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Thursday, November 3, 2011 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:57 am
by Archivists
Game Recap for Show #6239, 2011-11-03

2011 Tournament of Champions quarterfinal game 2.

CONTESTANTS
Kara Spak, a newspaper reporter from Chicago, Illinois
Brian Meacham, a film preservationist originally from Anchorage, Alaska
Roger Craig, a computer scientist from Newark, Delaware

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny, and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to quarterfinal match number two in this year's Tournament of Champions. Good to see you again, Roger, Brian, and Kara. We got off to a great start yesterday. Let's find out what happens today, shall we? Here we go. The Jeopardy! Round contains these categories for you today...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
I HAVE A PREPOSITION FOR YOU (4/5)
2011 MOVIES (5/5)
GOING TO PIECES (5/5)
GROUP COUNTDOWN (4/5)
THE LAST BATTLE (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double) (Alex: You identify the war in which it occurred.)
THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Roger: 12 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W
Brian: 8 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 1 W
Kara: 8 R, 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 2
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $1,800



JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Brian found the Daily Double on the 12th clue. Roger had $3,800, Brian had $1,000, and Kara was at $1,800. Brian made it a True Daily Double, wagering $1,000.

THE LAST BATTLE $800: The Battle of Chapultepec

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Roger: $4,800
Brian: $2,200
Kara: $2,200

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: Kara Spak from Chicago, Illinois, said that she--if she won, would wind up putting a picture of me on your refrigerator. Did that happen?

Kara: It did happen, Alex. I had a laminated picture of you from a parade in Pittsburgh in the late 1980s. I pulled it out, and, uh, actually, I bought a new refrigerator with the money. And you're...

[Laughter]

Kara: You're now there surrounded by my, uh, four adorable nieces and nephews.

Alex: All right. Am I magnetized? Is that what's keeping me up there?

Kara: You are magnetized. At one point, you were, uh, held up by a sticker for a ham company... which I took off. [Laughs]

[Laughter]




Alex: Brian Meacham, film preservationist from Anchorage, Alaska, who watched one of his games in a theater, on the big screen?

Brian: Yes. I work at a film archive, and we have a theater in the first floor, it seats about 300, and we had about maybe 30 of my, uh, close friends and colleagues there. It's very intimidating to see yourself in high-def, on a 20-foot-tall screen.

Alex: Yeah, mind-blowing. Terrific.

Brian: Yes, it's not good.

Alex: All right.




Alex: Roger Craig from Newark, Delaware. Um, we have learned thanks to you that Stephen Colbert watches Jeopardy! on occasion, because you went to a taping of his show, and what happened?

Roger: Yes, so I was at the taping, I'm in the first row, and he started--he asked me about the show and started asking me Jeopardy! questions off the top of his head.

Alex: Uh-huh. Is he a good host when it comes to dealing Jeopardy! material?

Roger: Uh, the first--

Alex: He's a lot younger than I am, that's why I'm asking.

Roger: The first--the first question was good, but the next two, I think he made those up.

Alex: Okay.

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
I HAVE A PREPOSITION FOR YOU $800: Neil Gaiman wrote, "Now slip, now slide, now move unseen, above, beneath, betwixt," this
(Brian: What is among?)

GROUP COUNTDOWN $1000: It can mean "one" or a military entity like the army's Third Armored Division

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Roger: $7,600
Kara: $4,000
Brian: $3,200

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:58 am
by Archivists
DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
CARBON CREDITS (5/5)
THEIR 4th TOP 40 HIT OF THE '60s (5/5)
19th CENTURY PRESIDENTS (5/5)
IT CAME FROM THE NEW WORLD (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
TRANSLATION EXERCISES (5/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Roger: 24 R (including 1 rebound and 2 DDs), 2 W
Brian: 4 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W
Kara: 2 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 0
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $0



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Roger snagged the next Daily Double on the 10th clue. Roger had $10,000, Brian had $4,400, and Kara was at $7,200. Roger wagered $6,000.

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? $1200: This 1928 title character begins as a man & ends, almost 400 years later, as a young woman (but not in Florida)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Roger who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 19th clue. Roger had $23,600, Brian had $8,000, and Kara was at $7,200. Roger wagered $5,000.

IT CAME FROM THE NEW WORLD $2000: Also known as butter beans, they were, prior to being exported to Europe, a diet staple of the Inca

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Roger: $39,800 (lock game)
Brian: $8,800
Kara: $6,000

PREFINAL REMARKS
[Before the break]
Alex: Looks like we know who the semifinalist coming out of this game is going to be. But remember, wildcard spots--high scorers, four of them available. Final Jeopardy! category coming up for you...

...

[After the break]
Alex: Welcome back. One of the things we have discovered over the years in our Tournament of Champions is that the games usually play much faster.
That's because the players are much brighter and they don't miss too many of our clues. And it helps in a game if you have somebody like a Roger Craig, who basically put this game away early on in the Double Jeopardy! Round. But now we come to the Final--COUNTRIES' HIGHEST PEAKS, and this clue for the three of you...

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
COUNTRIES' HIGHEST PEAKS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Lock for first place; two-thirds for second place.
Roger: Wager between $0 (venusian) and $22,199 (martian), and enjoy your victory.
Brian: Wager $3,201 to cover Kara.
Kara: Risk between $0 and $400, and you just may move up into second place.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
These 2 nations, one an island, have highest peaks with the same name; they also share a common European culture

FINAL SCORES
Kara: $6,000 + $12 = $6,012 (What are Greece and Cyprus?) (2nd place: $5,000 if eliminated)
Brian: $8,800 - $8,800 = $0 (What are ___ & ___?) (3rd place: $5,000 if eliminated)
Roger: $39,800 - $20,200 = $19,600 (What are Australia and Poland?) (Automatic semifinalist)
(Alex: The mount is called Olympus.)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $1,800

GAME DYNAMICS
Image

CORYAT SCORES
Roger: $32,000, 36 R (including 2 DDs), 3 W
Brian: $8,600, 12 R (including 1 DD), 1 W
Kara: $6,000, 10 R, 3 W
Combined Coryat: $46,600

BATTING AVERAGES
Roger: 36/60 = .600
Brian: 12/59 = .203
Kara: 11/58 = .190
Team: 59/63 = .937

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE $400: (Sarah of the Clue Crew presents from the Nobel Peace Prize Center in Oslo, Norway.) Henry Dunant, who founded this international organization that works to relieve suffering, won a share of the first Peace Prize in 1901; since then, the organization itself has won an unprecedented three prizes

GROUP COUNTDOWN $200: In this sporting quintet, the center is considered No. 5 when diagramming plays
(Roger: What is... a point guard?)

GROUP COUNTDOWN $600: If Andy yearns for Brenda & Brenda cares about Charlene who pines for Andy, the 3 of them form one of these
(Kara: What is a threesome?)
[Laughter]
...
(Alex: Kara has obviously had much more experience than I.)

GOING TO PIECES $600: The U.S. hasn't minted these, between a penny & a nickel, since 1872
(Kara: What is a coin?)
(Alex: No. Be more specific.)

THEIR 4th TOP 40 HIT OF THE '60s $2000: 1963:
"You've Really Got A Hold On Me"
(Roger: Who are The Kinks?)

THEIR 4th TOP 40 HIT OF THE '60s $1200: 1963:
"Walk Like A Man"
(Alex: [After reading the year in the clue] And I won't do the falsetto.)

19th CENTURY PRESIDENTS $800: This U.S. president was named for his great-grandfather, a signer of the Declaration of Independence

19th CENTURY PRESIDENTS $1600: Pre-Civil War president considered by some to have been the handsomest

19th CENTURY PRESIDENTS $2000: On Nov. 2, 1880 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Ohio, a senator-elect & president-elect
[No applause for Roger's run of the category]
(Alex: You know your presidents. You did well in the category.)

TRANSLATION EXERCISES $800: Turkish to Spanish:
Relatively speaking, "anne" & "baba"
(Roger: ¿Que es padre? What is padre?)
(Kara: What are mother and father?)

TRANSLATION EXERCISES $2000: Swahili to German:
The magic word "tafadhali"
(Alex: [*], for "please", yes.)

CARBON CREDITS $400: This gas, CO, prevents hemoglobin from supplying oxygen to the body
(Kara: What is carbon?)
(Alex: No.)
(Kara: Dioxide?)

CORRECT RESPONSES
the Mexican-American War
between
unit
Orlando
lima beans
Greece & Cyprus
the Red Cross
a basketball team
a love triangle
a two-cent coin
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Benjamin Harrison
(Franklin) Pierce
Garfield
madre y padre
bitte
carbon monoxide

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 12:30 pm
by chuck5982
Good luck Roger!

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:35 pm
by seaborgium
Kara has two of the best lines tonight.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:14 pm
by KenJenningsFan74
Wow. That was one of the finest performances I've ever seen in Tournament of Champions play. I had a feeling ahead of time that this matchup worked in Roger Craig's favor, but I didn't expect to see this level of total domination. It was exactly like what Roger Craig did time and again during his original run, but against a five-day and a four-day champion. If he continues to play like this, I can't imagine him being beaten; if he wins the tournament and keeps going at this torrid pace, then I'd have to consider him at the very least to be the greatest player since David Madden in 2005.

I figured that Jay Rhee's score of $16,401 would probably be enough to earn a wildcard berth, and now it seems to be a fairly sure bet that we'll see him in the second round. I believe that the other three wildcard qualifiers have yet to play, but Kara Spak has a chance.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:14 pm
by goforthetie
Poor Brian. First he gets to play against a juggernaut, and then he gets bushwhacked* by an insane FJ, which was both convoluted and almost impossible to tease out. Congrats to Kara for getting it, but it probably won't do her much good.

I took 5 seconds to re-read the clue, then tried thinking about other mountains named McKinley, Denali, Logan or Cook in other ex-British colonies before WAGging with Iceland and Norway. I can see a little bit of what the writers were going for (common culture -> mountain name should be strongly tied to the cultural heritage -> maybe they think of Greece/Olympus, and hence Cyprus) but those are some tenuous inferences. After seeing the right answer, I realized that I have actually seen that Cyprus has a peak named Olympus during my obsessive map scouring, but I never would have remembered it on its own.

*: Incidentally, one should never bet it all in FJ during quarterfinals. We've been over this before but it's a new board so someone has to write down that bit of wisdom anew. :)

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:52 pm
by seaborgium
goforthetie wrote:an insane FJ, which was both convoluted and almost impossible to tease out.
I wouldn't say that. If you've got island and mainland countries with a common European heritage, the mainland one is almost certainly going to be a country in Europe. The island is a little tougher to tease out, but an island with a European heritage is either going to be a former colony or one near continental Europe. Luckily I got to the Mediterranean with time to spare, and recognized that a large portion of Cyprus is Greek. I didn't have enough time to determine what the peak would be, but that wasn't the question.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:07 pm
by goforthetie
seaborgium wrote:
goforthetie wrote:an insane FJ, which was both convoluted and almost impossible to tease out.
I wouldn't say that. If you've got island and mainland countries with a common European heritage, the mainland one is almost certainly going to be a country in Europe. The island is a little tougher to tease out, but an island with a European heritage is either going to be a former colony or one near continental Europe. Luckily I got to the Mediterranean with time to spare, and recognized that a large portion of Cyprus is Greek. I didn't have enough time to determine what the peak would be, but that wasn't the question.
OK, so my "almost impossible" is clearly an exaggeration, but so is your "almost certainly". USA, Canada, Australia are all non-island countries with a European heritage. So are all the Latin American countries to one extent or another. Depending on how you take the phrase, almost any former colony can qualify. Also, the phrasing "European heritage" initially suggested to me that I should be looking outside of Europe. I suppose they said it rather than "in Europe" since Cyprus by many definitions is in Asia, but it still could have been much cleaner, e.g.:

These two countries' highest peaks share the same name; one is on the European mainland and the other is an island sharing a common heritage with the first.

But even that formulation doesn't immediately point to Greece/Cyprus unless you somehow suspect that Greeks might name all their tall mountains Olympus. My answer of Iceland/Norway, for instance, fits just as well, and even something like France/Madagascar might fit depending on how one understands "common heritage". Lousy FJ under any circumstances, and even more so given its placement in a QF.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:31 pm
by xxaaaxx
FJ: Not. Even. Close. Not even within 1000 miles. But it'll top 75% at the end of the week, so, :shrug:.

I'll have to look up some of the clues in the archive later, since I laughed through a couple of them. Instant J! classic :)

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:32 pm
by Roadgeek Adam
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS DAY 2
===============================
Roger Craig / Brian Meacham / Kara Spak
====================================

Ummm....Kara, yeah, you made this a lively show. Of course Brian and Kara kept Roger working in the Jeopardy Round, not so much in the Double Jeopardy. $39,800 going into final. It seems like every time Roger gets bugged to TDD these clues, he says no and ends up getting it right. I wonder why Alex keeps nagging. ;) Brian and Kara both below $10,000 going into Final, shows the powerhouse Roger is. Final however, was ugly. Congrats to Kara for wagering $12, which doesn't help that much. Surprised me that Roger went with the ballsy $20,200 wager.

I don't know if any responses today quite matchup with "What is...threesome?" then the reaction by Kara and the audience, followed by Alex. I have to believe that will be the win line for the tournament, if nothing else. Well, it sucks to see Brian lose, since he was one of my picks, but well, he gave Roger a run for his money, in 1 round. Horrible draw chance, but what can you do? Congrats to Roger on being the predictable Semi-finalist, wish he had gotten Final, would've looked great on paper for quarterfinal domination. Kara needs a Dave Belote-esque miracle to make the semis.

As for myself, I got final. That was not easy, but geography is my strong point of course.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:39 pm
by econgator
Roadgeek Adam wrote:I don't know if any responses today quite matchup with "What is...threesome?" then the reaction by Kara and the audience, followed by Alex. I have to believe that will be the win line for the tournament, if nothing else.
And it was right after Roger's category call of, "Group, six". ;)

Speaking of Roger ... why did you bet so much on the second DD in the FJ round? I was figuring a tiny bet, as you pretty much had the game locked up.

Not a prayer on FJ. I was trying to think of something Portugese. Brazil and Sao Tome and Principe or some such. Ah well.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 7:57 pm
by legendneverdies
Roger had to set some records for TofC(and two week tournaments in general) for the tournaments with the current dollar values in play, at least going into FJ!. I think most of kind of figured a runaway on this one. Kara should gave wagered evertyhing to give her a better chance at a wild card, as she was the only one to get FJ! right, Brian did wager it all but was wrong. Pretty sure Roger is the only SFer coming from this game. A correct response would have given Roger $60K, which would have been the highest in non regulation play outside of Andy Richter with $68K in his celeb game two years ago, no?

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:00 pm
by seaborgium
Roadgeek Adam wrote:Surprised me that Roger went with the ballsy $20,200 wager.
Unless you're concerned about which podium you get in the SFs, you have nothing to lose in a lock QF, so I don't see how it's ballsy. I must say, however, that after my grousing in recent times about players not attaining the highest ten-thousands digit available to them, I appreciated Roger's attempt to break 60k when the downside was meaningless.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:03 pm
by legendneverdies
Roadgeek Adam wrote:
Congrats to Kara for wagering $12, which doesn't help that much. Surprised me that Roger went with the ballsy $20,200 wager.

Brian wagered everything, but Kara didn't. Hopefully Kara not wagering everything doesn't keep her out of the semis. $6012 probably won't hold up, but maybe $12K would have. Of course the wager isn't ballsy when you're playing for a semi-final spot which was still guaranteed no matter what. Only difference being is if he plays in a game with someone who won more than $19600 in their QF game, he doesn't get to select first. Alex once mentioned circa 1992 why they bother playing FJ! during a tourney SF game when it's a lock game, and he cited that the player with the highest score in their SF game picks first in both games of the finals.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:04 pm
by Suze
Never even came close on FJ. I thought that it was maybe a European country and one of its former colonies, but I was thinking of islands much further away from Europe. I honestly didn't know that Cyprus has a Mt. Olympus. Very tough clue, good on Kara for nailing it.

Kara was epic. I really hope she gets a Wild Card. Roger was what we expected, but that doesn't make his showing any less impressive.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:07 pm
by saintanthony
Excellent job Roger! Regardless of the next round's outcome, you surely deserve your spot at the top of the pyramid!

Side note: I totally fell for this Kinks trap too!

Can I propose an addition to the J! lexicon: the $60,000 curse? No regular contestant who has aimed for the $60,000s in one game has been unable to reach it. see: Roger and seaborgium and some other contestant I'm forgetting?

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:09 pm
by StevenH
Congrats to Roger on the win! Amazing performance!

I thought that this board was easier than last night's but it did have quite a few clues that I needed a few extra seconds to answer.

Roger seemed to have his buzzer groove back. I hope that he can keep it up.

Kara and Brian actually played very well, I thought. Brian had his fair share of good gets. I didn't agree with Mark Barrett putting Kara in the silver group but it may not have been a bad call. I knew that Kara would do well in the music category. In almost any other ToC field I really think that Kara and Brian would have been contenders.

I made the same mistake that Roger did with The Kinks. I realized that the year was too early for them right after I blurted them out.

I had no chance at FJ. For some reason I interpreted the clue to mean that one country was in Europe and one wasn't. I guessed Haiti and France, even though I didn't think that Haiti could fit the "island"part. I know what Roger was thinking with Australia and Poland and it is impressive that he made that connection but there was no way that those two could fit every part of the clue. Mad props to Kara for coming up with the correct response, but she made a bad wager. She needed to bet large.

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:12 pm
by jeff6286
Countries' Highest Peaks
These 2 nations, one an island, have highest peaks with the same name; they also share a common European culture.
Spoiler
What are Greece and Cyprus? Brian had no guess, and Roger said Poland and Australia.
Roger Craig: $39,800-$20,200=$19,600
Brian Meachem: $8,800-$8,800=$0
Kara Spak: $6,000+$12=$6,012

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:16 pm
by Mark B
Sensational! Overpowering. Really outstanding. Basically -- Amazing! Now…

Re: Thursday, November 3, 2011 TOC Game Recap & Disc(SPOILER

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:23 pm
by seaborgium
saintanthony wrote:Excellent job Roger! Regardless of the next round's outcome, you surely deserve your spot at the top of the pyramid!

Side note: I totally fell for this Kinks trap too!

Can I propose an addition to the J! lexicon: the $60,000 curse? No regular contestant who has aimed for the $60,000s in one game has been unable to reach it. see: soroban and seaborgium and some other contestant I'm forgetting?
I never was fortunate enough to have $60k within my reach. Mine is a $30k and $40k curse. Ken Jennings also tried and failed at least once for the exact total.

Edit: He did it four times:
http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=44
http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=25
http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=23
http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=2721