I'll add something that I think was a *factor* in his winning (the buzzer speed is also a *factor* but not key, others are right in that the knowledge is the key, he's had some great gets), and that's his playing style. He routinely starts in the bottom half of the board, whether it's DD hunting, or just to build up his bank quickly, that's excellent strategy. (It's made even more evident when he loses control and his opponent goes right to the lowest available clue in the same category and invariably winds up losing.) I see this all the time in the top players' strategies: Alex Jacob and Arthur Chu are two very recent examples. I am amazed when his opponents have seen him do it, see him rack up huge wins, and don't do it themselves. They are doing themselves a grave disservice. (And I distinctly remember saying the same thing during Alex Jacobs' run.)floridagator wrote:Matt's domination on the buzzer is obviously key to his winning.
My mind immediately flashed to the "EYRO" on Euro bills, had it down before Alex was done reading.TreadingWater wrote:Same thing here - the clue TOM with "Bulgaria" led me right away to Cyrillic, and I spent much of the rest of the time going over a map of Europe in my head trying to find another country that didn't use the Latin alphabet...Greg Vinton wrote:When Alex referred to one of the answers on Final being easy and the other being more difficult, I assume he meant that Greek was the easy one. But I was with Matt today. Cyrillic was an instaget and Greek took me about 25 seconds.
You know you're a nerd when ... (Coupled with your rank gave me more of a chuckle)nlw44 wrote:I mentally ran my country-capital list while swimming.
As for the topic on hand, I think because Alex (incorrectly) pronounced the former name as "Gee-an-a" in the clue, and it was "Stupid Answers" (meaning the answer is a word in the clue), they have no choice but to allow it today. I'm thinking the ruling might be different (same as 2010) if Alex pronounced it correctly, even if he does so in the future.
Central Time usually gets it midday (it comes on here at 4:30 as well), this seems to be very common for us fly-overs. I'm curious as how this affects viewing parties, maybe some Midwestern contestants can chime in, this is something I know I'll need to plan someday.Greg Vinton wrote:I'm in Central Time, but the time the show comes on is the local TV network's decision. Jeopardy comes on here at 4:30 Central, so I pretty much have to plan my day around having free time to watch it when it airs, since I don't have a DVR. I would much rather watch it in the evening.Hurone wrote:What timezone are you in where Jeopardy comes on so early?Greg Vinton wrote:When Alex referred to one of the answers on Final being easy and the other being more difficult, I assume he meant that Greek was the easy one. But I was with Matt today. Cyrillic was an instaget and Greek took me about 25 seconds.
Please, don't ever change MTGcollegestudent.MTGcollegestudent wrote:Well...he showed up, big time. Having to get past yesterday's game was almost a heart-throbber for Matt Jackson.
Likewise, his rhythm seems to be on point. All the odd numbered wins have got him between $20,000 - $30,000, and one below $20,000. Likewise, with the even numbered wins, he's been trying to get the $40,000 win, and it worked. Two out of five attempts done this time.
With Final, I only knew that Greek would be a solution because of how their lettering is. But damn...I don't study on European languages as much. I just said 'Ah, screw it...maybe perhaps Slavic?' . But...I knew that it could probably be wrong...and I was right. Literally...
I'm willing to see if he'll go all the way with two weeks straight on his wins.
Loved the Peabody & Sherman category, as I loved them as a kid (combining history with bad puns? Two of my favourite things! But I have two bones to pick with it. Firstly, much has been made of Chris Parnell voicing Mr. Peabody, while it's nice to see buzz, that was *not* the voice of Mr. Peabody, not at all. Bill Scott had a certain quality to the voice, a certain air that is unmistakable. I would easily have forgiven Chris Parnell if he had tried to imitate Bill Scott's take on the character, but that's nowhere near what I feel it should be. Second bone to pick: Did no one catch Peabody's bad pun at the end of the Napoleon one: "Of Corsican", and it being captioned "Of course he can"?