Wednesday, May 21, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6843, 2014-05-21

Julia Collins game 13.

CONTESTANTS
Lara Brenckle Malmont, a strategic communications lead from Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Sirena Terr, a business lawyer and consultant from Livingston, New Jersey
Julia Collins, a supply chain professional from Kenilworth, Illinois (whose 12-day cash winnings total $245,610)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Some Tweeters are starting to refer to our champion as "Julia, the giant of Jeopardy!" She's earned a reputation. Sirena and Lara, nice to have you with us today, and good luck to all three of you. Let's go to work in the Jeopardy! Round. Hopefully, it will not be work but fun with these categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
LETTERS TO CANADA (5/5)
THE HAIR APPARENT (5/5)
SKYDIVING (4/5)
FAMOUS WOMEN (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
THE HEISMAN WINNER'S SCHOOL (1/3)
"E" FOLLOWS "D" (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Julia: 11 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Sirena: 7 R, 0 W
Lara: 6 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 3
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,400



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Julia found the Daily Double on the 3rd clue. Julia had $400, Sirena was scoreless, and Lara was at $200. Julia made it a True Daily Double, wagering $400.

FAMOUS WOMEN $600: In 1896 this educator became the first woman in Italy to get a medical degree
(Julia: Let's make it a True Daily Double.)
(Alex: [chuckles] Okay...)
(Julia: Haven't gotten to say that yet.)
[Laughter]
...
(Julia: Who is Cabrini?)

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Julia: $4,600
Sirena: $2,400
Lara: $1,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Sometimes movies, motion pictures, can have a great effect on our lives. That was the case for Lara Brenckle Malmont. What movie?

Lara: Dr. Zhivago.

Alex: And how did that affect your life?

Lara: My mother saw the movie when she was a teenager, and she saw the actress and she saw the character, and she said, "I will name my daughter 'Lara,'" so that was my name.

Alex: Okay, good for mom.




Alex: Sirena Terr from Livingston, New Jersey. Your husband, I understand, spontaneously proposed to you. How long had you two known each other, though?

Sirena: Um, we had known each other a year.

Alex: A year.

Sirena: Yes, but we had a long distance relationship, so we didn't see each other that often, and we had an ongoing conversation, which was if we got married, where would we live? And we were on a glass bottom boat ride in Florida, and we had the same conversation and he said, "Will you marry me?" And I said, "Are you asking me now?" And he said, "yes," but then the announcement came on from the glass bottom boat to go downstairs and look through the glass, so I didn't get a chance to answer, and we walked downstairs and I wasn't sure what I should do, and finally, I looked at him and I said, "yes," and he said, "Oh, I was hoping you had forgotten."

[Laughter]

Sirena: But that was because he wanted to plan something, you know, bigger and better, but we ended up, um --he was stuck at that point, so we ended up going to the shell store and getting each other 75-cent shell rings.

Alex: And you're still together?

Sirena: We're still together, but I got a better ring.

Alex: Oh, okay. [laughs]

[Laughter]




Alex: All right, Julia Collins is our champion. She's been our champion for quite some time, and she is hoping that her appearances on Jeopardy! are being seen by her former kindergarten teacher?

Julia: Yes, I had a wonderful kindergarten teacher, but I was a very shy child. I didn't talk for all of kindergarten or pre-kindergarten when I was in her class, including at show-and-tell. I'd stand in the front of the class, holding my doll or whatever I brought, and I didn't say a word. She'd ask me questions,and I would just stand there. [laughing] So I think she'd be proud of my ability to speak in front of other people now. So... [laughs]

Alex: Well, yes, but she probably realized that you were a great mime artist. That's what is was.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
SKYDIVING $400: The auxiliary parachute is also called this, a word found on bottles of fine wine
(Julia: What is stopper?)
...
(Alex: Less than a minute to go now, Lara.)

THE HEISMAN WINNER'S SCHOOL $400: Johnny Manziel
(2012)
(Lara: What is Alabama?)

THE HEISMAN WINNER'S SCHOOL $600: Vinny Testaverde
(1986)
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]
(Alex: And...the ladies stayed away from football.)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Julia: $5,000
Sirena: $4,400
Lara: $3,600

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
TO THE EXOPLANETS! (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
PHIL-IBUSTER (3/5)
SPY FICTION (0/3)
"KEY" WORDS & PHRASES (4/5)
THE SECRETARY OF WAR (3/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
THAT USED TO BE A THING (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Julia: 11 R (including 3 rebounds and 1 DD), 0 W
Lara: 2 R, 0 W
Sirena: 4 R, 5 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 10
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $12,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Julia snagged the next Daily Double on the 14th clue. Julia had $12,200, Sirena had $4,400, and Lara was at $6,800. Julia wagered $2,000.

THE SECRETARY OF WAR $1200: A son of this president worked for Garfield & later became a wealthy corporate lawyer

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Sirena who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 26th clue. Julia had $15,800, Sirena had $5,200, and Lara was at $6,800. Sirena wagered $200.

TO THE EXOPLANETS! $1600: In 1992 the first exoplanets were found orbiting one of these rotating stars that emit regular bursts of radiation
(Sirena: What's a quasar?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
"KEY" WORDS & PHRASES $800: A thingamajig; its usage dates back 100 years

THAT USED TO BE A THING $800: "A Feathered River Across the Sky" is a 2014 book about this creature that once made up over 1/4 of North America's birds
(Sirena: What's the eagle?)

THE SECRETARY OF WAR $1600: Nice balancing act! This future prez was Madison's secretary of state & war at the same time

THE SECRETARY OF WAR $2000: Secretary during the Civil War, he died 4 days after Grant appointed him to the Supreme Court

PHIL-IBUSTER $1600: In 2003 this Phil Keoghan-hosted reality show won its first Emmy --it would not be the last

PHIL-IBUSTER $2000: This Texas senator teamed up with Rudman & Hollings for a 1985 balanced-budget law

SPY FICTION $400: This code name of a spy completes Ken Follett's title "Eye of..."

TO THE EXOPLANETS! $800: In 2013 Caltech scientists announced there are more than 100 billion planets in this alone--about one per star
(Alex: In [*]. Imagine how many in the universe.)

SPY FICTION $800: I spied "A Delicate Truth", a 2013 thriller by this British octogenarian
(Alex: Less than a minute
to go now, Sirena.)

SPY FICTION $1200: Aspects of his 1958 novel "Our Man in Havana" seemed to predict the Cuban Missile Crisis
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Julia: $17,800 (lock game)
Lara: $6,800
Sirena: $3,000

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
ORGANIZATIONS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; lock for second place.
Julia: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $4,199 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Lara: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $799 (martian), and enjoy 2nd place.
Sirena: You've no hope of catching up... unless Lara does something stupid. So risk $2,999.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
The full name of this scholarly group founded after a lecture in 1660 includes "of London for Improving Natural Knowledge"

FINAL SCORES
Sirena: $3,000 - $0 = $3,000 (What is shout out to Eric & Daniel Neveloff [drawing of a heart]) (3rd place: $1,000)
Lara: $6,800 - $800 = $6,000 (What is th National Geographic Society?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Julia: $17,800 - $2,000 = $15,800 (What is the Royal Academy of Science?) (13-day champion: $261,410)
(Alex: [revealing Sirena's response] Who are they?)
(Sirena: My -- my sons.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $13,400

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Julia: $17,400, 22 R (including 1 DD), 2 W (including 1 DD)
Lara: $6,800, 8 R, 1 W
Sirena: $3,200, 11 R, 5 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $27,400

BATTING AVERAGES
Julia: 22/60 = .367
Sirena: 11/59 = .186
Lara: 8/58 = .138
Team: 41/63 = .651

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
FAMOUS WOMEN $400: Drinks definitely were not on this pro-Prohibition woman

THE HAIR APPARENT $200: In the '70s, Darnell "Dr. Dunk" Hillman of the ABA sported a monumental one of these

THE HAIR APPARENT $600: Hey, wise guy, time to dish & get this cut -- nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

SKYDIVING $600: To exit & clear the plane & then activate the chute right away is rhymingly called hop & this

SKYDIVING $1000: 2-word specified area where skydivers plan to land, or a Gary Busey film about skydiving crooks

SKYDIVING $200: This electric term is used for the sudden jolt felt by a jumper when the chute opens

THE SECRETARY OF WAR $800: Pierce's war secretary, he soon ended up in a war, all right...with the United States
(Sirena: Who is Jackson?)

PHIL-IBUSTER $1200: Name this athletic wear mogul. Just do it.
(Sirena: What is Nike?)

TO THE EXOPLANETS! $2000: In 1995 astronomers confirmed the first exoplanet orbiting a sunlike star, in this "equine" constellation
(Sirena: What is the Nor--the Horse Nebula?)

CORRECT RESPONSES
Maria Montessori
reserve
Texas A&M
University of Miami
(Abraham) Lincoln
a pulsar
a doohickey
the passenger pigeon
James Monroe
Edwin Stanton
The Amazing Race
Phil Gramm
the Needle
the Milky Way
John Le Carré
Graham Greene
the Royal Society
Carrie Nation
an afro
a bowl cut
pop
Drop Zone
shock
Jefferson Davis
Phil Knight
Pegasus

[jeff6286]

Organizations
The full name of this scholarly group founded after a lecture in 1660 includes "of London for Improving Natural Knowledge".

Spoiler

What is the Royal Society? Sirena gave a shoutout to her sons; Lara said the National Geographic Society; Julia said the Royal Academy of Science.

Julia Collins: $17,800-$2,000=$15,800...now a 13-day champion with $261,410
Lara Brenckle Malmont: $6,800-$800=$6,000
Sirena Terr: $3,000-$0=$3,000

[chalupabatman786]

All women. If this ends in a 3-way tie, then the conspiracies are true...

[TryphonTournesol]

Instaget FJ for me. Pretty underwhelming game all told. I think it's this sort of game that leads people to doubt a long champion like Julia - she gets to a lock game, but her opponents seem pretty low energy and make what appear to be head-scratching decisions at times. But there's Julia, yet again, with her metronomic success, getting enough clues right to get where she needs to be to make the FJ not matter. We can argue about whether or not we think she'll be successful in the ToC with this kind of play, but the fact is she's being successful right now, so who cares? I'm sure she doesn't.

[Austin Powers]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6AsOa61zbI

[AntmanB]

4000 today. Took a big gamble on final didn't pay off.

Lach Trash: "Miami" "The Amazing Race" "The Milky Way" .
Aced the Canada Category. Seemed like an easy board.

[Bamaman]

My condolences to Golf's family. Golf's head exploded when the lady in the middle bet $200 on the DD when way behind and the time warning had been given.

Yes, a bleah game all around. Lots of Lach trash. I had Royal Academy for FJ.

The Heisman category went about as I expected.

[MDaunt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6AsOa61zbI

You just made me watch a commercial before I could watch the commercial. There's a special place in Hell for people like you.

[heelsrule1988]

[TryphonTournesol]

My condolences to Golf's family. Golf's head exploded when the lady in the middle bet $200 on the DD when way behind and the time warning had been given.

Yeah, that killed me. I understand not wanting to bet big in a category you don't think you know well, but it's not like she had much to lose at that point. Of course in the end it was wholly irrelevant.

The Heisman category went about as I expected.

I suppose this is probably true for most categories, but sports in particular (perhaps because there tends to be a clear knowledge gap between men and women in the general case) seem to be pretty much gimmes if you know anything about sports, or impossible if you know nothing about sports. I feel like in a lot of other categories there might be additional hints in the clue to help you figure out what college was being sought, but not here - you either know where these football players went to college or you don't. Rough for a non-sports group. At least one of them got answered!

[TenPoundHammer]

Skydiving was totally over my head. I wasn't getting "shock" if you'd given me a month.

On the other hand, that Canada category was kids' week. Easy run.

Dreadlocks for cornrows and a blank on embroidery cost me runs in those categories.

0/5 in Women too. What led to Hillary Clinton on $200?

I thought "Key" was upside down. NHO keynote or dickey, and couldn't get "doohickey", but got the bottom two.

Donahue and Keoghan are the only two of those Phils that I've heard of, but I was blanking on what Keoghan hosted. All I could think was "it's not Big Brother".

"Eye of the Needle" was tough for $400 IMO. What was the TOM there?

I kinda wanted to see Spy Fiction play out just to see if the last two would be stand-and-stares too.

NHO the right answer on that FJ! Seems very "so what?" to me.

[Golf]

Probably a main reason some don't care for Julia's playing style, 3rd clue in, DD with $400, Alex says you can wager up to $1k, and she stands there with a scared look before eventually wagering a whopping $400 on a 3rd row clue.

After a TS on Johnny Football I would have fallen out of my chair if a player even attempted an answer on Vinny. Side note for the Sports Jeopardy fans, tons of sports trivia studs out there have memorized every Heisman winner, year, and school. Easy list to memorize though.

Um... Sirena, if you just happened to be spying here, I'm curious to know why you would try out and agree to appear on a game show with obscene amounts of money involved ONLY IF YOU WIN. Seeing as how when given the gift of a DD late in the game as your only chance to win, you wager a amount that assures you NOT WINNING even if you answer correctly.

Julia is a good player, but in my opinion, many recent contestants have been sub-par. And it makes for a lousy game.

My condolences to Golf's family. Golf's head exploded when the lady in the middle bet $200 on the DD when way behind and the time warning had been given.

LOL. My head did explode but since I've already been lobotomized and still found a way to post, it didn't affect me that much.

You know, in retrospect that contestant reminded me of Christine Baransky's character from Big Bang Theory. But nowhere near as sexy.

[Leander]

I went with Royal Society for FJ, but was worried that there was more to the name I was missing.

I thought the first round board very easy, but the DJ board quite a bit harder.

[skygilbert]

Congrats to Julia again. She's now 6 from Madden, and only 61 from Jennings!

Lach trash on Manziel, Testaverde, passenger pigeon, and milky way. I really wanted the last Heisman clues to boost my Coryat. I had no clue on final.

[WJMorris3]

For the life of me, I don't know why I guessed the Rhodes Scholars for Final.

[zakharov]

I unleashed my inner wagering viking at that $200 wager. In the words of Bob Harris, she had chosen to lose at that moment.

Lach trash-a-palooza today: Texas A&M, Miami, Edwin Stanton, Phil Gramm, passenger pigeons, and the Milky Way.

NHO "dickey," unless it is Blue Jays pitcher RA Dickey.

Clammed on DOMA - the wording threw me for some reason.

No chance on FJ - I said Mensa just to have something.

Congrats to Julia on lucky 13. Obviously not the strongest competition today, but she's earned every win.

[groovitude]

0/5 in Women too. What led to Hillary Clinton on $200?

Donahue and Keoghan are the only two of those Phils that I've heard of, but I was blanking on what Keoghan hosted. All I could think was "it's not Big Brother".

The Clinton clue's tipoff was the date in early November, 2016 -- the date of the next US Presidential election. She's the only woman considered a favorite for a nomination (at least for one of the major parties).

I wouldn't be surprised if you thought Keoghan did host Big Brother, given that former Big Brother contestants have been participants in each of the last two seasons.

[xxaaaxx]

I wasn't happy when the Heisman category was left to die, but I got over it because I knew it was going to happen. I was mildly annoyed when Stanton was a TS. I stopped caring about the outcome when The Amazing Race was a TS (how dare they!!!). When Sirena bet 200 on that DD, I just stared at the TV, numb. Not my favorite episode by a longshot.

Instaget FJ.

Maybe the writers noticed how contestants struggle with Canadian material and decided to take it easy on them. Maybe if they had spotted them the province and asked for the postal code instead of the other way around. I mean, even if you didn't know them cold, MB? QC? What else could it possibly be?

[esrever]

Congrats to Julia on her 13th win! The game was close after the J! round, but Julia pulled away during the DJ! round -- even through the DJ! round had a bunch of stand-and-stares, including several in a row.

I counted 13 non-DD clues that none of the contestants got correct.

Picked up Lach trash: "reserve", "doohickey", "Milky Way", "passenger pigeon", "James Monroe", "The Amazing Race", "Phil Gramm"

Didn't get FJ.