Tuesday, May 18, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[econgator]

I would have really thrown the judges for a loop on "I'm on a boat!" for $400. My response was "what is promotion to Rear Admiral?" They may have negged me originally (or maybe not) but on review they would have to give it to me.

Definitely a neg at first, but yeah, they'd have to allow it.

[MattKnowles]

34R. 1/4 on big clues. They might have negged some of the ones I'm counting but I'm going to be generous with my scoring today. Got amalgam. Missed Rosalynn Carter and said Barbara Bush. Missed Secretary of the Treasury and said Attorney General. Missed armadillo, wrote black bear then crossed it out and wrote mountain lion. I knew panzers were tanks but I didn't know the word meant tank. Lots to learn.

Some clues that I missed that I want to get next time are Kubler-Ross, If-, Pauly Shore, Harry Styles, and Whitney Cummings.

Considering how this board handles these things I probably shouldn't say anything...but against my better judgment...I pronounce address and address differently.

[Volante]

I would have really thrown the judges for a loop on "I'm on a boat!" for $400. My response was "what is promotion to Rear Admiral?" They may have negged me originally (or maybe not) but on review they would have to give it to me.

Definitely a neg at first, but yeah, they'd have to allow it.

Risky gambit if the DD is still in play though

[OldSchoolChamp]

Actually, Panzer = tank is a derivative usage; the basic meaning is “armor.” The word is also used for an animal’s shell or carapace, like that of a turtle or a crab. So a Panzerschwein is an armored pig, or maybe even a “shell pig.” Not quite as colorful as “tank pig,” but the connection to a German military vehicle is still there. I agree it’s a great FJ clue.

Can I just say that Buzzy is a flat-out natural at this job, astonishingly so for a broadcasting rookie. It’s striking (though not surprising) that he and Ken have been better than any of the celebrity hosts we’ve seen. As former (great) champions themselves, their understanding of the game and empathy for the contestants shows through, as does their instinctive feel for the pacing of the clues. I’d love to see either of them land the job on a permanent basis.

[Leaper]

From the 2005 UToC, R3G2:

MOTHERS AND SONS, $2000: This actor's mother, Mitzi, owns the legendary Los Angeles club The Comedy Store.

That's exactly the only way I knew it.

More fun: this was the board of Cliff Claven's dream categories!

https://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=310

[twelvefootboy]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Spoiler

To show the armadillo it could be done

Instaget FJ based on Texas and possibly bewildered Europeans. They are an enigmatic creature for sure. I didn't know Panzer meant tank, but I knew they were the name of some bad-ass tanks. I know schwein as a German epithet from movies but never connected it to swine.

I've either adapted to Buzzy's carnival barking, or yesterday's game was just a frantic frenzy. He seems a little bit scripted, but I think that is preparation, and he will get more natural, or I will think he did. He is a level above Ken J and Katie.

TOC contestants can't get John Nance Garner's boss, he of the "Vice Presidency isn't worth a bucket of warm spit" observation? There was some buzzer hesitancy going on tonight.

[hansenkd]

I am rooting for Karen. She was one of my favorite contestants during her original run. Her seemingly natural grace, joy, and confidence are refreshing. For a superchamp, she's always seemed understated, almost humble, but unflappable as well. It will be interesting if she ends up playing against Jennifer given that Jennifer sent a few off-putting tweets during the airing of Karen's run. I'm sure there is no ill will at this point.

Also, it's hard not to cheer for Karen with her name having been heavily appropriated during the interim as a pejorative for "racist white woman." When people coin these pejoratives based on actual names, are they even considering the effect these epithets have on people who actually have those names?

Good on you, Ms. Farrell. Hope you continue to move forward!

[Shaquebanisa]

Coryat: $23,200

33 R (1 DD), 3 W. Said "amalgamation" as opposed to the shorter form. Would not have gotten Treasury.

FJ--

LT: Rosalynn Carter, FDR, Whitney Cummings, Pauly Shore, Old Ironsides, tattletale

[Woof]

OSC beat me to it, but — yeah — the meaning of panzer is almost certainly shell or armor. Those German settlers in Texas encountered and named those Panzerschwein long before the introduction of the tank in warfare ca. 1915. As I started watching this episode I wondered if this year’s TOC questions were going to be as easy as yesterday’s would seem to indicate. That thought was put to rest by DJ. When I saw the FJ clue, I predicted a triple get but Nibir let me down after a very well-played game. I don’t know if Buzzy would consider the hosting position as a full-time gig, but if he would I might consider him my favorite for the job at this point.

[Lefty]

OSC beat me to it, but — yeah — the meaning of panzer is almost certainly shell or armor. Those German settlers in Texas encountered and named those Panzerschwein long before the introduction of the tank in warfare ca. 1915.

Unless they were among those 1946 settlers of whom some founded Springfield. I guess Nibir didn't expect the Spanish armadillo. I had a friend who came from there, which helped.

I also found this board much harder than yesterday's.

I guessed Richard Pryor based on the year and the $ value, but I don't think of his mustache any more than his eyebrows or his chest hair.

I agree that the noun should be pronounced ADD-ress.

[Newhausen]

Obviously the writers didn't know Nibir would be playing this game, but it sure felt like they were throwing the College Champ a bone with that "Today's Hits" category.

I personally thought that was the easiest Final Jeopardy I've ever seen, but I should probably admit that my user name on pretty much every website other than this one is "ArmadilloAl".

[Category 13]

Nice work by Karen to win the game with a hit or miss as 2000 if she missed the FJ! clue would have had her wining anyway with 12200 to Nibir at 12199.

16,200 won the game but it wouldn't have been an air tight wildcard score. 14,201 was certainly less than air tight.
I find it uncanny that she predicted Nibir would wager to edge out a zero wager by herself. Why should anyone think that a zero bet from Karen was likely? It's been discussed on here for a while that the 15,000 range is cutting it close for a wildcard, especially in a ToC.

Nibir, with 13,200 was not a shoe-in for a wildcard if he wagers zero himself. So what good would only improving his score by 1001 do? IMHO, he may as well bet 8399, so as to salvage keeping Steve behind him if he gets it wrong. This would result in a healthy 21,599, if he didn't win the game outright.

Karen, likewise, might have wagerd larger if she reasoned Nibir wasn't going to settle for a mid teens wildcard bid. If she thought (as I did) that Nibir should maximize keeping Steve locked out, then she should boost herself to approx. 22,000. Which would still win her the game on a triple stumper, if Nigir played it that way.

[yclept]

Good game overall. Karen was a steady champion and was steady again here. Nibir’s score will likely put him on the borderline. Sweat time! The good news for him is that he is ahead of two other players with six to go.

Buzzy is a very good host. Anyone who may have been worried that he might be over the top are, I would bet, pleasantly surprised. I would love to see him host “regular” games as well just to see if he would loosen up a little more. Doing a $250K tournament as your first gig has to be at least a tad intimidating, but he is handling it. One would think that he probably thought hard about the fact that he will never play Jeopardy again. But if he were to win a permanent hosting job, I am sure that would make it worthwhile. Plus, I guess I have to leave open the possibility that he never intended to play again regardless.

[MinnesotaMyron]

I had been reading about Kipling's "If" not 10 minutes before watching this ep, so that was fortuitous. And last night among the flashcards I loaded into Anki was one on the Transamerica Pyramid. 2 clues I'd have missed otherwise.

I'm averaging about 5 incorrect guesses per game. Nice to see I'm still in peak condition there, 20 years along.

[jeff6286]

Nice work by Karen to win the game with a hit or miss as 2000 if she missed the FJ! clue would have had her wining anyway with 12200 to Nibir at 12199.

16,200 won the game but it wouldn't have been an air tight wildcard score. 14,201 was certainly less than air tight.
I find it uncanny that she predicted Nibir would wager to edge out a zero wager by herself. Why should anyone think that a zero bet from Karen was likely? It's been discussed on here for a while that the 15,000 range is cutting it close for a wildcard, especially in a ToC.

Nibir, with 13,200 was not a shoe-in for a wildcard if he wagers zero himself. So what good would only improving his score by 1001 do? IMHO, he may as well bet 8399, so as to salvage keeping Steve behind him if he gets it wrong. This would result in a healthy 21,599, if he didn't win the game outright.

Karen, likewise, might have wagerd larger if she reasoned Nibir wasn't going to settle for a mid teens wildcard bid. If she thought (as I did) that Nibir should maximize keeping Steve locked out, then she should boost herself to approx. 22,000. Which would still win her the game on a triple stumper, if Nigir played it that way.

You're actually pretty far off the mark with your data here, and the "especially in a TOC" part is flat-out backwards. The College and (especially the) Teen Tournaments have higher wild card cutoffs generally, in those a $14k score would be more dicey but in the TOC it has literally never failed to get through since dollar values were doubled in 2001.

There are a lot of higher numbers in the pre-doubling days, aka players well over $7,000 who didn't get wildcards but I think the perception of how much you have actually plays a role here and people don't necessarily bet the same (x2) with the doubled values as they did with the original values so I don't think the 1984-2001 pre-doubled wildcard cutoffs are particularly useful.

[alietr]

You would think that, since wild cards are dependent on the scores they get, that there would be very good consistency between boards, but nooooo ...

[Foretopman]

I would have really thrown the judges for a loop on "I'm on a boat!" for $400. My response was "what is promotion to Rear Admiral?" They may have negged me originally (or maybe not) but on review they would have to give it to me.

Definitely a neg at first, but yeah, they'd have to allow it.

Risky gambit if the DD is still in play though

Not a gambit, just the dreaded "too much specialist knowledge"

[morbeedo]

Felt bad for Steve on that DD. My mind went right to that recent photo of the Bidens and Carters with the distorted perspective that got a lot of play on Twitter

Ugh - the only Kipling poem I could pull was "Gunga Din". Just checked the archive and noticed they last clued this poem in March. Prior mention was 2016. I'd like to see them ask about recent poetry, Amanda Gorman, Joy Harjo, etc.

Good boards for me, lots of trash. Always feels good in a TOC

Nibir played well, but maybe too cautiously. We'll have to wait and see. I hope he makes it through - not that I need to see another pantomime

Congrats Karen. I like her low-key killer energy. She's the type of player who goes for the kill without announcing it

Is Buzzy "The One"?

Note to self - check out Steve's plays

[OldSchoolChamp]

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Spoiler

To show the armadillo it could be done

Why did the chicken cross the Möbius strip?

Spoiler

To get to the same side.

[OldSchoolChamp]

I guess Nibir didn't expect the Spanish armadillo.

This literally made me LOL. (Wasn’t it a German armadillo, though?)