Friday, December 7, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6495, 2012-12-07

CONTESTANTS
Josh Frumkin, a non-profit assistant director of donor relations from Germantown, Maryland
Rebecca Neese, a school office clerk from Rosemead, California
Noah Rachels, a university fundraiser from Astoria, New York (whose 1-day cash winnings total $)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thanks, Johnny. Brand-new champion, Noah, crowned on yesterday's program, but three contestants today--Rebecca, Josh, and Noah--who would like to earn some holiday spending money, I'm sure. So, let's go to work. The Jeopardy! Round is where we begin. And today we have these categories for you...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
JUMP AROUND! JUMP AROUND! (5/5)
BIBLE BOOKS BY STORY (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
STATE HAIKUS?? (5/5)
THAT'S A LAUGH! (4/5)
THE KITCHEN LIBRARY (5/5)
CROSSWORD CLUES "N" (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Josh: 15 R, 1 W
Noah: 10 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Rebecca: 2 R, 1 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,000



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Rebecca found the Daily Double on the 11th clue. Noah had $1,800, Rebecca had $400, and Josh was at $2,400. Rebecca wagered $1,000.

BIBLE BOOKS BY STORY $600: 3 friends are thrown into a fiery furnace
(Rebecca: I know the story. Um... I believe it is... in Genesis?)
(Alex: No.)
(Rebecca: What is Genesis?)

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Josh: $3,400
Noah: $2,200
Rebecca: -$600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: I just discovered that Josh Frumkin is a man after my own heart, because I'm a big movie fan. And you got to watch 100 of...

Josh: The worst movies of the decade--2000 to 2009--according to Rotten Tomatoes.

Alex: I see.

Josh: Yes.

Alex: Now, what was at the top of the list, the worst film of all time?

Josh: So, their number-one was a movie called Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, but Battlefield Earth is just... just a phenomenal movie. [Chuckles]

Alex: And is that your personal favorite?

Josh: Yeah, my personal favorite worst movie, I guess.

Alex: Okay. Good.




Alex: Rebecca Neese is a school office clerk from Rosemead, California, whose husband told her many years ago that she would one day be a contestant on Jeopardy! Was that a good thing?

Rebecca: He told me that I had been selected to be a contestant on Jeopardy! back when we sent in postcards and took a test that way.

Alex: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca: And he said that he had someone call me and say they were short on contestants, and so they were scrounging around among the also-rans. And so I thought, "Oh, boy! I'm gonna be on Jeopardy!" I didn't notice it was April 1st when I got that phone call.

[Laughter]

Alex: I know the feeling. The writers did something similar to me a few years ago. And we've been on the air now--we're in our 29th year. I will get them, eventually. I will get them.




Alex: Noah Rachels is our champion. He's a university fundraiser.

Noah: Yeah.

Alex: What does that mean? You're raising funds for the university?

Noah: Yes.

Alex: From corporations? Where?

Noah: From individuals, from corporations, from foundations. It's Columbia University in New York.

Alex: Well, that's a pretty well-endowed university.

Noah: Uh, not as well endowed as several of the other Ivy League institutions.

Alex: Well, of course. You're down to your last $50 billion or something.

[Laughs]

Alex: This is gonna be tough in this day and age to raise money for a university.

Noah: Well, actually, we just completed our $5-billion campaign, which was the largest university campaign when it was announced.

Alex: And you were successful?

Noah: Successful, yes.

Alex: Yeah. See? You're not hurting.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BIBLE BOOKS BY STORY $1000: Thomas doubts the other apostles have really met the risen Jesus

THAT'S A LAUGH! $1000: The 1930 film "Anna Christie" was promoted with she "talks!"; the 1939 "Ninotchka", with she "laughs"

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Josh: $8,800
Noah: $5,000
Rebecca: $400

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
BEHIND BARS (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
FRENCH COUSINE (1/5)
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES (1/4)
THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME (2/5)
SCIENCE GRAB BAG (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
THAT'S MISLEADING (5/5) (Alex: ...and I have to give you an example for something that might appear in [*]. "A residence extending wide," the correct response would be what is the home stretch.)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Josh: 11 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 2 W
Rebecca: 2 R, 1 W
Noah: 4 R (including 1 rebound), 4 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 11
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $14,000



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Josh snagged the next Daily Double on the 4th clue. Noah had $5,000, Rebecca had $800, and Josh was at $10,800. Josh wagered $3,000.

BEHIND BARS $1600: It was closed in 1963 becvause it was too costly to operate; 1 million gallons of water were shipped to the island each week
(Alex: [*], right here in California.)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Noah who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 14th clue. Noah had $5,400, Rebecca was in the red with -$400, and Josh was at $16,600. Noah wagered $2,000.

SCIENCE GRAB BAG $1600: Teflon is an example of this type of compound that contains only the elements F & C
(Alex: What is [*]--F & C.)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BEHIND BARS $2000: Prisoners in Angola in this southern state can study for degrees at a Baptist seminary
(Alex: And that state is [*].)

THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME $400: He was inducted in 2000 along with partner Glenn Frey
(Alex: Partner [*].)

THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME $800: He was inducted for "It's So Easy" & "That'll Be The Day", among others
(Josh: Who is Elvis?)
...
(Alex: "That'll be the day when you say goodbye--ah-ah." [*].)

THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME $1600: In 2007 the Hall welcomed this "Okie from Muskogee"
(Noah: Who is Woody Guthrie?)

FRENCH COUSINE $800: Historic last name of brothers Lucien & Joseph; their children Charles & Zenaide married each other in 1822
(Alex: And that historic last name is [*].)

FRENCH COUSINE $1200: This small-town English authoress had a glamorous cousin, Eliza de Feuillide, whose husband was guillotined
(Alex: And the English authoress--[*].)

FRENCH COUSINE $1600: Here this artist depicts Edouard Manet niece Julie with her cousin
(Alex: And the artist responsible for that piece of artwork is [*].)

FRENCH COUSINE $2000: The 1572 Paris wedding of King Henri to his cousin was the Scarlet Nuptials"--this massacre was just days later
(Alex: And that was infamous [*] Massacre.)

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES $800: Congressfolks, don't cross this committee that's empowered to enforce the House's Code of Official Conduct
(Noah: What is the Ways & Means Committee?)

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES $1200: Chairman Jeff Miller of the House Committe on their "Affairs" has called for an audit of the cemeteries it oversees
(Alex: Cemeteries -- [*] Affairs.)

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES $1600: This Senate committee has subcommittees on seapower & strategic forces
(Josh: What is Armed Forces?)
...
(Alex: You were so close--it's [*] Committee--not Armed Forces.)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Josh: $18,600 (lock game)
Noah: $5,000
Rebecca: $800

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
20TH CENTURY PLAYS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; lock for second place.
Josh: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $8,599 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Noah: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $3,399 (martian), and enjoy 2nd place.
Rebecca: You've no hope of catching up... unless Noah does something stupid. So risk $799.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
This 1962 play takes place beginning at 2 A.M. in the living room of a house on a New England college campus

FINAL SCORES
Rebecca: $800 - $400 = $400 (What is Death of a Salesman?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Noah: $5,000 - $4,993 = $7 (What is Death of a Salesman) (3rd place: $1,000)
Josh: $18,600 - $1,400 = $17,200 (What is ?) (New champion: $17,200)
(Alex: A movie was made of this play with a very famous couple in the lead roles.
...
The couple playing the roles were Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor, and the movie & the play was [*].)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $16,000

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Josh: $17,200, 26 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Noah: $7,000, 14 R, 4 W (including 1 DD)
Rebecca: $1,800, 4 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $26,000

BATTING AVERAGES
Josh: 26/59 = .441
Noah: 14/59 = .237
Rebecca: 4/59 = .068
Team: 44/63 = .698

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
THE KITCHEN LIBRARY $200: "Taste Buds And Molecules" is an in-depth analysis of the pairing of food & this
(Josh: What is chemistry?)

SCIENCE GRAB BAG $800: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew shows a diagram of a constellation on a monitor.) A figurative sword marked by faint stars extends from Alnilam, the middle of a grouping of 3 stars representing the belt of this constellation

SCIENCE GRAB BAG $1200: Also called reduction division, it's the process by which cells divide in sexually reproducing organisms
(Rebecca: What is mitosis?)
...
(Alex: [*]--yes--not mitosis.)

THAT'S MISLEADING $1600: A perch rolls strikes & spares
(Noah: What is birdbowling?)

CORRECT RESPONSES
Daniel
John
Greta Garbo
Alcatraz
a fluorocarbon
Louisiana
Don Henley
Buddy Holly
Merle Haggard
Bonaparte
Jane Austen
Renoir
St. Bartholomew's Day
the Ethics Committee
Veterains
Armed Services
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
wine
Orion
miosis
a fishbowl

[legendneverdies]

Three of the four times Oscar Niemeyer(who died Wednesday just a few days short of age 105) is referenced in the archive, the clues about him were triple stumpers(once to ID Niemeyer based on something he designed in Brazil, twice to ID the country he is associated with, the only time a clue about him was gotten was to ID Brazil's largest city)

[seaborgium]

Three of the four times Oscar Niemeyer(who died Wednesday just a few days short of age 105) is referenced in the archive, the clues about him were triple stumpers(once to ID Niemeyer based on something he designed in Brazil, twice to ID the country he is associated with, the only time a clue about him was gotten was to ID Brazil's largest city)

Shouldn't this be in Wednesday's thread?

[Linear Gnome]

Guess Josh didn't need much retro luck--very impressive outing.

I didn't get close to getting FJ. Didn't know enough specifics.

It was nice of Noah to give Rebecca $1000. Well, "nice" is probably the wrong adjective.

[TenPoundHammer]

Did a lot better this week than I had been before, but still had a few stupid misses:

* What the heck state would be known for French fries? Oh, duh.
* My inability to keep binary choices straight struck again, as I got pistil/stamen mixed up AGAIN. Still, the 4 clues above it in Science Grab Bag were pretty much Kids' Week level.
* Biggest idiot moment I've ever had: "What? 'Kidnap' isn't a word!"

Only 2/5 in Bible. I knew the DD was asking for Rack, Shack, and Benny, but had no idea what book it was in. I know we've read Judges a few times, but have never picked up on anything Pavlovian in that book. Also, $1000 seemed like "Pick a Gospel", so I clammed.

Kitchen Library eluded me for the most part. I had no idea how to get "Wine" out of $200, and had just NHO the other books until Eat This, Not That.

Ran Songwriter Hall of Fame. Surprised that Henley/Frey was a TS, especially since Bon Jovi/Sambora wasn't.

No idea on FJ! as usual.

[CyrusChan]

Congrats to Josh, keep it runnnnning!

[Dr. J]

FJ was an instaget, especially after watching the hilariously bad "Liz and Dick" last week (wonder if the clue was tied to that? God, I hope not...) I was quite surprised that it was a TS! Ran Songwriters, and yelled "Daniel" and "Garbo" at the TV. Liked these boards a lot. Congrats to Josh!

[NoName84]

Once again, instaget for moi on a TS.

[bpmod]

I am ashamed to say I went only 4/5 in songwriters and state haikus.

I was nowhere near FJ! Didn't even have a guess.

Brian

[lisa0012]

Great job Josh! Good skills and knowledge. Looking forward to watching you next week.

Looks like FJ! was a know it or you don't. I'm a don't.

[BADuBois]

Missed the show tonight because of the usual Friday pre-emption curse from my Boston affiliate.

Read the FJ clue in today's New York Times, and it was an Instaget for me, unlike that horrid earlier FJ about "politically incorrect."

Still shaking my head over that one.

[econgator]

I am ashamed to say I went only 4/5 in songwriters and state haikus.

I was nowhere near FJ! Didn't even have a guess.

Brian

I had a guess -- The Graduate -- but I think it was a book, not a play. Would never, ever have come up with the correct response.

[MarkBarrett]

Alex has to work on his Nelson impression. That was way off the mark. I hope Nancy Cartwright wasn't watching.

Fast Food Nation saved me being skunked in The Kitchen Library. Of course as a guy who posted a picture on Facebook with my empty loaf bag of Wonder Bread it's not going to be a good category for me.

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, Garbo, Don Henley and Buddy Holly were more to my liking.

Alcatraz was my precall on the Behind Bars DD. The next one in Louisiana was unknown to me.

I'm with econgator on guessing a book for the FJ clue. I remembered something about a college with a previous clue about Mary McCarthy's The Group and I had nothing better for a guess. If I would have remembered it was Vassar so not New England I may have tried Love Story? I had no chance on the correct response unless Albee was given.

Nice debut by Josh and all of us appreciated moving things along at a crisper pace even with one clue not shown in the DJ round.

[opusthepenguin]

It was nice of Noah to give Rebecca $1000. Well, "nice" is probably the wrong adjective.

That might depend on your etymological intentions.

[seaborgium]

* My inability to keep binary choices straight struck again, as I got pistil/stamen mixed up AGAIN.

The male plant organ is the stamen, which sounds like "semen," another specifically male thing.

I know we've read Judges a few times, but have never picked up on anything Pavlovian in that book.

I got that off "title arbiters." I think that clue was specifically written to achieve that result.

[TenPoundHammer]

I know we've read Judges a few times, but have never picked up on anything Pavlovian in that book.

I got that off "title arbiters." I think that clue was specifically written to achieve that result.

Fair enough. I didn't catch on because I had no clue what "arbiter" meant.

[opusthepenguin]

Only 2/5 in Bible. I knew the DD was asking for Rack, Shack, and Benny, but had no idea what book it was in. I know we've read Judges a few times, but have never picked up on anything Pavlovian in that book. Also, $1000 seemed like "Pick a Gospel", so I clammed.

Since I'm often critical of the Bible clues, I'll put in a good word for that one. At first it seemed like "Pick a Gospel" to me as well. (I knew which one to pick, but that's beside the point.) Then I realized the clue had a couple of TOMS (whether the writer intended them or not).

TOM 1: The clue was asking for a story found in only one of the Gospels. John's the obvious choice. The other three repeat a lot of the same material. They're even grouped together as "the synoptic Gospels" ("syn" = with, "optic" = eye) because they look at things the same way. For a fun fact that will never show up on Jeopardy!, John Calvin did not write separate commentaries on Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He wrote one commentary on all three, shuffling material around as necessary. He wrote a separate commentary on John. There are definitely stories you'll find in Matthew but not in Luke and vice versa. I'm not sure about Mark. But if you want to play the odds, John is much more likely to have a story that isn't repeated elsewhere.

TOM 2: John concludes his Gospel by saying that he wrote these things "that you might believe". A story about someone who has a little trouble believing but ends up convinced is perfect for that theme.

So the clue was hard but gettable, great for the $1,000 slot. It might have made sense as a DD (unlike that ridiculously unfair "Identify the Bible book by the names of two random people who get greeted and are never mentioned elsewhere" clue in the teachers tournament). Maybe given time, a contestant could work through the above logic and arrive at a correct response. Maybe not. Maybe the contestants had a feeling about the correct response based on similar reasoning, but they all just stood there, doubting TOMs.

[seaborgium]

I know we've read Judges a few times, but have never picked up on anything Pavlovian in that book.

I got that off "title arbiters." I think that clue was specifically written to achieve that result.

Fair enough. I didn't catch on because I had no clue what "arbiter" meant.

Even so, there are only three books in the Bible with title characters (specifically plural): Judges, I Kings, and II Kings. (Well, I guess you can count Acts of the Apostles too.) Regardless of whether you know what the noun means, "[character], one of the title [noun]s in this book" doesn't leave other possibilities than those three (if you can rule out the name as belonging to an apostle), and Jeopardy doesn't force people to figure out which ordinal number precedes a book's name. Judges it is.

[Leander]

Maybe it's the fact that a Broadway revival of the play has gotten a lot of coverage in the NY Times and other media outlets recently, but FJ was an instaget for me. Surprised it was a TS and surprised at some others during the game. But an impressive performance by the new champ.