British and less Irish. If they wanted to tilt you in the right direction, they could have said "Counties Antrim and Down" or included Sligo and/or (London)derry.

[alietr]

One of those FJs I like because it's not something you're likely to know, but you have to connect the dots to get to the answer. I was surprised it was a TS, though.

I was visiting the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital just this week. The hospital itself has moved across the street since his famous admission there.

I remember lawn darts, a game with "13‐inch pointed darts weighing more than five ounces each." (When I was a boy, they seemed a lot heavier than that...) They've been banned in the US since 1989, because they killed people. Just like spears...

George Will wrote this article on why they were banned. He wrote it 33 years ago, and I still remember it well.

LAWN DARTS AND THE LIMITS OF LAISSEZ FAIRE

[Bamaman]

One of those FJs I like because it's not something you're likely to know, but you have to connect the dots to get to the answer. I was surprised it was a TS, though.

I was visiting the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital just this week. The hospital itself has moved across the street since his famous admission there.

I remember lawn darts, a game with "13‐inch pointed darts weighing more than five ounces each." (When I was a boy, they seemed a lot heavier than that...) They've been banned in the US since 1989, because they killed people. Just like spears...

George Will wrote this article on why they were banned. He wrote it 33 years ago, and I still remember it well.

LAWN DARTS AND THE LIMITS OF LAISSEZ FAIRE

Little did he know how prophetic that final sentence would be 32 years later.

[Picked Off]

Given rational wagering, Rob should be a one-day champ right now. But luckily for Leah, who came on well late, it worked out with the triple stumper. I got to the FJ solve fairly easily, figuring "invasion force" was something of a tortured workaround when we had already been pinned to the 1500s.

[Picked Off]

I think it was a little unfair of the writers to call Reagan's gubernatorial win his "first political victory". Starting in the early '40s he was elected to the board of directors of the fledgling Screen Actors Guild, then to the vice presidency, then to the presidency of the organization. To characterize these elections as anything other than political victories is to place unnatural constraints on the word "political".

Same here. I knew the years were off, but I did consider the SAG answer.

[opusthepenguin]

I would have acknowledged the SAG presidency in the clue, with something like "Though he had previously been president of the Screen Actors Guild, Reagan's first election to public office was to this job in 1966."

Public office! That's the term I needed. Nicely worded.

[Woof]

Having lived through Reagan’s two gubernatorial terms, I was not going to miss that question, but a voice in my head did raise the question of the SAG elections even as I answered. I also liked this FJ. It gave you just enough information to reason it out.

[opusthepenguin]

Given rational wagering, Rob should be a one-day champ right now. But luckily for Leah, who came on well late, it worked out with the triple stumper. I got to the FJ solve fairly easily, figuring "invasion force" was something of a tortured workaround when we had already been pinned to the 1500s.

I think Leah's wager was rational. She didn't throw away one scenario in order to get nothing (except maybe a few bucks) in return. That's the kind of thing that drives us wild. Leah sacrificed one scenario (win on a get) in order to secure a scenario she found more likely (win as long as Rob misses). If she felt weak in the category, that was the rational way to go. In her position I'd have tweaked the strategy a little and bet $2 or $2199. That still forces Rob to get FJ right but also guards against a wager on his part to put him just ahead of her pre-FJ score. Losing by a buck after getting it right would be a heart-breaker there.

[This Is Kirk!]

As for TAM-pi-co, it seems to be analogous to PEE-ru Indiana, CAY-ro Illinois, and New BER-lin WIsconsin.

MY-lin Michigan (Milan). There's also a shar-LOT (Charlotte).

[jeff6286]

Given rational wagering, Rob should be a one-day champ right now. But luckily for Leah, who came on well late, it worked out with the triple stumper. I got to the FJ solve fairly easily, figuring "invasion force" was something of a tortured workaround when we had already been pinned to the 1500s.

Please explain what was irrational about Leah's wager, which happened to win her the game.

[AFRET CMS]

Given rational wagering, Rob should be a one-day champ right now. But luckily for Leah, who came on well late, it worked out with the triple stumper. I got to the FJ solve fairly easily, figuring "invasion force" was something of a tortured workaround when we had already been pinned to the 1500s.

Please explain what was irrational about Leah's wager, which happened to win her the game.

My personal FJ rule is pretty much "bet on getting it right and wager according to the scores. UNLESS the category is obnoxious, in which case bet on getting it wrong, wager accordingly, and hope for the best." I'd rather count on myself to get it right than fall back on hoping other people miss.

But there are categories in which I know I am incredibly weak, such as post-1990 Grammy winners.

The category name seemed to emphasize Popes, which may have reduced player confidence. It may have been similar to the Derry/Londonderry clue that was categorized under "British Army History" -- the category is only peripherally related to the main part of the clue, a "Northern Ireland city known by either of 2 different names." Player response to a category named "U.K. Place Names" might be very different than the response to "British Army History."

If Leah felt that "Popes" was one of her weak categories, a zero wager could be very rational. And, as Jeff points out, she won the game.

[Woppy T]

One of those FJs I like because it's not something you're likely to know, but you have to connect the dots to get to the answer. I was surprised it was a TS, though.

I was visiting the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital just this week. The hospital itself has moved across the street since his famous admission there.

I remember lawn darts, a game with "13‐inch pointed darts weighing more than five ounces each." (When I was a boy, they seemed a lot heavier than that...) They've been banned in the US since 1989, because they killed people. Just like spears...

George Will wrote this article on why they were banned. He wrote it 33 years ago, and I still remember it well.

LAWN DARTS AND THE LIMITS OF LAISSEZ FAIRE

My dad used his set of lawn darts (which he called “jarts,” which stood for, I don’t know jet darts or something) on the beach, so they often ended up in the water and I don’t recall a time when they weren’t nice and rusty.

[econgator]

One of those FJs I like because it's not something you're likely to know, but you have to connect the dots to get to the answer. I was surprised it was a TS, though.

I was visiting the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University Hospital just this week. The hospital itself has moved across the street since his famous admission there.

I remember lawn darts, a game with "13‐inch pointed darts weighing more than five ounces each." (When I was a boy, they seemed a lot heavier than that...) They've been banned in the US since 1989, because they killed people. Just like spears...

George Will wrote this article on why they were banned. He wrote it 33 years ago, and I still remember it well.

LAWN DARTS AND THE LIMITS OF LAISSEZ FAIRE

My dad used his set of lawn darts (which he called “jarts,” which stood for, I don’t know jet darts or something) on the beach, so they often ended up in the water and I don’t recall a time when they weren’t nice and rusty.

Javelin darts

[opusthepenguin]

Given rational wagering, Rob should be a one-day champ right now. But luckily for Leah, who came on well late, it worked out with the triple stumper. I got to the FJ solve fairly easily, figuring "invasion force" was something of a tortured workaround when we had already been pinned to the 1500s.

Please explain what was irrational about Leah's wager, which happened to win her the game.

I'll pass on this one since I think her wager was rational. But if I remember I'll point out the next irrational wager that happens to win the game. Sometimes luck wins out and the bad event a player failed to guard against doesn't happen. In those cases a rational wager would also have won AND would have guarded against the bad event. It's not either/or it's just one/or both. In those cases, pointing out that the bad wager won the game just as much as a good one is irrelevant.

Irrational wagers can happen when a player is effectively given a questionnaire that asks, "Would you like to win in Situation A AND Situation B or just in Situation B?" and the player says, "just in Situation B is fine. If Situation A happens, I'd rather lose". In this game the questionnaire said, "Would you like to win in Situation A OR in Situation B." Leah chose to win in Situation B and it paid off. Most players, I think, would have chosen to win in Situation A and lost. Both wagers are rational. A wager that lost would have been just as rational as Leah's. If Leah's wager had lost, that wouldn't have made it irrational. It is not relevant whether, in one particular instance, a rational wager didn't "pay off" or an irrational one did.

[This Is Kirk!]

I remember lawn darts, a game with "13‐inch pointed darts weighing more than five ounces each." (When I was a boy, they seemed a lot heavier than that...) They've been banned in the US since 1989, because they killed people. Just like spears...

George Will wrote this article on why they were banned. He wrote it 33 years ago, and I still remember it well.

LAWN DARTS AND THE LIMITS OF LAISSEZ FAIRE

I was a pretty well-behaved kid but I still remember: 1. throwing lawn darts straight up in the air and running to get out of the way, and 2. throwing them over the house from the front yard to the back yard [check to see if anyone's back there first? Nah!].

[John Boy]

Today's Ken moments:
Nothing added on the Scottish poet clue other than, "Right".
Tampico not said as "Tam-PEE-koe" but more like "TAM-puh-koe"

For Burns, maybe he couldn't decide between these two options. If so, let me recommend the latter.

As for TAM-pi-co, it seems to be analogous to PEE-ru Indiana, CAY-ro Illinois, and New BER-lin WIsconsin.

Does anyone else feel that FROM THE GRIDIRON TO TV for $600 should have mentioned that Ed O'Neill also scored 4 touchdowns in one game for Polk High?

Yes. It would have stopped me from guessing Bill Cosby (albeit with certain reservations).

Fell for the GB negbait on Islands $800.

I'm not down with that characterization. If you don't know the answer there, the right move is to let someone else be the guinea pig.

...and New BER lin OH, in Amish country....

[John Boy]

Catholic nation sending an invading force in the late 16th century??? Since 1588 is firmly established in my memory bank as the date of the invasion, the armada was an instaget. So much so that I was shaking my head a bit to see it a TS. But what the hey....

[rockyboy34]

...how did I get FJ correct?

7/10 (B)

P.S. I saw Mike Richards as one of the writers in the credits.