Wednesday, January 3, 2018 Game Recap and Discussion [SPOILERS]

[PanthersFan1]

I do not know Golf’s religious views, but I suspect he spent the last commercial break praying Michael was an opera buff.

It wouldn't had matter if Michael was an Opera buff since Steph got FJ right and made the cover wager.

Michael was in a position where he could wager enough to win and still protect 2nd place. He needed to wager precisely $8200.

I know that but like I said it wouldn't had matter if he had got it right since Steph got it right and made the cover wager.

[This Is Kirk!]

Dash buttons + dash wand = could be any company you order from. I negged with eBay, and figured there were a lot more that were equally cromulent.

Surely you have ordered from Amazon before? These are advertised pretty heavily on their homepage.

I'm with TPH on this one. I shop on Amazon all the time and hadn't heard of either the dash button or dash wand.

Me too - I'm even a Prime member. But scrolling through both the US and Canadian sites, I can't see anything that could be called a 'dash button' or a 'dash wand'.

Really, folks? Amazon has advertised them on TV.

Unless it's advertised during Jeopardy! I'm probably not going to see it.

After looking up the dash buttons I realized I have seen them before, I just had no idea what they were called. Can't say I recall ever seeing the dash wand.

[nklotz]

Dash buttons + dash wand = could be any company you order from. I negged with eBay, and figured there were a lot more that were equally cromulent.

Surely you have ordered from Amazon before? These are advertised pretty heavily on their homepage.

I'm with TPH on this one. I shop on Amazon all the time and hadn't heard of either the dash button or dash wand.

Weird, I just went to their homepage again and this is the giant banner I see on my sidebar:

Spoiler

Maybe it's different for everyone.

[Elijah Baley]

So, would they accept "The Barber of Seville" as a response?

Good question. I'd guess not, but this is a real edge case.

I think they asked for the character rather than the opera to avoid the negbait of The Marriage of Figaro. That's a Mozart opera featuring earlier adventures of the same character in Rossini's Barber.

I would certainly argue that it should be accepted; they ask for "this character" as opposed to the "name of this character." He is the Barber of Seville - that's the character. The fact that he gets referenced as a handyman also signals that, again, he could be identified by his "title" (for lack of a better word).

This is one of only a couple operas that I've seen so it was one of those, "hey, I actually know this opera and know the aria." Which - no offense to opera buffs, but the rest of the opera is a snooze. So, famous overture (thanks, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd), famous second aria and then 2 hours of nap time!

[OSXpert]

I'm going to my first Opera ever in March (La Boheme), so I'm hoping they hold off on more Opera FJs until then.

[Elijah Baley]

I'm going to my first Opera ever in March (La Boheme), so I'm hoping they hold off on more Opera FJs until then.

You could always rent "Rent" to get the gist of the story in the meantime.

[opusthepenguin]

Weird, I just went to their homepage again and this is the giant banner I see on my sidebar:

Spoiler

Maybe it's different for everyone.

I see similar buttons on my Amazon homepage. But a) I have to scroll down. They're not at the top of the page. And b) I never go to my Amazon homepage for the nerdy reason mentioned above. I'm glad I did, though. This new anthology series based on Philip K. Dick stories looks interesting.

[opusthepenguin]

So, would they accept "The Barber of Seville" as a response?

Good question. I'd guess not, but this is a real edge case.

I think they asked for the character rather than the opera to avoid the negbait of The Marriage of Figaro. That's a Mozart opera featuring earlier adventures of the same character in Rossini's Barber.

I would certainly argue that it should be accepted; they ask for "this character" as opposed to the "name of this character." He is the Barber of Seville - that's the character. The fact that he gets referenced as a handyman also signals that, again, he could be identified by his "title" (for lack of a better word).

It all hinges on whether "The Barber of Seville" is more like "Jude the Obscure" (which is totally acceptable when referring to Jude Fawley) or "The Catcher in the Rye" (which would probably get rejected if they're looking for Holden Caulfield.) I think you make a good argument for the former and the judges definitely might see it your way.

[John Boy]

I couldn't make head of the "area code" clue either.

You and me both, buddy. The response didn't help me understand what they were getting at either. The contestants seemed similarly befuddled.

And me as well. But then this entire game left me shaking my head a lot. I attempted a total of 5 clues (out of what, 15?) before the first commercial break and 12 overall the first round, instead of my usual 20+. Then went 13-1 in DJ. Just a brutal couple of boards for me. Coryat barely $16K, but I did sort of salvage the game with a correct FJ. But my goodness....

[opusthepenguin]

I'm going to my first Opera ever in March (La Boheme), so I'm hoping they hold off on more Opera FJs until then.

That is pretty much the perfect starter opera. It's one of the best ever written, it's not too long (~2 hrs), and it has no real dead spots. If you don't like it, either the performance stunk or opera's not your thing. Who's performing?

[OSXpert]

I'm going to my first Opera ever in March (La Boheme), so I'm hoping they hold off on more Opera FJs until then.

That is pretty much the perfect starter opera. It's one of the best ever written, it's not too long (~2 hrs), and it has no real dead spots. If you don't like it, either the performance stunk or opera's not your thing. Who's performing?

Nice - I'm very excited! Seeing it at the Met on March 10th . Looks like Sonya Yoncheva as Mimi - not that any of these names are familiar to me.

[mikebdoss]

Weird, I just went to their homepage again and this is the giant banner I see on my sidebar:

Spoiler

Maybe it's different for everyone.

Yeah, I've had that for a few months. Confused me at first, because I thought Dash Buttons were all real-life things they mailed to you if you bought enough of certain items that need to get replaced regularly. I guess they're both.

Surprised at everyone who uses Amazon but hasn't heard of Dash Buttons. They're dumb but have been heavily marketed there for years.

[silverscreentest]

It probably won't come up in Jeopardy but there is both a soccer player and a volleyball player named Carli Lloyd on the U.S. National team.

Does the latter play on a team called the Houston Dash?

No she doesn't. There was nothing wrong with the clue. As I said, it is unlikely Jeopardy will have a clue on Carli Lloyd the volleyball player. I just thought it was interesting trivia about two people with the same name.

[pinkfreud]

Here's one for the judges:

"Tracts of land with no real boundaries; 'nether' ones can refer to the underworld"

Do you think 'realm' would be accepted for this one too? (Remember: the actual 'realm' clue came after this one)
All I know is I'm spotted 'nether' and I gave 'realm' instantly without question.

By "underworld", do they mean the world under the waist?

That would be the "underwearworld."

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

26 R
DD: 2/2
FJ:
LT: Libya, 27

[Peter the accountant]

R: 24, W: 5, costing 2200
Coryat: 16,800
FJ:
LT: area, vegan, 27, 15, salt peter

Me, watching the Wait Watchers category: Oh, Star Wars (pauses video). Rogue One - no, Last Jedi - no, Return of the Jedi - no, dummy. What was the name of that blasted movie??? Oh well, take the clam on the question and move on.

Me, next clue: I'm not doing this again. (pauses video) Part 2. BMS. Harry Potter part 2. BMS. !@#$ What was that movie and book? It's the only book in the series you actually read. Fixes lunch. Eats lunch. Takes a restroom break. That's it! Deathly Hallows. Marks a clam on the question and rolls tape.

Probably should have marked both of them wrong just as punishment.

Apparently I attended the right elementary school, as we had 15 men on the dead man's chest. But I agree that it's not the highest quality bit of trivia to choose for air time.

Didn't know the second half of the "area" clue, but went with it on the absolute conviction about the first part of the clue. Had to go back after the game was over and re-read the question to get the connection to the satirical Onion web site and figure out the balance of the clue.

As to the relationship between "area man" and "Florida man" - The Florida man is apparently alive, if not so well. The area man is rumored to be his cousin living somewhere other than Florida.

I don't know a lot of opera, but figured I'd at least make a non-stupid guess going with Figaro. It was the only male aria I know of. Got lucky that it was right. Even a blind mouse runs into a piece of cheese from time to time. I'll take it.

[Peter the accountant]

So, would they accept "The Barber of Seville" as a response?

This is all I could come up with, too, as I blanked on the name. I knew that the Looney Tunes had sung it too, but still couldn't come up with it. You failed me, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

As an opera fan and a Looney Tunes fan, I recommend Long-haired Hare as a refresher on this topic. (Look for the alum gag.) Maybe someone with the necessary skills can post a link to this Bugs v. Giovanni Jones classic. Zerobandwidth?

On a quick search, I found the beginning and end. There's a bit of plot missing between the two, but I suspect these will get the gist of the episode.

[pinkfreud]

...As to the relationship between "area man" and "Florida man" - The Florida man is apparently alive, if not so well. The area man is rumored to be his cousin living somewhere other than Florida.

I don't know a lot of opera, but figured I'd at least make a non-stupid guess going with Figaro. It was the only male aria I know of. Got lucky that it was right. Even a blind mouse runs into a piece of cheese from time to time. I'll take it.

Are you saying that, for you, Figaro is "aria man"?

[Peter the accountant]

Are you saying that, for you, Figaro is "aria man"?

Groan!

[squarekara]

So, would they accept "The Barber of Seville" as a response?

Good question. I'd guess not, but this is a real edge case.

I think they asked for the character rather than the opera to avoid the negbait of The Marriage of Figaro. That's a Mozart opera featuring earlier adventures of the same character in Rossini's Barber.

I would certainly argue that it should be accepted; they ask for "this character" as opposed to the "name of this character." He is the Barber of Seville - that's the character. The fact that he gets referenced as a handyman also signals that, again, he could be identified by his "title" (for lack of a better word).

This is one of only a couple operas that I've seen so it was one of those, "hey, I actually know this opera and know the aria." Which - no offense to opera buffs, but the rest of the opera is a snooze. So, famous overture (thanks, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd), famous second aria and then 2 hours of nap time!

I agree that "Barber of Seville" or "Figaro" are acceptable responses. As for the snooziness of Barber, it all depends on the staging and the performers. If you saw a lousy "stand and sing" production, I feel for you, but pease remember that Operas Don't Bore People. People Bore People. Anyone with a libretto on his/her person should use it responsibly. And I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but Mozart's Marriage predates Rossini's Barber, but the action in Barber occurs earlier. (Spoiler: the young lovers in Barber become the jaded Count and Countess of Marriage. Beaumarchais continued the action in a third play, but I'm not too familiar with it.) Over the years, my comic baritone husband (as Bartolo) has suffered numerous onstage injuries and indignities from being tied to chairs, scraped with prop razors, shaving cream up the nose, etc. He even blew a ligament trying to execute some pratfall in one production. If actors aren't getting hurt, it's not comic opera. (kidding, Actors' Equity) And for what it's worth, Marriage is the funniest musical comedy EVAH!