Thursday, April 5, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #6349, 2012-04-05

CONTESTANTS
John Sellers, a writer from Brooklyn, New York
Emily Garber, a civil liberties lawyer from Portland, Oregon
Joey Falco, a writer from Santa Monica, California (whose 2-day cash winnings total $23,999)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thanks, Johnny. All right, folks. Let me see if I've got this right--two writers, Joey and John, and a civil liberties champion in Emily. I think I've got it right. Welcome aboard. Good luck to you. Pick up your signaling devices because here come the dollar figures, and they will be followed by these categories...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
A SHOWER OF APRIL (3/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
THE "IV" LEAGUE (4/5)
TIME ZONE CITIES (5/5)
BUY GUM! (3/5)
TV DRAMAS (5/5)
WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS... (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Joey: 10 R (including 1 DD), 0 W
John: 10 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Emily: 5 R, 2 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 5
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $3,400



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
John: $4,200
Joey: $3,000
Emily: -$400

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: John Sellers is not the first writer we have had as a contestant on Jeopardy! But he's the first contestant we've had on this program whose father was a herpetologist, which means he dealt with snakes.

John: This is correct.

Alex: I hate snakes.

John: [Laughs] Like Indiana Jones.

Alex: Yeah. Did it complicate your life as a child?

John: Only when I tried to go into the icebox for a fudgsicle. [Laughter]

Alex: Whoa. Your dad would keep frozen, dead snakes in there?

John: That is correct. [Laughs]




Alex: Emily Garber, civil liberties lawyer from Portland, Oregon. There are a number of products out there that have so many different forms that they get all these wild names. Hair salons--they have wonderful names. You write a blog about another product that has tons of names.

Emily: I do. I write a blog about the world's worst nail polish names.

Alex: Give me some examples.

Emily: Skinny Dip'n in Lake Michg'n, Pearl Harbor, Iris I Was Thinner, Miso Happy With This Color.

[Laughter]

Alex: Okay. Boy, just think how much fun if you started blogging about ice cream flavors, too.

Emily: I'll think about it.




Alex: Joey Falco is our champion. What's this about, your grandma tried to trick you into proposing?

Joey: She did. Well, she's--she's from Italy, so she--she's very conservative. And I have to take her to the bank 'cause she can't drive, so I-I brought her to the bank to get some cash, but then she sort of pulled me back into the safety deposit box area and opened hers up and showed me the polished diamond engagement ring that my grandmother had--my grandfather had given her--

Alex: Mm-hmm.

Joey: --back in the--in the '40s, and basically handed it to me and said, "Go give this to Leigh", my girlfriend.

Alex: And did you?

Joey: Not yet.

[Laughter]

Alex: [Laughs] This has been a bad week for contestants, hasn't it? No matter which way you slice it.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Joey found the Daily Double on the 29th clue. Joey had $3,800, Emily had $3,200, and John was at $5,600. Joey wagered $1,000.

A SHOWER OF APRIL $800: It speaks volumes that the U.S. government established this institution on April 24, 1800

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
THE "IV" LEAGUE $600: Term for a horse, based on its diet

BUY GUM! $400: The "original" flavor of this sugarless gum was introduced nationally in 1964; it was the only flavor
(John: What is Carefree?)

BUY GUM! $1000: This gum with a rhyming name was originally sold for a penny a piece & had a comic strip inside the wrapper

A SHOWER OF APRIL $400: My dog tells me that this advocacy organization was founded in New York City on April 10, 1866
(Emily: What is the Humane Society... of the United States?)

A SHOWER OF APRIL $1000: On April 12, 1862 union spy James Andrews led a group of men in seizing this locomotive in Georgia
(Alex: Also the title of a Buster Keaton film, I believe, [*])

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
John: $5,600
Joey: $4,800
Emily: $3,200

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
MURDER, SHE WROTE (2/5)
DREAM-Y SONGS (4/5)
HUMAN BODY BITS (2/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
ADVICE COLUMN SIGNATURES (3/4)
GRAB IT (2/5)
THE BORGIAS (4/5, including 1 correct Daily Double) (Alex: And because Season 2 premieres this Sunday on Showtime, a whole category about...)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Joey: 10 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Emily: 4 R, 0 W
John: 3 R (including 1 DD), 1 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 12
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $17,200



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Joey snagged the next Daily Double on the 23rd clue. Joey had $11,600, Emily had $5,600, and John was at $4,400. Joey wagered $3,000.

HUMAN BODY BITS $1600: This gland secretes digestive enzymes & glucagon

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was John who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 29th clue. Joey had $15,000, Emily had $5,600, and John was at $6,800. John wagered $3,000.

THE BORGIAS $2000: Sibling to Lucrezia & Cesare & equally treacherous, Juan Borgia was murdered in 1497, his body found in this river
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
MURDER, SHE WROTE $1200: "Murder in the White House"--a president's daughter would know
(1980)

DREAM-Y SONGS $1200: "Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years" from this one of the "Desperate Housewives" includes "Dreamin'"

MURDER, SHE WROTE $1600: "Flash and Bones" (featuring Temperance Brennan)
(2011)

MURDER, SHE WROTE $2000: "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
(1955)

GRAB IT $1200: A nighttime procession of Edinburghians carrying these begins the annual Hogmanay Festival
(Joey: What are bagpipes?)
(John: What are candles?)

GRAB IT $1600: When a congressman becomes unruly, the Sergeant at Arms could grab this to restore order

GRAB IT $2000: Made of bamboo, the shinai is the fencing foil of this 2-handed style of Japanese fencing

ADVICE COLUMN SIGNATURES $1200: ...I need a way to control my rage. Signed, this word for "angry" that contains an aromatic substance

HUMAN BODY BITS $800: Sounding like something to tie up meat, it's a powerful group of muscles that helps straighten the hip

HUMAN BODY BITS $1200: A mass of nerve fibers, the pons is part of this, extending between the cerebral hemispheres & the spinal cord

HUMAN BODY BITS $2000: Named for one of Napoleon's field surgeons, the Lisfranc joint can be found in this body part

THE BORGIAS $1200: As Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia fought the invasion of Italy by King Charles VIII of this country; plague helped

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Joey: $15,000
John: $9,800
Emily: $5,600

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
POLITICAL TERMS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Crush for first place.
Joey: Wager $4,601 to cover John.
John: You have the hope of surpassing Joey if you come up with the correct response. Bet at least $5,201 to force Joey to wager to win while also protecting your position from being usurped by Emily.
Emily: Your only hope of a win is that you're the only one to give a correct response, so bet $5,598 or so, leaving a few bucks behind in case someone wagers it all.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
The OED traces these 2 parallel terms to an October 30, 2000 "Today" show discussion of an electoral map

FINAL SCORES
Emily: $5,600 + $5,555 = $11,155 (What are "red state" + "blue state"?) (3rd place: $1,000)
John: $9,800 + $5,201 = $15,001 (What are Red State + Blue State?) (2nd place: $2,000)
Joey: $15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000 (What are red state and blue state?) (3-day champion: $53,999)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $20,600

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Joey: $13,400, 20 R (including 2 DDs), 1 W
John: $8,800, 13 R (including 1 DD), 2 W
Emily: $5,600, 9 R, 2 W
Combined Coryat: $27,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Joey: 21/60 = .350
John: 14/59 = .237
Emily: 10/58 = .172
Team: 45/63 = .714

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS... $400: Before the era of Head & Shoulders, Samuel Goldwyn said, "this makes me so sore it gets my" this "up"
(Emily: What is dander?)
(Alex: No.)
(Emily: [Correcting herself quickly] What is dandruff?)

BUY GUM! $800: The type of keyboard seen here is nicknamed for its resemblance to this gum

THE BORGIAS $400: Built for the family, the Borgia Apartments are an important part of the heritage of this location within Rome

CORRECT RESPONSES
the Library of Congress
herbivore
Trident
Dubble Bubble
the ASPCA
The General
the pancreas
the Tiber
Margaret Truman
Vanessa Williams
Kathy Reichs
Patricia Highsmith
torches
a mace
kendo
Incensed
hamstring
the brain stem
the foot
France
red state & blue state
dandruff
chiclet
Vatican City

[jeff6286]

Political Terms
The OED traces these 2 parallel terms to an October 30, 2000 "Today" Show discussion of an electoral map.

Spoiler

What are red state and blue state?

Joey Falco: $15,000 +$15,000=$30,000...now a 3-day champion with $53,999
John Sellers: $9,800+$5,201=$15,001
Emily Garber: $5,600+$5,555=$11,155

[Bamaman]

That was my reaction to Joey's FJ bet. Yes, the cat6egory seemed pretty simple, but you never know. Wasn't a political terms type FJ a candidate for toughest of the season a couple years ago. He had a crush, make the MSB.

Then we have john's DD bet. He trailed $15,000-$6,800 with third place having $5,600 and one $2,000 clue left on the board. The LTAMTG warning had long since been given. He should have bet $700. If he's right, he has a lock tie if the last clue is unplayed or is a TS. If he's wrong, he is still in second and maybe can break the lock if there is time for the last clue. With his $3,000 bet, he is out of the game no matter what if wrong and still being crushed if he is right.

The only downside to betting $700 is that he could be passed from behind if they get to the last clue, which they did not. not going for the lock tie cost him at least $14,000.

FJ took me a second to wade through the information but got there pretty quickly and easily.

Margaret Truman was a TS given "president's daughter" and "murder mystery"????

[econgator]

Nothing else to say about betting.

I had FJ before Alex was done reading.

[Austin Powers]

I really enjoyed the politician malapropism category - good example of fun stuff that you don't know beforehand but can be elucidated from the clues.

Fans of football may recall that a Lisfranc joint is why the Texans are not Super Bowl champions this year.

Typical board as of late - some good gets, but a lot of TSs, and it feels like an accomplishment that only one clue was left unrevealed.

Pretty self-evident FJ for the second straight day.

I don't get the big bet by the champ, especially since he had been so cautious in his other bets (though his $3000 in the human body category seemed like too much, since he didn't seem to know anything about the subject - I think he backed into the question). He could be a huge politics junkie and slip up on a question about the origin of the term "earmark," for example. Glad it worked out but needlessly risky.

[DWS]

I agree that John should have bet $700 on the last DD to go for the lock tie.

I struggled with FJ, eventually coming up with just "red and blue" (no "state"), which I negged.

[xxaaaxx]

LLFJ Bama said everything that needs to be said about the wagering, so I won't bother. John's reaction to the Tiber DD was the same as mine, since I pretty much guessed a random Italian river.

I try not to harp on this every day, but how the **** did we get through 29 clues of DJ with all those TSes, yet they left damn near half the board the other day? GRRRRR.

2000 + electoral map = instaget, almost before Alex STARTED reading the clue. The whole 'red/blue state' thing always struck me as dumb. Did they forget how they had used those colors in previous elections, or just decide it sounded cool?

ETA:

Fans of football may recall that a Lisfranc joint is why the Texans are not Super Bowl champions this year.

Um...eh, I'll let that one go. Anyway, as a sports fan, that clue seemed overvalued, and I wonder how they would've done with an actual sports category.

[ACW]

I hope Joey's GF doesn't watch

[Snaxx]

I agree with the above r/e John's wager, and he also wagered just short of making it a 2/3 situation.
However, given that Joey went all-in as the leader in a crush situation, I have a feeling he would not have gone along with the zero-to-guarantee-a-return wager. Only Joey would know for sure.

[HugoZ]

The only downside to betting $700 is that he could be passed from behind if they get to the last clue, which they did not.

Another interesting possibility is betting $6200, leaving him $2000 behind with that last clue left (especially if the DD wager and response were quicker). I think we now know what Joey would have bet in FJ with a $15,000 tie.

[Austin Powers]

ETA:

Fans of football may recall that a Lisfranc joint is why the Texans are not Super Bowl champions this year.

Um...eh, I'll let that one go. Anyway, as a sports fan, that clue seemed overvalued, and I wonder how they would've done with an actual sports category.

Nah, when the DD for 1600? in the category is about a gland involved in digestion and something to do with gluco- (ie sugar), Lisfranc is an appropriate 2000.

But, yes, if the Texans have Schaub, at a minimum they're in the Super Bowl.

[ACW]

FJ Insta-get

[Frank Hardy]

With three wins & $53,999, Joey moves into seventh place in the 2011-13 ToC standings.

[jeff6286]

Then we have john's DD bet. He trailed $15,000-$6,800 with third place having $5,600 and one $2,000 clue left on the board. The LTAMTG warning had long since been given. He should have bet $700. If he's right, he has a lock tie if the last clue is unplayed or is a TS. If he's wrong, he is still in second and maybe can break the lock if there is time for the last clue. With his $3,000 bet, he is out of the game no matter what if wrong and still being crushed if he is right.

The only downside to betting $700 is that he could be passed from behind if they get to the last clue, which they did not. not going for the lock tie cost him at least $14,000.

I was practically screaming "$700!!!" at my TV, and he took so long to announce his wager that I thought maybe he was actually going to go for the $700, but no dice. It could have been a very crucial error by Joey to start at the top of the Borgias category when the last DD was likely somewhere near the bottom. If he had picked one of the bottom two boxes and found the DD, he could have made a tiny bet, and it would have been extremely difficult for either other player to gain enough ground to break the lock with the remaining clues. Emily probably gained the most from John's DD bet, as he got close enough to Joey that Emily could have won on a sole get with standard wagering. She did the right thing by betting nearly all of her money to give herself a chance, but as it turned out, she could have actually won on a triple stumper by betting nothing. I would have to say that the leader betting it all in that position is probably a once or twice a year occurrence, so it's not like she could have seen that coming.

It would have been interesting if John had bet just $200 more, giving him exactly 2/3rds of Joey's score. I don't remember the last time we've seen a game like that. The leader's decision in that case seems pretty obvious to me, bet $5,000 and allow for the possibility of a tie game but make sure that you don't lose by a dollar. For 2nd place, I assume you would have to bet either all or nothing, I guess depending on how you feel about the category. Do any of our resident Jeopardy! historians have any idea of what wagers have been the most common in past 2/3rds games?

While many have complained about the writing of recent shows, the one thing that I haven't seen addressed is that is seems like the difference in difficulty from the J! round to DJ! is much steeper in recent games than the norm. I found today's J! round incredibly easy, with many of the clues bordering on ridiculously simple, while DJ! was once again full of stand-and-stares. I think one of the reasons they managed to get through 29 clues in DJ! was that the first round went by incredibly quickly.

Margaret Truman was a TS given "president's daughter" and "murder mystery"????

Was there another clue referencing Margaret Truman on a recent show? I can't find it in the Archive, but I swear I just heard her mentioned in the last week or two, and I don't recall watching any trivia-based show other than Jeopardy!, so I don't know where else I could have heard it.

[thenextofken]

Did anyone else have "SPCA" for "ASPCA?" I negged myself, but wonder if they would've accepted it. Judges?

[marpocky]

Instaget of all instagets.

I might bet it all in the lead with the perfect category (anything about math, or certain geography things), but still probably not.

[CrunchyTaco]

I was partially distracted while the clue was being read, but how are we supposed to get "torches" from that clue in Grab It. Like one of the other contestants I guessed bagpipes.

[Austin Powers]

I was partially distracted while the clue was being read, but how are we supposed to get "torches" from that clue in Grab It. Like one of the other contestants I guessed bagpipes.

Yep. Not sure why they could not have mentioned the torches, and asked for Hogmanay.

[barandall800]

Margaret Truman was a TS given "president's daughter" and "murder mystery"????

I think it was yet another case of the players being momentarily confused by the category. I know I was. (The year being 1980, for some reason I thought for a second the category might have been about "Murder, She Wrote" episodes, of all things. )

Was I the only one who got a hearty guffaw out of Alex's reading of "Teenage Dream"?

Yikes at the wagering. If that all-in hadn't worked out, might we have been talking about Joey in the same breath as this player?

Pretty darn gettable FJ!.