Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

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What was the toughest FJ! clue from Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)? - PICK UP TO THREE

FOREIGN PHRASES: This French phrase refers to part of the Order of the Holy Ghost; its knights became known for serving superb dinners
8
19%
EUROPEAN AUTHORS: "To explain... Harry by the artless division into wolf and man is a hopelessly childish attempt", he wrote in 1927
11
26%
ABBREVIATIONS: Its meaning as an individual product dates to 1977; its meaning as conforming to orthodox opinion dates to 1986
9
21%
GREEK MYTHOLOGY: Famous mother of Pyrrha, who survived the great flood & with her husband repopulated the earth
4
9%
PHILOSOPHERS: His last name means a type of burial place & in 1855 that's where he went
8
19%
THE OSCARS: For films of 2005 through 2012, he received nominations for Best Picture, Director, Writing & Acting
7
16%
LANDMARKS: Jacques-Germain Soufflot, who designed this Paris landmark, was interred there 49 years after dying
18
42%
ADVENTURE LITERATURE: In Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth", explorers enter an Icelandic volcano & emerge on this island off Sicily
19
44%
PEN NAMES: This children's author considered using the anagrams Edgar Cuthwellis & Edgar U. C. Westhill for his pen name
2
5%
WORLD LEADERS: In 2006 a former llama herder became president of this country
6
14%
LITERARY GEOGRAPHY: Shelley subtitled a poem named for this famous geographic feature "lines written in the vale of Chamouni"
5
12%
19th CENTURY BRITS: In May 1810 during one of his more famous exploits, he employed the breaststroke
3
7%
ISLANDS: The Spanish name of these islands is Islas de Sotavento; their French name is Iles Sous-le-Vent
10
23%
NAMES IN THE NEWS: This 52-year-old went through a temporary growth spurt, growing 2 inches in less than a year, as revealed by a 2016 physical
12
28%
 
Total votes: 43

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Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by opusthepenguin »

I checked with Mark Barrett to see if he'd mind my taking over these Toughest FJ polls. He said, "Sure, knock yourself out. You'll probably screw it up, but I don't feel like doing them anymore because I already do plenty for the ungrateful boardies, so whatever." Ok, he didn't actually write that, but I'm pretty good at reading between the lines.

So anyway, here it is. Starting all the way back in 2015 with Season 32, I've included the 14 clues that polled at 25% or under. I used Mark's previous polls as a template and promptly went mad with power, introducing whatever changes suited my whim. If you don't like it, let that be a reminder to say thanks to Mark every so often. You can also complain to me and tell me to do things the old way. Who knows? I might listen.

From the list, pick up to three clues that you consider the toughest. (The first click on each category reveals the clue but the correct response remains hidden in a nested spoiler space.)
Spoiler
This French phrase refers to part of the Order of the Holy Ghost; its knights became known for serving superb dinners
Spoiler
Cordon Bleu
Spoiler
"To explain... Harry by the artless division into wolf and man is a hopelessly childish attempt", he wrote in 1927
Spoiler
Hermann Hesse
Spoiler
Its meaning as an individual product dates to 1977; its meaning as conforming to orthodox opinion dates to 1986
Spoiler
PC
Spoiler
Famous mother of Pyrrha, who survived the great flood & with her husband repopulated the earth
Spoiler
Pandora
Spoiler
His last name means a type of burial place & in 1855 that's where he went
Spoiler
(Søren) Kierkegaard (Danish for churchyard)
Spoiler
For films of 2005 through 2012, he received nominations for Best Picture, Director, Writing & Acting
Spoiler
George Clooney
Spoiler
Jacques-Germain Soufflot, who designed this Paris landmark, was interred there 49 years after dying
Spoiler
Pantheon
Spoiler
In Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, explorers enter an Icelandic volcano & emerge on this island off Sicily
Spoiler
Stromboli
Spoiler
This children’s author considered using the anagrams Edgar Cuthwellis & Edgar U. C. Westhill for his pen name
Spoiler
Lewis Carroll/Charles (Lutwidge) Dodgson
Spoiler
In 2006 a former llama herder became president of this country
Spoiler
Bolivia
Spoiler
Shelley subtitled a poem named for this famous geographic feature “lines written in the vale of Chamouni”
Spoiler
Mont Blanc
Spoiler
In May 1810 during one of his more famous exploits, he employed the breaststroke
Spoiler
Lord Byron
Spoiler
The Spanish name of these islands is Islas de Sotavento; their French name is Iles Sous-le-Vent
Spoiler
Leeward Islands
Spoiler
This 52-year-old went through a temporary growth spurt, growing 2 inches in less than a year, as revealed by a 2016 physical
Spoiler
Scott Kelly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spoiler
9/24/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
FOREIGN PHRASES
This French phrase refers to part of the Order of the Holy Ghost; its knights became known for serving superb dinners
- Cordon Bleu
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 23/129 = 17.83%

10/6/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
EUROPEAN AUTHORS
"To explain... Harry by the artless division into wolf and man is a hopelessly childish attempt", he wrote in 1927
- Hermann Hesse
Players: 2/3, Boardies: 24/126 = 19.05%

11/11/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! TOC QUARTERFINAL GAME
ABBREVIATIONS
Its meaning as an individual product dates to 1977; its meaning as conforming to orthodox opinion dates to 1986
- PC
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 35/138 = 25.36%

11/13/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! TOC QUARTERFINAL GAME
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Famous mother of Pyrrha, who survived the great flood & with her husband repopulated the earth
- Pandora
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 31/138 = 22.46%

11/20/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! TOC FINAL GAME
PHILOSOPHERS
His last name means a type of burial place & in 1855 that's where he went
- (Søren) Kierkegaard (Danish for churchyard)
Players: 1/3 (Alex Jacob and Matt Jackson gave no answer and didn't need to), Boardies: 27/128 = 21.09%

11/24/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
THE OSCARS
For films of 2005 through 2012, he received nominations for Best Picture, Director, Writing & Acting
- George Clooney
Players: 1/3, Boardies: 28/121 = 23.14%

12/17/15 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
LANDMARKS
Jacques-Germain Soufflot, who designed this Paris landmark, was interred there 49 years after dying
- Pantheon
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 13/123 = 10.57%

1/14/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
ADVENTURE LITERATURE
In Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, explorers enter an Icelandic volcano & emerge on this island off Sicily
- Stromboli
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 21/134 = 15.67%

2/18/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
PEN NAMES
This children’s author considered using the anagrams Edgar Cuthwellis & Edgar U. C. Westhill for his pen name
- Lewis Carroll/Charles (Lutwidge) Dodgson
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 30/125 = 24.00%

2/29/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
WORLD LEADERS
In 2006 a former llama herder became president of this country
- Bolivia
Players: 2/3, Boardies: 26/130 = 20.00%

3/9/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
LITERARY GEOGRAPHY
Shelley subtitled a poem named for this famous geographic feature “lines written in the vale of Chamouni”
- Mont Blanc
Players: 0/3, Boardies: 28/124 = 22.58%

4/22/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
19th CENTURY BRITS
In May 1810 during one of his more famous exploits, he employed the breaststroke
- Lord Byron
Players: 2/3, Boardies: 27/116 = 23.28%

5/5/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! TEACHER TOURNAMENT GAME
ISLANDS
The Spanish name of these islands is Islas de Sotavento; their French name is Iles Sous-le-Vent
- Leeward Islands
Players: 1/3, Boardies: 13/120 = 10.83%

7/28/16 FINAL JEOPARDY! REGULAR GAME
NAMES IN THE NEWS
This 52-year-old went through a temporary growth spurt, growing 2 inches in less than a year, as revealed by a 2016 physical
- Scott Kelly
Players: 1/3, Boardies: 16/111 = 14.41%
Last edited by opusthepenguin on Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by opusthepenguin »

I got PC, Hesse, and Lewis Carroll when those games aired. In compiling this quiz, I did NOT get Hesse, but did get Byron. So I'm 3 for 14 either way.

I gave my 3 votes to Stromboli Island, Leeward Islands, and Scott Kelly. Scott Kelly's a tricky one because he was a current event and unlikely to stay in memory. But I seem to recall that even at the time I was stumped by the clue and mystified at the reveal.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by StevenH »

I voted for Pantheon, Mount Blanc, Scott Kelly. It was a pretty easy decision, given that we could pick 3.

I had not known that Paris had a pantheon, I picked the Matterhorn over Mount Blanc since the former seems more famous/ iconic to me and there was nothing else other than the French name in the clue to help me, and I had not heard of Scott Kelly and still did not recognize his name.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :( :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :( :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :(
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

StevenH wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:17 pm I picked the Matterhorn over Mount Blanc since the former seems more famous/ iconic to me and there was nothing else other than the French name in the clue to help me
Chamonix == Mont Blanc

Zermatt == Matterhorn
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by MarkBarrett »

Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting in setting this up, Opus. Click three boxes and done makes it easy on my part.

I went French connection with the Paris landmark, the Verne place and the Sous-le-Vent place.

Revisiting the clues brought back memories of how tough most of the clues were and how I was nowhere near the right response.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by opusthepenguin »

The Pantheon clue met with quite a variety of guesses from boardies. This led Mark to create a poll on the subject:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3271&p=198157

I'm pleased to say that my particular incorrect guess was the most popular guess of all. Not just the most popular among the incorrect guesses. The most popular, period. The correct response came in 4th.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by TenPoundHammer »

Bolivia felt most negbaity, Scott Kelly the most "Blatt/Bratt"-esque in being too "contemporary", and Hesse the most word-salad-y.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by twelvefootboy »

I got only Scott Kelly, ironically the third hardest. I figured out the astronaut part quickly and only worried about his twin's name, which I can't recall. I wonder how Gabby is doing now?

I voted for Kierkegard, Hesse, and Stromboli as 3 words completely out of my vocabulary. If I named 12 countries, I could get the South American one. If I named every actor, I'd eventually get to Clooney. And etc, although Pantheon and Leeward Islands would never surface either.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by opusthepenguin »

MarkBarrett wrote: Fri Feb 15, 2019 11:31 pm Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting in setting this up, Opus. Click three boxes and done makes it easy on my part.

I went French connection with the Paris landmark, the Verne place and the Sous-le-Vent place.

Revisiting the clues brought back memories of how tough most of the clues were and how I was nowhere near the right response.
I was tempted by the Paris landmark. But it seemed like exactly the kind of thing that Jeopardy! followers might well know and it was just that somehow... we didn't.

What struck me about Season 32 was that no clue went below 10% but 6 total were below 20%. In Season 33, we'll see only 3 clues below 20%, but one of them will be at 7% and another at 6%.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by Volante »

PC, Pantheon, Leeward Islands

Pantheon and Leeward were instant picks, PC felt the most impenetrable of the ones left, but only just.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by harrumph »

Good choice by Opus to use the old format of pick-the-three-hardest.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by opusthepenguin »

Volante wrote: Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:02 am PC, Pantheon, Leeward Islands

Pantheon and Leeward were instant picks, PC felt the most impenetrable of the ones left, but only just.
Yeah, it's a pretty even field, isn't it? Other people reveal their picks and I think, yeah I can totally see that, or I almost picked that one myself. Interestingly, though, if I'd been asked to vote for the three EASIEST of these clues, the PC clue would have made my list. That's not to say it was easy, but the answer did occur to me within 30 seconds and once it occurred to me I knew for sure it was right. But I can easily see not getting any traction on that clue and finding it impenetrable. (Great word choice.)

The other two easiest for me would be Lewis Carroll and Byron. The Byron thing I just happen to know about, so I can see it getting votes from people who don't so happen. Lewis Carroll, on the other hand, seems gettable and/or guessable. It's just a matter of keeping calm under pressure and thinking through the possibilities. I'll predict that Carroll will be one of the lowest vote getters, maybe the lowest. The I-Hate-Anagrams or I-Hate-Word-Puzzles boardies might single it out, but others will find three clues they hate worse.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by Lefty »

I voted for Kelly (probably my pick if I have only one), Clooney and Bolivia. Even though it's not hard to imagine a world where I know Clooney and Bolivia were right, this isn't that world, and I didn't and wasn't going to guess them. I might have picked Pantheon too, probably should have had it among the three but just as we guess wrong, sometimes we vote wrong. I looked at that link and see I guessed Notre Dame cathedral last time which was a better guess than anything I could come up with just now.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by John Boy »

1. Ones that I actually got when the games aired: Pandora, Lord Byron

2. Ones that I did not get but which, at the reveal, at least made me think, "Oh, yeah! That makes sense.": Lewis Carroll, PC, Kierkegaard, Scott Kelly, Leeward Islands.

3. Absurd, ungettable, and the ones I voted for: Stromboli, Bolivia, Hesse. Others were pretty much as difficult but I could vote for only three.

To see this many virtually ungettable clues in half a season tells me (as I've said before) the writers are losing the ability to write FJ clues right in that Goldilocks Zone: hard enough to rule out some less knowledgeable contestants but gettable by the good ones.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by seaborgium »

I only got Cordon Bleu, Hesse, and Pandora right on first viewing; I semi-remembered PC (like, I came up with it as a response then suddenly recalled the FJ and knew I was right); I got Kierkegaard, Stromboli, and Leeward Islands from remembering the FJs; I didn't remember the Lewis Carroll and Lord Byron FJs but got them right this time around; no clue again on Pantheon, George Clooney (I was between Affleck and Eastwood), and Scott Kelly (I figured it must be an astronaut but couldn't get any further); I considered Bolivia and Mont Blanc this time but went elsewhere.

Of my three gets, only Cordon Bleu was done with any confidence. I guessed Pandora after (wrongly) imagining that Pandora's Box might have formerly contained the flood in the clue, and I came up with Hesse for no reason and didn't even think of Steppenwulf until after the music ended.

Pantheon and Stromboli feel the hardest to me here; I haven't decided on a third one yet.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by alietr »

John Boy wrote: Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:53 am 3. Absurd, ungettable, and the ones I voted for: Stromboli, Bolivia, Hesse. Others were pretty much as difficult but I could vote for only three.
Bolivia wasn't ungettable. Llama means South America; there's a limited number of countries right off the bat, and throw out the non-Andeans ones right away as well. So you have a limited number of reasonably well-known options right away. Plus Morales was in the news a lot at the time because of his socialist agenda. People may not have put it all together, but it was definitely gettable.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by twelvefootboy »

opusthepenguin wrote: Sat Feb 16, 2019 12:17 am
the three EASIEST of these clues, the PC clue would have made my list. That's not to say it was easy, but the answer did occur to me within 30 seconds and once it occurred to me I knew for sure it was right. But I can easily see not getting any traction on that clue and finding it impenetrable. (Great word choice.)
my issue with the PC clue:
...Its meaning as an individual product dates to 1977

I'll have to rewind my life in tech, but for a long period, PC meant "printed circuit" way before those early adopters started making pie charts of their household expenses and we had to have a "home computer" to balance our checkbooks. I liken it to "CD", which, depending on the community you are in is/(was) a Certificate of Deposit, a storage medium, or your upstairs neighbor the CrossDresser. (reminder to delete my browser history :lol: ).

If the other seasons produce lists like this, I'll have more than 3 where I couldn't guess under waterboarding in a hundred years. There were 6 of them this time, but some combinations I knew were words or people. I just googled up Hesse, and the clue wasn't on a top 10 quote list. His crap looked like greeting card quotes. I guess he was a flavor-of-the-month at one time.

Thanks, Opus for the shock and awe.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by opusthepenguin »

John Boy wrote: Sat Feb 16, 2019 7:53 am To see this many virtually ungettable clues in half a season tells me (as I've said before) the writers are losing the ability to write FJ clues right in that Goldilocks Zone: hard enough to rule out some less knowledgeable contestants but gettable by the good ones.
Whole season, just to clarify. This poll covers all of Season 32. You may be premature in postulating a trend here. Wait till you see Seasons 33 and 34 at least and decide if things got better or worse. Previous Toughest polls did not cover entire seasons and included many (all?) clues that polled under 50%. Since this poll covers a whole season, I drew the line at 25%. This is a poll of the toughest of the tough and will give a different impression than previous polls which included the merely tough.

I'm still in the process of entering Seasons 31 and earlier into my spreadsheet. (So far I've got 5 clues entered. Mark's Toughest polls stopped after Season 31. So once I got everything back to 32 in, I switched gears to making this poll.) Once earlier seasons are in, I think I'll make polls for them too. We'll have seen the material before in Mark's quizzes, but a) time has passed, and b) it'll be nice to have a Season's-eye view of the tough clues so we can compare cherimoyas to cherimoyas.
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Re: Toughest FJ! clues Season 32 (9/14/15 - 7/29/16)

Post by Woof »

This was a tough choice for me. I got 2,8,10,12 and 13 right upon reading but is that really any indication of their difficulty? I chose the PC question because I consider it flawed. I can see the case for Stromboli and The Pantheon but went with Pandora as those facts did nothing to suggest her name to and I am quite well versed in Greek mythology. Many of the others seemed to have multiple routes to solution but I went with Kierkegaard mostly because of what I consider to be the negbait of David Hume.
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