Friday, December 1, 2017 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7645, 2017-12-01

CONTESTANTS
Melissa Fall, a writer from Los Angeles, California
Tal Kedem, an attorney from New York, New York
Lisa Kristina, a freelance musician from Chicago Heights, Illinois (whose 1-day cash winnings total $15,900)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome. If you were watching yesterday, you noticed Lisa as the woman in charge. Played very well throughout the whole match, won $15,900. Will it work out the same today? Who knows? Tal and Melissa are here as the challengers. Let's start finding out. Here we go into the Jeopardy! Round, and here come the categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
THRILLERS & MYSTERIES (4/4)
BEASTLY GLOSSARY (5/5)
3 CONSECUTIVE VOWELS (4/5)
U.S. LANDMARKS (5/5)
FITNESS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
NEW GAME VERSIONS (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Tal: 18 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 2 W
Lisa: 7 R (including 2 rebounds), 0 W
Melissa: 3 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 1
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $200



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Lisa: $2,600
Tal: $2,600
Melissa: $200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Melissa Fall is a writer from Los Angeles. What kind of stuff do you write mainly?

Melissa: Mostly I write plays, but I've also started writing some prose.

Alex: Okay. Now, with regard to the plays, you had one produced?

Melissa: I did. I did.

Alex: In a very important place. Tell me about it.

Melissa: Yeah, I had a one-act in an evening of theater off-off-Broadway. It was very exciting.

Alex: Did you make money, though?

Melissa: No, I did not, because I write plays.

Alex: Oh, all right.




Alex: Tal Kedem from New York, an attorney. And an attorney who likes to have fun with his pals.

Tal: Absolutely. My group of friends and I have a penchant for eating competitions, and we went to each of the five boroughs to sample pizza from each place, each of the five boroughs. We--we wanted to go fifteen places in one day and have a slice at each. We made it ten.

Alex: You wild and crazy guys.

Tal: But each of the ten was delicious, and the last was actually the most delicious.

Alex: Good for you. Now, before I move on to our champion, good news for you. Our judges have decided to accept your response a little while ago of "cruise ship." Before "cruise ship" you said "ocean liner", so you're picking up an extra $400.

Tal: Thank you.

Alex: Which puts you into a tie with this lady, Lisa.




Alex: Our champion. You're into show business.

Lisa: Yes.

Alex: You toured with Phantom of the Opera?

Lisa: Yes, I did, Alex. I was in the original cast of the U.S. national tour. I was a swing, which is somebody who covers all of the ladies' ensemble parts. So I had to know where everybody was, what their voice parts were, what costumes they were wearing, and I would go in for various people.

Alex: Wow.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Tal found the Daily Double on the 23rd clue. Lisa had $3,200, Tal had $6,400, and Melissa was at $200. Tal wagered $1,200.

FITNESS $800: To improve balance, try this ancient exercise with a Chinese name that means "supreme ultimate fist"

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
3 CONSECUTIVE VOWELS $200: A pig's typical exclamation
(Tal: What is oink?)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Tal: $9,200
Lisa: $5,600
Melissa: $200

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
CZECHNOLOGY (4/5)
PAINTERS ON FILM (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
"COMMON" KNOWLEDGE (5/5)
THAT ISLAND IS OURS! (3/4, including 1 missed Daily Double)
DOWN HOME TALK (5/5)
MEDIEVAL FOLKS WHO COULD WRITE (3/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Tal: 12 R (including 1 DD), 2 W (including 1 DD)
Lisa: 10 R, 1 W
Melissa: 3 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 3
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,600



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Tal snagged the next Daily Double on the 3rd clue. Lisa had $6,000, Tal had $10,000, and Melissa was at $200. Tal wagered $2,000.

PAINTERS ON FILM $1200: This 1952 study of Toulouse-Lautrec bears the name of the burlesque hall where he spent a lot of time

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Tal who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 29th clue. Lisa had $15,200, Tal had $22,000, and Melissa was at $3,800. Tal wagered $2,000.

THAT ISLAND IS OURS! $1600: Elba
(Tal: What is France?)
...
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
MEDIEVAL FOLKS WHO COULD WRITE $1200: Many Chinese could; the Tang dynasty has left us about 50,000 of these, in forms such as lushi & jueju
(Tal: What are characters?)
(Melissa: What is calligraphy?)
(Lisa: What are manuscripts?)

MEDIEVAL FOLKS WHO COULD WRITE $1600: Despite its title, this saint's "Summa Contra Gentiles" was partly meant as an argument against Jews

CZECHNOLOGY $800: Seen here is a Czech monument to the discovery of a new way to package this pantry staple in the 1840s

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Tal: $20,000
Lisa: $15,200
Melissa: $3,800

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
HISTORIC WORLD BUILDINGS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Three-quarters for first place. Shore's Conjecture.
Tal: Wager $10,401 to cover Lisa, but no more than $12,399 so as not to fall behind Melissa's doubled score. If you're a fan of shoretegic wagering, you might risk $2,801.
Lisa: You ought to wager between $4,801 (venusian) and $5,600 (martian), thereby safely covering a $0 bet by Tal.
Melissa: Too bad for you, Melissa, your score is less than Tal's score minus Lisa's score. Unless they both commit an egregious wagering error, you've no hope of moving into first place. Wager as much as you desire, but remember, you'll have better chances of advancing to second place if you have a larger sum left over on a Triple Stumper.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Rome's Colosseum may have gotten its name because of a colossal circa 65 A.D. statue of this emperor erected nearby

FINAL SCORES
Melissa: $3,800 - $3,800 = $0 (Who is Caesar?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Lisa: $15,200 + $5,000 = $20,200 (Who is Nero?) (2-day champion: $36,100)
Tal: $20,000 - $10,401 = $9,599 (Who is Augustus) (2nd place: $2,000)
(Alex: Who was emperor around 65 A.D.?)
...
(Alex: [To Lisa] Nero was emperor from 54 to 68 A.D.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $3,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Tal: $20,800, 30 R (including 2 DDs), 4 W (including 1 DD)
Lisa: $15,200, 17 R, 1 W
Melissa: $3,800, 6 R, 3 W
Combined Coryat: $39,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Tal: 30/61 = .492
Lisa: 18/58 = .310
Melissa: 6/58 = .103
Team: 54/63 = .857

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
BEASTLY GLOSSARY $600: Mud skipper don't need water all the time; it gets around on land just fine using two souped-up pectoral these

THRILLERS & MYSTERIES $200: In "The Woman in Cabin 10", a travel writer on assignment on one of these hears a possible murder
(Melissa: What is a train?)
(Tal: What is an ocean liner?)
(Alex: No, they won't give it to you.)
[Tal originally ruled incorrect; ruled correct during the contestant interviews]

BEASTLY GLOSSARY $1000: From the Greek for "transform", it's the beastly process seen here

3 CONSECUTIVE VOWELS $800: Completely devoted, religiously
(Tal: What is zealous?)

3 CONSECUTIVE VOWELS $1000: French term for a licentious man; 3 of its 4 letters are vowels
(Melissa: What is louche?)

U.S. LANDMARKS $200: (D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser presents the clue.) The cornerstone of this structure was laid on July 4, 1848; Abraham Lincoln & the 90-year-old widow of Alexander Hamilton were in attendance

U.S. LANDMARKS $1000: The Point of Arches on Shi Shi Beach in Olympic National Park in this state makes quite the postcard

FITNESS $200: (Sarah of the Clue Crew presents the clue while lifting weights.) Weightlifting isn't futile; it's a form of this training that builds strength by contracting muscles against an opposing force

NEW GAME VERSIONS $200: You wouldn't like this hero when he's angry, so be careful pulling things out of him in Operation--his eyes glow green
(Alex: Less than a minute.)

NEW GAME VERSIONS $1000: This dice game gets "all shook up" in the Elvis Shake, Rattle & Roll edition
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

"COMMON" KNOWLEDGE $1200: Just over 100 years old, Parkman Bandstand is one of the newer editions to this great American open space

THAT ISLAND IS OURS! $1200: Jupiter, Marco & Sanibel Islands
(Melissa: What is Florida?)
(Alex: Florida...)
(Melissa: What is [*]?)
(Alex: Thank you.)

CZECHNOLOGY $1200: In the early 20th century, Jan Jansky discovered there were 4, not 3, of these types in humans
(Alex: Less than a minute now.)

CORRECT RESPONSES
tai chi
squeal
Moulin Rouge
Italy
poems
St. Thomas Aquinas
a sugar cube
Nero
fins
a cruise ship
a metamorphosis
pious
a roué
the Washington Monument
Washington
resistance
the Incredible Hulk
Yahtzee
Boston Common
the United States
blood types

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
HISTORIC WORLD BUILDINGS

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Rome’s Colosseum may have gotten its name because of a colossal circa 65 A.D. statue of this emperor erected nearby

Lisa Kristina: 15200+5000=20200 (2x = $36,100)
Tal Kedem: 20000-10401=9599
Melissa Fall: 3800-3800=0

Correct response:

Spoiler

Nero (Tal – Augustus) (Melissa – Caesar)

Daily Doubles
Tal: 6400+1200
Tal: 10000+2000
Tal: 22000-2000

Coryats
Lisa: 15200
Tal: 20800
Melissa: 3800

Combined: 39,800

Scores at the end of the Jeopardy! Round:
Lisa: 5600
Tal: 9200
Melissa: 200

[MarkBarrett]

When was DD3 played? 29th to complete the pattern of late discovery this week.

THRILLERS & MYSTERIES 200: In “The Woman in Cabin 10”, a travel writer on assignment on one of these hears a possible murder

If Tal had been in first with his negged then reversed response then Melissa would have got her money back. Since she was the first to ring in with the incorrect response the subtraction stands.

Such a Mark thing to do. My response for the FJ! clue was Flavian.

[AndyTheQuizzer]

My response for the FJ! clue was Flavian.

same

[squarekara]

When my husband immediately responded to FJ with Augustus, I was, like, "Aw, c'mon, honey. They're not asking who deserved a colossal statue. They're asking who's the egomaniac who would've had one erected to himself at that time." Go Chicago!

[Ironhorse]

Rome burned in 64 AD so I knew Nero was around that time period.

[Bamaman]

I started with J. Caesar but decided to switch to Nero.

[econgator]

Rome burned in 64 AD so I knew Nero was around that time period.

That was my in, too.

I also think I remember a story about the cause of the fire being so that Nero could clear out some space to build a giant house near his giant statue.

[BigDaddyMatty]

Coryat: $28,000
39 R/5 W
DD: 2/3
FJ:
LT: (none)

Tal looked very impressive. Is his the best Coryat this season by a non-winner? (I'd look it up myself, but I don't want to risk spoiling myself on the three-and-a-half weeks of shows I still haven't gotten to.)

Nero was a quasi-WAG for me, but points is points.

[econgator]

Tal looked very impressive. Is his the best Coryat this season by a non-winner? (I'd look it up myself, but I don't want to risk spoiling myself on the three-and-a-half weeks of shows I still haven't gotten to.)

As best I can tell (several games not entered).

[goatman]

Knee-jerked "FLavian Ampitxxxxx..." O wait read it again.... DOH it wants the DUDE, Homer! Um, Nero suicide > 68 AD, Colossal EGO, ergo Nero-dude. 40R. LT: Thomas Aquinas, Elba > Italy get on MDD.

TBVH Boardies, after close following this game for going on nine years, I can see a shift in the clue culture and feel myself slipping out of touch.
The show shifts emphasis to culture and lifestyle of the 21st century and I'm just a worn-out relic. Thanks for the good times, it's been real!

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

29 R
FJ: Went with Flavius, but then realized, "65 A.D.", oops Nero.
LT: Squeal, Poems, Thomas Aquinas, (Italy)

[dhkendall]

The show shifts emphasis to culture and lifestyle of the 21st century and I'm just a worn-out relic.

The only boardie who regularly posts with emojis, "lol" and other text-speak feels that 21st century pop culture is making him feel old? If *you're* old, I'm downright ancient!

[opusthepenguin]

So they didn't accept oink, of course. But what if Tal had said "What is oiiiiiiinnnnkkk?"

[twelvefootboy]

Rome’s Colosseum may have gotten its name because of a colossal circa 65 A.D. statue of this emperor erected nearby

What?????

When Alex said "it helps to know your Roman Emperors", I was hosed. The clunky syntax of the clue made me consider the Colussus at Rhodes as an option, not really knowing the end of the timeline for the 7 Ancient Wonders. No excuse, I know Rhodes is a place name, but the idea of naming a giant amphitheater the "bigly theater" just because there was a bigly statue didn't seem sensible. Why not the "pigeon poop" theater?

If I'd parsed the sentence and taken the 65% confidence interpretation, at least I'd have taken a shot at a Roman Emperor in the year "about" 65 AD. I might have whiffed on Nero since he hasn't been in my space lately, but at least I could have been a contenda'.

I give this clue only 1 star for the clunky syntax, same as yesterdays

Spoiler

ambiguous "prized" building material (1 item or 2?) clue.

. Both clues are FJ worthy, but need better presentation.

I'm glad Melissa was able to represent thanks to a couple of good gets on high value clues.

I had locked in Tal as the new champ but Lisa wouldn't go away! He couldn't stop her freight train even if he'd gone big on the DD's, she is in it to win it! If she can be more dominant with the buzzer she may go deep. Who knows, maybe I'll see her at the 12/12 taping (from the audience). Looking forward to coming back to several missed episodes and TPH on WOF as long as the DVD holds up!

[Bob78164]

This game is a draw for the Weak Form of Shore’s Conjecture. The second-place player bet “small.” —Bob

[Jasper]

Re "Thrillers & Mysteries ($200.00): The Woman in Cabin 10", the correct response should have been: What is a yacht?

Neither ocean liner nor cruise ship should have been acceptable responses.

Jasper

[MattKnowles]

I would have wagered differently than Tal at that last daily double. The scores were 22,000/15,200/3,800 or something close to it and he opted to wager 2,000 only. I'd recommend wagering about 9,000 or 10,000. He bet 2,000 to maintain his lead no matter what but that doesn't maximize his chance to win. If he bets 10,000 and gets the clue right then he wins no matter what. If he bets 10,000 and gets the clue wrong then he is in a close second place and should win if Lisa misses FJ.

With a bet of 2,000 he has a crush game if he gets it right and he only loses if FJ is a miss by Tal and a hit by Lisa, if he gets the DD wrong then he is in a 2/3 scenario and he should win if he gets it right and should lose otherwise.

If all the contestants have the success rates of average Jeopardy! contestants then they get daily doubles right 60% of the time and FJ right 50% of the time. If Tal bets 10,000 his odds of winning the game is 80%. If he bets only 2,000 his odds of winning the game is only 65%. (0.6*1.0+0.4*0.5 = 0.8, 0.6*0.75+0.4*0.5 = 0.65)

I missed FJ by guessing Augustus. Nowadays they mostly build statues of people after they die and so I was thinking of Roman emperors that had died in the first century. I "knew" Nero was emperor at that time but didn't pick him. I thought Nero was the third emperor but after looking it up he was the fifth after Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.

I think I went 30/30 on scored J6 clues this week. Multiple choice and lucky guesses helps.

[Woof]

Tal was very impressive. It looked to me as if he had superior buzzer soeed as well as a good knowledge base. Lisa found her stride late in DJ, though, and then benefitted from the sole FJ solve. I managed to pull FJ out by focusing on the egotism involved which led inexorably to Nero. I was still pleasantly surprised at the reveal, however. Fun game to watch. Lisa is a good champ.