Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

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twelvefootboy
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by twelvefootboy »

What a game to debut with and then have all night (or longer) before you come back! Reminded me of the Chiefs last 3 football games. Great decision to grab the brass ring with the big DD2 bet!

Did not get anywhere near the FJ solution. I was thinking of poetry or speeches, never occurred that it could be a novel. I don't think of opening novel lines as being a thing, but I do know "Call me Ishmael", and "It was the best of times....". If I know any more it is news to me.

And, thinking about it, I think "It was a dark and stormy night" is an excellent opening line/hook :).
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by seaborgium »

twelvefootboy wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:16 pm And, thinking about it, I think "It was a dark and stormy night" is an excellent opening line/hook :).
I think it's good too, but Bulwer-Lytton couldn't put a period there and leave well enough alone:
It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.
He also coined "the pen is mightier than the sword," "the unwashed masses," and "the almighty dollar." If only he could have limited himself to seven words maximum at a time.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by opusthepenguin »

twelvefootboy wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:16 pm What a game to debut with and then have all night (or longer) before you come back! Reminded me of the Chiefs last 3 football games. Great decision to grab the brass ring with the big DD2 bet!

Did not get anywhere near the FJ solution. I was thinking of poetry or speeches, never occurred that it could be a novel. I don't think of opening novel lines as being a thing, but I do know "Call me Ishmael", and "It was the best of times....". If I know any more it is news to me.
Off the top of my head, and consulting the net for wording but not for suggestions:

It was a pleasure to burn.

Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

It was love at first sight.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Ironhorse »

Call me Ishmael.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Volante »

Scarlet O'Hara was not beautiful
The best thing that Neil Armstrong ever did, was to let us all imagine we were him.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Woof »

“What is truth?” said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.

Terry’s TDD was certainly unexpected. He looked she’ll-shocked after the fact. FJ took a few seconds, but I got there.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by trainman »

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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by yclept »

It would have been hard to fault Terry, who was obviously nervous, if he went small on DD2 to try to preserve the lead but wow. Even though many would say that was the optimal play, it still takes a lot of guts to do that when your trivia game has been “off” throughout the game.

He definitely has the buzzer mojo to last if he can get the nerves under control.

Wordy finals come with the built in disadvantage that you almost must get it right away to have a chance to get the whole thing down in time...
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by danspartan »

alietr wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:15 pm Terry must have set a record for wrong answers while ending up with a lock.
That was my exact thought.

One of the most nervous contestants turns into the gutsiest. He had the serve on his racquet and fired an ace. Folks play all the time to try and have the advantage when instead they can go for the kill earlier. Bravo!

Put me in the snoopy category as to why I knew FJ.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Bamaman »

For most of my life I didn’t know Snoopy was plagiarizing. But I don’t know anything else about the book so I had zero chance on FJ.

This week won’t go down as one of the show’s better weeks.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by TenPoundHammer »

I remember reading about Edward Bulwer-Lytton in an Uncle John's Bathroom Reader once. That's also a pretty Hawley-Smoot name so you bet I remember it.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Lefty »

On seeing classic novels in the outdoor bins at the used book store, I've made a practice of reading the first line for possible FJ-ness (I don't read the last lines, just on the chance I decide to read the whole book some day). It's pretty rare to find something that offers enough of a clue without a giveaway, though of course you can play with ellipses.

The following, for instance, has promise but is probably too long, and anyway if it were perfect I wouldn't waste it here. It also isn't from the first line, but from the official full title of the book, which is usually identified by its severely abridged version. The full title is actually pretty spoilery in itself, so I'll protect both clue and answer. But if you're pretty sure you aren't ever going to want to read any

18th Century English Novels

, here you go:
Spoiler
Title character "Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of
continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her
Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a
Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year
a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia,
at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and dies a Penitent."
Answer:
Spoiler
Who is Moll Flanders?
I'm smart and I want respect.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

56 R (Missed 20-20 $1000(Knew Barbara Walters, didn't know the other guy.) and Craig Robinson.)
DD: 3/3
FJ: :mrgreen:
LT: V.C. Andrews, (Friedrich von Steuben), Untouchables, Skunk, Shilling, Sponge, Normandy, Hawk, Hyrax, Supernatural, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Trebuchet, Guard, Silver, Blitz, (Westminster)
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by seaborgium »

Hugh Downs turned 99 yesterday.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by ilcap »

This was a hell of a game! Was sure Terry was a goner. I struggled more than usual with the first round in particular (those animal verbs just weren't coming to me), so it was reassuring to see that the three players seemed to have a hard time with it too.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by twelvefootboy »

seaborgium wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:22 pm
twelvefootboy wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:16 pm And, thinking about it, I think "It was a dark and stormy night" is an excellent opening line/hook :).
He also coined "the pen is mightier than the sword," "the unwashed masses," and "the almighty dollar." If only he could have limited himself to seven words maximum at a time.
Sg, thanks for citing the full train wreck of a sentence, and especially those last three nuggets about the writer, whom I do not plan to remember.
opusthepenguin wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:39 pm
Off the top of my head, and consulting the net for wording but not for suggestions:
Spoiler
It was a pleasure to burn.

Happy families are all alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

It was love at first sight.
It's been interesting seeing how limited the other contributions are for first sentence Pavlovs, especially Penguin's "short" list. The only title I can match to his list are Fahrenheit 451, the rest are nogo for me.

These expansions and fleshing out of clues and answers are what make this board unique. You might accidentally learn something no matter how hard you try not to :).

It looks like Terry has built quite a fan base. I hope his wild guesses were just nerves and panic. A couple were doozies.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by MarkBarrett »

Here are a bunch of opening lines though I did not check for ones not relevant: http://www.j-archive.com/search.php?sea ... mit=Search

Switch the search to "opening lines" and it may turn other results.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by econgator »

opusthepenguin wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:39 pm It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
... bright cold day ...

I'd also throw in two of my favorites:

"This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it."

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. "
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by Volante »

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
The best thing that Neil Armstrong ever did, was to let us all imagine we were him.
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Re: Friday, February 14, 2020 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

Post by BigDaddyMatty »

Coryat: 40,200
47 R/1 W
DD: 2/3
FJ: :mrgreen:
LT: Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (DD), untouchables, skunk, schilling, sponge, Normandy, trebuchet, silver, The Blitz, Craig Robinson

I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam I am.

Like many others here, I learned the FJ! correct response from a certain comic strip beagle, not knowing until much later that it was a reference gag.

Kudos to Terry for making FJ! moot. Prospective contestants should take a lesson from his play. DDs are on average easier than FJ! clues. If you have the chance to salt the game away with a DD in a category with which you are at least decently comfortable, put the hammer down.
Category 13 wrote: Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:08 pm
morbeedo wrote: ETA: Brooke nodded on the Westminster DD, so she might have won the game had she found that important DD3
Perhaps so, being that she had the sole get. After seeing how she wagered on FJ (and on yesterday's FJ), I'm not confident she would have made an optimal wager, had she been within 2/3 of Terry's score.
She wouldn't have needed to be optimal, given that she made the sole solve.
Sprinkles are for winners.
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