Thursday, November 26, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7179, 2015-11-26

CONTESTANTS
Rob Russell, a tutoring and testing director from Johnson City, Tennessee
Marie Halvorsen-Ganepola, a professor from Granger, Indiana
Ricky Hudson, a physical therapist from New York, New York (whose 1-day cash winnings total $17,199)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Marie and Rob, Newcomers. Welcome aboard. Ricky, good to see you. You had a good day yesterday. Let's see what happens today. Here we go into the Jeopardy! Round, where today we'll find these categories... starting off with...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
PUZZLERS (4/5)
NORTH & SOUTH (4/5)
POLITICS, FOR SHORT (2/2)
A LITTLE READING (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
MEASURING WHAT? (4/5)
I'M IN LOVE WITH THAT SONG (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Rob: 9 R, 2 W
Ricky: 7 R, 0 W
Marie: 6 R, 1 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 27
Triple Stumpers: 4
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,800



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Ricky: $2,200
Marie: $1,800
Rob: $1,600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Rob Russell is a tutoring director. I don't wanna talk about that. I wanna talk about your two kids who were named... after your favorite musical characters. I'm dying to hear.

Rob: Well, um, my daughter is named, uh, we call her Lu-Lee, but she's named Lucinda after Lucinda Williams, who's a singer/songwriter. And my youngest son--I have two sons, but my youngest son is named Declan, uh, which is after--actually Elvis Costello's actual name is Declan. But we call him Ozzy.

[Laughter]

Rob: After another famous, or infamous, rock 'n' roller.

Alex: He'll have something to live up to in years to come.

[Rob laughs.]

Alex: Ozzy Osbourne, all right.




Alex: Marie Halvorsen-Ganepola?

Marie: Ganepola, yes. Mm-hmm.

Alex: From Granger, Indiana. You are a professor who had a first date with the man who is now your husband.

Marie: Yes.

Alex: And it was kind of magical, I understand.

Marie: It--it was. He took me to the zoo. And when we got to the peacocks, we saw that they were native to India and Sri Lanka. And my husband's from Sri Lanka. So we were curious and we tried to get them to come over to the fence, and they wouldn't. And he said, "Well, probably they only speak Sinhalese," which is his language. And so, uh, he taught me how to say "come here" in Sinhalese. And--and they came.

[Laughter]

Alex: Wow. That's something special.

Marie: Yes.

Alex: Yes, indeed.




Alex: All right, Ricky Hudson is a physical therapist. He is our champion. Used to work at a camp doing what?

Ricky: I was a day camp counselor for, uh, children 8 to 12 years old. Um...

Alex: At that time, you wore your hair a lot longer than it is now.

Ricky: Yeah, much to mother's dismay, I had it out to like here. [Holds his hands out 8 inches away from each side of his head]

Alex: Big afro?

Ricky: An afro, yeah. And one of the kids' favorite games is to see how many things they could hide in my hair without being seen.

Alex: And what was the record for pencils?

Ricky: I think we got--I think we got like 20 pencils one time.

Alex: 20 pencils.

Ricky: Yeah.

Alex: You ought to appear on Jimmy Fallon.

[Ricky laughs.]

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Marie found the Daily Double on the 19th clue. Ricky had $2,200, Marie had $3,000, and Rob was at $2,600. Marie made it a True Daily Double, wagering $3,000.

A LITTLE READING $800: This 1886 Frances Hodgson Burnett novel inspired a fad of dressing young boys in velvet suits
(Marie: Uh, I'm gonna guess, uh, The Secret Garden?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
NORTH & SOUTH $400: About 75 miles due north of Liverpool is the British national park named for this watery district
(Alex: Not quickly enough, Rob, sorry.)

PUZZLERS $200: It controls most language functions
(Rob: What is the frontal lobe?)
...
(Alex: There was a brain on the left and the right.)

MEASURING WHAT? $200: If you're holding a Methuselah, you have a lot of this
(Rob: What are years?)
...
(Alex: If you're holding a Methuselah, you're holding a big bottle of [*].)

I'M IN LOVE WITH THAT SONG $1000: Jennifer Aniston said she likes to work out to this Lady Gaga tune; perhaps she pictures running from the title

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Rob: $6,200
Ricky: $3,600
Marie: $1,000

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
GIVING THANKS (3/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
OUR "FREE"DOM (4/5)
NATURE'S WONDERS (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
THE AMERICAN MILITARY (2/3)
A BOUNTIFUL TABLE (4/4)
MARY-LOUISE PARKER (2/3)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Rob: 8 R (including 1 DD), 2 W
Ricky: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Marie: 5 R, 3 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 25
Triple Stumpers: 6
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $8,400



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Marie snagged the next Daily Double on the 10th clue. Ricky had $6,000, Marie was in the red with -$200, and Rob was at $9,000. Marie wagered $2,000.

NATURE'S WONDERS $1200: Called a "saltie" by the Aussies, the saltwater this of Northern Australia is one of the world's largest reptiles
(Marie: What is iguana?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Rob who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 14th clue. Ricky had $6,000, Marie was in the red with -$1,800, and Rob was at $9,000. Rob wagered $3,000.

GIVING THANKS $1600: After hearing of the U.S. entry into WWII, he "went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful"

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
OUR "FREE"DOM $1600: This hyphenated term meaning "lacking an apparent cause or focus" often precedes "anxiety"
(Marie: What is free-form?)

NATURE'S WONDERS $400: The largest living organism is said to be a variety of this fungus that covers 2,200 acres in an Oregon forest
(Rob: What is moss?)

GIVING THANKS $1200: In 2014, Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers got a 2-minute ovation from a grateful House of Commons in this city
(Rob: What is London?)
...
(Alex: The city is [*], the capital of Canada. Remember, he shot and killed the terrorist who had invaded Parliament Hill.)

THE AMERICAN MILITARY $2000: Creech Air Force Base in this state is known as the home to the Predator drone

GIVING THANKS $2000: When this Wampanoag chief who'd helped them fell ill in 1623, grateful pilgrims nursed him back to health

MARY-LOUISE PARKER $1200: Mary-Louise won an Emmy for her role in this HBO movie written by Tony Kushner
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Rob: $18,800 (lock game)
Ricky: $8,000
Marie: $1,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
NATO COUNTRIES

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; lock for second place.
Rob: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $2,799 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Ricky: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $5,199 (martian), and enjoy 2nd place.
Marie: You've no hope of catching up... unless Ricky does something stupid. So risk $1,399.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
With a population of under 400,000, this founding member of NATO remains the smallest of the member nations

FINAL SCORES
Marie: $1,400 - $1,399 = $1 (What is Belize?) (3rd place)
Ricky: $8,000 - $0 = $8,000 (What is Belgium?) (2nd place)
Rob: $18,800 + $2,000 = $20,800 (What is Iceland) (New champion: $20,800)
(Alex: [To Rob] He talks slow, but he performs well.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $10,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Rob: $17,400, 17 R (including 1 DD), 4 W
Ricky: $8,000, 12 R, 0 W
Marie: $6,400, 11 R, 4 W (including 2 DDs)
Combined Coryat: $31,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Rob: 18/59 = .305
Ricky: 12/58 = .207
Marie: 11/60 = .183
Team: 41/63 = .651

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
NORTH & SOUTH $600: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew shows a map on the monitor.) If you fly due south from Belize, you'll pass over these two countries on your way to El Salvador

NORTH & SOUTH $1000: (Kelly of the Clue Crew shows a map on the monitor.) Head due north from Lida, Belarus & you'll pass through these three countries on your way to the Gulf of Finland

PUZZLERS $400: A distortion of space-time

PUZZLERS $600: Brrr! There's a draft in the room & this is why
[Alex shivers loudly before reading the clue.]
...
(Alex: We'll give you that.)

PUZZLERS $800: Don't tell the little kids it's about the plague

PUZZLERS $1000: For example, when the cost of a service varies according to income

I'M IN LOVE WITH THAT SONG $600: (Hi, I'm Mark Kelly.) In 2006 my future wife Gabrielle Giffords chose one of the wake-up songs for me & my fellow crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery: "Beautiful Day" by this band

MEASURING WHAT? $800: A pica is a measure of the size of this
(Alex: Less than a minute now.)

POLITICS, FOR SHORT $800: Considered a pejorative, RINO stands for this
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

OUR "FREE"DOM $400: In the 1988-89 season, Magic Johnson led the NBA in this percentage at 91%
(Marie: Uh... sorry.)

NATURE'S WONDERS $800: One species of grouse feeds almost exclusively on this wise-sounding desert plant seen here

A BOUNTIFUL TABLE $400: Everything's better with bacon, even these babies that have made a big comeback

A BOUNTIFUL TABLE $1200: A fall favorite is soup made from this squash that has a dairy product in its name

A BOUNTIFUL TABLE $2000: For you carnivores, hot off the grill, it's this 11-letter steak; dig in

CORRECT RESPONSES
Little Lord Fauntleroy
the Lake District
the left brain
champagne
"Paparazzi"
a crocodile
Winston Churchill
free-floating
a mushroom
Ottawa
Nevada
Massasoit
Angels in America
Iceland
Honduras & Guatemala
Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia
a wormhole
the door is ajar (a door ajar accepted)
"Ring Around The Rosie"
a sliding scale
U2
a font type (or typeface)
Republican in name only
free throw percentage
sage (or sagebrush)
brussels sprouts
butternut
a porterhouse

[theFJguy]

NATO Countries
With a population of under 400,000, this founding member of NATO remains the smallest of the member nations.

Spoiler

What is Iceland? Marie said Belize; Ricky said Belgium.

Rob Russell: $18,800+$2,000=$20,800...now a 1-day champion with $20,800
Ricky Hudson: $8,000-$0=$8,000
Marie Halvorsen-Ganepola: $1,400-$1,399=$1

[TenPoundHammer]

I will need a recording of tonight's show, and of Wheel as well. Anyone game?

[cf1140]

ugh, luxembourg has more than 500,000 people.

That's now four straight FJs I've missed.

[Abraxas]

Congrats to Rob on his win. I had 37 correct responses including five triple stumpers: Lake District, champagne, Little Lord Fauntleroy, mushroom, and Nevada. I also got the missed DD of crocodile. I guessed Luxembourg for FJ.

[StevenH]

That "leatherneck" clue sure would have come in handy if it had popped up about a week ago or so

Another "Luxembourg" here on FJ, though I was pretty sure that it was wrong. I was never going to leave mainland Europe in 30 seconds.

[NoName84]

Yet another Luxembourg here.

[dinghammer]

I think I'd have known that FJ even if I hadn't attempted to jinx myself out of a 0/5 week yesterday. I also would have known this one if they'd mentioned the population then.

I was worried we wouldn't see any clues from the MLP category, so I'm glad the new champ went there when he did and started at the bottom. I assume one of the top two would have been about Weeds. I don't know about the other one -- maybe The West Wing or Fried Green Tomatoes?

[bpmod]

Well, the good news is I snapped a 14 game FJ streak.

Brian

[sarisson]

I, for one, am thankful that I snapped a 12-game missed FJ streak (that includes 9 in the TOC). I thought of Luxembourg for the first few seconds, but remembered that the NA in NATO stands for "North Atlantic." What's in the North Atlantic? Oh, Iceland. Under 400,000 people? Yes. Boom!
Two costly negs in the DJ round kept my score to just $20,200. Some clues were strangely valued. "Chimpanzee" for $2000?

[econgator]

I, for one, am thankful that I snapped a 12-game missed FJ streak (that includes 9 in the TOC). I thought of Luxembourg for the first few seconds, but remembered that the NA in NATO stands for "North Atlantic." What's in the North Atlantic? Oh, Iceland. Under 400,000 people? Yes. Boom!

To be fair, Luxembourg was a founding member.

[Johnblue]

Yay Iceland!!!! Alex sure got it right when he said the new champ talks slow but plays well. He played better when he slowed down. Lotsa stand & stares. 8 unopened clues.

[MitchO]

I coinflipped between Iceland and Luxembourg. I ended up in the wrong country.

[Vermonter]

I liked both challengers' cadences, even if they did slow things down significantly.

[Johnblue]

I think I'd have known that FJ even if I hadn't attempted to jinx myself out of a 0/5 week yesterday. I also would have known this one if they'd mentioned the population then.

I was worried we wouldn't see any clues from the MLP category, so I'm glad the new champ went there when he did and started at the bottom. I assume one of the top two would have been about Weeds. I don't know about the other one -- maybe The West Wing or Fried Green Tomatoes?

In the J6 game, the MLP question asked which soap opera she appeared in. I got it correct which surprised me a bit.

[Leander]

I, for one, am thankful that I snapped a 12-game missed FJ streak (that includes 9 in the TOC). I thought of Luxembourg for the first few seconds, but remembered that the NA in NATO stands for "North Atlantic." What's in the North Atlantic? Oh, Iceland. Under 400,000 people? Yes. Boom!

To be fair, Luxembourg was a founding member.

Yes, I thought this FJ a bit unfair, with two almost equally valid answers and relying on either knowledge of the population of two countries nearly equal in size, or luck.

I went with luck and guessed Iceland, assuming it might have joined earlier than Luxembourg.

Belize has to be one of the worst FJ answers in a while.

[Volante]

That "leatherneck" clue sure would have come in handy if it had popped up about a week ago or so

Another "Luxembourg" here on FJ, though I was pretty sure that it was wrong. I was never going to leave mainland Europe in 30 seconds.

Luxembourg.

The FJ was -really- bad, though:
"With a population of under 400,000, this founding member of NATO remains the smallest of the member nations."

Iceland: 39,699 sq mi
Luxembourg: 998 sq mi

Both founding members, too. If you mistake 'smallest' for area over population (and I'm SURE no one could possibly have done that...) well...

The chimp clue was funny to me too, having recently watched this clip (yes, the clip itself is 5 months old, but it was new to me!)

[alietr]

Luxembourg.

The FJ was -really- bad, though:
"With a population of under 400,000, this founding member of NATO remains the smallest of the member nations."

If that was the wording, it really was a dreadfully bad clue. I did see 'small' and went to Luxembourg. Small is definitely ambiguous as to what it refers to, and Luxembourg is ridiculously close to their population criterion. Boo, hiss, writers!

[MarkBarrett]

Looks like Massasoit when asked for is always bottom box and the Archive shows a poor history of players getting him. Even after Squanto was often guessed. Easy money when he comes up though not as easy as the $2K for chimpanzee.

Methuselah holding a lot of this - Years. I loved the logic on the miss.

Marie helped me out taking her time on her DD in A LITTLE READING as I did Burnett = The Secret Garden, quickly put the brakes on, realized it was the other one and had to take a detour to The Little Prince to recall Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Rob took advantage of a favorable draw to earn the lock. We'll see what kind of players are left in the week's pool tomorrow. I liked that he was able to score with some range of music gets.

Alex said the FJ! category was a mix of geography and politics, so it did not sound good for me. During the break I reminded myself what NATO stood for and thanks to the earlier clue I eliminated the Baltic states. I had my short list at Scandinavia and Iceland.

When I saw the clue I went for Iceland hearing something about its small population qualifying for Euro 2016 (that's soccer) this upcoming summer. I am too weak in the area of geography and politics of NATO to even have Luxembourg in the mix. Luxembourg can go on the poll though.

Belize? Apologies to Marie, but my face must have looked like that recent newsmaking emoji and caused dogs' ears in a 3-house radius to perk up.