Monday, January 1, 2018 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[seaborgium]

Like a stutter and a reiteration of what came immediately before the stutter.

It's the only explanation that makes sense, but if you're allowed to start over in the middle of a BEFORE & AFTER response to repeat the linking part, it kind of ruins the point of the category. (Would "undefeated boxer... boxer shorts" have been counted as a correct solve in the New Year's Day Wheel?)

That's not a good comparison, because Wheel is more stringent with how things are said. The guy who mispronounced "Achilles" would get away with the same pronunciation (albeit with a correction from Alex) if he responded thusly to a clue on J! (provided, of course, that Achilles was the correct response).

[OldSchoolChamp]

Everybody on this forum seems to be surprised that they had a BMS for the pope but nobody has shown surprise that the reigning Jeopardy! champion didn't know who the pope was. Sometimes I forget that it's not John Paul II so I can sympathize with him.

Wait . . . you mean it isn’t Pius XII?

[opusthepenguin]

Was no one else surprised that Alex didn't recall money for Lisa's response of "What is will.i.am... biambic pentameter?"

I think it was interpreted as "will.i.am—b—i.am-bic pentameter." Like a stutter and a reiteration of what came immediately before the stutter. I thought she was just responding with both things pronounced separately, but one couldn't prove that she intended it as such. As a hypothetical example: I think they would accept a response of "What is All Quiet on the We—on the Western Front?"

Good example. I definitely noticed the repetition and wondered if it would cost Lisa. But once her response was accepted, I didn't expect a reversal. I don't think a reversal would have been fair since Lisa wasn't offered the opportunity to say her response again.

[davey]

• Now I'm wondering what the ruling would be for something like "Feelin' Groovy". The title word is "feelin'", not "feeling", but (unless you enunciate very carefully) the nasal will tend to assimilate to the place of articulation of the following velar, resulting in a pronunciation that's indistinguishable from "feeling groovy". Hmmm…

If the result is indistinguishable then it's not hard to predict that whichever the intention, it will be accepted. Something like Singin' in the Rain is a more interesting test case. We know Singing... has been accepted in the past.
The judges' reasoning may be that Gangsta is not a different pronunciation, but a separate word with its own meaning. The entry for "Gangster" in Urban Dictionary draws a distinction...

[opusthepenguin]

Is this the first time Alex has indicated that he maybe knows contestants' FJ responses before they're revealed?

Posters have been saying that this is the case for years but tonight was the clearest evidence I've ever seen for it.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3133&start=20#p188637

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3133&start=40#p188692

Alex knows what will happen with the FJ! round responses after the music and before the reveal. When you remember and pay attention to that fact there are tells for what is going to happen. I try to block it out and not pick up on the hints as Alex goes to each player although sometimes it's tough to ignore the signs.

The second link get us to your post with a picture of Alex's cards:

Spoiler

His FJ card suggests that he doesn't know the outcome ahead of time. It has the players' pre-FJ scores and calculations for both possibilities for each player--i.e. the amount if the player misses and the amount if the player gets it right.

[opusthepenguin]

The judges' reasoning may be that Gangsta is not a different pronunciation, but a separate word with its own meaning. The entry for "Gangster" in Urban Dictionary draws a distinction...

Good thought. I like it.

[AndyTheQuizzer]

His FJ card suggests that he doesn't know the outcome ahead of time. It has the players' pre-FJ scores and calculations for both possibilities for each player--i.e. the amount if the player misses and the amount if the player gets it right.

Does Alex not have the judges in his ear telling him which contestants got Final Jeopardy! correct?

I, for one, noticed, especially with Brandon Randall's first win, that Alex really played up the drama on Brandon's single-get Final to win from third place (with the dramatic pause and the "you're right".)

[Clue Jungry]

In the Annual Events category, I said Rockefeller Plaza instead of Rockefeller Center. Judges?

[alietr]

In the Annual Events category, I said Rockefeller Plaza instead of Rockefeller Center. Judges?

You're good.

[opusthepenguin]

His FJ card suggests that he doesn't know the outcome ahead of time. It has the players' pre-FJ scores and calculations for both possibilities for each player--i.e. the amount if the player misses and the amount if the player gets it right.

Does Alex not have the judges in his ear telling him which contestants got Final Jeopardy! correct?

We assume he does, but we're looking for a smoking gun. The image linked to doesn't provide that, but it doesn't prove the contrary either. This thread's game provides some evidence that he does. Before revealing Lisa's response, Alex says, "Now we go to Lisa. She had a choice here, and she picked the wrong place, I believe." That's fairly conclusive, but the "I believe" at the end gives him a little wiggle room to claim he was just speculating. That may even be why he threw it in. He realized he said a little too much and wanted to preserve the fiction that he doesn't know the results until they're revealed. Just like he wants to preserve the fiction that the winner will play again tomohrow rather than in 15 minutes.

So I was just wondering if there were any previous smoking gun remarks that indicate he pre-views contestant responses and wagers. While we're at it, has he ever slipped up and admitted that games are taped in advance at the rate of 5 per day? I remember when he re-grew the mustache and there was an online poll about whether he should keep it. He went so far as to claim the online poll was running about 50-50 when, of course, he couldn't know that since the first mustache game hadn't even aired yet.

[mxc_takeshi]

36 right.

Poetry (1), Organized (3), Popcorn (3), Band (3), Events (3), Q_T (3)
Bela (2), Flags (4), Before & After (4), 3-Letter (5), Sikh (3), Find (2)

Lach Trash: "The Spy Who Came in from the Coldplay"; Daily Double: MIT, Singh

Instaget FJ.

[jeff6286]

While Alex generally keeps up the illusion that each game is taking place on the current day, I struggle to recall a remark as intelligence-insulting as pointing out that the leader clearly didn't stay out partying for New Year's Eve last night.

[MarkBarrett]

Nick is getting his 15 minutes of fame. Do a Google search of: jeopardy gangsta

[Bamaman]

I didn’t agree with the Pope ruling, but I was equally shocked a Jeopardy player didn’t know the Pope’s name.

I had Chechnia. That was my spelling. I think they’d take that if it had been the right place. But her version should have been negged.

[DBear]

Nick is getting his 15 minutes of fame. Do a Google search of: jeopardy gangsta

ugh, social media (needs a facepalm smiley)

[MattKnowles]

Nick is getting his 15 minutes of fame. Do a Google search of: jeopardy gangsta

I found this article: https://deadspin.com/jeopardy-is-a-hars ... 1821717014

It states:

The correct response? “What is Gangsta’s Paradise Lost?”

Although Nick’s response of “Gangster’s Paradise Lost” was initially accepted, the hard R sound caught the ear of one member of the onstage team, who immediately followed up with a quick check.

It turns out that “gangsta” and “gangster” are both listed separately in the Oxford English Dictionary, each with its own unique definition.

Nick changed not only the song’s title, but also its meaning ­– making his response unacceptable.

[dhkendall]

Nick is getting his 15 minutes of fame. Do a Google search of: jeopardy gangsta

You mean I’m no longer the #1 result for that search?

[Robert K S]

once her response was accepted, I didn't expect a reversal. I don't think a reversal would have been fair since Lisa wasn't offered the opportunity to say her response again.

Tell that to Allen Goodman... or the many other players who see a slight mispronunciation result in a reversal with no opportunity for correction.

[opusthepenguin]

once her response was accepted, I didn't expect a reversal. I don't think a reversal would have been fair since Lisa wasn't offered the opportunity to say her response again.

Tell that to Allen Goodman... or the many other players who see a slight mispronunciation result in a reversal with no opportunity for correction.

I can understand lumping mispronunciations in with repetitions and stutters, but to me they're different. I think the rulings tend to be different as well, but I could be wrong. In which case I'd be wrong about the unfairness.

[Bamaman]

I'm fine with them cutting a little bit of slack in trying to pronounce Will I Am bic pentameter.