Thursday, December 24, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7199, 2015-12-24

Alex uses a cane during the closing credits chat.

CONTESTANTS
Christina Pulawski, a fund raising professional and consultant from Chicago, Illinois
Markus Kolic, a data base devloper and stay-at-home dad from Dighton, Massachusetts
Chandreyi Ghosh, a housewife from Atlanta, Georgia (whose 1-day cash winnings total $34,401)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. And welcome, ladies and gentlemen. 'Twas the day or night before Christmas, and all through Chandreyi's house there are a lot of happy moments going on because she was most impressive on yesterday's program. Very quiet but very solid, winning over $34,000. How will Markus and Christina fare against her today? We won't know until we begin. So good luck. Let's get started. Here are the categories in the Jeopardy! Round. First...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
FOUND IN GERMANY (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double) (Alex: Each correct response will be a word that can be made up of the letters that you will find in "Germany".)
BANKING (5/5)
GOING STRAIGHT (5/5)
WINE, WOMEN & SONG (5/5)
COMPLETES THE NONFICTION TITLE (3/4)
"SANTA" GOES AROUND THE WORLD (4/5) (Alex: And finally, because it's Christmas Eve...)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Markus: 13 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Chandreyi: 8 R, 0 W
Christina: 6 R, 0 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,000



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Markus found the Daily Double on the 6th clue. Chandreyi had $600, Markus had $600, and Christina was at $600. Markus wagered $1,000.

FOUND IN GERMANY $800: This 4-letter word comes from the Hebrew for "with certainty"

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Markus: $5,800
Chandreyi: $1,600
Christina: $1,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Thank you for staying with us. Let's find out a little bit about our contestants. First of all, Christina Pulawski is from Chicago, Illinois. Now quite often when a young man and a woman get engaged to be married, they register at a jewelry store or a gift shop. You and your intended did something just a little bit different. I've never heard of this before.

Christina: Yes, Alex. My husband and I, my husband ken and I, when we got married, we had two households full of stuff. And we were working on a vintage car, and so we registered for car parts, so there's--for our wedding.
And people actually gave them to us. There's nothing like an elegant wedding venue with oddly shaped parts wrapped in newspaper on the gift table. Um, but we got our front suspension. [Chuckles]

Alex: All right, good story.




Alex: Uh, Markus Kolic from Dighton, Massachusetts. Uh, says here that you quit your job because of a crisis involving your little one.

Markus: I did. It--it's a good kind of crisis, a crisis of conscience. I have an 8-month-old baby, Kevin. Uh, he's the best baby in the world. Even if he's not understanding this right now, he will someday. Uh, and I left my job so I could be a stay-at-home dad to Kevin. I had a stay-at-home dad growing up. It was very meaningful for me. And I was luckily able to do the same for him.

Alex: Well, good for you.




Alex: Let's go to our champion now. Uh, Chandreyi Ghosh from Atlanta, Georgia. You, in addition to appearing on our show as a contestant, appeared on a game show in India.

Chandreyi: Yes.

Alex: I wanna hear about that.

Chandreyi: It was the Indian version of a show called BBC Mastermind. And it was like a one-on-one question session between the contestant and the quizmaster.

Alex: I think I remember that. You got to sit in a darkened setting--

Chandreyi: Yes.

Alex: --all by yourself in a chair, center stage with a spotlight on you. Did you feel a great deal of pressure in that kind of situation?

Chandreyi: In a way, it's easier than Jeopardy! because, you know, you're not competing against other contestants. [Laughs]

Alex: Okay. All right.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
"SANTA" GOES AROUND THE WORLD $1000: It's the Italian name for the patron saint of sight, or for the area seen here on the Bay of Naples

COMPLETES THE NONFICTION TITLE $1000: An autobiography by Nabokov:
"Speak, ____"

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Markus: $8,200
Chandreyi: $4,600
Christina: $2,600

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
DUDE, WHERE'S MY STAR? (3/4, including 1 correct Daily Double)
COLORFUL HISTORY (4/5)
CAN I GET A WITNESS? (2/5)
BIG IDEAS (2/3)
AT THE "END" (2/4, including 1 correct Daily Double) (Alex: Each correct response will end with those three letters.)
VAN THE MAN (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Chandreyi: 7 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W
Markus: 8 R (including 2 DDs), 4 W
Christina: 2 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 26
Triple Stumpers: 9
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $13,200



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Markus snagged the next Daily Double on the 20th clue. Chandreyi had $6,600, Markus had $11,000, and Christina was at $1,800. Markus wagered $3,000.

AT THE "END" $1600: From the Latin for "soldier's pay", it's a fixed & regular payment, such as an allowance

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Markus who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 26th clue. Chandreyi had $7,000, Markus had $12,800, and Christina was at $1,400. Markus wagered $2,500.

DUDE, WHERE'S MY STAR? $1600: Antares is the brightest star in this constellation; don't get stung
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
COLORFUL HISTORY $2000: In 1978 former Italian premier Aldo Moro was abducted & killed by this terrorist group
(Chandreyi: What is Black September?)

CAN I GET A WITNESS? $400: When Kirsten Dunst testified at a 2009 burglary trial, she was naturally described as this most important type of witness
(Markus: What is a material witness?)

CAN I GET A WITNESS? $1200: Call Dr. Drew! A witness who's taken apart in cross-examination may be brought back for a redirect called this

CAN I GET A WITNESS? $1600: Since 1971 none of the 8,500 in witness security who obeyed the rules were killed, thanks to this service guarding them
(Chandreyi: What is the FBI?)
(Markus: What is the Federal Witness Protection Program?)
(Christina: What is the Secret Service?)

VAN THE MAN $1600: Van rose to prominence in this "Gloria"-ous band with a pronoun for a name

BIG IDEAS $2000: Cosmologist Sir Martin Rees wrote, "Countless other universes may exist" & for that idea he uses this 10-letter word

AT THE "END" $1200: It can be an explanatory caption that accompanies an illustration
(Chandreyi: What is an endnote?)

AT THE "END" $2000: Surpass
(Markus: What is ascend?)

DUDE, WHERE'S MY STAR? $1200: The brighter the star, the lower the magnitude; this one, the brightest in Ursa Minor, is of the second magnitude
(Christina: What is Alpha Centauri?)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Markus: $15,300 (lock game)
Chandreyi: $7,000
Christina: $1,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; lock for second place.
Markus: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $1,299 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Chandreyi: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $4,199 (martian), and enjoy 2nd place.
Christina: You've no hope of catching up... unless Chandreyi does something stupid. So risk $1,399.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Ironically, this man worth tens of millions when he died in 1990 said his parents named him with a socialist logo in mind

FINAL SCORES
Christina: $1,400 + $1,399 = $2,799 (Who is Armand Hammer?) (3rd place)
Chandreyi: $7,000 + $0 = $7,000 (Who is Hammer) (2nd place)
Markus: $15,300 - $0 = $15,300 (Who was Santa Claus (Merry Christmas!)) (New champion: $15,300)
(Alex: He's got the tuque in there.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $15,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Markus: $12,800, 21 R (including 3 DDs), 4 W
Chandreyi: $7,000, 15 R, 3 W
Christina: $1,400, 8 R, 2 W
Combined Coryat: $21,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Markus: 21/61 = .344
Chandreyi: 16/58 = .276
Christina: 9/58 = .155
Team: 46/63 = .730

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
BANKING $600: (Kelly of the Clue Crew shows a check on the monitor.) A check contains lots of numbers: the number of the check itself, an account number & this 9-digit number that identifies the bank involved in the transaction
(Alex: And I would like to point out that that check would bounce if you tried cashing it, so please don't do it. I know my signature is on it, but don't try to cash it.)

"SANTA" GOES AROUND THE WORLD $600: An Orange County city, an El Salvador volcano or a hot, dusty wind that bears down on Los Angeles
(Alex: Less than a minute to go.)

COLORFUL HISTORY $1600: Founded in Munich in 1921, this paramilitary group intimidated & assaulted Nazi opponents
(Markus: What is the Gestapo?)

AT THE "END" $800: This title for certain Christian clerics is sometimes preceded by "The"
(Alex: That's it, with a minute to go.)

CORRECT RESPONSES
Amen
Santa Lucia
Memory
stipend
Scorpio
the Red Brigade
star witness (or key witness)
rehabilitation
the U.S. Marshals
Them
multiverse
legend
transcend
Polaris
Armand Hammer
routing number
Santa Ana
the Brownshirts
reverend

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Ironically, this man worth tens of millions when he died in 1990 said his parents named him with a socialist logo in mind

Chandreyi Ghosh: 7000+0=7000
Markus Kolic: 15300-0=15300
Christina Pulawski: 1400+1399=2799

Correct response:

Spoiler

Armand Hammer (Chandreyi - Hammer) (Markus - Who was Santa Claus with Merry Christmas in parentheses and a drawn hat) (Christina - Hammer with Armand added in)

Coryats:
Chandreyi: 7000
Markus: 12800
Christina: 1400

Combined: 21,200

[MitchO]

I really wanted Chandreyi to come back and "sting" him after he put his buzzer down for the unnecessary 2k miss, and then that $2500 bet ... She deserved better, she had a lot of potential.

[xxaaaxx]

No one knew that the US Marshals protect the people in WITSEC...so I guess none of them watches much TV (or maybe I watch too much). I have no explanation for why a clue that boiled down to '10-letter word for multiple universes' was a TS.

Instaget FJ. Too easy.

A very surprising result. I thought for sure she had 3-4 days in her at least.

[Abraxas]

Congrats to Markus on his win. I had 39 correct responses including five triple stumpers: Red Brigade, star witness, Them, legend, and Polaris. Instaget FJ.

[hbomb1947]

I really wanted Chandreyi to come back and "sting" him after he put his buzzer down for the unnecessary 2k miss, and then that $2500 bet ... She deserved better, she had a lot of potential.

Congrats to Markus. Although I I agree that Chandreyi had a lot of potential and I wanted to see her do well and repeat as champion, I'm not sure why she "deserved" better than tonight's actual outcome; she did herself in with too many negs, many on high-value clues. And late in the DJ round, when there was one DD remaining, she was going down from the top in the stars category instead of strategically trying to grab the DD that she so badly needed to keep away from Markus. This resulted in Markus eventually landing on the DD (at the $1,600 level) and locking up the game. (And we don't know whether Markus knew the correct FJ response, so it may be that all Chandryei needed to do to win was to avoid letting the game become a runaway.)

Instaget FJ, even though Hammer wasn't one of the 20 or so names I precalled in what was obviously a wide-open category. Tomorrow I'll be going for my first 5-0 week of the season on FJ's.

I thought the "star witness" question was a poor clue -- poorly pinned ("most important type of witness," or whatever the wording was, was vague; my guess was eyewitness, as opposed to character witness). Was there anything about the clue that led only to "star"? And if a courtroom clue confuses a litigator like me, then it just might be a badly written clue.
.

[9021amyers]

This is not the first time Armand Hammer has been the answer in FJ. Several years ago, there was a clue along the lines of "this tycoon appropriately served on the board of Church and Dwight." Flashback instaget.

EDIT: Episode #5143, aired January 10, 2007.

Just for grins, in 1986 this industrialist acquired a stake in Church & Dwight, maker of a baking soda

[xxaaaxx]

This is not the first time Armand Hammer has been the answer in FJ. Several years ago, there was a clue along the lines of "this tycoon appropriately served on the board of Church and Dwight." Flashback instaget.

1-10-07: "Just for grins, in 1986 this industrialist acquired a stake in Church & Dwight, maker of a baking soda"

I don't remember if I got that one.

[9021amyers]

This is not the first time Armand Hammer has been the answer in FJ. Several years ago, there was a clue along the lines of "this tycoon appropriately served on the board of Church and Dwight." Flashback instaget.

1-10-07: "Just for grins, in 1986 this industrialist acquired a stake in Church & Dwight, maker of a baking soda" I don't remember if I got that one.

I didn't get it, and I've carried the name in my back pocket ever since, especially since his grandson has become a movie star.

[Bamaman]

I really wanted Chandreyi to come back and "sting" him after he put his buzzer down for the unnecessary 2k miss, and then that $2500 bet ... She deserved better, she had a lot of potential.

Congrats to Markus. Although I I agree that Chandreyi had a lot of potential and I wanted to see her do well and repeat as champion, I'm not sure why she "deserved" better than tonight's actual outcome; she did herself in with too many negs, many on high-value clues. And late in the DJ round, when there was one DD remaining, she was going down from the top in the stars category instead of strategically trying to grab the DD that she so badly needed to keep away from Markus. This resulted in Markus eventually landing on the DD (at the $1,600 level) and locking up the game. (And we don't know whether Markus knew the correct FJ response, so it may be that all Chandryei needed to do to win was to avoid letting the game become a runaway.)

Yeah, I don't see where she deserved any better than she got. I don't remember him putting his buzzer down, what was that about? Nothing wrong with his $2,500 bet, he bet to get the lock and took his time enough to run out the clock. Her not going for the bottom was her own fault.

Instaget FJ, even though Hammer wasn't one of the 20 or so names I precalled in what was obviously a wide-open category. Tomorrow I'll be going for my first 5-0 week of the season on FJ's.

Instaget as well, except I'll be going for a 4-1 week.

I thought the "star witness" question was a poor clue -- poorly pinned ("most important type of witness," or whatever the wording was, was vague; my guess was eyewitness, as opposed to character witness). Was there anything about the clue that led only to "star"? And if a courtroom clue confuses a litigator like me, then it just might be a badly written clue.
.

It mentioned some movie star (forgot who) was the one testifying.

[MarkyMarkm]

Curious if anyone 30 or younger thought this was an instaget FJ. Guessed Hammer, but only because I remembered that the actor (who I later learned is his great-grandson) came from money, and hammer was a communist symbol.

[cf1140]

I'm 31 and I had no chance at this FJ. Never heard of Armand Hammer and didn't know the symbol of the socialist party.

[Category 13]

I really wanted Chandreyi to come back and "sting" him after he put his buzzer down for the unnecessary 2k miss, and then that $2500 bet ... She deserved better, she had a lot of potential.

Congrats to Markus. Although I I agree that Chandreyi had a lot of potential and I wanted to see her do well and repeat as champion, I'm not sure why she "deserved" better than tonight's actual outcome; she did herself in with too many negs, many on high-value clues. And late in the DJ round, when there was one DD remaining, she was going down from the top in the stars category instead of strategically trying to grab the DD that she so badly needed to keep away from Markus. This resulted in Markus eventually landing on the DD (at the $1,600 level) and locking up the game. (And we don't know whether Markus knew the correct FJ response, so it may be that all Chandryei needed to do to win was to avoid letting the game become a runaway.)

Yeah, I don't see where she deserved any better than she got. I don't remember him putting his buzzer down, what was that about? Nothing wrong with his $2,500 bet, he bet to get the lock and took his time enough to run out the clock. Her not going for the bottom was her own fault.

Christina and Chandreyi both lost focus on their scores and waisted time going to the top of the board.
Markus had his share of negs but he made up for it by getting a lot of bottom row clues. Chandreyi's negs were kind of clustered together and inflicted more damage.
I think the biggest factor was him hitting (all 3) Daily Doubles.
The only time I noticed him putting the buzzer down was on the DDs.

[naurae29]

I thought the "star witness" question was a poor clue -- poorly pinned ("most important type of witness," or whatever the wording was, was vague; my guess was eyewitness, as opposed to character witness). Was there anything about the clue that led only to "star"? And if a courtroom clue confuses a litigator like me, then it just might be a badly written clue.

THIS. It referenced Kirsten Dunst, but since she was the alleged victim in the case, I thought they were looking for "complaining witness." Neither "star witness" nor "key witness" are terms of art. Didn't love it.

By the way, that casual reference to using a deposition when a witness is unavailable also made me nervous. This is why I maintain that people don't tend to do well in categories that happen to be their professional specialty.

[econgator]

Took me about 15 seconds, but once I started thinking of symbols instead of people, Hammer was easy.

Anyone want to bet that Hammer got Hammer? No? Ok.

[Vermonter]

Curious if anyone 30 or younger thought this was an instaget FJ. Guessed Hammer, but only because I remembered that the actor (who I later learned is his great-grandson) came from money, and hammer was a communist symbol.

No, I pulled it out of who knows where with about 5 seconds to go. Was going through "red" and "pink" and "sickle" before remembering Armand Hammer (probably because I used to work near a building named for him on the Columbia Med campus).

[dinghammer]

Anyone want to bet that Hammer got Hammer? No? Ok.

This one missed it, and I don't even have youth on my side.

I tried thinking of people named Hammer or Sickle and could only think of Armie Hammer, who's still alive. Maybe if I'd been on the show, I'd have written "Hammer" just to have something, but being completely unaware of the other Armand Hammer (and of Armie being short for Armand), I just spent the whole 30 seconds trying to think of someone whose first name could be something like that. Or Red.

[Volante]

Curious if anyone 30 or younger thought this was an instaget FJ. Guessed Hammer, but only because I remembered that the actor (who I later learned is his great-grandson) came from money, and hammer was a communist symbol.

34, yes, but that's because I spent an inordinate time going through Cracked lists

http://www.cracked.com/article_20200_8- ... es_p2.html

Addition: Also, I found the Honeymooner's question hilarious; I'm actually watching it during my lunch break. (I alternate, light hearted, heavy, light, heavy. Next up is True Detective S1)

[Cat Hammarskjold]

I turned 31 last week and this was a well-educated guess for me. Because I had tried to transfer to a different college twice, but ended up not doing it either time, I got piles of junk mail, and there's a college named after him that at first I thought was just a joke ad for baking soda, but then I Googled the guy, and realized he was real.