Monday, December 12, 2016 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Archivists]

Game Recap for Show #7421, 2016-12-12

Tim Aten game 7.

CONTESTANTS
Bridget McNulty, an analytical chemist from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Amy Young, a public health graduate student from Corvallis, Oregon
Tim Aten, an editor from Vermilion, Ohio (whose 6-day cash winnings total $101,899)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny. Thank you, and hello, my friends. Another week of Jeopardy! begins, another week of opportunities for our players to earn a lot of money--perhaps life-changing amounts of money. $101,000, I think, qualifies in that regard. What's going to happen today, though? Amy and Bridget, welcome. Good luck, players. Let's go to work. Here are your categories for the first round today...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
THE POPES (4/4)
ISLAND NATIONS (2/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
PLAN AN ANAGRAM (5/5)
BASKETBALL (4/5)
CIRCLE TIME (3/5)
BEN & JERRY'S FLAVOR GRAVEYARD (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Tim: 7 R (including 2 rebounds), 1 W
Amy: 12 R (including 1 rebound), 6 W (including 1 DD)
Bridget: 3 R (including 1 rebound), 2 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 6
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $4,800



SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Bridget: $1,600
Tim: $800
Amy: -$400

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS



Alex: I think we're gonna talk sports, uh, with our contestants today. Bridget McNulty is from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. You are a commissioner of football?

Bridget: I'm a fantasy football commissioner. I've run a league with my friends for about 10 years. Um, it's a pretty good coed league. One year, we actually had six women and only two guys. And, um, this year, we're a little more balanced. We actually just had our draft a few days ago.

Alex: Yeah, okay, thank you.




Alex: Amy Young is from Corvallis, Oregon. A big Mets fan, even though you live in Oregon. How did you get to be a Mets fan?

Amy: Well, I grew up in the suburbs of New York in a family filled with dyed-in-the-wool Mets fans, and they have raised me to follow in their footsteps, so when I moved to Oregon two years ago, I did not let my fandom stay in New York. So that's why I think I'm the biggest fan in Oregon.

Alex: Okay. Good for you.




Alex: Tim Aten from Vermilion, Ohio. He is our champion, and he's a well-traveled young man--has driven across the United States how many times now?

Tim: Four times.

Alex: Why?

Tim: Uh, mostly by myself. Um, for moving. When I moved from Ohio to California in 2005, I just drove. And then three months later, when I found out I was allowed to telecommute for that job, I drove back.

Alex: Oh.

Tim: And then same basic trip in 2009.

Alex: All righty.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Amy found the Daily Double on the 23rd clue. Tim had $1,200, Amy had $600, and Bridget was at $1,600. Amy wagered $800.

ISLAND NATIONS $600: Just like Greece, the Greek section of this Asian island nation in the Mediterranean has a Mount Olympus
(Amy: What are the Philippines?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BEN & JERRY'S FLAVOR GRAVEYARD $800: In 1987 the stock market plunged & Ben & Jerry put almond, pecans & walnuts into "Economic" this

CIRCLE TIME $800: Parallel to the equator, it runs along 66 degrees, 30 minutes south latitude
(Tim: What is the Tropic of Capricorn?)
(Amy: What is the Tropic of Cancer?)

CIRCLE TIME $1000: This song is sung at the end of the annual Country Music Hall of Fame ceremonies... "By and by, Lord, by and by"

ISLAND NATIONS $200: The Ivory Coast is officially Cote d'Ivoire & as of 2013, this island country not far off is Cabo Verde

BASKETBALL $1000: Karl Malone was one of the most dominant at this 2-word position
(Amy: What is point guard?)

ISLAND NATIONS $1000: On the flag of this Caribbean nation, diamonds make a "V" to represent its largest island

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Tim: $3,000
Bridget: $1,600
Amy: $800

[Archivists]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
A CELEBRITY CHRISTMAS (5/5)
INVASIONS (4/4)
TOUGH CHILDREN'S LIT (2/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
LANDMARKS (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
THE LAW (4/5)
SILENT "H" (4/5) (Alex: And each correct response in this category will contain a...)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Amy: 14 R (including 1 rebound and 1 DD), 3 W (including 1 DD)
Bridget: 5 R, 0 W
Tim: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 4
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $6,800



FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Amy snagged the next Daily Double on the 8th clue. Tim had $3,000, Amy had $3,200, and Bridget was at $6,400. Amy wagered $3,000.

TOUGH CHILDREN'S LIT $1200: In an 1883 book the talking insect tells him, "Woe to boys who refuse to obey their parents and run away from home"
(Amy: Who is Peter Pumpkin Eater?)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Amy who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 20th clue. Tim had $5,800, Amy had $4,200, and Bridget was at $6,400. Amy wagered $3,000.

LANDMARKS $1200: A place of prayer for Jewish people, it's all that remains of the Second Temple of Jerusalem

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
TOUGH CHILDREN'S LIT $1600: This "Alice in Wonderland" reptile studied such subjects as "reeling and writhing" & "seaography"

TOUGH CHILDREN'S LIT $2000: An Albee couple, or the 2 lovable hippos in James Marshall stories like "The Tooth" & "The Tub"

SILENT "H" $1200: Seen here, the cattleya is a popular variety of this
(Amy: What is a Rhododendron?)

THE LAW $2000: 6-letter type of "law" or "clause" providing that a legal entity ceases to exist by a certain date unless renewed
(Alex: We have four clues left with less than a minute to do it in.)

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Amy: $9,200
Bridget: $8,800
Tim: $7,800

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
SCIENTISTS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Four-fifths for first place.
Amy: Wager $8,401 to cover Bridget.
Bridget: You're faced with a legitimate choice in strategy. You can either choose to cover Tim, hoping that you give the correct response and Amy doesn't, in which case you'll want to wager $6,801 to cover Tim's doubled score, but no more than $8,000 if you want to top Amy on a Triple Stumper; or bet up to $999 and win if both Amy and Tim miss Final.
Tim: You ought to try wagering between $1,001 and $5,800. This will top a $0 wager by Bridget while still beating Amy and Bridget on the Triple Stumper (should Amy wager to cover Bridget's doubled score and Bridget wager to cover your doubled score).

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In a 1694 Royal Society lecture, he suggested an astronomical cause for the biblical flood in Genesis

FINAL SCORES
Tim: $7,800 - $2,200 = $5,600 (Who was Newton?) (101900-day champion: $5,600)
Bridget: $8,800 - $4,400 = $4,400 (Who is Galileo?) (2nd place)
Amy: $9,200 - $5,500 = $3,700 (Who Newton) (3rd place)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $11,600

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Amy: $11,200, 26 R (including 1 DD), 9 W (including 2 DDs)
Bridget: $8,800, 8 R, 2 W
Tim: $7,800, 12 R, 2 W
Combined Coryat: $27,800

BATTING AVERAGES
Amy: 26/61 = .426
Tim: 12/58 = .207
Bridget: 8/58 = .138
Team: 46/63 = .730

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
BEN & JERRY'S FLAVOR GRAVEYARD $200: In the '80s you could enjoy this state's "Mud", flavored with Jack Daniel's
(Amy: What is Mississippi?
(Bridget: What is Kentucky?)

BEN & JERRY'S FLAVOR GRAVEYARD $1000: This Woodstock-era personality outlived the rhyming flavor named for him
(Amy: Who is Jerry Garcia?)

CIRCLE TIME $200: If you saw the movie "Signs", you know the formation seen here is one of these geometric feats

PLAN AN ANAGRAM $1000: Elected deliberative bodies:
SURE IT'S LEGAL
(Amy: What is a legislature?)

CIRCLE TIME $400: All official distances from NYC are measured from this point at the intersection of 59th Street, Eighth Avenue & Broadway
(Bridget: What is Times Square?)

BASKETBALL $800: 2015-'16 was the 19th & final season for this NBA great from the U.S. Virgin Islands

ISLAND NATIONS $800: The majority of the citizens of Antananarivo, this nation's capital, are of Indonesian ancestry
(Alex: You are right, with less than a minute to go now.)

THE POPES $800: He was the first pope to choose a double name but, sadly, only had 34 days on the job
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

TOUGH CHILDREN'S LIT $400: This elderly character is seen here doing what she does in a nursery rhyme

LANDMARKS $800: A statue in Cork honors an Irish teenager who was the first immigrant processed through this landmark on January 1, 1892

THE LAW $1600: The onus is on you--onus probandi literally means this
(Amy: What is the burden of truth?)

INVASIONS $1600: Liberalization under Alexander Dubcek led the USSR to invade this then-country & restore hardline communism in 1968
(Tim: What is Yugoslavia?)

INVASIONS $800: (Sarah of the Clue Crew reports from USS Intrepid in New York.) In April 1945, USS Intrepid supported the last major land campaign of the Pacific war, the invasion of this largest of the Ryukyu Islands, just 350 miles from the Japanese mainland
[The end-of-round signal sounds.]

CORRECT RESPONSES
Cyprus
Crunch
the Antarctic Circle
"Will The Circle Be Unbroken?"
Cape Verde
power forward
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Pinocchio
the Western Wall
the Mock Turtle
George & Martha
an orchid
a sunset law
Edmond Halley
Tennessee
Wavy Gravy
a crop circle
legislatures
Columbus Circle
Tim Duncan
Madagascar
John Paul
Mother Hubbard
Ellis Island
burden of proof
Czechoslovakia
Okinawa

[theFJguy]

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
SCIENTISTS

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
In a 1694 Royal Society lecture, he suggested an astronomical cause for the Biblical flood in Genesis

Tim Aten: 7800-2200=5600 (7x = $107,499)
Amy Young: 9200-5500=3700
Bridget McNulty: 8800-4400=4400

Correct response:

Spoiler

Edmond Halley (Tim – Newton) (Amy – Newton) (Bridget – Galileo)

Daily Doubles
Amy: 600-800
Amy: 3200-3000
Amy: 4200+3000

Coryats
Tim: 7800
Amy: 11200
Bridget: 8800

Combined: 27,800

[TenPoundHammer]

Felt like there were a lot of negbait/misleading clues today.

Ben & Jerry's for $200 was negbait for Mississippi, since "Mississippi Mud" is an existing term.

Also bit hard on the even negbaitier Jerry/Cherry Garcia. Because what else could "blah blah Woodstock blah blah Ben & Jerry's rhyming flavor" be?!

NHO Columbus Circle.

Anagram for $1,000 was an easy trap for Legislature. You have to pay super duper ultra hyper mega attention to see that there are two S's. Cool trap bro.

"Well, if it's not the tropics of Capricorn of Cancer, then what the hell else can it be?!"

Embarrassingly, I didn't get the "by and by" clue. I couldn't remember what word filled in the blank for "____ the Circle Be Unbroken", trying to 1-in-3 can/let/may.

NHO Cape Verde, so I can understand the stand and stare there. Even with "Verde" in the clue, that struck me as undervalued. Most of the other hits for that are way further down the board, and were still TSes even then.

Also NHO "full court press".

WLT Queen Elizabeth at $400?

Lach Trash: Pinocchio.

No guess on FJ! I was still at a loss after both Galileo and Newton were ruled out, wondering who else it could even possibly be.

[econgator]

Also bit hard on the even negbaitier Jerry/Cherry Garcia. Because what else could "blah blah Woodstock blah blah Ben & Jerry's rhyming flavor" be?!

I didn't bite, because know he didn't outlast it, but I've never heard of Wavy Gravy (the person or the flavor).

Started off with Newton, but didn't like him; about 15 seconds in, Halley came to me.

[xxaaaxx]

Yeah, no. This is absurd. We've moved beyond mere 'luck'. I'm convinced human sacrifices were involved, or at least a couple of goats. How many times now would he have been a dead duck if any of those pathetically easy FJs from earlier in the season had shown up? Also, I have no idea what the !#$% those wagers were.

Instag wait no, not Newton...astronomy, astronomy...FJ solved at the 27.5 second mark.



Contestant: "Who is Pope Benedict?"

Me: MAKE THEM SPECIFY WHICH ONE, DAMNIT!!!

[Vowela]

Was there anything in the clue that should've led me to Halley over Newton? Is Halley's Comet associated with the flood?

[OSXpert]

Harry Houdini escapes again!

The TOM was essentially "British Astronomer" and Newton is more of a physics guy than an astronomer, so I didn't go with him. I was darned if I could think of any British astronomer though, so I went with "Huygens" since I didn't know his country of origin. He's Dutch, oh well!

[JayK33]

Don't know how he does it. He just does.

Could Tim be the luckiest 5-or-more-time champ since Paul Nelson?

[opusthepenguin]

Nice work, Tim! An awful lot of luck went into this streak, that's true. But SO many contestants would not have known how to take advantage of that luck when it came their way. His looks at the end are priceless. He clearly thinks this is getting a bit ridiculous himself. He's a very likeable, very rootable character.

That said, nobody's going to be rooting for him tomorrow. Not even his mom.

Mrs P said "rotaries" as a synonym for traffic circles instead of the expected "roundabouts". What do you guys think? Are they ever called that in the UK?

[floridagator]

Tim keeps reaching into a barrel of failure and pulling out success. I predict he goes down hard in the TOC.

[Golf]

NHO Cape Verde, so I can understand the stand and stare there. Even with "Verde" in the clue, that struck me as undervalued. Most of the other hits for that are way further down the board, and were still TSes even then.

Also NHO "full court press".

Please stop saying NHO in categories you admit you know nothing about. And if you if have zero knowledge of the category, you can't know anything about the valuing of the clue. I know nothing about the acts at Woodstock but you're not going to catch me talking about the value of Wavy Gravy.


Amy had great buzzer mojo, unfortunately she had less than zero clue how to play the game. She should have had a lockout going into FJ. And then the wagers from the challengers in FJ..... just wow.

[bpmod]

Ben & Jerry's for $200 was negbait for Mississippi, since "Mississippi Mud" is an existing term.

Jack Daniel's would not have been mentioned if Mississippi were the correct response.

Also bit hard on the even negbaitier Jerry/Cherry Garcia. Because what else could "blah blah Woodstock blah blah Ben & Jerry's rhyming flavor" be?!

As far as I can tell, Cherry Garcia is not a rhyming flavour. I clammed because it doesn't fit.

"Well, if it's not the tropics of Capricorn of Cancer, then what the hell else can it be?!"

Oh, how many Canadians would be thrilled if the tropics extended that far north*.

WLT Queen Elizabeth at $400?

Famous English broad who gives addresses?

*Yes, I know the clue specified south, but they always come in pairs.

Brian

[skullturf]

Was there anything in the clue that should've led me to Halley over Newton? Is Halley's Comet associated with the flood?

I didn't like this FJ. Maybe it's sour grapes (I switched from Halley to Newton) but Isaac Newton is an entirely reasonable answer.

Yes, I suppose on purely word-association grounds, words like "astronomy" or "astronomical" suggest Halley more than they suggest Newton. But Newton's name is associated with astronomy as well (he studied the motion of comets and designed telescopes) and I also knew that Newton was interested in biblical chronology (and, after looking it up, some of his writings on the topic were completed in the 1690s).

I sort of feel like knowing a little more about Newton's life hurt me here. We were instead just supposed to go from astronomy to Halley.

[OSXpert]

Famous English broad who gives addresses?

He was just implying that they should have given the regnal number. Just like they did for Pope Benedi....oh.

[TenPoundHammer]

Ben & Jerry's for $200 was negbait for Mississippi, since "Mississippi Mud" is an existing term.

Jack Daniel's would not have been mentioned if Mississippi were the correct response.

Still, a contestant also said "Mississippi" since they twigged to "mud" before "Jack Daniel's". Easy to do when there are two possible TOMs each pointing in different directions.

Also bit hard on the even negbaitier Jerry/Cherry Garcia. Because what else could "blah blah Woodstock blah blah Ben & Jerry's rhyming flavor" be?!

As far as I can tell, Cherry Garcia is not a rhyming flavour. I clammed because it doesn't fit.

I misinterpreted it to mean "the name of the flavor rhymes with the name of the artist". And again, a contestant made the exact same mistake.

WLT Queen Elizabeth at $400?

Famous English broad who gives addresses?

What part of the clue said English?

[goatman]

Yeah, no. This is absurd. We've moved beyond mere 'luck'. I'm convinced human sacrifices were involved, or at least a couple of goats.

Instag wait no, not Newton...astronomy, astronomy...FJ solved at the 27.5 second mark.



Contestant: "Who is Pope Benedict?"

Me: MAKE THEM SPECIFY WHICH ONE, DAMNIT!!!

Amen Brother to all the above! Sacrifice a Goatman, stick a fork in me I'm well done!

I was all like come on, where's my XVI AT?! Not instaget FJ but puzzled it out in time. Of course Newton pops up but no,no, too obvious and he was a physics guy... Astronomer... Astronomer Royal? Flamsteed is probably too obscure for most peeps and doubt this is pointing that way... Halley got the job after him though, and J loves his comet! Yay!

Astonishing misses tonight and very low scores. Gosh... I wonder how some folks get on the show with so many holes in their knowledge base. Selection of contestants is a divine mystery...

47R +FJ and LT: Antarctic circle (if you realize that 66+ degrees South is 2/3 way to the pole it's easy, eh? Guessing Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees North Lat for a SOUTHERN circle is just, well, gosh... you know the Earth is tilted 23 degrees which defines the Tropics, right?!); Cape Verde ex Cabo Verde, really?!!; Mock Turtle, George and Martha > Albee > "Who's Afraid of VA Woolf"; OrcHid with silent H, please remember the category!; get on MDD: Philippines for a Mediterranean island, shared by Greece and Turkey, omgosh?!; Pinocchio (Head-slappingly painfull, OMGosh, Jiminy Cricket is rolling over!)

"Always let your conscience be your guide!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOZzNOkcEgM

[Bamaman]

I had Newton, but didn't feel good about it as I have never associated him with astronomy. I did consider William Herschel but wasn't sure when he lived. Turns out he was born in 1738, so at least Newton was alive in 1694. Plus, unlike Galileo, he was English and would be more likely to be addressing the Royal Society.

Amy had $600 and hits the first DD. I can see not betting $1,000 if you don't want to fall below $0, but she bets $800? Then she later refuses to make a true DD bet because she doesn't want to fall into the red. She did make a nice run to take the lead going into FJ, but then doesn't even cover third place. But Bridget didn't bet big either, so she could have won even if everyone got it right.

I agree a number should have been required for Benedict and John Paul.

Judges....I said allocution instead of confession. Would that be acceptable?

I had heard of Wavy Gravy but it did not come to me. I think Cherry Garcia is still in production.

I agree mud may have been a bit of a negbait, but it mentioned Jack Daniel, which is made in Tennessee. But legislatures was pretty bad.

I new Tim was going to win from seeing stories about Cindy Stowell's game where they showed him playing against her. Actually, I knew he was going to win the Friday game as well. But given the situation with Cindy, I'm not as bothered by the spoiler as I would normally be.

[morbeedo]

Just wow! Has any other player in the history of the game ever been in and out of the red as many times as Amy and still ended up leading in FJ? I was glad to see her get her third DD right, but sad she didn't eke out the win because she was so dominant , at least on the buzzer.

Times Square was an unfortunate neg for Columbus Circle.

Legislatures was evil negbait.

The Cape Verde clue made no sense to me. Was the clue saying that the country name changed from Cabo Verde to Cape Verde in 2013? I thought Cabo was the Spanish or Portuguese word for Cape. That would be weird because the clue leads with Côte d'Ivoire / Ivory Coast, which are the French English equivalents. Just very confusing.

[jwatcher16]

That was quite an entertaining game... Yes, Tim is definitely an "escape artist." That said, congrats, Tim.

I was also torn between Newton and Halley...

Yes, I noticed the same thing xxaaaxx did ---- Alex never asked the contestants to specify which Pope (and there were - what 16 Benedicts and 2 John Pauls!) They also didn't ask to specify which Queen Elizabeth (and haven't there been 2?) To me this is curious, and well, sloppy judging. Anyone else have a thought?