Thursday, November 5, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[opusthepenguin]

In the 2-word rhyming phrases category, for the clue that asked for a film appealing primarily to women, I said "rom com" for "chick flick." Judges? Is the fact that "rom" and "com" aren't actually words fatal to my case?

Hmmmm. I'd probably give it to you. You're right that the category specified two words. It's also true that "rom com" doesn't technically say anything about which sex it primarily appeals to. But "rom com" is generally considered a subset of "chick flick". I wonder how the judges would rule.

[Linear Gnome]

Lach Trash: boogie-woogie, May gray, You're on your own.

Nice pickups. How many of you boardies got "May gray" even though you'd never heard it before? Would you have known "June gloom" if they'd asked for it (say, in a category called NOT QUITE RHYME TIME)?

I had never heard of it and said "Gray May"--I think they'd probably give it to me. Don't think I'd get "June gloom", though. (And I didn't get "you're on your own".)

I spent the better part of Sep. 1978-May 1982 in Troy, NY at Rensselpolyinstitechnitute.

I wonder if they sometimes purposely make an easy FJ clue for a hard-sounding category or vice versa. The one time when I think it's especially important to aim for uniform FJ difficulty is in the quarterfinals of a tournament, and I think they've done a good job of that lately. Aside from that, I don't have a problem with varying the difficulty.

[hbomb1947]

In the 2-word rhyming phrases category, for the clue that asked for a film appealing primarily to women, I said "rom com" for "chick flick." Judges? Is the fact that "rom" and "com" aren't actually words fatal to my case?

Hmmmm. I'd probably give it to you. You're right that the category specified two words. It's also true that "rom com" doesn't technically say anything about which sex it primarily appeals to. But "rom com" is generally considered a subset of "chick flick". I wonder how the judges would rule.

Well, on the second point, I don't think anyone would dispute that the audience for rom-coms is predominantly female (along with signifcant others of those females who are grudgingly dragged along). My big concern would be whether the failure of my response to use actual words would get me negged.

[dhkendall]

I wonder if they sometimes purposely make an easy FJ clue for a hard-sounding category or vice versa. The one time when I think it's especially important to aim for uniform FJ difficulty is in the quarterfinals of a tournament, and I think they've done a good job of that lately. Aside from that, I don't have a problem with varying the difficulty.

I'm positive that's what they did for this show - ok granted that wasn't quite as easy as the clue in this show, and it was a TS, but the host said on reveal of the FJ category "don't let it throw you", so ...

[Bamaman]

The folded arms didn't bother me but it drove some idiot on Facebook crazy. Now I really hope he goes on a long streak just to bother them.

Not sure how someone who calls themselves Seattle Zuma can say someone else is arrogant, but whatever. Now I know how to hold the button if I get the call.

[MitchO]

Really? The folded arms is a thing? He's hardly the only person to have done this.

[opusthepenguin]

I live in SoCal and "June Gloom" is frequently used but I've never heard an utterance of "May Gray".

But did you get it anyway?

I agree, "June gloom" is much more commonly used. You might hear "May gray" on TV during the weather report. But ordinary people don't use it much if at all.

[opusthepenguin]

I had never heard of June gloom or May gray. But maybe that's just my East Coast bias.

It's exclusively a SoCal thing as far as I know. Marine layer clouds form overnight and stick around until late morning. You notice it especially once school is out and you want to go to the beach. You look outside and it does NOT look like a beach day. You go on faith. When you get there, you're shivering with your swimwear covered by jeans and a hoodie and you figure the day is going to be a disaster. But someone older and wiser says, "Nah, it's just June gloom." Sure enough, by midday the sun is out and the beach is warm and the waves are refreshing and the day is perfect. We call that the June Gloom Noon Bloom[*].

"May gray" is much less of a thing because it only happens toward the end of May if at all. Plus, except for Memorial Day weekend, it doesn't affect beach plans nearly as much.

Another related phrase, familiar to SoCal ears is "late night and early morning low clouds". That's a common media meteorologist phrase that, come 11 a.m. or so, makes you want to kill the person who used it. The clouds are still there. Until noon. (Which, admittedly, is 11 a.m. standard time, but it still ain't EARLY morning.) You can also hear the phrase used in "Emotional Weather Report" by Tom Waits.


[*] Ok, not really.

[molly427]

In the 2-word rhyming phrases category, for the clue that asked for a film appealing primarily to women, I said "rom com" for "chick flick." Judges? Is the fact that "rom" and "com" aren't actually words fatal to my case?

Hmmmm. I'd probably give it to you. You're right that the category specified two words. It's also true that "rom com" doesn't technically say anything about which sex it primarily appeals to. But "rom com" is generally considered a subset of "chick flick". I wonder how the judges would rule.

My gut says it would be ruled incorrect but overturned and the points added back later in the game.

[This Is Kirk!]

For a taped show like Jeopardy! they obviously don't need to caption in real time, but I also have a feeling they aren't paying the captioner enough to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb, either. My guess is the captioner captions the entire show in real time first and then goes back and checks any spellings they weren't sure about.

This debate would best be settled by trainman. He revealed in a somewhat recent Jeopardy Live Panel (that dealt with Matt's infamous $5/$5000 DD wager) that not only is/was he a closed captioner, but he also did closed captioning for J! for a time and can probably settle this once and for all.

Paging trainman ...

Yes, I'm interested to know. My wife used to caption, but she only did live shows and prerecorded shows may be a totally different ballgame.

By the way, she last captioned probably five years ago. At that time the station she was working for still required her to connect using a modem!

[OrangeSAM]

I had never heard of June gloom before either, but I figured "gray" was the only word rhyming with "May" that could describe bad weather.

In some places, "May gray" would be good weather.

I agree with the other Southern Californians here that the phrase is a recent coinage.

[opusthepenguin]

Is it just not known outside of NY/NJ that Forest Hills = Queens? It's the home of Spider-Man!

As the clue indicated, the time capsule from the 1939 World's Fair is in Flushing Meadows, not Forest Hills.

I got it from Fran Drescher's sitcom, The Nanny. I only saw a handful of episodes and remember almost nothing from it. But somehow the first two lines of the theme song took up residence in my head and never left. "She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens,/ Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes".

[seaborgium]

Is it just not known outside of NY/NJ that Forest Hills = Queens? It's the home of Spider-Man!

As the clue indicated, the time capsule from the 1939 World's Fair is in Flushing Meadows, not Forest Hills.

I got it from Fran Drescher's sitcom, The Nanny. I only saw a handful of episodes and remember almost nothing from it. But somehow the first two lines of the theme song took up residence in my head and never left. "She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens,/ Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes".

That's how I got it, too. I'm usually lost when a J! clue asks for a New York City borough.

[econgator]

Any Mets fan knows where Flushing Meadows is.

(also helps if you were born 7 miles away from it, too ).

[Elijah Baley]

I live in SoCal and "June Gloom" is frequently used but I've never heard an utterance of "May Gray". FJ super easy but like someone else said, I think it's ok to vary the FJ difficulty level.

SoCal native here; I've also never heard anyone say "May Gray." And I don't know if I've ever even noticed that May is particularly gray. The whole point in referencing June Gloom is that you typically expect summer (starting in June) to be sunny. And then you get weeks of marine layer.

So I'm calling shenanigans.

[CailinGaoilge]

I got Lord Byron but on sort of a blind guess, thinking of someone gothic who loved the ladies.

Same here. I laughed out loud when it turned out to be correct. That was a vicious DD. Thanks to Winchell Factor for the anecdotal mnemonic.

The contestant's guess of Bram Stoker wasn't half bad. (Although he did say "Brahm" Stoker, so that's one more for the list on his odd pronunciations.) I wouldn't have gone with Stoker even if I'd thought of him because I figured he was from a later period than Lady Caroline Lamb. That's because I thought she was Charles Lamb's wife. Turns out she was married to William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, usually addressed as Lord Melbourne, PC FRS. (Hence the "Lady"[*]). Charles and William were contemporaries, so I turned out to be accidentally right. Yet another example of "justified true belief" being an insufficient definition for "knowledge".


[*] Whoops. Not so fast. She was already Lady Caroline when she married Lord Melbourne. Justified true belief =/= knowledge strikes again.

Indeed. A woman who holds a title by virtue of her husband is never Lady Firstname. The wife of Viscount Melbourne would be Lady Melbourne - unless, as in Lady Caroline Lamb's case, she holds a higher title by birth. She was an earl's daughter (daughters of nobility from dukes down to viscounts have the honorific Lady), and an earl is higher in the nobility ranking than a viscount. Had she married a 'commoner', she would still have been Lady Caroline.

[CailinGaoilge]

Really? The folded arms is a thing? He's hardly the only person to have done this.

Exactly - in Mike's avatar, there is a striking resemblance to Brad Rutter, folded arms and all.

[Volante]

I live in SoCal and "June Gloom" is frequently used but I've never heard an utterance of "May Gray". FJ super easy but like someone else said, I think it's ok to vary the FJ difficulty level.

SoCal native here; I've also never heard anyone say "May Gray." And I don't know if I've ever even noticed that May is particularly gray. The whole point in referencing June Gloom is that you typically expect summer (starting in June) to be sunny. And then you get weeks of marine layer.

So I'm calling shenanigans.

Well, as another SoCal native, I'm gonna have to shenanigans your shenanigans. 'May gray' does at least spark recognition in the ol gray matter, though I couldn't place where I heard it, though based on how I've absorbed media over the years, the best time period would've been in the 90s for me to pick it up.

[BigDaddyMatty]

Is it just not known outside of NY/NJ that Forest Hills = Queens? It's the home of Spider-Man!

As the clue indicated, the time capsule from the 1939 World's Fair is in Flushing Meadows, not Forest Hills.

I got it from Fran Drescher's sitcom, The Nanny. I only saw a handful of episodes and remember almost nothing from it. But somehow the first two lines of the theme song took up residence in my head and never left. "She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens,/ Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes".

That's how I got it, too. I'm usually lost when a J! clue asks for a New York City borough.

When I went to NYC for MSQ back in 2013, I ended up with a Saturday to kill and decided to head to Flushing Meadows to watch the U.S. Open. I was able to get in for just a few bucks (<$25), which gave me access to everything but Arthur Ashe Stadium. I'm only a casual tennis fan, but it was one of the most fun sporting experiences I've ever had. From the action on the ancillary courts--quadriplegic tennis will blow your mind!--to the kids' experiences to the vendor booths to watching the main action on the Jumbotron with the plebes, the whole day was amazing. I even got to sit with Michael Chang's family and watch him and Todd Martin take on the McEnroe brothers in an exhibition doubles match. If you ever have the chance to go, even if you care not a whit about sports, do it. You will not regret it.

[irene]

I live in SoCal and "June Gloom" is frequently used but I've never heard an utterance of "May Gray". FJ super easy but like someone else said, I think it's ok to vary the FJ difficulty level.

SoCal native here; I've also never heard anyone say "May Gray." And I don't know if I've ever even noticed that May is particularly gray. The whole point in referencing June Gloom is that you typically expect summer (starting in June) to be sunny. And then you get weeks of marine layer.

So I'm calling shenanigans.

Well, as another SoCal native, I'm gonna have to shenanigans your shenanigans. 'May gray' does at least spark recognition in the ol gray matter, though I couldn't place where I heard it, though based on how I've absorbed media over the years, the best time period would've been in the 90s for me to pick it up.

Not to belabor the point (and this is anecdotal, I know) but let me tell you a tale of two weddings that took place in San Diego, both in the month of May…

I was married in my Mom’s backyard two times, both in MAY.
1st marriage, 1984: not a word about May Gray
2nd marriage, 2011: several friends and family asked (paraphrasing) “aren’t you worried about the May Gray?”

Ergo ordinary people use the phrase May Gray, obviously not by everyone, but by some…
Enough, apparently, to be a question on Jeopardy!