Wednesday, December 14, 2011 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6268, 2011-12-14

84-year-old Tampa native Shirley Smallwood attends the taping thanks to Jeremy Bloom's Wish of a Lifetime Foundation.

CONTESTANTS
Matt Harriss, a tire and lube technician from Clemson, South Carolina
Jennifer Hills, a librarian from Twin Falls, Idaho
Boomie Aglietti, a writer for TV and stage from Los Angeles, California (whose 1-day cash winnings total $34,399)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Boomie owned yesterday's program. He took the lead early, kept it throughout the game, and could not be caught at the end. And as a result, wound up with close to $35,000. So, Jennifer and Matt, you've got to be at your best today, if you want to replace him. But it can happen. Good luck to all three. Here we go--Jeopardy! Round. And the categories are as follows, starting off with...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
RELIGIOUS MATTERS (4/5)
MOVIE TITLE SUBJECTS (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double) (Alex: We want you to name the film as we present...)
THE 1890s (5/5)
"G", LOOK AT THAT (5/5)
BACK TO SCHOOL (4/5)
UNDERGARMENTS (1/1)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Matt: 9 R (including 2 rebounds), 1 W
Boomie: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W
Jennifer: 5 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 2 W

Clues revealed: 26
Triple Stumpers: 3
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $2,600



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Jennifer found the Daily Double on the 8th clue. Boomie had $1,200, Jennifer had $1,000, and Matt was at $600. Jennifer made it a True Daily Double, wagering $1,000.

MOVIE TITLE SUBJECTS $400: High priest Imhotep
(1999)

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Matt: $2,800
Jennifer: $2,200
Boomie: $400

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Matt Harriss is the first player we introduced on our program today. Do you still have the same girlfriend?

Matt: Uh, yes, I do.

Alex: Yeah? Because you kind of made things a little rough, I gather, on your first date. Where did you take her?

Matt: Oh, I don't know about that. I took her to a, uh, tobacco-spitting contest.

Alex: Just what every girl wants to, uh, do. Is it a competition in which prizes are awarded?

Matt: I think there's--it's called Spittoono, and I think that the prize is--

Alex: Spittoono?

Matt: Mm-hmm. The prize is a spittoon. The record is something like 28 feet, or it's--

Alex: I wouldn't want to be part of the cleanup crew.




Alex: Jennifer Hills is a librarian from Twin Falls, Idaho. Taught for five years where?

Jennifer: On the Crow Indian reservation.

Alex: How big a reservation is it?

Jennifer: Um, it's one of the biggest, um, of the Native American tribes, and, um, comprises a huge chunk of Bighorn County in Montana.

Alex: And is it as poor an area as I have seen in some of the Sioux reservations?

Jennifer: Yeah, unfortunately, it is. But I think that there's a lot of kids that are really trying to make effort to--to get out of that, so...

Alex: Okay, and thanks to people like you, they have a better chance. Good.




Alex: Boomie Aglietti is our champion. He's a writer for television and stage, but I want to know about your first name, Boomie.

Boomie: My first name--it's a nickname that my parents gave me when I was in the crib. I used to walk around saying, "boom, boom, boom".

Alex: Okay. And you were christened as?

Boomie: Laurent.

Alex: Laurent.

Boomie: Yeah, but none of my teachers could pronounce it.

Alex: So a French first name, an Italian surname?

Boomie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Alex: Boomie. All right.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
MOVIE TITLE SUBJECTS $600: Captain, Loudy, Bitey, Stinky, Lovey, Nimrod
(2011)
(Boomie: What are penguins?)
(Alex: Be more specific.)
(Boomie: What are... Morris's Penguins?)

BACK TO SCHOOL $1000: Geography: This sea, an arm of the Indian Ocean, separates Oman & India
(Boomie: What is the... Bay of Bengal?)
...
(Alex: You knew that, Boomie. Go again.)
(Boomie: Indeed.)

RELIGIOUS MATTERS $1000: Each year on the Jewish festival Simchat Torah, or "Torah rejoicing", the last part of this book of the Bible is read

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Matt: $4,400
Jennifer: $2,400
Boomie: $1,600

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
SHAKESPEARE (5/5)
WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? (5/5)
THE COUNTRY'S NATIONAL HOLIDAY (3/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
THE NATO PHONETIC ALPHABET (5/5)
IT'S A GROUP THING (4/5)
"C" IN SCIENCE (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Boomie: 15 R (including 2 rebounds and 2 DDs), 0 W
Jennifer: 7 R, 2 W
Matt: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 3
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $4,400



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Boomie snagged the next Daily Double on the 12th clue. Boomie had $7,600, Jennifer had $3,200, and Matt was at $10,000. Boomie wagered $2,500.

"C" IN SCIENCE $1200: Originally, this unit of measure was the amount of radioactivity given off by one gram of radium

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Boomie who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 14th clue. Boomie had $11,300, Jennifer had $3,200, and Matt was at $8,800. Boomie wagered $1,700.

THE COUNTRY'S NATIONAL HOLIDAY $1600: November 3:
Separation Day, commemorating its 1903 split with Colombia

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
THE COUNTRY'S NATIONAL HOLIDAY $2000: September 16:
Celebrating the Grito de Dolores

THE COUNTRY'S NATIONAL HOLIDAY $400: November 19:
Saint Rainier's Day
(Matt: Um, what is Canada?)

IT'S A GROUP THING $2000: A synonym for group, it's often applied to "beauties" & is a collective noun for several swans
(Matt: What is a gaggle?)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Boomie: $22,200 (lock game)
Matt: $7,200
Jennifer: $5,600

PREFINAL REMARKS
(Before the Double Jeopardy! Round, Alex announces a visitor to the show courtesy of the Wish of a Lifetime Foundation.)
Alex: Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. You've all heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There is another similar foundation that grants wishes to senior citizens. It was founded by Jeremy Bloom in 2008 in honor of his grandmother, and we are delighted to have in our audience today this lovely lady, Shirley Smallwood, whose wish was to attend one of Jeopardy!'s tapings. Shirley is 84 years younger. Nice to have you with us, Shirley. All right, let's take a look at the categories now for the Double Jeopardy! Round, shall we? First off...

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
POPULAR BABY NAMES

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; three-quarters for second place.
Boomie: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $7,799 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Matt: Wager $4,001 to cover Jennifer.
Jennifer: Risk between $1,601 and $2,400, covering Matt's $0 bet.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Character names in a book & movie series, the top names for 2009 & 2010 were Isabella for girls & this biblical one for boys

FINAL SCORES
Jennifer: $5,600 + $3,000 = $8,600 (What is Jacob?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Matt: $7,200 - $4,001 = $3,199 (What is Isaac?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Boomie: $22,200 + $2,200 = $24,400 (What is Boomie Jacob?) (2-day champion: $58,799)
[Laughter upon reveal of Boomie's response]

Total Potential Lach Trash: $7,000

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Boomie: $20,800, 24 R (including 2 DDs), 3 W
Matt: $7,200, 14 R, 4 W
Jennifer: $5,000, 12 R (including 1 DD), 4 W
Combined Coryat: $33,000

BATTING AVERAGES
Boomie: 25/60 = .417
Matt: 14/58 = .241
Jennifer: 13/59 = .220
Team: 52/63 = .825

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
"G", LOOK AT THAT $200: You're looking at what's called the Grand Canyon of Queensland--Carnarvon this

"G", LOOK AT THAT $400: In ancient times the greyhound was trained to hunt this creature

THE 1890s $1000: On June 2, 1899 Butch Cassidy & this gang, also a 1969 movie title, robbed their first train near Wilcox, Wyoming
(Boomie: What is the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang?)
...
(Alex: Also the name of a movie.)

RELIGIOUS MATTERS $400: In the 200s B.C. Indian emperor Ashoka converted to this religion that had been founded about 300 years earlier
(Jennifer: What is Hinduism?)

"G", LOOK AT THAT $600: Indian culture is stronger in this Western Hemisphere nation than in its neighbors

MOVIE TITLE SUBJECTS $1000: A 1972 Ford auto
(2008)
(Matt: [No response])

"G", LOOK AT THAT $800: Normally holding up to about 2 ounces of fluid, this organ aids in the digestion of fats

"G", LOOK AT THAT $1000: It's the type of large support structure for launching rockets seen here, Elmer

BACK TO SCHOOL $800: History: This one of the 7 Ancient Wonders was said to be laid out on several brick terraces & 75 feet above the ground
(Jennifer: What are the Gardens of Babylon?)
(Alex: Be more specific.)
(Jennifer: [No response])
...
(Alex: ...and we have less than a minute to go, Boomie.)

UNDERGARMENTS $200: An uplift brassiere is more commonly known as this, moving the "up" to the end of the word
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

THE COUNTRY'S NATIONAL HOLIDAY $1200: April 30:
Queen's Day, celebrating the 1909 birth of Juliana & the 1980 accession of her daughter Beatrix
(Matt: What is Denmark?)

"C" IN SCIENCE $2000: The name of this class of mollusks comes from Greek words meaning "head foot"
(Jennifer: What is cetacean?)
...
(Alex: Cetaceans are whales.)

"C" IN SCIENCE $800: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew swishes a quarter inside an inflated baloon.) The quarter inside the balloon continues in a circular motion, because the balloon is imposing this inward force, from the Latin for "seek the center"
(Jennifer: What is centrifugal?)

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $400: (Hi, I'm Kyra Sedgwick.) I'm always listening to this band's classics like "Crash", but true fans know you've got to see DMB live to really get the experience

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $800: (I'm Andy Richter.) Usually my iPod has songs by this '60s British soul singer of "I Only Want To Be With You" & "Son Of A Preacher Man"

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $1200: (Hi, I'm Rebecca Lobo.) I love just about everything by this Northern Irish rocker, including "Gloria" & "Moondance"

IT'S A GROUP THING $1600: At school, kids inevitably form these exclusive groups of friends, from the French for "noise"
(Alex: Yes, and we have less than a minute now.)

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $2000: (I'm Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.) You'll find this sax man who took "Giant Steps" to modernize jazz with his innovative "Sheets of Sound" playing style

WHAT'S ON YOUR iPOD? $1600: (Hi, I'm Christopher Meloni.) I'm on the sonic cutting edge listening to songs from this band's albums like "In Rainbows" or "OK Computer"

CORRECT RESPONSES
The Mummy
Mr. Popper's Penguins
the Arabian Sea
Deuteronomy
a curie
Panama
Mexico
Monaco
a bevy
Jacob
Gorge
a gazelle
the Wild Bunch
Buddhism
Guatemala
Gran Torino
the gallbladder
a gantry
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
a push-up bra
the Netherlands
cephalopod
centripetal
Dave Matthews Band
Dusty Springfield
Van Morrison
clique
John Coltrane
Radiohead

[Samer]

We have a nominee for best FJ! answer ever.

What is Boomie Jacob?

[Bamaman]

Nice game for Boomie, a lot like yesterday, turned on the burners in DJ to get a lock win. I did like that Matt took a shot to break the lock on the last clue.

I was rooting for Matt in this game. A lube tech at a car place, like to see non-traditional Jeopardy contestant jobs on the show. (My apologies to the Boomie fan club on here).

FJ was an instaget for me. It helps to have a teenage child (not named that) and having seen a lot of those in the last 14 years.

[messyjesse]

Wasn't really paying attention to the scores too much because I thought Boomie was running away with it, but I too noticed that Matt was actually still in it and had gone to break the lock on that last clue. Shame he didn't get it, although Boomie's answer was damn funny.

FJ was an instaget. My roommate is a huge Twilight fan, and I can see those stupid books from the corner of my eye while watching the TV. It was an interesting clue, lacking a bit in TOM perhaps, but that particular name has been popular for long enough that it should've been an immediate candidate given the category.

As a sidenote, I actually preguessed "Isabella" as a joke.

[Bamaman]

I had no idea what books or movies the name came from. I just got it from observing children for years.

[BigDaddyJ]

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet was one of the first things I added to my flash cards when I started studying for Jeopardy. Paid off nicely tonight!

I knew what they were going for in FJ ("that teenage vampire/werewolf/whatever movie") but couldn't come up with the actual name.

[alietr]

I was not going to die a happy man if I did not find out where the name "Boomie" came from. Congratulations again, Boomie. Sounds like there was a quite a fan club there on your behalf.

[lisa0012]

I would love a poll question to see who knew a)what book/movie series was being referenced and, more importantly, b) who has either read one of the books or seen one of the movies?

[Budphrey]

The Dear Wife and I both knew immediately that Twilight was the oeuvre in question. She lit on "Jacob" though she wasn't sure. I blanked completely after realizing 10 seconds into the Think music that the correct response could not possibly be "Edward."

Neither of us has had any contact with the books or the movies.

I keep telling the DW she ought to take the quiz. She swears she'd freeze up in front of the cameras.

Nice surge, Boomie, even if you did leave my Idaho compatriot in the dust.

[econgator]

I would love a poll question to see who knew a)what book/movie series was being referenced and, more importantly, b) who has either read one of the books or seen one of the movies?

a) yes
b) never

[Suze]

Twilight is so ever present, you don't have to have seen or read any of it to be aware of the basics. They gave you the name Isabella in the clue- Bella being the lead female dishrag of a character. Plus Jacob was like the number one name for several years over the last decade. So even without the movie reference, I think people had a decent shot at it.
I really liked the boards tonight. Boomie was great. The other two put up a nice fight for a while, but then he just took it and ran like hell.

[MarkBarrett]

I would love a poll question to see who knew a)what book/movie series was being referenced and, more importantly, b) who has either read one of the books or seen one of the movies?

Sure, I can handle that request. Anyone who has seen the relevant posts on my Facebook wall about movies I have seen knows I got the FJ clue correct.

Boomie has FJ responses with incorrect items crossed off for correct ones two days in a row. I suspect that is rare. I joined him in letting the writers get me to guess Hole in the Wall Gang. I did not join Boomie and his opponents in staring at Rainier clue. That TS is a litmus violation and I may have to dial down expectations for the champ.

Boomie has played four DDs in boxes worth 6000 total. His wagers total 6600. So far he appears to have a near box value strategy. Matt was not so far ahead that Boomie to go for a max out, but 2500 did seem on the low side at the time. 1700 on the last DD seemed like buzzer confidence that Boomie would lead entering FJ and that was all that mattered.

[barandall800]

Twilight is so ever present, you don't have to have seen or read any of it to be aware of the basics. They gave you the name Isabella in the clue- Bella being the lead female dishrag of a character. Plus Jacob was like the number one name for several years over the last decade. So even without the movie reference, I think people had a decent shot at it.
I really liked the boards tonight. Boomie was great. The other two put up a nice fight for a while, but then he just took it and ran like hell.

Exactly. I admittedly was helped by the fact that I live with people who adore the books and tolerate the movies (my mother and my teenage sister, specifically), but their cultural impact is so widespread now that it was a perfectly gettable clue. After a second's detour to "Edward" while Alex was reading the clue, I caught on to the 'biblical' TOM and got Jacob before he had finished. (Not that I'm very proud of this, but at least something good has come of the "Twilight" phenomenon...a correct FJ response. )

I wasn't too much a fan of the boards (DJ! was much better than J! for me, though...loved, and ran, the iPod category), but I agree that Boomie was impressive. It's fun to watch him play, and especially exciting with his current pattern of rallying in DJ! for the lock.

Back to "Twilight" for a second...in a world full of parodies and bashing of the books/films (pretty much all of which they fully deserve), some inspired, some alright, this is probably the funniest treatise on it I've seen: http://www.verbal-vomit.com/2011/11/tea ... dward.html

[dhkendall]

OK, how many others here think that the "St. Ranier's Day" clue was far undervalued at the $400 spot? Myself, I tend to consider the category a wheelhouse, I most likely would have TDD'd the DD, no matter my lead (and got it, 4/5 in the cat), but "St. Ranier" was a complete stand-and-stare. I understood the TOM after Alex explained it (Ranier = Monaco), but I always thought it was because of Prince Ranier, and not anybody by that name who was canonized. (BTW, I was tempted to answer "Monserrat" in the $800 spot, as St. Patrick's Day is also its national holiday, as Patrick is the patron saint of that Caribbean island as well (as well as of Nigeria, but March 17 isn't a national holiday there), but held off - might have even still been negged, despite being technically correct, the fact that Monserrat isn't technically a nation (but rather a British dependency) might have bit me).

And way to go Boomie again! You made a good demonstration of how not only knowledge but buzzer speed is a factor in a lock game. And, again, thanks for making the game entertaining.

[Woof]

OK, how many others here think that the "St. Ranier's Day" clue was far undervalued at the $400 spot?

Not me. It was an instaget and I was shocked that it proved to be a TS. BTW, it's spelled Rainier.

[harrumph]

The Make A Wish segment was a nice touch.

[seaborgium]

I'm going to go ahead and claim that I was thrown off by the St. Rainier clue simply because it was revealed last in the category. I just couldn't bring myself to believe that it was as simple as naming the country that had Prince Rainier as I might have done as a kneejerk had I seen it first. (I was surprised to see Mexico go ungrabbed; guess el dieciséis de septiembre isn't as commonly known as I would have thought.)

Jacob was my first instinct on FJ, based more on reading that news when it was fresh than on any familiarity with the Twilight series. I did have some doubts leading me toward Jonathan, but I stuck with the correct response.

[StevenH]

I also didn't know Rainier. I wouldn't say it was a "hard" clue, it was just difficult to make the leap to it in that context. If I had heard the name "Prince Rainier" then Monaco would have been Pavlov, but I had never heard the term "Saint Rainier," and it just seemed like such a generic name by itself that I didn't get a guess out of it. I don't that think it should reflect badly on Boomie or his opponents; even the best players will leave the occasional clue on the board that will leave an average player who is watching from home shaking their head.

[alietr]

I felt like the placement of the Rainier clue gave you a hint as to the answer. In the 400 box, you have to ignore the possibility of neg bait and go with the Pavlovian "Monaco" (plus it's not like you lose a lot if you get it wrong). If it was in the bottom row, it would have been a S'n'S for me. As was, I shrugged and said "Monaco".

Also, bevy was some nice Lach Trash.