Thursday, July 4, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6644, 2013-07-04

CONTESTANTS
Karen O'Donnell, a website manager from Washington, D.C.
Hunter Sandison, a camera operator from Los Angeles, California (whose 1-day cash winnings total $11,200)
Ben Ingram, an I.T. Consultant originally from Florence, South Carolina (whose 3-day cash winnings total $53,230)

OPENING REMARKS
Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Happy Fourth of July. You know, I can't remember the last time we had returning champions. That's bad news for you, Karen, because you're the only one of the three players on stage today that hasn't competed on camera. However, the good news is that should you win this game, you will enjoy the bragging rights of someone who can say, "I beat two Jeopardy! champions." All right. Good luck to all three of you, though. Here we go into the Jeopardy! round. And these are the categories in play today...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? (3/5)
2 COMPLETELY UNRELATED ITEMS (2/4)
RHYME TIME (4/4)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (4/5)
ANATOMICALLY CORRECT (3/3, including 1 correct Daily Double)
POLITICALLY INCORRECT (5/5) (Alex: You have to identify the president who is speaking.)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Hunter: 10 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 0 W
Ben: 9 R, 1 W
Karen: 2 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 26
Triple Stumpers: 5
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,600



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Hunter found the Daily Double on the 12th clue. Ben had $3,400, Hunter had $1,800, and Karen had a deficit with -$200. Hunter wagered $1,000.

ANATOMICALLY CORRECT $600: (Kelly of the Clue Crew delivers the clue.) A structure called the loop of Henle in each section of this organ helps the body recover water and sodium chloride from waste

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Ben: $3,400
Hunter: $2,800
Karen: -$200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Welcome back. My 92-year old mother came from a family of 16 children. Karen O'Donnell, you also come from a large family.

Karen: I have 10 brothers and sisters and 10 nieces and nephews, and I expect them all to be watching Jeopardy! tonight.

Alex: I see. And you're probably the smartest one of the entire family, am I correct?

Karen: Oh, no. Not even close. [ laughs ]

Alex: Oh. Well, talk to one of the others and have them try out.

Karen: And get them on the show.

Alex: Yes, indeed.




Alex: All right, now we come to Hunter Sandison, who is a co-champion and a camera operator. What kind of cameras are we operating?

Hunter: Movie cameras for movies, and music videos, commercials.

Alex: We keep hearing about digital cameras. Have the motion pictures, the major films, gone to digital cameras, or are they still using film?

Hunter: Many are still using film, but many are going to digital. It's still in transition, but it's more digital every day.

Alex: Okay. Wow. Thank you.




Alex: Now we come to our co-champion Ben Ingram, who's been champion now for three days. He has figured out how he's going to spend some of his $50,000-plus money. To change your lifestyle in the bedroom, right?

Ben: Exactly. That's my first priority.

Alex: What you gonna do?

Ben: I've got to buy a new bed. I have about a 12-year-old mattress I've had during my college days.

Alex: Single bed?

Ben: Single bed.

Alex: Yeah.

Ben: And what I'm gonna have the most trouble getting used to Is not having my feet hanging off the bed.

Alex: You're gonna go for a king-size?

Ben: Oh, absolutely, yes.

Alex: Yeah. California king? They're longer.

Ben: Let's do it. [ laughter ]

Alex: We're moving on.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
2 COMPLETELY UNRELATED ITEMS $600: The team that won the Super Bowl in 2013 &
the first heir to the British crown to earn a bachelor's degree

2 COMPLETELY UNRELATED ITEMS $800: "Fresh" candy invented in the Netherlands in 1932 &
the Mystic tradition from Hebrew for "received"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! $600: You're 40; that's old enough to get the cake you want, & you want this layered one whose name means "refrigerator"!

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $600: (Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano delivers the clue.) I'm a big fan of Puccini arias, like "Yes, They Call Me Mimi" in this opera
(Ben: What is Madame Butterfly?)

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $1000: (Harry Shearer delivers the clue.) This British band with a 3-letter name has my "senses working overtime" - my iPod would be incomplete without "Skylarking"
(Karen: What is R.E.M.?)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Hunter: $6,600
Ben: $5,800
Karen: -$1,000

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
A QUICK CATEGORY (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
HEY, "MISTER"! (5/5)
WHO WROTE THAT? (3/4)
4-LETTER FISH (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
SIMILES (4/5)
AT THE DRIVE-IN (5/5) (Alex: And drive-in theaters are celebrating their 80th anniversary this year in 2013.)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Hunter: 9 R, 0 W
Ben: 7 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Karen: 9 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 3
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $4,800



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Karen snagged the next Daily Double on the 5th clue. Ben had $5,800, Hunter had $7,000, and Karen was at $1,800. Karen wagered $1,000.

4-LETTER FISH $2000: The name of this shark, a popular gamefish, is from the Maori
(Karen: What is...I have no clue.)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Ben who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 7th clue. Ben had $6,200, Hunter had $7,000, and Karen was at $800. Ben wagered $3,000.

A QUICK CATEGORY $1200: This synonym for quick is also the name of a fast-flying bird that resembles the swallow

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
4-LETTER FISH $800: This family of freshwater fish that includes the muskellunge can be identified by its duckbill-shaped snout

SIMILES $2000: Proverbially, your pounds and pence are as safe as this London institution
(Karen: What is the Bank of London?)

WHO WROTE THAT? $2000: "The Fire Next Time"

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Ben: $16,000
Hunter: $15,800
Karen: $6,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
SAINTS ON THE MAP

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Four-fifths for first place. Shore's Conjecture.
Ben: Wager $15,601 to cover Hunter. If you feel like using Shoretegy, try wagering $2,801.
Hunter: Your score is within 4/5ths of Ben's, so wager between $401 (venusian) and $2,999 (martian), beating Ben's maximum safe bet of the difference between your scores while still covering against a doubled score on Karen's part.
Karen: There's no way you can cover a rational wager by Hunter, but if Hunter decides for some reason to wager everything, you can eke out a win on a Triple Stumper if you wager no more than $6,000.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In population, it's the largest U.S. city with the same Spanish name as a current Western Hemisphere capital

FINAL SCORES
Karen: $6,400 - $1,400 = $5,000 (What is Saint Augustine) (3rd place: $1,000)
Hunter: $15,800 + $15,800 = $31,600 (What San Jose) (2nd place: $2,000)
Ben: $16,000 + $15,601 = $31,601 (What is San Jose) (4-day champion: $84,831)
(Alex: [after revealing Hunter's response] What is [*], California. You are correct, the capital of Costa Rica.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $8,400

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Hunter: $15,400, 19 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
Ben: $14,200, 16 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Karen: $7,400, 11 R, 4 W (including 1 DD)
Combined Coryat: $37,000

BATTING AVERAGES
Hunter: 20/59 = .339
Ben: 17/59 = .288
Karen: 11/59 = .186
Team: 48/63 = .762

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
POLITICALLY INCORRECT $800: "We did not --repeat--did not trade weapons or anything else for hostages--nor will we"
(Karen: Who is Jimmy Carter?)

ANATOMICALLY CORRECT $1000: (Sarah of the Clue Crew delivers the clue.) Two-word name for the part of the brain that executes voluntary muscle movement; you'll use it right now to respond

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $800: (CNN correspondent Lizzie O'Leary delivers the clue.) I'm having a flashback to my high school days lately, listening to the hip-hop trio known as "A Tribe Called" this

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $400: (Michael McKean delivers the clue.) I groove to the music of this long-lasting British invasion band, featuring the amazing songwriting of Ray Davies

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $200: (Wolf Blitzer delivers the clue.) Don't try to talk to me when this group that includes Fergie & will.i.am is singing "I Gotta Feeling" in my ears

2 COMPLETELY UNRELATED ITEMS $400: Country bordered by Chile & the Atlantic Ocean &
businesswoman behind her self-named "No. 5" perfume
...
[end-of-round signal sounds]

AT THE DRIVE-IN $1600: The 4,000 drive-ins of yesteryear are now 400; "America's biggest", the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop, doubles as this kind of market
...
[End-of-round signal sounds.]

CORRECT RESPONSES
kidney
the Baltimore Ravens & Prince Charles
Mentos & kabbalah
icebox cake
La bohème
XTC
mako
swift
pike
Bank of England
James Baldwin
San Jose
Reagan
frontal lobe
Quest
The Kinks
The Black Eyed Peas
Argentina & Chanel
flea market

[jeff6286]

Saints on the Map
In population, it's the largest U.S. city with the same Spanish name as a current Western Hemisphere capital.

Spoiler

What is San Jose? (city in California and capital of Costa Rica) Karen had St. Augustine crossed out, but nothing else.

Ben Ingram: $16,000+$15,601=$31,601...now a 4-day champion with $84,831
Hunter Sandison: $15,800+$15,800=$31,600
Karen O'Donnell: $6,400-$1,400=$5,000

[dhkendall]

For FJ was precalling names that had "Saint" in them. The instant Alex finished reading the clue, I got it and was convinced I was correct.

Sometimes there's geography FJs, sometimes it's art.

[TenPoundHammer]

"Unrelated Items" was just a garbage category.

The game didn't feel that slow, even with the celeb category, yet we had LTAM with ten clues still on the board. What the hell happened?

Rhyme Time for $1000 threw me since I was trying to figure out how "early bird" tied into the rest of the clue. Rhyme Time clues are usually some variant of "An X with a Y", so I was thinking that "early bird" was going to form the half of the clue that rhymed with "bingo".

That Kidney DD was insultingly easy, and "crook" was way overvalued at $600.

Black Eyed Peas was my only get in iPod. "I Gotta Feeling" has grown on me, only since I've realized how truly execrable some of their songs are.

====

Amazing DJ! for me, with 22 right. I don't think I've even done that well on a Kids' Week.

Glad we got to finish Drive-In, a wheelhouse of mine. Easy 5/5 there.

4/5 in Quick (accelerant), 4-Letter Fish (pike), and "Simile" (Bank of England).

0/4 in the books. Never heard of any of them, nor of Amy Tan.

====

San Jose wouldn't have come to me even if you'd spotted me both "California" and "Costa Rica". I just locked up and couldn't think of any "St./San Anything" towns in the U.S.

[xxaaaxx]

Instaget FJ. With all the possibilities, that was a very dissapointing clue.

I'm guessing they've completely run out of ideas for categories, and pulled that Unrelated category out of their asses. Here's hoping they shove it back up there.

[legendneverdies]

16000-15800-6400 are the scores going into FJ!. Second goes all in and third does the normal bet, third wagers 1400. Third place wins on a triple stumper. Inoptimal wagering by second place, especially considering the wagering on Wednesday's show. The two co-champs both got FJ! right so third place did not win.

[silverscreentest]

Not that Black Eyed Peas ever had any street cred, I thought they had lost it when will.i.am collaborated with Justin Beiber. But Wolf Blitzer is the nail in the coffin.

[Paucle]

Did I hear an "S" on the end if Karen's "saving" in "Daylight Saving Time"? Could've been a key rebound.
Near instaget FJ, just one of those capitals you always notice as = to a US City.

[Frank Hardy]

With four wins & $84,831, Ben moves into sixth place in the 2013-14 ToC standings.

I also heard the s at the end of Daylight Saving. That doesn't strike me as something that would be counted incorrect, though.

[elijahjt]

There seemed to be a bit too much information in that FJ clue. They could have omitted saints from the category and just said "the largest U.S. city that shares its name with a national capital" and I believe the answer would have been the same. It seemed the "saint", "Spanish", and "Western Hemisphere" pieces were a bit too much. One or two of them might have been okay, but all three? Ok...

[StevenH]

I actually kind of liked the "unrelated items" category. As long as the clues are well written (and I thought that they were) then I don't see a problem with it.

I am very sad to see Hunter go. It was really a pleasure to watch him and Ben duke it out in these last two games.

I would have wagered small on both of the DJ round DDs, but I ended up getting both of them. "Swift" was an educated guess, and I thought that "mako" was overvalued at $2000. I also couldn't believe that "Mr. Clean" was a $2000 clue and "bass" was a $1600.

My precall for FJ was "St. John." Fortunately the clue was an instant get for me. I thought that it was a good clue, too. These last two games were just terrific!

[TenPoundHammer]

I would have wagered small on both of the DJ round DDs, but I ended up getting both of them. "Swift" was an educated guess, and I thought that "mako" was overvalued at $2000. I also couldn't believe that "Mr. Clean" was a $2000 clue and "bass" was a $1600.

They really seemed to be overvaluing a lot of clues today. Besides the ones I already pointed out, the Flintstones drive-in clue seemed like it should've been at $400.

[StevenH]

The game didn't feel that slow, even with the celeb category, yet we had LTAM with ten clues still on the board. What the hell happened?

I agree. It always seems so random as to whether or not a round is finished; sometimes the pace is slow and they manage to finish, and other times it's normal (like tonight) and they don't.

I was sad to see a Literature clue go uncovered. I had gone 3 for 4 in that category, but man it made me think on my toes. I guessed Eugene O'Neill for James Hilton, because I was thinking of Beyond the Horizon. And I was just reading about James Hilton, today!

[billy pilgrim]

This is why you don't offer the tie to the Champ.

[StevenH]

This is why you don't offer the tie to the Champ.

Hunter would have lost yesterday's game if he had gone for the cover wager, since he missed FJ and Ben got it.

[billy pilgrim]

This is why you don't offer the tie to the Champ.

Hunter would have lost yesterday's game if he had gone for the cover wager, since he missed FJ and Ben got it.

Never mind.

[BADuBois]

Unrelated Category was pretty bad, IMHO.

FJ was sorta of an Instaget for me, and an Instaget for my wife, who used to fly out to San Jose on a regular basis to her computer software company.

And agreed with others... a quite slow game.

[billy pilgrim]

Yeah, I thought the unrelated items category was a sign that the writers were utterly out of ideas.

[jeff6286]

I was hoping that Ben would return the favor that Hunter did him yesterday and leave the dollar off his cover wager, making it possible for a tie at $31,600. The only flaw in that thinking is that Hunter didn't really offer the tie yesterday, he actually wound up saving himself by leaving off that dollar. Plus, from Ben's spot, it would appear pretty foolish to offer that tie to a player that, in two consecutive games, has played you nearly to a dead heat until at least late in the DJ round. From a strategic perspective, adding that dollar and betting for the win is obviously the best play, but damn it, I wanted to see another tie!

I was thinking that in Hunter's spot I would bet either $3,000 or everything. The first bet offers almost a guaranteed win if Ben is wrong, plus the possibility of a tie with Karen at $12,800 if she bets it all. (Ties are cool, remember.) As for the all-in bet, I considered it at least a decent possibility that after the tie yesterday, Ben might offer it today. Like I mentioned above, it's not a very solid play from a strategic perspective, but from a human nature point of view, it seems at least somewhat plausible that a player who tied yesterday just might offer a tie today.

Saints on the Map
In population, it's the largest U.S. city with the same Spanish name as a current Western Hemisphere capital.

I badly botched my interpretation of the text in this clue. I managed to convince myself that it was asking for a U.S. city whose Spanish translation was the same as a Western Hemisphere capital. So after having nothing for about 22 seconds, I had a flash of inspiration and realized that St. Paul, capital of Minnesota, would be equivalent to Sao Paulo, capital of Brazil. Not until just now typing this did it occur to me that Sao Paulo isn't even the capital of Brazil, so even if I had been in the right ballpark, I was still playing the wrong sport.

San Jose, the U.S. city, never even occurred to me. Once I saw "largest U.S. city", I considered St. Paul, St. Louis, St. Petersburg, and St. Augustine. If I had correctly parsed the "same Spanish name" part of the clue, I think I probably would have gotten to San Jose, but who knows with as many poor directions as I went in with the way I read the clue?

While I was unhappy with my FJ performance, the amount of fireworks going off around my house while I was playing this game had me thinking that my nearly $30,000 Coryat score was pretty good for playing in a warzone. Then I realized that I could actually look at the game thread from last July 4 and see, based on the time I edited in the FJ response, what time I finished watching the game from a year ago. I even managed to dig up my scoresheet, and learned that last year I watched the game about an hour later, and my Coryat was only in the $20,000 range, so clearly my warzone performance has improved greatly in the last year.