Monday, November 17, 2014 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[eboettch]

For Fiction-Ales, did any other Harry Potter nerds say Firewhiskey instead of Butterbeer? I don't think you would get carded for Butterbeer in the HP world - it's the drink of choice for all the Hogwarts kids when they go into the village.

[StevenH]

Congrats to Julia on the win! And bravo to Terry and Jared on their stellar performances on two very challenging boards!

The trend of a tough board with gettable DDs and a gettable FJ clue continued in this one. I actually did a little bit better on this board than the others that have been used in the tournament, but it was probably because of my personal strengths more than the board being objectively easier.

I surprised myself by pulling the Sophie's Choice DD, though I definitely got it more from knowing about the book than the movie.

I went straight to South America from the FJ clue, knowing that there were capitals down there that are named for people. I locked in on Santiago and felt pretty good about it. This one was a forehead slapper.

[dhkendall]

Does Julia really have no current job other than "20 time Jeopardy! champion"? Weird.

How is it weird? 5.9% of Americans don't have a job and would have to be creative if they got on the show (and have, "stay at home mom", "stay at home dad", "stay at home son" (can't find it in the Archive but I remember it), "gadabout" ...

Trust me, "stay at home mom" is most certainly a job.

No argument from me there, I'm married to one. But, like econgator said, the stat isn't really reliable, I'm quite sure that "stay at home mom"s are counted in that 5.9%.

No, the 5.9% is people who are unemployed but still actively seeking employment. Presumably a "stay at home mom" usually refers to someone who chooses to stay at home.

Ah, I suppose my definition is different. I mentioned that I'm married to one: my wife is a mother, but our kids are old enough (10 and 12) to be in school most of the day. My wife is, however, looking for work and until she finds work, she does do a lot of the parenting before the kids leave and after they come home since those two things happen while I'm already at work. She's mainly looking for work because we need the extra income, but I was just having a conversation with her on the weekend where I asked her "if money wasn't an issue at all and we didn't need any extra money coming in, would you still go out and look for work?" She said she would, but most likely part time, as she likes the opportunity to get out and do things outside the home. So I guess, although she is home all day and is the primary caregiver to the kids, she might not be a "stay at home mom".

[MarkBarrett]

I'll take it. Julia was the best of the three and had the sole solve on the FJ! clue. That's earning and deserving a place in the finals. Jared is lucky to get out with no regrets over his DD misses or FJ! wager. He did not know Wellington, so he can take his 10K and call it a day.

I like Terry sitting the 8200 as well since it was reasonable that Jared may stay pat. It's always nice to see a college champ make a good showing and that way the powers will keep that invitation open to others winners of the championship.

What I did not like was no one getting Mae West. goatman has it right with "(you gottabekiddingme!)" although I may have added a certain word in there somewhere.

In the TOC I'd like to see someone get hydrangea, The Third Man and Decembrists as well, but there's always tomorrow and Wednesday when I don't expect to have to yell so much.

One more vote for Manila from me, so that will be on the poll. I understood the category for starters so none of that D.C. or South America jazz for me. My map picturing got me to Jakarta, Canberra and Hobart and I stopped, feeling I was not finding anything Spanish-related. The Philippines had the Spain connection and I wrote Manila to have a guess even if everything could not fit to make it work.

With thread on page 3 I expected the rah-rah ratio to be up. Instead it was mostly Hammer ping pong. Eritrea's former Archive hit is January, so that's not as recent as I expected.

[Golf]

Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (Julia, dearie, yes it WAS filmed in B&W! Just watching my vintage copy the other day... these guys are grainy shades of grey).

I think she was saying her guess of The Shawshank Redemption wasn't black and white.

My initial thought was that she was confusing the Urich/Weathers version of The Defiant Ones which of course was in color. But the bad guess of Shawshank seems more likely.

[econgator]

My wife is, however, looking for work

If she's actively looking for work, then she would be considered in the work force (at least here in the US; I have no idea if Canada treats it differently).

[nlw44]

Am very surprised more than a few boardies, when knowing the capital had to be the furthest away from Madrid, went to the northern hemisphere. Doesn't anyone know how antipodes work? (Or is the old "dig to China" myth that persuasive that it's even fooled us smarty-pants?)

There was something of this ilk on WWTBAM a long time ago - I think it was there anyway. The question had to do with something on the opposite side of the world from someplace else given in the question. Unfortunately, I no longer remember the details, but I do recall that of all the answers, only one was on the other side of the equator from the location in the question. Now granted, I am not known for my patience, but watching and listening to someone overcomplicate what was really a very simple question just had me tearing my hair out. If you start out in the Northern and Western Hemispheres, you sure as shooting have to end up in the Eastern and Southern ones.

[Budphrey]

$4500 from Julia was another wagering error?

Julia 12,000 16,400-12,000=4,400; 12,000-4,400=7,600
Terry 8,200x2=16.400
Joshua 7,600

$4,400 gives her a tie with Terry if Terry bets it all and both correct.
Gives her a tie with Joshua if she misses and he bets $0 (which he should if he has done the math).

She still has a chance for an outright win and some back-up tie options should she miss.

Joshua is pretty locked in at $0 given Julia's likely cover bet or offer-tie bet. He could shove, but $0 is better.

Terry figured either
A. If Julia misses FJ its a tougher than average clue, so her odds of getting it correct are <50% so $0 is a good bet
B. Recognizes the tie possibilities, recognizes that Josh SHOULD bet 0 and that Julia has a standard wager of 2ndx2+100
Therefore she's never winning if Julia gets it right, so she should bet for the Julia miss and Josh $0 wager.

Terry otherwise has to bet it all.

I think that observation is right on. I figured the situation exactly as you did with the DVR on pause. At least Julia rendered the complications moot by making the correct response.

[Vermonter]

This is a nice and well thought out post. Sadly, there's a better chance of Alex Trebek and Arthur Chu french kissing during his next game than there is of any of your post helping TPH.

C'mon, dude. Spoiler tags!

[Vermonter]

Okay, it couldn't have been literally anything. I was just stupid and didn't register "farthest" or think that the category name was also a clue.

Don't worry. You're not the only one to forget the category name in Final…

[Vermonter]

Despite The Final Wager giving her pink, I liked Terry's bet. I assume she thought if Julia missed, she wouldn't get it either, and since Jared has a strong argument for wagering 0, why should she bet anything? Had Julia not known Wellington, she would be punching her ticket to the finals.

Same would have been true had she wagered 599.

To be fair to Terry, I did not have 599 as a wager for her in my in-studio calculations. I was thinking only from Julia's perspective, and I was hungry, so easily distracted.

[Vermonter]

Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones (Julia, dearie, yes it WAS filmed in B&W! Just watching my vintage copy the other day... these guys are grainy shades of grey).

I think she was saying her guess of The Shawshank Redemption wasn't black and white.

My initial thought was that she was confusing the Urich/Weathers version of The Defiant Ones which of course was in color. But the bad guess of Shawshank seems more likely.

IIRC, it was never made explicit the films had to be in B&W – Julia might have interpreted the characters' skin color as sufficient to meet the category.

[This Is Kirk!]

In a strange bit of good timing, I just finished reading "Sophie's Choice" a few weeks ago. An instaget if you've read (or remember) the book.

Yeah, same here. I read it in the last year or two. Otherwise I would have had no chance on that one.

On FJ I wrote down Canberra immediately, then Wellington dawned on me with a few seconds left so I changed my answer. I thought it was a pretty good clue. Took a little thinking, but gettable.

[hscer]

Agree. I got it right, but I spent most of the 30 seconds trying to find a Spanish name in one of the obscure Oceanian capitals.

I went in the opposite order, but got Wellington within 15 seconds.

I've only seen 3 of the 6 games so far, but am 3/3 on those FJ's. The rest of the boards--not doing so hot. For instance I know Night's not a novel, but that was all I could think of too.

Bit of an exaggeration by Alex at the beginning. Besides Julia and Arthur who in this field got big media coverage? (And I have this strange feeling someone's going to snark about Slowik, so whoever you are, shush.)

They also didn't *really* need to point out that Julia was sick--you could definitely hear it in her voice. Anyway, was she correct that a movie in the Black and White category wasn't actually in black and white? I forget the specific clue.

[seaborgium]

Somehow I managed to think Australia was on the other side of the US, and went way the heck over to say Santiago as well, even ignoring my misgivings that Santiago was named for San Diego. If I had had the presence of mind to follow the prime meridian to the international date line, I would have had a fighting chance.

Proud of myself for taking the "grey" category into account on the French question, coming up with éminence grise, and translating it to English. Then I got Greyfriars Bobby and felt like a hot shot. (I think I read about that in a Childcraft book that I haven't looked at since I was a kid.)

[whatisbishkek]

They also didn't *really* need to point out that Julia was sick--you could definitely hear it in her voice. Anyway, was she correct that a movie in the Black and White category wasn't actually in black and white? I forget the specific clue.

As mentioned upthread, she was chastising herself over her incorrect guess of Shawshank Redemption.

[aicarrie1]

For Fiction-Ales, did any other Harry Potter nerds say Firewhiskey instead of Butterbeer? I don't think you would get carded for Butterbeer in the HP world - it's the drink of choice for all the Hogwarts kids when they go into the village.

Someone needs to brush up on Harry Potter for sure.

[hscer]

They also didn't *really* need to point out that Julia was sick--you could definitely hear it in her voice. Anyway, was she correct that a movie in the Black and White category wasn't actually in black and white? I forget the specific clue.

As mentioned upthread, she was chastising herself over her incorrect guess of Shawshank Redemption.

Thanks. I read through the thread, honest, and missed it.

[OrangeSAM]

I started my FJ! search in the Philippines, realized it wasn't south enough, stopped in Australia before going further south to Wellington.

Tenpoundhammer will feel better knowing I went 3/5 in In Memoriam 2014, not remembering Ariel Sharon or the Unbroken dude croaking this year

He died just a couple of months before being the Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade. Zamperelli, not Sharon.

In a strange bit of good timing, I just finished reading "Sophie's Choice" a few weeks ago. An instaget if you've read (or remember) the book.

I read it back in the 80s. First book in my head was Marathon Man, but then realized it was SC.

Nominating "What is a Nude Rude Dude?" for best response of 2014.

Now, this is where I said "Nude Crude Dude." Judges?

[cosmos]

I instantly picked "Sophie's Choice" as source of the quote, then brief panic while thinking Elie Wiesel could have said it, then certainty by knowing Styron's novel was published in 1979.