Monday, May 16, 2016 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7301, 2016-05-16

2016 Power Players Week game 1.
From DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.

CONTESTANTS
Jonathan Franzen, an author from The Corrections
S.E. Cupp, a political commentator, conservative columnist, public speaker and author from New York Daily News, Glamour, and CNN
Chuck Todd, a political director, host, and moderator from NBC News, MSNBC's MTP Daily, and Meet the Press

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you all, ladies and gentlemen, for that warm welcome. We are delighted to be able to spend another week with all of you here in Washington, D.C. All of this week, our contestants are gonna be people who report the news, comment on the news, and sometimes even make the news themselves. You've met our three power players for today's game. Now let's put them to work. Good luck. Here are the categories for the first round of play today...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
MEET THE PRESS (5/5)
SHAKESPEARE'S SETTINGS (3/5)
GERMANIA! (2/2)
BIRDS OF A FEATHER (5/5) (Alex: We'll give you the types, you identify the bird for us.)
BALLPARK FACTS & FIGURES (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
"GAD"ZOOKS! (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
S.E.: 10 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 0 W
Jon: 9 R, 1 W
Chuck: 6 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 27
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,800



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
S.E. found the Daily Double on the 5th clue. Chuck had $200, S.E. had $800, and Jon was at $400. S.E. wagered $1,000.

BALLPARK FACTS & FIGURES $800: Built as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics, it was converted for baseball after the Games

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
S.E.: $3,800
Jon: $2,200
Chuck: $1,600

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Now we get to spend a little time with our contestants. Jonathan Franzen, you and I have a number of things in common. You write books. I read books.

Jonathan: There you go.

Alex: You don't like to tweet. I'm against Twitter also. Do you think that in our society this new technology is trivializing important social interaction?

Jonathan: Oh, I think it's making it harder to have a complicated conversation about things. Um, it's hard to have a complete thought if I have a thesis and then a counterthesis and some sort of synthesis. Yeah, I do think it's made it harder.

Alex: Okay. Now tell me about your charity, please.

Jonathan: My charity is the American Bird Conservancy. I'm a long-time, proud supporter of it. It's a fantastic organization that helps birds throughout the western hemisphere.

Alex: Okay, good for you.

[Cheers and applause]




Alex: S.E.

S.E.: I love Twitter. Can I just say it for the record? I love Twitter.

Alex: All right, what's S.E. stand for?

S.E.: Sarah Elizabeth.

Alex: Okay. You are known as a Log Cabin Republican. What does that mean?

S.E.: I'm a Republican who supports same-sex marriage, and I always have.

Alex: Okay, now you've written about religion.

[Applause]

Alex: Are we in danger in America, uh, of losing organized religion because of oversecularization?

S.E.: I think that's largely a media meme. Um, you know, religion's alive and well. God's done pretty--pretty well for the last 2,000 years at least in--in western civilization. So, uh, I think all of this hand-wringing about, uh, secularism is probably premature.

Alex: Okay, now your charity.

S.E.: I'm playing for No Kid Hungry, which works to eradicate child hunger in America.

Alex: Okay, good for you.

[Applause]




Alex: Chuck Todd, welcome back.

Chuck: Mr. Trebek.

Alex: I wanna run something by you.

Chuck: Yes, sir.

Alex: I would like to start a campaign to amend Article II of the Constitution and get rid of the 22nd Amendment. I believe that our American president should be elected for one 6-year term...

Chuck: [Clicks tongue] Ah.

Alex: ...not the possibility of two 4-year terms. How say you?

Chuck: I get the idea of one term. I think, uh, the idea's better than it would be in practice. Virginia has one-term governors. Uh, it's a problem. They basically are effective for a year and a half.

Alex: You give good responses.

Chuck: Sorry about that.

Alex: You should go into politics.

Chuck: Yeah, well, yeah.

Alex: Now your charity...

Chuck: But I answered the question.

Alex: You did.

Chuck: Yeah, that's not what politicians do.

Alex: Oh, yes.

Chuck: Trust me, I've learned this.

[Laughter and applause]

Alex: Your charity?

Chuck: Uh, my charity, it's Washington, D.C.-based. It's called Samaritan Inns. They help folks, uh, homeless and addicts recover and rebuild their lives.

Alex: All right, another great charity.

[Applause]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
SHAKESPEARE'S SETTINGS $800: This "Tale" takes place in Sicilia & Bohemia

SHAKESPEARE'S SETTINGS $1000: Part of "The Taming of the Shrew" is set at this tamer's country house
(Jon: Oh, God. I should know this.)
[Laughter]
[Beep]
(Alex: And the tamer is [*].)
Chuck: I'm glad the novelist missed that.)
(Alex: Yes, we have a minute to go.)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
S.E.: $5,200
Jon: $5,000
Chuck: $2,600

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
MEET THE PREZ (5/5)
BALLET (2/3)
THE CORRECTIONS (5/5)
NUMERICAL TERMS (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
COUNTRY DISTINCTIONS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
POP CULTURE (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Chuck: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
S.E.: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Jon: 8 R (including 1 rebound and 2 DDs), 1 W

Clues revealed: 28
Triple Stumpers: 2
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,400



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Jon snagged the next Daily Double on the 14th clue. Chuck had $9,000, S.E. had $6,800, and Jon was at $6,600. Jon wagered $2,400.

NUMERICAL TERMS $2000: These large muscles at the front of the thigh take their name in part from the Latin for "four"

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Jon who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 27th clue. Chuck had $12,200, S.E. had $11,200, and Jon was at $13,000. Jon wagered $1,800.

COUNTRY DISTINCTIONS $1600: These 2 neighboring Middle East countries share the lowest elevation on land, about 1,300 feet below sea level

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
NUMERICAL TERMS $1600: The man who wrote "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" led 2 churches named for this trio, Father, Son & Holy Spirit

BALLET $800: The main characters of "Fancy Free" are the "three" these

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Jon: $14,800
S.E.: $13,200
Chuck: $12,200

PREFINAL REMARKS
Kelly: Today all three players are doing very well. Tomorrow, we challenge Anderson Cooper, Lara Logan, and Michael Steel.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
POLITICAL TERMS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Four-fifths for first place. Stratton's Dilemma.
Jon: Wager $11,601 to cover S.E..
S.E.: You ought to wager to cover Chuck, but since you cannot win on a Triple Stumper if you do so, you ought to choose between wagering $0 or maximizing your winnings with a bet of all $13,200. You are in Stratton's Dilemma, calling for a wager of more than $11,200 (to shut out Chuck) or less than $10,000 (risking the possibility of being passed from behind by Chuck). Go with the smaller bet if you believe a Triple Stumper is more likely than a singleton miss by Jon.
Chuck: You ought to try wagering between $1,001 and $9,000. This will top a $0 wager by S.E. while still beating Jon and S.E. on the Triple Stumper (should Jon wager to cover S.E.'s doubled score and S.E. wager to cover your doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Officials called tribunes sat at Rome's Senate door & if they didn't like what was going on, shouted this Latin word

FINAL SCORES
Chuck: $12,200 - $12,200 = $0 (What is nay) (3rd place)
S.E.: $13,200 - $3,200 = $10,000 (What is cloture???) (Winner)
Jon: $14,800 - $13,201 = $1,599 (What is non?) (2nd place)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $4,200

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Jon: $14,200, 17 R (including 2 DDs), 2 W
S.E.: $13,000, 19 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Chuck: $12,200, 15 R, 2 W
Combined Coryat: $39,400

BATTING AVERAGES
S.E.: 19/59 = .322
Jon: 17/60 = .283
Chuck: 15/58 = .259
Team: 51/63 = .810

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
MEET THE PRESS $600: Londoners have been getting their news from this paper at all hours since 1788
(Jon: What is the Daily Mail?)

MEET THE PRESS $1000: freep.com is the website of this paper, a Michigan institution since 1835
[ERRATUM: The paper was founded in 1831, not 1835.]

"GAD"ZOOKS! $600: "Insect" term for a person who persistently annoys others with criticism
(Chuck: What is a gnat?)

GERMANIA! $400: The "B" in the name of this maker of cars like the M2 & X5 refers to Bavaria
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

MEET THE PREZ $1600: He was the only president who had served as a 5-star general
(S.E.: Who was Grant?)

COUNTRY DISTINCTIONS $1200: More than 50 gold medals make this nation the leader in world curling championships for both men & women
(Jon: What is Norway?)

BALLET $400: This city's Royal Danish Ballet debuted "The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master" in 1786 & it's still being danced today
(Chuck: What is Amsterdam?)

THE CORRECTIONS $1600: On Nov. 3, 1948 the Chicago Daily Tribune made a slight error on the front page--this man did not defeat Truman
(Alex: Yes, with about a minute to go.)

COUNTRY DISTINCTIONS $2000: This country of many islands has more Muslims than any other
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

CORRECT RESPONSES
Turner Field
The Winter's Tale
Petruchio
the quadriceps
Israel & Jordan
the trinity
sailors
veto
The Times of London
the Detroit Free Press
a gadfly
BMW
Eisenhower
Canada
Copenhagen
Dewey
Indonesia

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
POLITICAL TERMS

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Officials called tribunes sat at Rome’s senate door & if they didn’t like what was going on, shouted this Latin word

Chuck Todd: 12200-12200=0 ($10,000)
S.E. Cupp: 13200-3200=10000 ($50,000)
Jonathan Franzen: 14800-13201=1599 ($10,000) [He played as Jon.]

Correct response:

Spoiler

veto (Chuck - nay) (S.E. - cloture) (Jonathan - non)

Daily Doubles
S.E.: 800+1000
Jon: 6600+2400
Jon: 13000+1800

Coryats
Chuck: 12200
S.E.: 13000
Jon: 14200

Combined: 39,400

[harrumph]

I will not be checking the box in the weekly poll stating the the Power Players tournament is my favorite Jeopardy time of year.

[TenPoundHammer]

Not bad for a Power Players game. Very few TSes, reasonable attempts all around, but maybe just a few too many one-liners. I predicted that 10 clues would be left on the board and overshot by 5. All I ask is that we not get a repeat of those Radio City Music Hall games in 2006.

WLT Fenway or Rome at $200?

Honestly didn't know there was any other kind of jay besides blue.

Totally spaced on "Duo" somehow. Embarrassing when the top box is your only miss in a category due to a brain fart.

No guess on FJ! This was a hard clue on an easy word.

[Elijah Baley]

FJ was not instaget (for me), but certainly one that was relatively easy to get with a little thought.

Because actually thinking was involved, I can't say that I'm surprised that none of these "power" players got it.

[econgator]

Not bad for a Power Players game.

Agreed.

Got FJ about 10 seconds in. Didn't feel great about it, but didn't know what else it could be.

[Abraxas]

All three players did well, prior to FJ. Congrats to S.E. on winning. I had 50 correct responses including two triple stumpers: The Winter's Tale and Trinity. I also got FJ.

[corvo]

FJ was not instaget (for me), but certainly one that was relatively easy to get with a little thought.

Because actually thinking was involved, I can't say that I'm surprised that none of these "power" players got it.

To be fair, they did play a pretty good game overall.

[OSXpert]

:-/ I missed FJ and just said "Tyrannus" to say something.

But yes, they generally played well. Being originally from Chicago served me well with Wrigley, Bears, and Dewey coming naturally.

Nice that the CNN lady got the Turner Field clue.

[BigDaddyMatty]

Coryat: $41,400
48 R/1 W
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: The Winter's Tale, Petruchio, Trinity, sailors

Did somebody say gadabout?

WLT Fenway or Rome at $200?

Rome: 1st Century empire whose daily news was in Latin (Acta Diurna).
Fenway: ballpark with giant green wall.

[skullturf]

Got FJ about 10 seconds in. Didn't feel great about it, but didn't know what else it could be.

That's almost identical to my experience. I was puzzled at first, but I just tried to think of a word that meant something along the lines of saying no to something political or legislative, and that sounded like it might possibly come from Latin. I've never known the etymology or history of the word "veto".

[floridagator]

Instaget FJ. In Latin, it's pronounced VETT-o.

[Johnblue]

This was one of the easiest set of questions I've ever seen. I don't keep count throughout the game but I think I only missed 3 questions total. Kids Week might be tougher because that when they throw in awful music questions.

[Bamaman]

I get they dumb down the celeb weeks, but these people are supposed to brighter than your average TV star, so let's not give then Teen Week boards.

I was amazed to learn the Vatican has a higher birth rate than Monaco. Must be one of Francis' reforms I hadn't heard about.

Veto just didn't come to me. I was trying to think of some word that would mean to eject somebody from a room.

[JillyJill]

I thought this game was enjoyable to watch! I was skeptical of Jonathan Franzen, having read his insipid novel _Freedom_. Blech. He knew more than I anticipated he would, but they gave him a bird category, after all. I thought FJ was worded oddly, which led me in a different direction. The shouting part led me to think of "Cry havoc" and so I went with "havoc," though I doubted it was correct.

I knew the Trinity, but I think they did too - they just overthought the clue.

Props to S.E.!

I am looking forward to Matthew Weiner and Al Franken this week.

[Volante]

Filibuster was my guess. Not even Latin...

[Bamaman]

I thought this game was enjoyable to watch! I was skeptical of Jonathan Franzen, having read his insipid novel _Freedom_. Blech. He knew more than I anticipated he would, but they gave him a bird category, after all.

I had never heard of him before, but he did just as well as the talk show know-it-alls. He had a bird charity and they had a bird category. Obviously Meet the Press/Prez were shout outs to Chuck, but is known as a bird advocate? I was hoping Alex would do his Woody voice after the woodpecker clue.

I knew the Trinity, but I think they did too - they just overthought the clue.

I got that one as well, but it took me a bit, it was worded kind of oddly I thought.

Props to S.E.!

I didn't have a rooting interest here. I don't watch the talking head shows so I'm only vaguely aware of Todd, though the few times I've seen his show he comes across as a nice guy. I had never heard of Jon or S.E. before.

[Anachronism]

I was surprised they dumbed it down so much for people who obviously have a lot of knowledge and intelligence. FJ was instaget, but I think I read it not that long ago. Maybe it was a question in bar trivia. At least this isn't as bad as when they used to do celebrity.

[Bamaman]

If you want your IQ reduced to a level where you would find tonight's show challenging, read the Facebook commentary on tonight's game. Geesh!!!!