Tuesday, December 25, 2018 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7892, 2018-12-25

CONTESTANTS
Richard Koehler, a data scientist from Wilmington, Delaware
Lanier Heyburn, a neuroscientist from Bethesda, Maryland
Charbel Barakat, an attorney from Tampa, Florida (whose 1-day cash winnings total $30,700)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Merry Christmas to you, and to you, ladies and gentlemen. I hope this holiday season is a good one for you. It has certainly been good for Charbel, who picked up over $30,000 yesterday. Lanier or Richard, how will you celebrate Christmas? We'll find out at the end of this program.

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
3-LETTER WORDS (5/5) (Alex: That sounds easy, doesn't it?)
BLAME CANADA (2/3) (Alex: Careful with this one...)
CAR TALK (5/5)
MEANWHILE... (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
IT'S "NATIONAL" (5/5)
TV FROM THE NEXT ROOM (4/5) (Alex: Tell us what show is just starting when you hear the opening lines from that show.)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Richard: 13 R, 1 W (including 1 DD)
Lanier: 8 R, 0 W
Charbel: 4 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,000



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Richard: $4,000
Lanier: $2,600
Charbel: $200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Richard Koehler is a data scientist from Delaware, who has something in common with some members of our Clue Crew. It happens to be the place where you and your wife honeymooned.

Richard: On our honeymoon, we got to go to Easter Island. I remember Leonard Nimoy on "In Search of..." did a story, and I always wanted to go there and so we had the trip of a lifetime. We had to spend the honeymoon night in the Miami airport, 'cause we missed our flight, 'cause it's a long way to go, but we got there, we saw the moai heads. We rode horses around the island. It's...fantastical.

Alex: So it lived--it lived up to its expectations.

Richard: Oh, my God, yes.

Alex: Or your expectations.

Richard: You should go.

Alex: Okay. I haven't been yet.




Alex: Lanier Heyburn is a neuroscientist from Bethesda, Maryland.

Lanier: Yep.

Alex: Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Lanier: Yes--

Alex: Another place that I haven't been?

Lanier: Well, I went to Australia. I went traveling all around, and one of my biggest things I was looking forward to was snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, and about five minutes into the snorkel, I swam into a jellyfish. It wrapped itself around me, and I had to be rescued in a little boat.

Alex: Did the trip live up to your expectations?

[ laughter ]

Lanier: Uh, you know, it was--I will never forget it.

Alex: That's for sure. Okay.




Alex: Charbel Barakat is our champion. Where did you and your wife go on your honeymoon?

Charbel: We went to, uh, Tokyo and Japan, and then Hawaii.

Alex: Okay, now, we discovered yesterday that you are named for the patron saint of Lebanon.

Charbel: That's right.

Alex: You won $30,000-plus on yesterday's program.

Charbel: Well...

Alex: Yeah.

Charbel: ...happy Feast Day to me.

[ laughter ]

Alex: You bet.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Richard found the Daily Double on the 25th clue. Charbel had $400, Lanier had $4,000, and Richard was at $7,600. Richard wagered $2,600.

MEANWHILE... $400: Burton & Speke visited Lake Tanganyika in 1858, when these 2 were running for U.S. Senator & debated each other 7 times
(Richard: Who are Lincoln and Davis?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
TV FROM THE NEXT ROOM $600: "Meet the Robertson clan... running a family business is tough when the family just wants to run wild"

BLAME CANADA $400: In a dispute over these rights between Maine & Canada, one man said, "Canadians are like Vikings! they...pillage"
(Charbel: What are logging rights?)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Lanier: $5,600
Richard: $5,000
Charbel: $1,200

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
13-LETTER PHRASES (3/3) (Alex: However many words, the letters will all add up to 13.)
BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS (4/5)
OLYMPIANS FROM COUNTRIES THAT NO LONGER EXIST (5/5)
U.S. NATIONAL LABORATORIES (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
THAT WAS SOME CHRISTMAS! (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I GOT! (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Richard: 11 R, 1 W
Charbel: 7 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W (including 1 DD)
Lanier: 7 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 1
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $800



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Lanier snagged the next Daily Double on the 14th clue. Charbel had $3,600, Lanier had $10,800, and Richard was at $8,600. Lanier wagered $3,000.

U.S. NATIONAL LABORATORIES $2000: This Southwest facility began as Site Y in the Manhattan Project 75 years ago
(Lanier [whispers] I know this one.)
(Alex: Say something. It's not coming, is it?)
(Lanier: No, it's not coming to me.)
(Alex: What is [*]?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Charbel who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 20th clue. Charbel had $10,000, Lanier had $6,200, and Richard was at $8,600. Charbel wagered $1,000.

THAT WAS SOME CHRISTMAS! $2000: After suffering a stroke, this French explorer died on Christmas 1635 in Quebec
(Charbel: Who is La Salle?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS $800: In "The Name of the Rose", it is revealed that the murders are related to this Greek's "Poetics"
(Alex: And that would be [*], not Plato.)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Richard: $14,600
Charbel: $9,000
Lanier: $9,000

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
THE SUPREME COURT

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Crush for first place; prisoner's dilemma between the two 2nd place contestants.
Richard: Wager $3,401 to cover Charbel and Lanier.
Charbel: Your prisoner's dilemma is made less onerous by the fact that you cannot catch up to Richard by wagering $0. You have but one choice: risk all $9,000.
Lanier: Just like Charbel, you must wager everything.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes once referred to this 1857 decision as the court's first self-inflicted wound

FINAL SCORES
Lanier: $9,000 - $2,300 = $6,700 (What is Plessy v. Ferguson?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Charbel: $9,000 + $9,000 = $18,000 (What is Dred Scott v v Sanf Sanford?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Richard: $14,600 + $3,401 = $18,001 (What is Dred Scot?) (New champion: $18,001)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $1,800

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Richard: $17,200, 24 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Lanier: $12,000, 15 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Charbel: $10,000, 11 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $39,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Richard: 25/59 = .424
Lanier: 15/59 = .254
Charbel: 12/59 = .203
Team: 52/63 = .825

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
TV FROM THE NEXT ROOM $400: "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by 2 separate yet equally important groups"
(Alex: [imitates opening chime])
(laughter)

CAR TALK $600: Manual shifters used to come in "4 on the floor" & "3 on" this arboreal word for the steering column
(Alex: Yes! "three on the [*].)

CAR TALK $800: (Here's Jay Leno with the clue.):At a time when most cars had huge engines & heavy bodies, the speedy & nimble 1913 Mercer Raceabout pioneered the sports car by pairing a small engine with a lightweight one of these; it's a French word for a car's frame, hmmm

IT'S "NATIONAL" $600: Elizabeth Taylor was just 12 years old when she rode to glory in this film that made her a star

THAT WAS SOME CHRISTMAS! $400: On Christmas Day, 1991, heannounced his resignation as Soviet leader, and wished everyone the best

THAT WAS SOME CHRISTMAS! $1600: Christmas island in this ocean received its name on Christmas Day 1643
(Lanier: What is the Pacific?)

YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I GOT! $800: A second star from this French guide, meaning my restaurant is excellent & "worth a detour"
(Alex: Less than a minute now.)

YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I GOT! $1200: This U.S. military medal; since 1962, civilians who've sustained a wound are eligible for it too
(Richard [*]. What is a [*]?)

13-LETTER PHRASES $2000: In a saying about self-reliance, these 5 words precede "& you feed him for a day"
(Richard: What is "teach a man to fish?")

CORRECT RESPONSES
(Abraham) Lincoln and (Stephen) Douglas
Duck Dynasty
fishing rights
Los Alamos
Samuel de Champlain
Aristotle
the Dred Scott decision (Dred Scott v. Sanford)
Law & Order
tree
chassis
National Velvet
Gorbachev
Indian (Ocean)
the Michelin
Purple Heart
Give a man a fish

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
THE SUPREME COURT

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes once referred to this 1857 decision as the court’s first self-inflicted wound

Charbel Barakat: 9000+9000=18000
Lanier Heyburn: 9000-2300=6700
Richard Koehler: 14600+3401=18001 (New Champ)

Correct response:

Spoiler

Dred Scott (or Dred Scott v. Sandford or Dred Scott v. John F.A. Sandford) (Charbel – Dred Scott v. [something crossed out] Sanford) (Lanier - Plessy v Ferguson) (Richard – Dred Scott)

Daily Doubles
Richard: 7600-2600
Lanier: 10800-3000
Charbel: 10000-1000

Coryats
Charbel: 10000
Lanier: 12000
Richard: 17200

Combined: 39,200

Scores at the end of the Jeopardy! Round
Charbel: 1200
Lanier: 5600
Richard: 5000

[MarkBarrett]

All of the players each had a correct response after three clues. Each player missed a DD and had the lead at the time of their DD. I suspect that is quite rare.

Four more clues not played. The contestants were not slow, Alex was not over chatty and there was no special category with guest readers. I think time was wasted by the category and value jumping to hurt the completion chances.

The FJ! category had me making sure I knew the 9 current names plus recent ones who died/left. The clue had 1857 and I was done well before the music began.

On Fikkle Fame some regulars there try to guess how many players will get the FJ! clue correct going off the category, clue, and limited player bio information they have as they post before seeing the game. On this clue I would have gone with 3/3. Nope, Lanier, missed. She would have had third place money either way though.

Richard had a 17200 Coryat to beat Charbel’s 17000 from yesterday. The carousel is back to spinning with Jackie gone it seems.

[xxaaaxx]

If Richard had lost the game, that neg on 'give a man a fish' that cost him the lock would've haunted him for ages. Speaking of 13-letter phrases, of all the categories to leave unfinished...damnit, contestants. And damnit, J!, these aren't slow games, finish the boards!!!

Instaget FJ from the year alone. Not sure what that 2300 wager was meant to accomplish.

On Fikkle Fame some regulars there try to guess how many players will get the FJ! clue correct going off the category, clue, and limited player bio information they have as they post before seeing the game. On this clue I would have gone with 3/3. Nope, Lanier, missed. She would have had third place money either way though.

I would've gone with 1/3 with two of the players guessing Plessy. Maybe I'm too cynical.

[TenPoundHammer]

Whiffed with tam for fez to go 4/5 in 3 Letter.

I also did the "dun dun" on the "Law & Order" clue.

Saw no way to figure out "fishing" on Canada for $400.

Any reason I should know Tutsi = Rwanda?

And another freakishly hard DJ! board.

There was a SOUTH Vietnam?! That whole category was miles over my head.

Nina seems like it hould be flagship since it's named first.

National Labs also seemed extremely YEKIOYD.

Never heard it as "give a man a fish".

Supreme Court? Yeah, no guess from me on this one. Dred Scott rings no bells.

[JayK33]

I made the same mistake as Richard on the "give the man a fish" clue.

No guess on FJ.

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

51 R (Only missing the Bottom Two in TV, Strut, Commutation, and Give the Man a Fish)
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: Duck Dynasty, Fishing Rights, (Lincoln & Douglas), (Los Alamos), Aristotle, (Samuel de Champlain)

[DBear]

Was worried when I blanked on Gorsuch being a member of the Supremes, but FJ was WECIB. I'm still perplexed as to how Plessy could be a good guess, since it was much later.

[Golf]

Not sure what that 2300 wager was meant to accomplish.

Moves ahead of the leader's standard wager by $99 if he answers correct while the leader misses. Poor logic in my opinion, but that was certainly the rationale.

[Euphonium]

No "Not even a real country anyway" or "Back at the ranch?"

Knew Law and Order would be there...

Still waiting for a "Car Talk" category that has anything at all to do with NPR.

Emil Zatopek was a plot point in a M*A*S*H episode once, which is how I know about him.

GEORGE SOROS I LOVE YOU!

Coryat: $35,200

J: 21R3P1W. Got DD. 5/5 on 3-Letter Words, 3/3 on Blame Canada; 4/5 on Car Talk and Meanwhile, 3/4 on It's "National". 2/5 on TV (got Batman and Law and Order, said "Dallas" instead of "Duck Dynasty," and was hopeless on the others).

DJ: 24R2P2W. Got one DD, missed the other. 5/5 on National Laboratories and You Won't Believe. 4/5 on Books, Olympians, and Christmas. 2/3 on 13-Letter Phrases (came up with "Lay 'em on the table" and didn't realize in time that it has too many letters"). 50/50 on which Oxbridge has the Bodleian Library because I can never remember, got lucky this time; said Joliet instead of Champlain

FJ: Instaget.

LT: Fishing, Aristotle

[John Boy]

I never know what to make of it when a contestant looks like a juggernaut in his/her first game, then, uh, not so much in the next. I'm guessing it's a really tough game to win at, and much of it is strength of opponent and goodness of fit with the categories, and God knows what else. Too bad for Charbel.

Sure do wonder what Lanier was thinking with her FJ wager. Pretty clearly the best way to try for that extra thou is to go all in. Guess it wasn't a category she felt good with. I know the work of the Supreme Court is not something familiar to many Americans. But IMHO there are a FEW cases that everyone should know: Marbury v. Madison, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade. And probably Dred Scott rounds out the list, both as a "self-inflicted wound" as this clue suggests, and as part of the history of the lead-up to the Civil War.

Too bad Richard isn't familiar with one of my favorite sayings: Give a man a fish, and he'll eat today. Teach him how to find the Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks in the frozen food aisle, and he'll eat forever. At least he'll eat better for a while to come, bolstered by the $18K (and counting) that he wins on J!. Congrats to the new champ!

[alietr]

Cat to Fish.jpg (117.72 KiB) Viewed 5996 times

[clprez]

I never know what to make of it when a contestant looks like a juggernaut in his/her first game, then, uh, not so much in the next. I'm guessing it's a really tough game to win at, and much of it is strength of opponent and goodness of fit with the categories, and God knows what else. Too bad for Charbel

I noticed that Richard beat Charbel on the buzzer a lot, so I think that was a factor.

I have to admit that when Lanier was introduced at a neuroscientist, I thought Johnny said New Rose <something>, so I was confused.

I knew FJ, but I don't know why. It just popped in my head.

[seaborgium]

Not sure what that 2300 wager was meant to accomplish.

Moves ahead of the leader's standard wager by $99 if he answers correct while the leader misses. Poor logic in my opinion, but that was certainly the rationale.

$101.

[Category 13]

Not sure what that 2300 wager was meant to accomplish.

Moves ahead of the leader's standard wager by $99 if he answers correct while the leader misses. Poor logic in my opinion, but that was certainly the rationale.

$101.

Nevertheless, it was about the weakest strategy that could be applied in her situation. She was basically predicting (counting on) a 2201-2299 bet from Charbel.

If Richard had lost the game, that neg on 'give a man a fish' that cost him the lock would've haunted him for ages.

"Lincoln vs Davis" was a bigger flub, in my opinion. Would have given him an easy lock despite the "fish" mix-up.

[seaborgium]

Not sure what that 2300 wager was meant to accomplish.

Moves ahead of the leader's standard wager by $99 if he answers correct while the leader misses. Poor logic in my opinion, but that was certainly the rationale.

$101.

Nevertheless, it was about the weakest strategy that could be applied in her situation. She was basically predicting (counting on) a 2201-2299 bet from Charbel.

No, the weakest strategy would have been one in which she couldn't overtake Richard even if she got FJ right and he missed. Furthermore, she was counting on a miss from Charbel rather than a smaller wager.

[opusthepenguin]

Any reason I should know Tutsi = Rwanda?

Yes. It might show up in a Jeopardy! clue at some point and you'll miss it if you don't.

[twelvefootboy]

Was worried when I blanked on Gorsuch being a member of the Supremes, but FJ was WECIB. I'm still perplexed as to how Plessy could be a good guess, since it was much later.

If you look at the social injustice, at least the Dred Scott decision was nullified within a decade ("end" of slavery), whereas P v. F enabled and empowered racism that is still not unwound even 60 years since Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It may well be the deepest self inflicted wound, but not the first.

[John Boy]

Any reason I should know Tutsi = Rwanda?

Yes. It might show up in a Jeopardy! clue at some point and you'll miss it if you don't.

Or just the fact that the Rwandan genocide pitted two ethnic groups (Tutsi vs. Hutu, and pardon me if that's misspelled) and many, many people were murdered by virtue of being in the "wrong" group.

or the movie "Hotel Rwanda," which was about that horrific event.

Or, well, never mind....