Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6248, 2011-11-16

CONTESTANTS
Will Valverde, a fund-raising consultant from San Francisco, California
Ellen Lewis, a retired high school math teacher from Mount Vernon, New York
Emily Gifford, a historical researcher and writer from Middletown, Connecticut (whose 1-day cash winnings total $33,800)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. And welcome again, ladies and gentlemen. Not that will, Ellen, and Emily need any special kind of incentive to perform well on our program, but we had a lot of very inspirational moments, didn't we, in the past two weeks in that championship? Great tournament, and now we start the journey that will lead us to next year's event, so good luck to the three of you, and here comes the Jeopardy! Round to get you started today. The categories are as follows...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
LET'S TAKE A BATH (5/5)
VEGAS CASINO RESTAURANTS (4/5)
IN THE "HOUSE" (5/5)
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND (5/5)
FRIEZES (5/5)
THAWS (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Will: 13 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Emily: 11 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 1 W
Ellen: 4 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,800



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Will: $3,800
Emily: $2,800
Ellen: $1,600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: We're gonna talk about things that happened while traveling. Will Valverde is from San Francisco, and spent three months backpacking where?

Will: Uh, all through Central America. We started in Costa Rica and kind of worked our way up from there.

Alex: You said "we". Who was the other person involved?

Will: I had just started, uh, dating--I had been dating my girlfriend at the time for just a few months. We were working together, and both got laid off at the same time. So we said, "Instead of taking a vacation, let's take a nice long trip." At the end of that, we decided, "Let's take a much longer trip," and we just got married a few months ago.

Alex: Good for you. Congratulations.




Alex: Ellen Lewis is a retired high school math teacher. She was traveling in Jamaica on a rafting trip and you--

Ellen: Yes.

Alex: --you had to answer a call.

Ellen: Oh, yes. Uh, this is a very long time ago. We've been married 38 years, and this is 37 years ago. And, uh, we were on the rafting trip, and I really needed a bathroom. My husband says, "Well, just get off the raft, go over there to the, um, side, on--on the, um, land." The trouble was, there was some cows there, and I just couldn't deal with the cows. So unfortunately, I had to wait a long time--

Alex: You know, there's--

Ellen: --to relieve myself.

Alex: There's--there's nothing wrong with that, because I find that I cannot go to the bathroom when cows are looking at me with those big brown eyes. So...

[Laughter]

Ellen: There you go.

Alex: Yeah, we--we fit in.

Ellen: We have something in common.

Alex: Yes.




Alex: Emily Gifford, are you superstitious?

Emily: Uh, normally not...

Alex: Normally not--

Emily: But for something like this, yes.

Alex: And what have you got with you to help you along?

Emily: Well, I have my late father's wedding ring, my late grandmother's watch, and the autograph of the very much alive, uh, NCAA and WNBA basketball superstar Tina Charles.

Alex: Okay. Good for you.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Emily found the Daily Double on the 21st clue. Emily had $3,400, Ellen had $1,600, and Will was at $5,400. Emily wagered $2,000.

THAWS $600: A brief thaw in the icy chill of Soviet repression is named for this Russian leader who took power in 1953

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
THAWS $1000: This 13-letter word for the reestablishment of good relations is apt when France makes up, as with Rwanda in 2009

VEGAS CASINO RESTAURANTS $800: The Steakhouse at Camelot,
Round Table Buffet
(Emily: What is King Arthur's Court?)
...
(Alex: Less than a minute.)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Will: $7,600
Emily: $7,000
Ellen: $800

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
SWEET TALK (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
BROADWAY MUSICAL STARS (4/5)
I'M GONNA MOON YOU! (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
HERBAL MEDICINE (5/5)
ON THE COAST (5/5)
THAT'S SO CLICHE! (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Will: 9 R, 1 W
Ellen: 9 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 1 W
Emily: 10 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 1
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Ellen snagged the next Daily Double on the 5th clue. Emily had $7,800, Ellen had $2,800, and Will was at $7,200. Ellen wagered $1,800.

SWEET TALK $2000: Keats' "Ode on" this says, "Sylvan historian, who canst thus express a flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme"

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Emily who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 13th clue. Emily had $8,600, Ellen had $7,000, and Will was at $7,200. Emily wagered $1,800.

I'M GONNA MOON YOU! $1200: On Feb. 1, 1958 the Detroit Free Press said, "U.S. Fires Moon!"; they meant the USA's first of these, Explorer 1
(Emily: What is a rocket?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BROADWAY MUSICAL STARS $2000: A longtime talk show host & short-time "The View" co-host, she once played Golde in "Fiddler on the Roof"
(Emily: Who is Behar?)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Will: $17,200
Emily: $13,200
Ellen: $10,600

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Three-quarters for first place. Stratton's Dilemma.
Will: Wager $9,201 to cover Emily.
Emily: You ought to wager to cover Ellen, but since you cannot win on a Triple Stumper if you do so, you should choose between wagering $0 and maximizing your winnings with a wager of all $13,200. You are in Stratton's Dilemma, calling for a wager of more than $8,000 (to shut out Ellen) or less than $5,200 (risking the possibility of being passed from behind by Ellen). Go with the smaller bet if you believe a Triple Stumper is more likely than a singleton miss by Will.
Ellen: Think about risking $2,600, thereby beating Will on the Triple Stumper (should Will wager to cover Emily's doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Still in existence, it begin in 1688 in a British coffee shop popular with maritime folk; it soon got involved in their business

FINAL SCORES
Ellen: $10,600 - $600 = $10,000 (What is Tetley Tea) (New champion: $10,000)
Emily: $13,200 - $13,199 = $1 (What is the Mermaid Tavern?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Will: $17,200 - $9,201 = $7,999 (What is Twinings?) (2nd place: $2,000)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $3,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Will: $17,200, 22 R, 1 W
Emily: $13,600, 21 R (including 1 DD), 4 W (including 1 DD)
Ellen: $10,800, 13 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Combined Coryat: $41,600

BATTING AVERAGES
Will: 22/58 = .379
Emily: 21/60 = .350
Ellen: 13/59 = .220
Team: 56/63 = .889

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
IN THE "HOUSE" $800: Cha-mise is a Japanese word for this type of place, seen here

FRIEZES $200: A frieze that once adorned the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus shows Greeks battling these warrior women

FRIEZES $600: A temple frieze at Kailasanatha depicts a battle from "The Mahabharata", an ancient epic from this country

FRIEZES $800: Because it depicts the official counting of Roman citizens, an ancient relief is known as this frieze

FRIEZES $1000: An RAF veteran poses with a life-size frieze at the London memorial to this pivotal 1940 battle

GILLIGAN'S ISLAND $400: This tour boat was named for the chairman of the FCC who called television "a vast wasteland"
(Alex: Newton [*], correct.)

VEGAS CASINO RESTAURANTS $400: Eiffel Tower Restaurant,
Le Provencal
(Ellen: What is the Parisian?)

VEGAS CASINO RESTAURANTS $1000: Roxy's Diner,
Top of the World
(Ellen: What is New York-New York?)

SWEET TALK $800: In "Hamlet", he says, "Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest"
(Will: Who is Laertes?)
(Ellen: Who is Yorick?)

ON THE COAST $1600: If you're on the southern coast of Yemen, you're dipping a toe in this gulf
(Emily: What is the Persian Gulf?)

THAT'S SO CLICHE! $800: As animated here, it means to go out & celebrate boisterously

THAT'S SO CLICHE! $1200: To suffer a major defeat or setback is to "meet your" this, like Napoleon
(Alex: Right, with a minute to go.)

THAT'S SO CLICHE! $1600: As seen here, it's another way of saying old or aging

CORRECT RESPONSES
Nikita Khrushchev
rapprochement
Excalibur
a Grecian Urn
a satellite
Rosie O'Donnell
Lloyd's of London
a teahouse
the Amazons
India
a census
the Battle of Britain
the Minnow
Paris
the Stratosphere
Horatio
the Gulf of Aden
paint the town red
Waterloo
long in the tooth

[jeff6286]

International Business
Still in existence, it begin in 1688 in a British coffee shop popular with maritime folk; it soon got involved in their business.

Spoiler

What is Lloyd's of London? Ellen said Tetley Tea (founded in 1837). Emily said the Mermaid Tavern. (around since the 1600s) Will said Twinings. (also an English tea company, around since 1706)

Will Valverde: $17,200-$9,201=$7,999
Emily Gifford: $13,200-$13,199=$1
Ellen Lewis: $10,600-$600=$10,000...now a 1-day champion with $10,000

[legendneverdies]

Jeopardy.com/showguide/thisweek spoils the outcome of Wed and Thu's games, so don't look at it.

[KenJenningsFan74]

The speed of the regular games certainly is different from that of the Tournament of Champions, and it takes a while to get used to the shift in pace. The biggest change in speed that I've ever witnessed was the switch from Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and Jerome Vered in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions finals to the regular games the next day. The defending champion and two challengers were all very good, I'm sure, but the game seemed to move at a snail's pace compared to the lightning action from just twenty-four hours earlier.

Will Valverde had a good chance at winning this game, but Ellen Lewis wagered smartly and took the win from third place entering the final. She's a deserving champion, I think.

[Bob78164]

The speed of the regular games certainly is different from that of the Tournament of Champions, and it takes a while to get used to the shift in pace. The biggest change in speed that I've ever witnessed was the switch from Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and Jerome Vered in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions finals to the regular games the next day. The defending champion and two challengers were all very good, I'm sure, but the game seemed to move at a snail's pace compared to the lightning action from just twenty-four hours earlier.

Will Valverde had a good chance at winning this game, but Ellen Lewis wagered smartly and took the win from third place entering the final. She's a deserving champion, I think.

I thought the defending champion in that game was particularly good, and the players were able to clear both boards. It's a shame he didn't win a few more games. --Bob

[shubhaghosh]

Got FJ based on maritime, the 1688 date, and the hint that the business is still around. The coffee house hint was a diversion. Never heard of the champion's answer.

After the show, there was a short blurb about the message board. But it looks to be down still. Not sure what they were referring to.

[NoWhammies10]

A good game all around today. 56/61 clues eventually correctly answered is not bad. I believe there was only one clue where two players responded incorrectly before the third was right. I had Tetley Tea for FJ! as well.

Oh, you don't come here for the commentary, just for the Coryats? Well, look no further...

EMILY: $13,600 (incl. 1 Daily Double correct, 1 incorrect)
ELLEN: $10,800 (incl. 1 Daily Double correct)
WILL: $17,200

Also, apparently Aleve pays the consolation prizes now. Huh.

[econgator]

Did Alex say that one would be tempted to guess Gorbachev on the Khrushchev clue? Huh?

"Huh?", of course, was my reaction to FJ. Not in a trillion years. I couldn't even come up with a decent guess.

[StevenH]

This game was definitely a change of pace but I still enjoyed. I think it was a good start for the new cycle.

I had no guess at all on FJ but props to all three contestants for making good wagers!

[teapot37]

I thought that was a poorly-written FJ clue, mainly because I couldn't figure out what "their" referred back to - the maritime business, or the coffee shop. It looks like the contestants all opted for B) when it should have been A). Sloppy, writers, really sloppy.

Needless to say, I didn't get it, either.

[Fishercat]

Ugly FJ Clue.

These games seem a lot easier after the ToC, but I guess they're not.

The betting also wasn't horrible, so that's nice to see too.

[alietr]

That sure wasn't a TOC board, and that sure wasn't Roger wagering on the Daily Doubles.

I didn't think FJ was so hard, myself. I was pretty sure it was Lloyd's (involved in their business -- shipping -- but not actually in it), then I reread it, realized they deliberately avoided saying "London" and that iced it for me. And I think I've heard that it was that old. All fell into place. And she wasn't out in Left Field with the Mermaid Tavern: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mermaid_Tavern

I saw that message board promo ... gulp! I guess we'll see what happens, but I've gotten pretty comfy here. It wouldn't seem to make sense to revive it right after the most exciting two weeks of the season, however.

[marpocky]

I loved how Emily pronounced "Young Fr-ah-nkenst-ee-n" and was so pleased with herself for a few seconds she forgot to call for the next clue.

[RobotJepLady]

I loved how Emily pronounced "Young Fr-ah-nkenst-ee-n" and was so pleased with herself for a few seconds she forgot to call for the next clue.

I really was stupid pleased with myself! And at least that time I had an excuse; I spaced on calling a clue in the first round for no reason whatsoever. I totally forgot how the game was played for a few seconds there.

Ah, vanity!

[Bamaman]

I got irritated in the J round when they kept avoiding Gilligan and barely finished it in time. I was hoping the DD would be there.

[RobotJepLady]

Did Alex say that one would be tempted to guess Gorbachev on the Khrushchev clue? Huh?

"Huh?", of course, was my reaction to FJ. Not in a trillion years. I couldn't even come up with a decent guess.

At the time, I was thinking "Why is Mr. Trebek talking about Gorbachev? He's not going to be relevant to this category for another 25 years, give or take." I hesitated only because I thought Khruschev was so obvious it had to be a trick question.

And clearly, FJ rattled all three of us. Ellen made a super-smart wager; since she'd been a math teacher, that's not so surprising. I am terrible at both math and gambling, so I just bet all but a buck (I have a gambling problem in the same sense that Ted Stryker in Airplane! had a drinking problem: a basic inability to grasp the fundamentals of the activity itself.

No regrets, I had a great time and did just fine in my first game.

[mam418]

Did Alex say that one would be tempted to guess Gorbachev on the Khrushchev clue? Huh?

"Huh?", of course, was my reaction to FJ. Not in a trillion years. I couldn't even come up with a decent guess.

At the time, I was thinking "Why is Mr. Trebek talking about Gorbachev? He's not going to be relevant to this category for another 25 years, give or take." I hesitated only because I thought Khruschev was so obvious it had to be a trick question.

And clearly, FJ rattled all three of us. Ellen made a super-smart wager; since she'd been a math teacher, that's not so surprising. I am terrible at both math and gambling, so I just bet all but a buck (I have a gambling problem in the same sense that Ted Stryker in Airplane! had a drinking problem: a basic inability to grasp the fundamentals of the activity itself.

No regrets, I had a great time and did just fine in my first game.

Welcome, Emily! Nice win in the previous game! (I graduated from Middletown High, so I was rooting hard for you.) And thank you for pronouncing the Mel Brooks movie title correctly.

Instaget on FJ for me... but I'm a bit of an English history junkie, and wound up studying economics, so I'm somewhat decent on business history type stuff. And I too was wondering what Alex had been smoking when he mentioned Gorbachev...

[Paucle]

"Huh?", of course, was my reaction to FJ. Not in a trillion years. I couldn't even come up with a decent guess.

In the past I've noticed you and I have similar strengths and weaknesses, but not today- instaget for me! Yup, ToC must be over! (Although I did better on those two weeks than I thought I would.)
Actually, not really instaget-- more like "instaguess," and I couldn't think of anything I liked better, so stayed with it.

[cinemaniax7]

I'm pleased to say I knew FJ because I just happened to write about the maritime origins of insurance in my new book!