Friday, September 27, 2013 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[TenPoundHammer]

Yes, I know the clue didn't mention population. You could tell (but apparently TPH couldn't) that the video showed a really really big city.

Brian

"Really big" is subjective. I suppose cab = NYC, but I just didn't pull the trigger.

[bpmod]

Yes, I know the clue didn't mention population. You could tell (but apparently TPH couldn't) that the video showed a really really big city.

Brian

"Really big" is subjective. I suppose cab = NYC, but I just didn't pull the trigger.

In the video, you can see about 30 or so skyscrapers of 40 stories or more (including the very distinctive Empire State Building (@ 102 stories)). I don't know about your city, but I live in a city of a half-million people and there are only two buildings that high in the whole city.

Brian

[thejeopardyfan]

I said Prague for the final.
Is no one else shocked and disappointed that Dwight Yoakam was a triple-stumper?!

[TenPoundHammer]

Is no one else shocked and disappointed that Dwight Yoakam was a triple-stumper?!

I thought he was a bit of a left-field choice for a clue, but I still felt SOMEone should know him.

[Bamaman]

Yes, I know the clue didn't mention population. You could tell (but apparently TPH couldn't) that the video showed a really really big city.

Yeah, the fact it was a big looking city plus the cab reference plus the fact it was a top row clue led me to the obvious of NYC.

Was the Iroquois Confederacy the same as the Iroquois Nation? I am confused.

Don't know if they're exactly the same, but probably close enough to be used interchangeably as the same answer.
They were initially 5 nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca) but very late in their existence accepted a 6th (Tuscarora).

This is probably one of those times where its juts best to say "Who are the Iroquois?" and hope they take it.

[Paucle]

This is probably one of those times where its juts best to say "Who are the Iroquois?" and hope they take it.

Oh, no question. Wouldn't even be a pause for Alex to add a qualifier.

[Johnblue]

In re Dwight Yoakam, I'm not a country music fan but I knew who he was & at first I too was surprised by the TS. But when I looked at the photo J! used, Yoakam looked darker than normal. It looked like he had black hair & I watch in HD.

[seaborgium]

This is an FJ that I might answer differently given my position entering it. During the Think music, I'd come up with Prague, and probably assume that both my competitors would think of it. Now with the scores as they were, I'd probably just go with Prague and hope things work out my way. But if I were in a situation where I had to be right to win, I might say, "Right or wrong, if the leader(s) and I both/all say Prague, I lose. If I say Bratislava, the leader(s) say)s( Prague, and Prague is right, I lose but would have lost anyway. But if I say Bratislava, the leader(s) say)s( Prague, and Bratislava is right, I win!" In other words, when you're distantly trailing the leader, you're better off trying to respond differently from the leader than you are just trying to be right. And with a clue like this one where you should have two choices, that becomes as easy as choosing the more obscure one.


[What do you think of the "noun(s) verb)s(" setup when exactly one word gets an S? I don't like "noun(s) verb(s)" because that looks like a "neither or both" choice, and I came up with the backwards parentheses thing while writing this post.]

[jeff6286]

I'm confused by the number of people in this thread that chose Prague over Bratislava, while knowing that it was going to be one of those two. Did they not read the clue the same way I did, which seemed to imply that this was not the case before 1993, but it was after. Therefore, if you know that Prague was a capital prior to 1993, then that couldn't be the correct answer. It has to be a capital that only became a capital in 1993. Does everyone who knows the Czech and Slovak capitals not know that Prague was the capital of Czechoslovakia? Maybe there's an age issue here, as younger people may have never learned the capital of Czechoslovakia, since it no longer existed at the time they were in school.

Sadly, after all that, I too answered Prague, because I couldn't remember the darned capital of Slovakia, which I figured was what they were looking for.

[harrumph]

Geography is not a wheelhouse for me, but I had a sense that Prague was in the middle of the Czech Republic, and also that since Slovakia is more southern than it was more likely to be adjacent to Hungary.

[econgator]

I'm confused by the number of people in this thread that chose Prague over Bratislava, while knowing that it was going to be one of those two. Did they not read the clue the same way I did, which seemed to imply that this was not the case before 1993, but it was after.

There's nothing in the clue that requires a new capital. Other borders may have shifted as well. Hell, everything over there seems to shift borders, so .... *shrug*.

[Austin Powers]

Bratislava was nice when I visited. It has a nice little castle and that weird bridge. Perhaps it's been overtaken by drunk Brits who go there for stag parties. I was in Prague once when I saw a drunk Brit being arrested. He had a shirt and shoes on, but no pants. The little wanker.

[ElendilPickle]

I'm confused by the number of people in this thread that chose Prague over Bratislava, while knowing that it was going to be one of those two. Did they not read the clue the same way I did, which seemed to imply that this was not the case before 1993, but it was after. Therefore, if you know that Prague was a capital prior to 1993, then that couldn't be the correct answer. It has to be a capital that only became a capital in 1993. Does everyone who knows the Czech and Slovak capitals not know that Prague was the capital of Czechoslovakia? Maybe there's an age issue here, as younger people may have never learned the capital of Czechoslovakia, since it no longer existed at the time they were in school.

Sadly, after all that, I too answered Prague, because I couldn't remember the darned capital of Slovakia, which I figured was what they were looking for.

My thought process was, "It's either Prague or....what is the name of Slovakia's capital? It's...it's....drat. Guess I'll write down Prague since I have no clue about Slovakia."

[Austin Powers]

I'm confused by the number of people in this thread that chose Prague over Bratislava, while knowing that it was going to be one of those two. Did they not read the clue the same way I did, which seemed to imply that this was not the case before 1993, but it was after.

There's nothing in the clue that requires a new capital. Other borders may have shifted as well. Hell, everything over there seems to shift borders, so .... *shrug*.

I disagree. Prague was the capital before. If "since a national split" this city was the only capital to border two other countries, that would seem to imply that the capital was new, as Prague would have had such a distinction vis a vis Hungary and Austria prior to 1993 as well. There's no way a border shift would change Prague's status in that regard, but it could give that status to another city.

With that said, it's a better answer than Kiev, which is a horrible answer.

[seaborgium]

I'm confused by the number of people in this thread that chose Prague over Bratislava, while knowing that it was going to be one of those two. Did they not read the clue the same way I did, which seemed to imply that this was not the case before 1993, but it was after. Therefore, if you know that Prague was a capital prior to 1993, then that couldn't be the correct answer. It has to be a capital that only became a capital in 1993.

That makes a ton of sense; I wish I'd thought of that while the music played.

[dhkendall]

With that said, it's a better answer than Kiev, which is a horrible answer.

No, Madrid is a horrible answer. Lima is a horrible answer. Kiev's country at least came into existence around 1993 (1991 to be precise) and even borders Hungary. It's not a good answer, to be sure, but it's not a "horrible" answer.

The clue didn't mention a population, just said "Good luck finding a cab".

"Good luck finding a cab" is Pavlov for NYC. That's exactly why it was in there, as they felt they needed a Pavlov other than a big-city's skyline with skyscrapers that may not be recognizable to all.

This is an FJ that I might answer differently given my position entering it. During the Think music, I'd come up with Prague, and probably assume that both my competitors would think of it. Now with the scores as they were, I'd probably just go with Prague and hope things work out my way. But if I were in a situation where I had to be right to win, I might say, "Right or wrong, if the leader(s) and I both/all say Prague, I lose. If I say Bratislava, the leader(s) say)s( Prague, and Prague is right, I lose but would have lost anyway. But if I say Bratislava, the leader(s) say)s( Prague, and Bratislava is right, I win!" In other words, when you're distantly trailing the leader, you're better off trying to respond differently from the leader than you are just trying to be right. And with a clue like this one where you should have two choices, that becomes as easy as choosing the more obscure one.


[What do you think of the "noun(s) verb)s(" setup when exactly one word gets an S? I don't like "noun(s) verb(s)" because that looks like a "neither or both" choice, and I came up with the backwards parentheses thing while writing this post.]

Now that's a wagering strategy I haven't heard before, thanks seaborgium! (As you may guess, I'm trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can about wagering strategies for whenever my Call will come. Good news is that some things are sinking in, unfortunately not as much as the subjects like sports and theatre and art that I'm trying to learn for the show that isn't sinking in as much.)

[Vanya]

No, Madrid is a horrible answer. Lima is a horrible answer. Kiev's country at least came into existence around 1993 (1991 to be precise) and even borders Hungary.

An odd statement (although it's true), considering Kiev was founded in 482 A.D.

Me, for FJ I was torn between Ljubljana and Bratislava. I remembered that Ljubljana is closer to Italy.

[John Boy]

Not a clue. Guessed Prague.

Ditto. And I'll wager we're not the only ones.

[John Boy]

When Alex said, "less than a minute to go," the three contestants collectively went into brain fart mode.

I'll admit that, on FJ, it's easier if you have been to Bratislava. With that said, it's another example of the kind of question that a future contestant could get by devoting two hours in study prep by looking at an atlas.

I was in Bratislava about 2 1/2 years ago. It was not the most exciting city I've ever been too but the people were much nicer than those in Vienna, a city that truly sucks. Anyway, after 2 consecutive missed FJ's (my first misses of the young season ), this was an instaget.

As for staring at an atlas, I've no problems with geography but I could spend six hours retreading all that mythology I keep forgetting & it wouldn't help. Ironically, I had no trouble in "Mything Vowels."

I rooted for the Cubs fan to win but that horrid bet ruined that.

Ain't that the truth? I let out a deep sigh each time I see a player like this, whose only chance to win is if the leaders miss, yet who thinks that he can win by throwing all his money at the problem (and then losing as Andrew did, a game he could have won with a simple $0 wager). I wonder how long after he left the stage he figured that out and dope-slapped himself for not studying Wagering Strategy 101.

[seaborgium]

Now that's a wagering strategy I haven't heard before, thanks seaborgium!

I learned of it from reading insider accounts of the 2000 ToC. In his semi-final, Chacko George was in a crushed second place against Jeremy Bate entering FJ (Eddie Timanus was in a close third), and responded Vo Nguyen Giap when Ho Chi Minh was correct. Whoever wrote the account (I don't remember who now) said Chacko did so with that strategy in mind, knowing Ho Chi Minh was probably right.