Thursday, December 6, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6494, 2012-12-06

CONTESTANTS
Noah Rachels, a university fundraiser from Astoria, New York
Skylar Rampersaud, a computer security researcher from Kapolei, Hawaii
Mike McCormick, a logistics director from Hockessin, Delaware (whose 1-day cash winnings total $16,801)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex:
Thanks, Johnny.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We are delighted to welcome our challengers today.
Skylar and Noah coming up against a pretty good champion in Mike.
So, good luck to all three of you.
Let's go to work right now, shall we?
This is the Jeopardy! Round, and these are the Jeopardy! Round categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
HOME SWEET MOTOR HOME (4/5)
MOVIE MONEY (4/5)
SHALL I COMPARE THEE? (5/5)
THE NAME OF THE FLAG (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
AMERICAN WOMAN (5/5)
STAY AWAY FROM MEAT (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Noah: 11 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W
Mike: 10 R (including 2 rebounds), 3 W (including 1 DD)
Skylar: 6 R (including 2 rebounds), 0 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,800



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Noah: $2,000
Mike: $1,600
Skylar: $1,000

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex:
Noah Rachels, as you'll recall, was introduced as a university fundraiser, but he's also a singer of note.
He sings in a synagogue and as a backup?

Noah: Yeah.
Usually when people find out that I sing at a synagogue, they ask me if I'm a cantor, and I have to explain, "No, no, cantors are ordained clergy."
I'm sort of a backup singer.
I'm part of a quartet of professional singers.
So, I say that we are the Pips to the cantor's Gladys Knight.

Alex: Okay.
You're not like a barbershop quartet in a temple?

Noah: No, no, No.

Alex: Alright.
Good.




Alex:
Skylar Rampersaud from Kapolei, Hawaii.
You have met two sitting presidents?

Skylar: I have.

Alex:
Which ones?

Skylar:
When I was in high school, I was invited to the White House, and I got to meet President Bill Clinton.
Got to meet him and shake his hand.
And then in 2004, I got to meet President George W. Bush.
He came out to the Defense Department, where I was working, and shook hands with everybody.

Alex:
Was it nerve-racking for you when you're greeting a president and he's surrounded by Secret Service personnel?

Skylar:
No.
You know, both presidents were really great at making people feel at ease and really comfortable around them.

Alex:
That's important, yes.




Alex:
Mike McCormick is a logistics director from Hockessin, Delaware, and went on a cruise this summer with his family and some in-laws, also, and that totaled how many people?

Mike:
We had about 25.

Alex:
Wow.

Mike:
I got four brothers and a sister, and then most of our spouses and kids and my in-laws--who I got a shout-out for Andy, who got me on this show, or got me the audition, so... it was a good time.
We played a lot of trivia, drank a lot of beers, and the rest is history.

Alex:
Okay. I won't ask you about the history.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Mike found the Daily Double on the 19th clue. Mike had $2,600, Skylar had $2,400, and Noah was at $2,000. Mike wagered $1,600.

THE NAME OF THE FLAG $600: This Caribbean nation flies La Estrella Solitaria, "The Solitary Star"
(Mike: What is the Dominican Republic?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
MOVIE MONEY $1000: This Cher film takes place at a Woolworth's in a small Texas town, not far from where "Giant" was shot

HOME SWEET MOTOR HOME $800: This 5-letter action comes before "out" in the name of a motor home attachment that adds room space

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Noah: $6,000
Skylar: $2,800
Mike: $2,600

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT (1/5)
AUTHORS ON AUTHORS (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
THEIR TV ROLES (4/5)
JA, DAS IST MEIN POSSE (3/3)
1930s SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
"TAR" & "FEATHER"s (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Mike: 8 R, 1 W (including 1 DD)
Noah: 8 R, 3 W
Skylar: 2 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 8
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $10,800



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Mike snagged the next Daily Double on the 13th clue. Mike had $7,400, Skylar had $2,400, and Noah was at $7,600. Mike wagered $2,500.

AUTHORS ON AUTHORS $1600: Conan Doyle wrote, "Where was the detective story until" this author "breathed the breath of life into it?"
(Mike: Who is Wilkie Collins?)
...
(Alex: No.
Not a bad guess, though, but [*]. [*].
So you drop to $4,900.
Plenty of time left.)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Skylar who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 26th clue. Mike had $7,300, Skylar had $4,400, and Noah was at $10,000. Skylar wagered $2,400.

1930s SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY $2000: In 1935 this American became the first to shoot a liquid-fuel rocket faster than the speed of sound
(Skylar: Who is Mach?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT $400: In 1520 Suleiman took over this title as ruler of the Ottoman Empire
(Skylar: What is emperor?)

SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT $1200: As his top admiral Suleiman hired the pirate Khayr ad-Din, known as this for his red beard, like a crusading emperor

SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT $1600: At the 1526 Battle of Mohács, Sulei & his boys crushed the forces of this kingdom, which had advanced from Buda to meet him
(Alex: And that kingdom was [*].
Buda. Budapest.)

AUTHORS ON AUTHORS $400: Charles Dickens wrote that a visit by this "Fairy Tales" scribe had been "five weeks which seemed to the family ages"
(Noah: Who is Grimm?)
...
(Alex: He was talking about [*]. Got to worry about people who come to visit and stay too long.)

THEIR TV ROLES $2000: Hurley Reyes & Dr. Diego Soto

"TAR" & "FEATHER"s $2000: This Atlantic game fish is also called the silver king & grand écaille

1930s SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY $1200: Edwin Armstrong developed this new system of radio transmission & built the first station for it in 1939

SULEIMAN THE MAGNIFICENT $2000: Hoping to rid himself of those troublesome Hapsburgs, in 1529 Suleiman laid siege to this city but couldn't take it
(Noah: What is Austria?)
...
(Alex: Noah realizes now that Austria is not a city, but [*] is.)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Noah: $13,600
Mike: $7,300
Skylar: $2,000

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
WORLD GEOGRAPHY

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Crush for first place.
Noah: Wager $1,001 to cover Mike, but no more than $9,599 so as not to fall behind Skylar's doubled score.
Mike: You have the hope of surpassing Noah if you come up with the correct response. Bet at least $6,301 to force Noah to wager to win; but if you're intent on holding on to second place, wager no more than $3,299 to protect your second place position from being usurped by Skylar.
Skylar: Unfortunately, your score is less than the difference between the scores of the first and second place players, so unless they both blunder, you're competing for second place and have no hopes of first. 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
Though it consists entirely of islands, this populous country borders 3 other nations

FINAL SCORES
Skylar: $2,000 - $2,000 = $0 (What is Malaysia?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Mike: $7,300 + $7,300 = $14,600 (What is Indonesia?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Noah: $13,600 + $1,499 = $15,099 (What is Indonesia) (New champion: $15,099)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $12,600

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Noah: $13,600, 19 R, 6 W
Mike: $11,400, 18 R, 4 W (including 2 DDs)
Skylar: $4,400, 8 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $29,400

BATTING AVERAGES
Noah: 20/58 = .345
Mike: 19/60 = .317
Skylar: 8/59 = .136
Team: 47/63 = .746

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
AMERICAN WOMAN $400: "Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor", this future first lady wrote in 1780
(Mike: Who is Martha Washington?)

MOVIE MONEY $400: The title of this 1954 classic refers to the Trevi one in Rome
(Noah: Uh... what is the fountain of money?)

MOVIE MONEY $600: Oliver Stone's follow-up to "Wall Street" had this subtitle
(Noah: What is The Color of Money?)

MOVIE MONEY $800: This 1964 Sergio Leone film starring Clint Eastwood introduced the spaghetti western
(Mike: What is For a Few Dollars More?)
...
(Alex: That's it, yes--the movie that preceded A Few Dollars More.

HOME SWEET MOTOR HOME $400: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew reports from the RV/MH Hall of Fame.) One of the earliest RVs in existence is a 1913 custom-built wooden trailer that went on the back of this famous car of the day

THE NAME OF THE FLAG $800: On YouTube you can watch Jack Webb talk about the U.S. flag in a clip rhymingly called "The Story of" this
(Noah: What is glory?)
(Alex: Be a little more specific.)
(Noah: What is [*]?)

SHALL I COMPARE THEE? $400: Money in the bank is like this 2-word bedding item that kids tote around
(Noah: What is a knapsack?)

JA, DAS IST MEIN POSSE $400: Andreas Brehme was the hero as the West German team won this in 1990
(Noah: What is the gold medal?)

JA, DAS IST MEIN POSSE $1600: Worldwide there are about 150 institutes to promote German culture named for this 18th & 19th c. writer
[end-of-round signal sounds]

CORRECT RESPONSES
Cuba
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
glide (or slide)
Edgar Allan Poe
Robert Goddard
sultan
Barbarossa
Hungary
Hans Christian Andersen
Jorge Garcia
tarpon
FM
Vienna
Indonesia
Abigail Adams
Three Coins in the Fountain
Money Never Sleeps
Fistful of Dollars
Model T
Old Glory
security blanket
the World Cup
Goethe

[TenPoundHammer]

That "blink of an eye" clue seemed very vague. I've heard lots of phrases that fit that clue and could semi-logically take 2/5 of a second. In a blink? Wink? Heartbeat? Drop of a hat?

DJ! pwned me again with only 5 right.

Glad to see I wasn't the only one stupid enough to say Grimm instead of Andersen on Authors for $400.

Come on, people, even I got FM. Overthought that one?

Hello, hammerhouse FJ! category. Hello… instaget?!

[legendneverdies]

That "blink of an eye" clue seemed very vague. I've heard lots of phrases that fit that clue and could semi-logically take 2/5 of a second. In a blink? Wink? Heartbeat? Drop of a hat?

DJ! pwned me again with only 5 right.

Glad to see I wasn't the only one stupid enough to say Grimm instead of Andersen on Authors for $400.

I said FLash for the Blink clue. I went to Andersen because there's two Grimm brothers, Jakob and Wilhelm, and figured they wouldn't do a 50-50 crapshoot like that in the top box. A team on Greed lost big bucks because they didn't think Indonesia was as populous as it is.

[Paucle]

FJ, since jeff seems MIA. Hope he's ok!
THOUGH IT CONSISTS ENTIRELY OF ISLANDS,
THIS POPULOUS COUNTRY
BORDERS 3 OTHER NATIONS.


Oddly, when Alex elaborates upon the reveal, he says "And that is right, mostly islands."
Well, is it entirely, or mostly?

A team on Greed lost big bucks because they didn't think Indonesia was as populous as it is.

I remember this- as I recall, I was glad I wasn't the captain of that team because by the time it got to him, there were two wrong answers, and you're only allowed to change one. (Or maybe I was just wondering what would happen if such a situation occurred. For sure I'd take whatever walk-away money Chuck offered, and not entirely sure I wouldn't keep it all.)

[bpmod]

FJ, since jeff seems MIA. Hope he's ok!

I saw a post of his on the Sony board (I think) yesterday. But he hasn't been here. I hope he's not mad at us.

THOUGH IT CONSISTS ENTIRELY OF ISLANDS,
THIS POPULOUS COUNTRY
BORDERS 3 OTHER NATIONS.


Oddly, when Alex elaborates upon the reveal, he says "And that is right, mostly islands."
Well, is it entirely, or mostly?

I wondered that myself.

Brian

[xxaaaxx]

Rather pedestrian night, with 19 right in both rounds.

The Andersen clue was easy for me, since I've heard the story before.

The TV category was the easiest 5/5 in a while...not sure what that says about me (actually, yes I do, I just don't want to admit it ).

FJ almost threw me for a loop (how can islands border that many...oh, wait, Indonesia does, islands, populous, duh!) so it wasn't an instaget like it should've been.

[kickerofelves]

Glad to see I wasn't the only one stupid enough to say Grimm instead of Andersen on Authors for $400.

I went for Grimm too.

The TV category was the easiest 5/5 in a while...not sure what that says about me (actually, yes I do, I just don't want to admit it ).

I got them all if "that guy from Lost" was acceptable.

-a.

[StrangerCoug]

Indonesia's size helped me in Final Jeopardy!, too, but in terms of area, not population. I thought to myself: What island country is big enough to border that many countries? Can't be anything in the Carribean because of the phrasing, since none of the countries there take up more than one island (though Hispaniola is split into two countries). Can't be Japan; it has no land border. Indonesia was really the only one that made sense to me.

[davey]

That "blink of an eye" clue seemed very vague. I've heard lots of phrases that fit that clue and could semi-logically take 2/5 of a second. In a blink? Wink? Heartbeat? Drop of a hat?
!

I don't believe I've ever heard someone say "as quick as the blink of an eye." (It's "In the blink...") I don't think that was the intended response...I've seen the phrase "as quick as a wink" many times. All the other responses were familiar phrases. I think "blink" was just too close to be rejected, even though it doesn't make a phrase. Heartbeat and drop of a hat aren't.
"
"Entirely of islands...populous"? I'm terrible at the spacial part of geography, so I just ignored that part of the clue, and did just fine coming up with the right response...I wouldn't have been surprised if it was wrong, though...

Somebody should have got "Vienna" after Noah bombed with "Austria" - the correct adjustment was right there as usual in Alex's hesitation over the "N-oope!"

[ChemTeacher]

When I was prepping for my J! appearance, this was my favorite geography quiz site.

If you got tonight's FJ wrong, try this quiz. Can you get a perfect score of 96?

How could Mike and Skylar NOT take advantage of the rebound from Noah's miss ("What is Austria?") That clue reminds me of the $1000 clue in Historic Battles from this game.

In that same Suleiman category, I was embarrassed that I blurted out this guy's name instead of this guy's name!

[Bamaman]

Denmark's flag was at the top and the one about Japan was below it? Also got Vienna from Alex's inflection in negging Austria.

Near instaget on Indonesia.

[TenPoundHammer]

^ I had no idea how to get Denmark out of $200. Also, I totally misinterpreted $400 and thought "body" -> "body part", and wondered what the bloody hell they were talking about there.

[BADuBois]

A meh game for me, not too sure why.

Couldn't believe the other two players didn't get Vienna after the wrong answer of Austria.

FJ was an Instaget to me... knew it had be island nation that shared its border, visualized New Guinea, thought populous, and there you go: Indonesia.

[Leander]

Are there points off for giving the colors of the Polish flag reversed from the way the were stated in the clue. Clue said white and red (in Polish). Contestant answered red and white.

FJ pretty much an instaget.

[ChemTeacher]

That first clue in the Suleiman category = "neg bait" (Sultan, not Emperor)

I found it odd that Noah rang in with "The Color of Money" for the Wall Street clue, when the correct response to the Paul Newman clue had already been given earlier.

Kicking myself for missing the "Buda" TOM for Hungary in the Suleiman category. I was thinking of "the enlightened one" for a moment.

As a follow up to Mike's garbled "Alexandria" response from yesterday's game...
Did anyone hear Mike say "Three Coins in A Fountain" instead of "Three Coins in THE Fountain"?
Or does that word change even make a difference in the judge's ruling?

[dhkendall]

Are there points off for giving the colors of the Polish flag reversed from the way the were stated in the clue. Clue said white and red (in Polish). Contestant answered red and white.

Thought the same thing.

Hello, hammerhouse FJ! category. Hello… instaget?!

OK, smart guy, what are the three countries?

If you got tonight's FJ wrong, try this quiz. Can you get a perfect score of 96?

Yes (first time), but then the subject matter is to me what chemistry is to you.

Denmark's flag was at the top and the one about Japan was below it? Also got Vienna from Alex's inflection in negging Austria.

And yet another board that should have been mine!

The clue about Japan's flag reminded me of a pet goldfish our family had that passed away about a year ago now (it lived to the ripe old age of 16 months, which is impressive for a goldfish in our house!) We traditionally have four fish, and each fish gets named by a different person. I named this one fish Hinomaru because he looked something like this

Thought of Indonesia right away for Final, but then, for some reason, didn't think it bordered 3 countries, and thought immediately of Malaysia, which does - Brunei, Indonesia, and ... wait, Thailand, that means I forgot about the mainland portion! Rethought Indonesia, and challenged myself to name the three. After a bit of thinking, got it with 15 seconds to spare and "locked in" Indonesia.

[davey]

Are there points off for giving the colors of the Polish flag reversed from the way the were stated in the clue. Clue said white and red (in Polish). Contestant answered red and white.

I don't believe order is ever considered in J! responses, unless "In Order" is the category...

As a follow up to Mike's garbled "Alexandria" response from yesterday's game...
Did anyone hear Mike say "Three Coins in A Fountain" instead of "Three Coins in THE Fountain"?
Or does that word change even make a difference in the judge's ruling?

Yes, but it could be a matter of accent or slurring. If he'd actually emphasized the word I think they would have ruled against him.

[Johnblue]

I wonder if they would have accepted Magyar Kingdom instead of Hungary?

Anyway, fairly quiet game with soooo many missed opportunities. Isn't someone on this board (frumkin?) supposed to be on tomorrow?

[CyrusChan]

Instaget for FJ.

Borneo and Papua New Guinea makes their return again! ha