Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by alietr »

A Wray wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:05 am I was rooting for a scoreless tie after Mt. Rainier was a TS. I had no idea my wish would be so close to coming true! Rainier is the highest U.S. peak outside of AK, CA, and CO, and given its proximity to the dense population around Seattle and Tacoma, when (not if) it erupts, it has the potential to be the worst natural disaster in American history. That is one mountain that should be on everyone's radar.
Cascadia, New Madrid, San Andreas, and Yellowstone laugh in its general direction.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Leander »

Xu Donym wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:36 pm

We've already seen two perfectly acceptable hosts who could carry on respectably in Alex Trebek's footsteps. But if the clues don't improve, no host will be able to keep the show at its former level of excellence. Once the powers-that-be settle on a new host, I hope they turn their attention to what seems to be increasing sloppiness coming from the writers' room.
I seem to remember an article about Alex, sometime post diagnosis, that mentioned that he would review the FJ questions and often suggest wording changes for clarity as he was able to put himself in the shoes of the contestants. I wonder if that’s a step in the writing process that’s missing today.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by alietr »

Leander wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 7:07 am
Xu Donym wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:36 pm

We've already seen two perfectly acceptable hosts who could carry on respectably in Alex Trebek's footsteps. But if the clues don't improve, no host will be able to keep the show at its former level of excellence. Once the powers-that-be settle on a new host, I hope they turn their attention to what seems to be increasing sloppiness coming from the writers' room.
I seem to remember an article about Alex, sometime post diagnosis, that mentioned that he would review the FJ questions and often suggest wording changes for clarity as he was able to put himself in the shoes of the contestants. I wonder if that’s a step in the writing process that’s missing today.
Yes, Alex used to do that. I think we've noticed a decline in writing quality all this season, though. I'm wondering on top of what you've mentioned, whether Alex's illness prevented him from doing his clue review from the beginning of the season. Something is definitely amiss.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Picked Off »

Another Notre Dame here. Missed the fact that they were citing a cutoff to Pei in the 80s. Alas. Otherwise the boards were favorable.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Lefty »

Also, "such as" those two guys, not "like". It didn't throw me, it just annoyed me. By the way, when I go to France I'm going as an international, not a foreigner. Fair notice.

FJ was too deep for me, though not as deep as the Chunnel. I'm not sure it qualifies as a "landmark".

Santa Claus actually had a nose like Coca-Cola, but it was changed to "a cherry" because of BBC rules against product placement.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Woppy T »

floridagator wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 4:34 am It seems like principal architect is someone who is in charge of a building, who supervises all of the many construction projects that go on at a large facility. Did I M Pei fulfill that role? I think his function was only to design the pyramid. He was probably never architect in Residence at the Louvre.
It looks like he was in charge of the whole renovation in the 80's, not just the pyramid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._M._Pei ... vre,_Paris
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by This Is Kirk! »

Obviously the clue writers thought we'd immediately think of I.M. Pei given the 1980s bit, but what came to mind for me when I heard about a building that's been under construction for centuries was a cathedral. With the Notre Dame fire a huge news story just two years ago it seemed like the obvious choice. Heck, it was even widely reported at the time that the spire that toppled during the fire was of fairly recent vintage compared to most of the cathedral.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by talkingaway »

I watched this game late, but didn't shelter myself from social media, and didn't hear a thing. Given the lack of "ooohs" and "aahs", I had a good guess at what happened once the pre-FJ! scores were revealed. No tie-breaker. Maybe one person got it right and doubled up, because 28K isn't going to break the internet. But the quiet made me worry about a small win. We should hear Johnny Gilbert have some fun tomorrow.

I went for a completely different cathedral whose lengthy construction is quasi-legendary...Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. I knew it was wrong - wrong nationality, and I misinterpreted the clue as requiring a building that was continuously under construction and perpetually unfinished. I also knew that if I thought 1980s was a "finishing date" that it was wrong, as it is still under construction. Even if I had thought of the Louvre, I would probably have disqualified that because the Louvre is, AFAIK, a "finished" building...or, as finished as any building ever is, I suppose.

I did know that I.M. Pei designed the pyramid in the 1980s, but it seemed like the writers were trying to reward the knowledge that Pei broke the "French barrier" by being the first foreign principal architect. That's not a fact I knew at all.

I am always more interested in facts than in names, so while I knew "The Cutting Edge" had "that guy who was on Jericho 15 years ago", I couldn't come up with the name, even spotted the fact that WEE was in it. The category WATCHA WATCHIN also did that to me - I knew John Malkovich as "the actor in that film where people entered his mind", and the movie about bomb defusers as "The one with the sharpshooter Avenger". Plus Misty Copland as "the first African American principal ballet dancer at the MET". But as a bonus, I did respond "Who is Charles?" to Drag Race.

I've noticed the clue quality is a little lower, and while part of it may be Alex, I think a bigger part may be COVID. The writers probably can't gather around a table and do their normal meetings where they tinker with categories, because that's something that can be done on Zoom. Plus, I don't think too many people have had their productivity IMPROVE in since last March - there's a lot going on. Hopefully that's all that's going on.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Foretopman »

Put me down as another one who said "Notre Dame" after rejecting the Louvre because I knew Pei worked on it in the 80s :x
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by flemmingfan »

i can't remember when I enjoyed a game as well as this one, the rhythm, the back and forth, the wrong answers, the right answers and then to end up with a tie! I was hoping Melis would wager correctly and she came through. Exciting to the last. All great contestants IMHO.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Robert K S »

This Is Kirk! wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:44 am Obviously the clue writers thought we'd immediately think of I.M. Pei given the 1980s bit, but what came to mind for me when I heard about a building that's been under construction for centuries was a cathedral. With the Notre Dame fire a huge news story just two years ago it seemed like the obvious choice. Heck, it was even widely reported at the time that the spire that toppled during the fire was of fairly recent vintage compared to most of the cathedral.
I picked Notre Dame for the same reason. Maybe good poll options would be "I have been to the Louvre" or, if extra room, "I have been to Notre Dame Cathedral".

FWIW The Sacre-Coeur wasn't built until the late 19th/early 20th centuries (construction spanning 1875-1914). Most beautiful building in Paris IMHO.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by davey »

This Is Kirk! wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:44 am Obviously the clue writers thought we'd immediately think of I.M. Pei given the 1980s bit, but what came to mind for me when I heard about a building that's been under construction for centuries was a cathedral. With the Notre Dame fire a huge news story just two years ago it seemed like the obvious choice. Heck, it was even widely reported at the time that the spire that toppled during the fire was of fairly recent vintage compared to most of the cathedral.
Yeah, 19th C. vintage. Sure, Notre Dame has been in the news, but it was not known for modern additions or being unfinished. I thought maybe that was true of Chartres Cathedral (the only other French cathedral likely to show up in an FJ, I think), but it's not so...
In fact, the old French building famous for being added to in the 1980s (by a famous non-French architect) is the Louvre. As I said, the hesitation I had was thinking the work might have been started in the 70s.
BTW, Note Dame was last a correct FJ response in June of last year, under the same category name. Not that folks should remember that, but it's too soon to be used again.
Last edited by davey on Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by econgator »

Robert K S wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:22 am I picked Notre Dame for the same reason. Maybe good poll options would be "I have been to the Louvre" or, if extra room, "I have been to Notre Dame Cathedral".
I'd find it hard to believe that if you've been to one, you haven't been to the other (I would check both boxes -- and Sacre-Coeur, which I'd agree is the most beautiful building in Paris).
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by This Is Kirk! »

davey wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:27 am
This Is Kirk! wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:44 am Obviously the clue writers thought we'd immediately think of I.M. Pei given the 1980s bit, but what came to mind for me when I heard about a building that's been under construction for centuries was a cathedral. With the Notre Dame fire a huge news story just two years ago it seemed like the obvious choice. Heck, it was even widely reported at the time that the spire that toppled during the fire was of fairly recent vintage compared to most of the cathedral.
Yeah, 19th C. vintage. Sure, Notre Dame has been in the news, but it was not known for modern additions or being unfinished.
My first instinct was actually the Sagrada Familia which definitely is famous for being unfinished, however those names sure looked French, so that led me to Notre Dame instead.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by bluejaylink »

Another Notre Dame. After the fire I remember being shocked at how early construction had begun on it (1163, not that I remembered this date during FJ last night) so I had my doubts on my guess.
Last edited by bluejaylink on Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by jeff6286 »

davey wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:27 am BTW, Note Dame was last a correct FJ response in June of last year, under the same category name. Not that folks should remember that, but it's too soon to be used again.
You saying that doesn't necessarily make it true.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by alietr »

I'd take Ste. Chapelle over Sacre Coeur.

And I agree; if you've been to Notre Dame, the odds are you've been to the Louvre.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by davey »

jeff6286 wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:50 pm
davey wrote: Thu Mar 04, 2021 11:27 am BTW, Note Dame was last a correct FJ response in June of last year, under the same category name. Not that folks should remember that, but it's too soon to be used again.
You saying that doesn't necessarily make it true.
Agreed. I might not have even said it if the category wasn't repeated. But it doesn't seem like an outrageous judgment.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by John Boy »

The Talking Mime wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 6:38 pm Another Notre Dame here. I was unaware that the Louvre was that old. I'm 0/3 in FJs this week for the first time in a while.
Well at least I don't feel so all alone in my o-fer-ness. To my brain, this week's FJs have been just brutal.

On this one I also immediately glommed onto France and tried to imagine what French structure had been under construction for that long. I also was not aware the Louvre was that old, and never came close to it. What an awful way for Jon to go out. He looked like a beast in his two wins.
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Re: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by John Boy »

OntarioQuizzer wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:16 pm
alietr wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:10 pm FJ needed 'until' the 1980s to make sense. Terrible wording.
This.

Jon and Tim need to be invited back.
As bad as I feel for both of them, I disagree. It was a brutal clue but they both had their chance. What crappy luck to be in the tie like that, forcing their hands to go all in. As it has been said here many times, that's the reason (or one of several reasons) it's called Jeopardy!
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