Friday, March 27, 2015 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Vanya]

That was quite a game. Even though Jacqueline finished DJ well below the challengers, she could have won if she'd gotten FJ correct. Any of the players could have. It was instaget for me. How did they all miss those clues? And their incorrect answers sucked. Greyhound founded 1948? Amtrak founded 1948? Either of them in the book of Hosea?

I hope the new champ will scream on Monday.

I didn't think either of them was unreasonable. So I looked up Greyhound (founded 1914) and it shares its birthplace with Bob Dylan.

[Volante]

Guh, I figured it was an airline, but I couldn't brain until the 31st second when it finally realized, "Wait, 1948. Israel. ...DAMNIT."

[MarkBarrett]

Who did Johnny Gilbert sound the most like in saying Jacqueline's city?



I have the combined Coryat at 46600 and it could have been higher if Eric had not botched Dreiser.

I disagree that Eric deserved more than the $2000 he won. Michael began play in BIG WORDS with the $1200 and then the $1600 clues. Eric got colossus correct for the $1600 and then made his next selection at $400. Guess where the last DD was hiding? Right, the $2000 box. Michael added $7000 to his score when he played it later.

And then of course there is Eric's FJ! wager. No, $2000 was just right.

As has been previously posted I did the same with 1948 + Hebrew = Israel to arrive at the company El Al. It was the only guess I had and Alex gave me early comfort when he made his pre-reveal remark.

Naturally Alex gave his "big payday" spiel to jinx the players from cleaning up. So much for someone winning over 30K or 40K.

It did not take long for me to feel confident it would be a 61-clue night with excellent pace by the players.

Michael: Congrats on the win and thank you for going for the full $1000 on your first DD. Boardie or not anything less than the max in that early situation is automatic trapdoor.

[davey]

That was quite a game. Even though Jacqueline finished DJ well below the challengers, she could have won if she'd gotten FJ correct. Any of the players could have. It was instaget for me. How did they all miss those clues? And their incorrect answers sucked. Greyhound founded 1948? Amtrak founded 1948? Either of them in the book of Hosea?

I hope the new champ will scream on Monday.

I didn't think either of them was unreasonable. So I looked up Greyhound (founded 1914) and it shares its birthplace with Bob Dylan.

The "greyhound" is mentioned in Proverbs 30:31, King James Version. So not so outrageous a guess from that point of view, either.

[triviawayne]

I'm a little surprised how many are saying theu didn't know the name El Al. I Would've thought we would have more fans of the movie Airplane.

That's the reason I know the airline, remember the bearded plane pulling up to the gate?

Very well--I also remember that they called the airline "Air Israel", not "El Al".

I did get FJ. Enjoyed today's game.

Can I take that back? I guess for so long now I can't think of El Al without thinking of that, I didn't realize it.

[seaborgium]

Oh my goodness... some of the wagers earlier from the weeks were bad, now this was quite the case of the "Overbetting Strategy". Michael was only $7800 ahead. He could have bet at least $13,001 to save him a bit more money.

He did bet at least $13,001.

[cosmos]

I noticed on many clues Michael was either looking down or had his eyes closed when the camera cut to the contestants buzzing. Does that mean he was timing off Alex's voice rather than watching the light, or does it mean the home viewers have no way of knowing?

[MarkBarrett]

I noticed on many clues Michael was either looking down or had his eyes closed when the camera cut to the contestants buzzing. Does that mean he was timing off Alex's voice rather than watching the light, or does it mean the home viewers have no way of knowing?

I would guess that Michael was looking for the light to go on (visible to each player behind their podiern) that let him know he was in first before Alex said his name.

[seaborgium]

I thought Eric bore some small resemblance to Edward Furlong. Then he got the Sarah Connor clue, and I was amused.

[OrangeSAM]

Wow! That was a battle of heavyweights. Well played.

I got FJ! from the year and OT reference. The only other Israeli company in transportation was Israel Aerospace Industries, which doesn't sound biblical.

There's nothing wrong with a 1280 chess rating, Michael. It may fall short of the USCF mean rating, but you can wallop the public at large.

Edited to add: Michael, you sold yourself a little bit short. Your last published rating on uscf.org is 1305, though it's over a decade old.

[opusthepenguin]

I concentrated too much on the Book of Hosea and put down "Gomer" hoping that was a transportation company.

If you said that on the show it would have cost you a pyle of money.

And you'd end up feeling like a total goober!

[trainman]

Greyhound founded 1948? Amtrak founded 1948? Either of them in the book of Hosea?

I didn't think either of them was unreasonable.

Railroad passenger service was doing well in 1948 after hitting ridership records during World War II. But then factors such as the Interstate Highway System and the growth in commercial air travel brought about a decline in the 1950s and 1960s. Thus, Amtrak began service in 1971. (And the Amtrak name was created by an image firm to evoke "America" and "track," maybe "travel." Nothing Biblical. The full name of the company is the National Railroad Passenger Corporation.)

[BigDaddyMatty]

Coryat: $37,800
44 R/2 W
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: none
C: optical, Paul Bunyan

My exact stream of thought during FJ!: Okay, transportation...Greyhound, Trailways, Checker Cab, no. Delta, Pan Am, Uni...HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! Hebrew, 1948...I see what you guys did there!

This is where I put in a plug for learning national airlines. El Al, KLM, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, Iberia, QANTAS, JAL, Korean Air, etc. These come up with some frequency.

Really good game with some really bad FJ! wagering. Michael's wager was especially dangerous in that he basically offered a tie at Eric's MSBIW. Not good.

[El Jefe]

Wow, what a great game! (except for the FJ, an insta-get for me and 80-90% here, I reckon)

I particularly loved the efficiency in calling out the next answer location (if not the category names). And was that two rebounds? Noice! Even the chat portion, typically a dog's breakfast of awkwardness, was pretty cool.

Lots of retro-luck Michael!

[harrumph]

Very high caliber game, you can sense the high level of competition from the quick speed of the play. Not to mention that a good champion was left in the dust. How they all screwed up FJ is beyond me as I spent the think time trying to find possibilities outside of El Al.

[OSXpert]

Michael is a better chess player than that rating suggests. Though he didn't always show up to chess practice.

What an impressive game. Huge scores by the two dudes; super solid play.

I'm headed to the National Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Connecticut right now and "ELAL" is classic crossword filler, so if I hadn't been training for the tournament that answer might have passed me by. Luckily it was the only thing I could think of.

[doihavetoreally]

I know some of you missed the game due to NCAA. The game is on YT.

[michaelbilow]

That was quite a game. Even though Jacqueline finished DJ well below the challengers, she could have won if she'd gotten FJ correct. Any of the players could have. It was instaget for me. How did they all miss those clues? And their incorrect answers sucked. Greyhound founded 1948? Amtrak founded 1948? Either of them in the book of Hosea?

I hope the new champ will scream on Monday.

I didn't think either of them was unreasonable. So I looked up Greyhound (founded 1914) and it shares its birthplace with Bob Dylan.

The "greyhound" is mentioned in Proverbs 30:31, King James Version. So not so outrageous a guess from that point of view, either.

Ha! I knew it had to be somewhere in the good book!

[michaelbilow]

Wow! That was a battle of heavyweights. Well played.

I got FJ! from the year and OT reference. The only other Israeli company in transportation was Israel Aerospace Industries, which doesn't sound biblical.

There's nothing wrong with a 1280 chess rating, Michael. It may fall short of the USCF mean rating, but you can wallop the public at large.

Edited to add: Michael, you sold yourself a little bit short. Your last published rating on uscf.org is 1305, though it's over a decade old.

Yep, and my peak rating (after I went 5-2 in the <1600 section of the Illinois Open [and won my entry fee back!]) was 1363. Still, me today would get thwacked by me 10 years ago.

[michaelbilow]

Michael is a better chess player than that rating suggests. Though he didn't always show up to chess practice.

What an impressive game. Huge scores by the two dudes; super solid play.

I'm headed to the National Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Connecticut right now and "ELAL" is classic crossword filler, so if I hadn't been training for the tournament that answer might have passed me by. Luckily it was the only thing I could think of.

Haha, I drew Andrey Gorlin once, and had a solid performance on first board the one year we went to State. That's good enough for me.

You know, Buortau came up to LA to watch the game?!