Friday, July 13, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6420, 2012-07-13

CONTESTANTS
Brian Mueller, an office administrator from Fountain City, Wisconsin
Liza Veeneman, a retired software developer from Aliso Viejo, California
A.J. Motley, a student of diagnostic sonography from Wylie, Texas (whose 2-day cash winnings total $56,002)

OPENING REMARKS
Thank you, johnny gilbert.
Ladies and gentlemen,
good to have you with us today.
A.J. Is our champion.
He's a student, but a student
who scored big yesterday,
and has over $50,000
in just 2 appearances.
We are happy to welcome
our newcomers--
brian and liza with a "Z."
Welcome. Good luck.
Here comes
the jeopardy! Round.
And here are the categories.

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
GREAT BEGINNINGS (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
AGATHA CHRISTIE BOOKS (5/5)
GUMBO (5/5)
TV BUSINESSES (5/5) (Alex: We want you to name the show for us)
IT'S THE TRUTH (4/5)
"BULL"! (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Brian: 10 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
A.J.: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Liza: 9 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 1
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $800



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
A.J.: $3,600
Brian: $2,200
Liza: $2,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: One of our challengers, Brian Mueller, we know is a big fan of "Jeopardy!" But his best friend is not. I want to hear about this person.

Brian: Yes. My best friend, Chris, uh, has not watched the show very much, and she thinks it's kind of silly that the, uh, you have to answer in the form of a question. Uh, in fact, when I told her I was gonna be on, she's like, "oh, that's great, but, oh, that's so ridiculous."

(Laughs)

Alex: Here's what you do. What do I do? You say, "yeah, but that's the game."

Brian: That's right.

Alex: Why do we drive on the right side of the road, unlike the Brits, who drive on the left side of the road? Because that's the rule.

Brian: That's right.

Alex: Thank you.
(Chuckles)




Alex: Liza Veeneman from Aliso Viejo, California. This woman has done something I would like to do, but I don't think I could. And it has to do with the Grand Canyon.

Liza: Well, we did a rim-to-rim, my husband and I, a couple of summers ago.

Alex: Walking?

Liza: Hiking, backpacking.

Alex: Oh, gosh.

Liza: Had about 32 pounds on my back.

Alex: And how--how great a distance is it?

Liza: It's 26 miles.

Alex: (Inhales sharply)

Liza: and you start at the north rim, go down to the river, and then hike up to the south rim. So on the way out, this Good Samaritan could tell that I was really, really dragging, because the last half-mile is the toughest.

Alex: Yeah.

Liza: Straight up.

Alex: Yep.

Liza: So he offered to take my pack the rest of the way up. And I told him, "thank you, I appreciate it, but I have carried this thing for 26 miles, and I'm gonna carry it out of here."

Alex: That's sort of like what my mother said before she gave birth to me.

(Laughter)




Alex: A.J. Motley is our champion, and he's won a lot of money. Maybe that will change his lifestyle, because I've heard that you are extremely frugal, and you're a coupon-cutter...

A.J.: Clipper. I have been. It's a genetic trait. My sister, who's in the audience, my mother, it's--it's been known. So I will cut coupons, I will scour the internet, I will research something to death, until I get, like, the last penny out of any possible--I will compare 30 different sites, 30 different ads, to try to find the price I want.

Alex: Are you likely to change because you've won so much money with us?

A.J.: No, I want it to last a long time.

Alex: Oh, all right. Good thinking.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Liza found the Daily Double on the 20th clue. A.J. had $3,600, Liza had $5,200, and Brian was at $2,200. Liza wagered $2,000.

GREAT BEGINNINGS $1000: Following a crisis earlier in the decade, this cabinet department was created August 4, 1977
(Liza: What is the Department of Aeronautic ... )

["time's up" beep sounds]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
IT'S THE TRUTH $800: The two different integer values of the square root of 144
(Liza: What are one and two?)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
A.J.: $5,600
Liza: $3,600
Brian: $3,600

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
FAMOUS ARIAS (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
SEARCHING "HI" & "LOW" (5/5)
MECHANICALLY INCLINED (2/3)
KATHY BATES GONE WILD (5/5)
COUNTRY BY NEWSPAPERS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
LAST SURVIVORS (4/4)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Brian: 13 R (including 2 rebounds and 1 DD), 3 W (including 1 DD)
A.J.: 7 R, 1 W
Liza: 4 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 27
Triple Stumpers: 2
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $4,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Brian snagged the next Daily Double on the 4th clue. A.J. had $6,000, Liza had $3,600, and Brian was at $4,800. Brian wagered $1,200.

COUNTRY BY NEWSPAPERS $1200: Het Laatste Nieuws,
La Nouvelle Gazette

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Brian who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 8th clue. A.J. had $4,400, Liza had $3,600, and Brian was at $10,400. Brian wagered $5,000.

FAMOUS ARIAS $1200: Rossini's aria "Largo al factotum" repeats the name of this character repeatedly
(Brian: What is the Barber of Seville?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
FAMOUS ARIAS $2000: Access your inner Caruso & remember this word, Italian for "laugh", precedes "Pagliaccio" in an aria
(Liza: What is il pagliaccio?)
(Brian: What is figli?)

MECHANICALLY INCLINED $2000: It's someone with a lot of energy, or a device that generates electric current by using coiled wire in a magnetic field
(Brian: What is a spark plug?)
...
(Alex: We're talking about [*].)
[End-of-round signal sounds.]

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
A.J.: $13,200
Brian: $8,600
Liza: $6,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
BRITISH HISTORY

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Crush for first place.
A.J.: Wager $4,001 to cover Brian.
Brian: You have the hope of surpassing A.J. if you come up with the correct response. Bet at least $4,601 to force A.J. to wager to win while also protecting your position from being usurped by Liza.
Liza: Your only hope of a win is that you're the only one to give a correct response, so bet $6,398 or so, leaving a few bucks behind in case someone wagers it all.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
This appointed position first held by John Dryden echoes a "Versificator Regis" of Richard I in the 12th century

FINAL SCORES
Liza: $6,400 + $6,400 = $12,800 (What is Poet Lauriate?) (New champion: $12,800)
Brian: $8,600 - $8,600 = $0 (What is Prince Regent) (3rd place: $1,000)
A.J.: $13,200 - $4,601 = $8,599 (What is a [illegible symbol]) (2nd place: $2,000)
(Alex: Versifacator Regis--of the king.)
...
(Alex: [Revealing Liza's response] What is [*]--yes indeed. Writing verses for the king.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $4,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Brian: $13,600, 23 R (including 1 DD), 4 W (including 1 DD)
A.J.: $13,200, 16 R, 2 W
Liza: $8,400, 13 R, 4 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $35,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Brian: 23/60 = .383
A.J.: 16/58 = .276
Liza: 14/59 = .237
Team: 53/63 = .841

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
IT'S THE TRUTH $400: It's the total population of the Earth to the nearest billion
(Brian: What is 4?)

"BULL"! $200: (Alex: Take a look at me.)

(Alex demonstrates the clue, using a device to amplify his voice)

Use this device to really get your point across
(A.J.: What is a megaphone?)

(Alex [still amplifying his voice]: You are right. No! You are not right. I've just fallen in love with this. Brian.)

(Brian: What is [*]?)

(Alex [still amplifying his voice]: [*], yes. The category is "bull"!, A.J.) [Alex puts the device down]

[Laughter]

(Alex: Brian, you pick.)

"BULL"! $1000: Gold or silver in block form
(Alex [with the bullhorn]: And we're taking a break.)
[Laughter]
(Alex: I love this. I love this...thing.)

COUNTRY BY NEWSPAPERS $1600: Yonhap News,
Chosun Ilbo
(A.J.: What is Japan?)

KATHY BATES GONE WILD $400: "I'd like a man to nibble on my ear", croons kimono-clad Kathy in this musical about an orphan
(Liza: What is Little Orphan [*]?)
(Alex: No.)
(Liza: What's [*]?)
...
(Alex: I ruled against you, Liza, and then you changed your response. Sorry, we can't allow that.)

KATHY BATES GONE WILD $800: "It's for the best", says Kathy to James Caan before she sledgehammers him in this movie
(Alex: Yes, scary scene.)

MECHANICALLY INCLINED $1200: Put these 3 letters before "wheel" to get a wheel that regulates a machine's speed & uniformity of motion
(Alex: Yes, those are the letters.)

LAST SURVIVORS $800: In 2007 Charles W. Lindberg passed away at age 86, the last survivor of the 1st flag raising on this Japanese island in WWII
(Alex: Less than a minute to go now.)

LAST SURVIVORS $1600: The last survivor of this battle wasn't one of Santa Anna's men but 1-year-old Alejo Perez Jr., who lived until 1918
(Alex: The Battle Of [*]. Correct.)

CORRECT RESPONSES
Energy Department
12 and negative 12
Belgium
Figaro
ridi
a dynamo
Poet Laureate
7
a bullhorn
bullion
South Korea
Annie
Misery
fly
Iwo Jima
The Alamo

[jeff6286]

British History
This appointed position first held by John Dryden echoes a "Versificator Regis" of Richard I in the 12th century.

Spoiler

What is Poet Laureate? Brian said Prince Regent; A.J. didn't have a guess, just one or two letters scrawled.

A.J. Motley: $13,200-$4,601=$8,599
Brian Mueller: $8,600-$8,600=$0
Liza Veeneman: $6,400+$6,400=$12,800

[TenPoundHammer]

So many clams today. First 3 in Agatha Christie, along with Harvard (second-guessed myself), Sputnik, Plague (didn't think it'd be specific enough), Figaro (wasn't expecting something that easy on a DD) and flywheel.

Even though I don't watch The Office, I was surprised that they didn't have Dunder Mifflin in the TV Business category.

Never heard "brass tacks" before. Also only barely heard of Kathy Bates, so that was an automatic 0/5.

I lost it when Alex pulled out the bullhorn, then pulled it out again to throw to commercial. Bpmod, you wanna give me both of the bullhorn segments?

This is what I'm talking about when I don't even guess on FJ! I had nothing at all to go on here. Regis = of the king, but that gives me nothing. Anything of the king. Not even "versificator" was of any use, since I was unaware that Poet Laureate really was a thing. I always thought that was just a generic name given to some poets, not unlike Michael Jackson being called the King of Pop.

[legendneverdies]

SOme of us first heard the term in FJ! being applied to Nipsey Russell as the Poet Laureate of TV, as he was often introduced on Pyramid and other game shows.

[ACW]

So tie for 2nd at the end of J! How's it decided who picks first for J!?

[StevenH]

This was a good board but I found it to be very difficult, for the most part. I was enjoying the "Last Survivors" category and was disappointed not to see it cleared.

There were a lot of negs in this game but there were some good gets, too.

FJ was a super instant get. I used the British Poets Laureate question in the first TD that I hosted.

[goforthetie]

So tie for 2nd at the end of J! How's it decided who picks first for J!?

Left-most contestant, I believe.

The Charge of the Light Brigade question confused me, since I didn't realize that the date referenced (something like 1927) was the date of the guy's death, not the date of the event. I then looked up the Crimean War during the break to make sure I wasn't being completely stupid. Having Tennyson on the mind helped with FJ.

[Swift'sSecondCourse]

I ENJOYED THE BULLHORN

[Bamaman]

I got FJ right away, but also considered Archbishop of Canterbury, I was surprised it was a sole guess, with one not even having a guess and the other a bad guess.

[hbomb1947]

Nice comeback for the champ. Both other players certainly had their chances. A LOT of negs today (especially by the guy on the right, it seemed, who also had that heartbreaking error on the opera DD), and I was surprised to see A.J. miss that FJ as he was a very solid and knowledgeable player.

I was loving Alex's bullhorn-enhanced clue. Has he ever used a prop before when reading a clue?

FJ was an instaget. I prolly woulda gotten it off of Dryden anyway, but "versificator" sealed it.

I said "live wire" for dynamo. Judges?

Like today's champ, I fell into the error of saying 1 and 2 on the "two integers" question, and then realized how I had screwed it up.

[TenPoundHammer]

I was loving Alex's bullhorn-enhanced clue. Has he ever used a prop before when reading a clue?

Pretty sure he did another one this season. There was another clue that consisted entirely of him blowing a raspberry.

[jeff6286]

I was loving Alex's bullhorn-enhanced clue. Has he ever used a prop before when reading a clue?

It reminded me of Burt Reynolds aka Turd Ferguson pulling out the giant cowboy hat and Alex's exasperated question "Where are you getting these props?" At least I think that's what he said, though I might be mixing that up entirely with some other comedy bit.

Also reminiscent of the SNL Jeopardy! category "Show and Tell", where Alex says "I'll Show you an object, and you Tell me what it is." Sean Connery: "It's a man with a mustache."

What in the heck was that Gumbo category supposed to be about? Is Gumbo another name for "Hodgepodge" or "Potpourri", because if it is, I don't think I've ever heard it before. If there was something those 5 clues had in common it went completely over my head.

Note to self: If I ever hit a mid-level DD in a wheelhouse category and am about to make a hefty wager...make the wager, give the correct response, then explain that it was a wheelhouse category. Doing that in the opposite order is just begging for trouble.

For the $1,000 Agatha Christie clue, "Cat Among" these birds, Lisa said "What is the Pigeon", which seems to me like it should have been ruled incorrect, since the title is "Cat Among the Pigeons", and the clue even told you that it was supposed to be plural. I thought that when dealing with a title, things like singular and plural, along with internal articles, have to be exact. I fully expected that to be reversed when she hit the DD a few clues later, but somehow it stood. Taking $2000 away from her final score may very well have led to a different outcome to this game, although who knows if she would have still bet $2000 on her DD if she had $3200 instead of $5200? Also, unlike last night when I was mistaken about A.J.'s wager, today he actually did overshoot the MSB, betting an extra $600 which would have been the difference between winning and losing if Liza had entered FJ with $4400 and still gone all-in.

[econgator]

I got FJ right away, ... , I was surprised it was a sole guess, with one not even having a guess and the other a bad guess.

That.

and I loved the bullhorn.

[Ozymandias]

I suggest that Brian should not have been negged on the "Figaro" question. The clue referred to "this character's name" being repeated. Yes, the name is Figaro, but Figaro is the Barber of Seville, which is a correct alternate identification of the character. Yet again, the judges were surprised by a correct answer that wasn't what they had in mind, and, yet again, they fumbled it.

[thenextofken]

I got poet-laureate, but it was a WAG, and thought it might be a triple-get.

Interesting misses: Hotel for motel (they are NOT the same thing).
Canary for pigeon (it just seemed to fit)
Whirlwhind for Dynamo
New South Wales for West Australia (it was the only Aussie state I could think of with a directional name.
Bullfinch for Bullfrog (no, I don't know what I was thinking).

Have there ever been back-to-back episodes with such humorous moments (Laura's interview yesterday, the bullhorn today)?

[seaborgium]

I thought the FJ was unbelievably easy, but then I know who John Dryden is (I think I would have even gotten it right if the clue had been "John Dryden was the first to hold this position"). Even so, I'm surprised versificator didn't help the guys.

If Brian had gotten the aria DD right, he still would have lost; $18,600 to $13,200 to $6,400 still leaves him behind Liza after her sole get and a wager by him to cover A.J. And then he would have regretted wagering "only" $5,000. A.J. may have more to regret about Brian's DD miss, depending on whether he would have had the presence of mind to wager under $400 in that FJ situation.

I can't have been the only one who spent the entire Kathy Bates category waiting for About Schmidt.

Another excellent 2xer goes down.

[davey]

What in the heck was that Gumbo category supposed to be about? Is Gumbo another name for "Hodgepodge" or "Potpourri", because if it is, I don't think I've ever heard it before. If there was something those 5 clues had in common it went completely over my head.

Note to self: If I ever hit a mid-level DD in a wheelhouse category and am about to make a hefty wager...make the wager, give the correct response, then explain that it was a wheelhouse category. Doing that in the opposite order is just begging for trouble.

For the $1,000 Agatha Christie clue, "Cat Among" these birds, Lisa said "What is the Pigeon", which seems to me like it should have been ruled incorrect, since the title is "Cat Among the Pigeons", and the clue even told you that it was supposed to be plural. I thought that when dealing with a title, things like singular and plural, along with internal articles, have to be exact. I fully expected that to be reversed when she hit the DD a few clues later, but somehow it stood. Taking $2000 away from her final score may very well have led to a different outcome to this game, although who knows if she would have still bet $2000 on her DD if she had $3200 instead of $5200? Also, unlike last night when I was mistaken about A.J.'s wager, today he actually did overshoot the MSB, betting an extra $600 which would have been the difference between winning and losing if Liza had entered FJ with $4400 and still gone all-in.

Yes, Gumbo is a soup with a lot of ingredients, so like Hodgepodge...

Yeah, the minute the guy said it, I knew he would screw Arias up. And he did it twice!...


You're right, the closed captioning has it right as "pigeon," maybe the judges completely missed that. I thought it was "canaries."

After screwing up two easy FJs myself this week, I was happy to get one from solid knowledge...

[MarkBarrett]

Noooo!, how could A.J. lose? I should have realized he was in trouble when he selected the TV category, but I was so happy to see him get the Breaking Bad clue. Last season starts on Sunday. Two days to go.

A.J. is a smart guy. How could he not get 12 and negative 12? Even I got that one. The game was strange with A.J. seeming like being ahead entering FJ was his only goal.

Alex and props for clues is between several and many for times used. I don't have the kind of memory to draw up the items and times, but it's easily more than five and less than 50 over the years.

Tonight's bullhorn reminded me of some guys I knew (I'll plead the 5th on whether I am included) with a bullhorn (it could also blast built-in songs) from Radio Shack coupled with a high-powered spotlight that could be plugged into the car's lighter to drive around and be a neighborhood nuisance, shall I say. Alex was having fun on a Friday.

The Titanic was in the Last Survivors category, but it could have gone in the Kathy Bates category. She went wild in that movie chewing the scenery.

If Brian had figured out Figaro then that's 18600 entering FJ against 13200. 7800 off 18600 = 10800, so Liza still would have taken the game to get Brian off the hook. It will still haunt him of course.

A.J. should have had enough knowledge to figure out the FJ clue in thirty seconds. If John Dryden was unknown to him then Versificator should have got him on the right track to make a decent guess. The stage pressure can mess with players and their thinking process. Mr. Todor still has his distinction to himself.

[MarkBarrett]

Dang, Stefan. Your post wasn't there when I started composing. By the time I was done you made me look like a copycat.