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Sports Jeopardy debuts

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     I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the first Sports Jeopardy episode is available on Crackle. I watched about an hour after it came out. Thoughts? My one is: I should've taken notes. But I didn't expect to write much on this here! I do want to point out this Twitter conversation and I encourage you to chime in, here or there!
     Yesterday on the regular version, Catherine Hardee won for the first time.
Irv Murray
Catherine


Laura Dziorny
     This episode is blessedly free of video clues, that I'd have to post anyway.
     We'd only seen one clue, which Irv answered, when he found the Daily Double in 2 Presidents, Same Last Name. He had 200, and risked 1000 on this clue: "They were separated by only one other president." He got it right. At the first break:
Catherine 2600 (4 right)
Laura 4800 (7 right)
Irv 1600 (2 right and one wrong)
     At the end of the round:
Catherine 7400 (9 right)
Laura 6000 (3 right)
Irv 4400 (3 right and one wrong)
     I think I'd have gotten this anyway in Play Bill, but I just read today about this guy in Arthur Ashe's book Days of Grace: "If Barack Obama wanted a ringer on his basketball team, he'd choose this former Knick who also played in the Senate." Irv soon found the Daily Double in the category.
Catherine 15800 (6 right)
Laura 8000 (4 right and one wrong)
Irv 6400 (3 right and one wrong)
     Irv wagered 3000 on this clue: "This former education secretary & drug czar often speaks out for traditional values." I'd have known this one even if one of his books wasn't handed out at the National History Bowl my first year there. Irv got this too! Good; I don't want Catherine to run away with this! She found the next Daily Double though in American Literature.
Catherine 17000 (One right)
Laura 8800 (One right)
Irv 9800 (One right)
     Catherine wagered 3000 too on this clue: "In 1830 he had 5 tales & sketches published in the Salem Gazette." She and I knew this one.
     Somehow this was a triple-stumper, in Art Rockers: "His paintings include 'John's Room'& 'Yellow Linda with Piano.'" Even if it wasn't at 400!
     Oh goody, it's not a runaway at the end of the round:
Catherine 17600 (2 right and 2 wrong)
Laura 9600 (One right)
Irv 9800 (One right and one wrong)
     The Final Jeopardy category is Alliteration. Is that a first? This is the clue: "This metaphor used by Shakespeare & Coleridge to denote an ending is based on a legend that never really happens in nature." Laura missed it and lost 7000. Irv didn't write anything and lost 9000. :-( Catherine didn't write anything either, and lost just 2001. So we'll see her tomorrow.
   
One year ago: The Daily Fail
Two years ago: It Takes Two, Baby
Three years ago: The Premiere...It's Here!
Four years ago: Interview with Ryan Chaffee, Part Two


Thud.

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Andy here!

Yes, I know this post is slightly behind. But I'm going to still recap both Thursday and Friday!

Thursday's contestants: Joann Taylor, Dolly Moehrle, Catherine Hardee!





J! round categories:
PLAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO
TV SHOW PLOT POINTS
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
EAT YOUR VEGGIES
HISTORIC JOB TITLES
BURIED IN THE LEGISLATION (each correct response is made up from letters in the word LEGISLATION)

One clue early on spoke of Doyle and JM Barrie on the same cricket team -- there's a book about it, one of the books I haven't but want to read! It's titled "The Authors XI" and you can find it on Amazon!The Authors XI: A Season of English Cricket from Hackney to Hambledon

I was impressed by how quickly Joann kept selecting clues!

The first Daily Double went our champion's way, under VEGGIES $800! Scores:

Joann $2,400
Catherine $2,200
Dolly $1,600

Catherine bet $2,200. Her clue: Unlike the familiar small red globe variety of this root vegetable, the Daikon type is carrot-shaped & can be 18" long. Much like myself, Catherine went for "beet" and fell to $0 as the show went to the first break!

Dolly was born on her sister's 9th birthday! (Her sister wanted a Mickey Mouse watch. She got that for her 30th!)

Back to the game, Catherine did very well to get her score back into contention (Psst: Take that as a lesson, people afraid to bet big early. It's easy to come back!)

At 30, the scores were:

Joann $6,000
Catherine $5,200
Dolly $2,600

DJ! round categories:
NATIONAL PATRON SAINTS
AMERICANA
"CHAR"MED, I'M SURE
TITLE MOVIE APIRS
HOLD YOUR HORSES
WE'LL GET YOU THERE

There were a couple of times where our players had trouble STAYing CLAM...

The bottom of AMERICANA had the first Daily Double of the round! Catherine played it, with scores at:

Catherine $15,200
Joann $10,000
Dolly $1,800

Catherine bet $4,000. Her clue: Since 1938 this Southern city has been deemed "the city that care forgot". Her correct response put her at $19,200!

The bottom of HOLD YOUR HORSES had the final Daily Double and Dolly found it taking the final category in reverse order! Scores:

Catherine $22,000
Joann $14,400
Dolly $4,600

Dolly bet $3,000. Her clue: This small breed usually has 23 vertebrae instead of most horses' 24: the Najd region has a major stud farm. Dolly went for Shetland and fell to $1,600.

Sadly, Dolly negged on the $1,600 clue, meaning she had no money to play Final! I liked her strategic thinking, though!

Scores going into Final:

Catherine $23,200
Joann $15,600
Dolly $0

FJ! category: 20th CENTURY LEADERS

FJ! clue: In May 1980 over 200 leaders from more than 120 countries attended his funeral in Belgrade

Joann 15600 - 15000 = 600
Catherine 23200 + 7601 = 30801

Um...I'm sorry, but that was about as poor as a wager as Catherine could have possibly made. Did she mess up her math?

ToC standings:
Catherine Hardee $58,801 (3 wins)
Bill Cossen $50,602 (3 wins)

Costing Someone Their Shot

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After throwing up in my mouth slightly at the betting from yesterday's Final, Andy's back -- and feeling up to recapping again!

Friday's contestants: Alan Lange, Tod Macofsky, and Catherine Hardee!






J! round categories:
HISTORIC NAMES
SLANG
GENERAL SCIENCE
WE LOVE "R" MUSIC
A ROSE GARDEN
FIX THE CAR (NAME)

Catherine did very well in FIX THE CAR and jumped out to a lead because of it!

SCIENCE $600 had the Daily Double! Our champ was a steamroller when she found it; scores were:

Catherine $6000
Tod $1600
Alan $0

Catherine bet $2,000. Her clue: An abnormal fear of water, it's also another name for rabies. Her correct response put her at $8,000 and the show went to an early break!

Tod is currently touring the country doing an anti-bullying musical!

Catherine is a Lord of the Rings fan and she wants to visit New Zealand!

Coming out of the break, both Tod and Alan had better buzzer mojo! After 30, the scores:

Catherine $9,800
Tod $4,200
Alan $4,000

DJ! round categories:
TEXAS, HOLD 'EM
CLASSICAL LITERATURE
WHY DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR?
4-LETTER OPPOSITIES
DANIEL RADCLIFFE
& THE CATEGORY OF GEOGRAPHY

GEOGRAPHY $800 had a Daily Double and Alan got to play it on the 2nd clue of the round (after getting the $400 clue)!

He bet $3,500. His clue: The greatest north-south distance of this South American country is 2,731 miles; east-west, 2,684. His correct response put him at $7,900!

Meanwhile, Catherine picked up no fewer than 3 of Tod's negs!

Just after taking the lead, Alan found the final Daily Double under TEXAS, HOLD 'EM $1600! Scores:

Alan $15,900
Catherine $14,200
Tod $6,600

Alan bet just $1,000. His clue: In 1966 an appeals court reversed the murder conviction of this Dallas inmate, but he died in January 1967. His correct response put him at $16,900 -- but gave Catherine an opening! Would she take it, with just a minute to play?

It came down to the final clue, and Catherine chose not to take a risk! Tsk tsk tsk!

Scores going into Final:

Alan $18,900
Catherine $18,200
Tod $6,600

FJ! category: FAMOUS AMERICANS

FJ! clue: In 1936 at age 79, he published an article in Esquire Magazine in which he described how to pick a jury

Tod 6600 + 5900 = 12500
Catherine 18200 + 18200 = 36400
Alan 18900 + 17500 = 36400

And we have co-champions returning Monday with Catherine and Alan (who's going to miss their shot at glory thanks to this?)

ToC standings:
Catherine Hardee $95,201 (4 wins)
Bill Cossen $50,602 (3 wins)

LIVE PANEL: Episode #7 (Season 31 Week 2, Sports Jeopardy, etc.)

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Beginning at 7:30 PM Eastern on September 29 - watch here!


What Bloggers Want

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Andy here.

Hoping you enjoyed our Hangout last night!

This week's contestants:
Sam Barker - Carlisle, PA (WHP)
Alex Champlin - Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YES-TV)
Shawn Choe - New York, NY (WABC)
Dan Ford - Cincinnati, OH (WXIX)
Sara Goodman - Huntington Woods, MI (WDIV)
Josh Hager - Raleigh, NC (WTVD)
Catherine Hardee - Kinston, NC (WITN)
Kate Horowitz - Washington, D.C. (WJLA)
Elisa Korb - Bethlehem, PA (WPVI)
Alan Lange - Sarasota, FL (WTSP)
Silvia Lesko - Denton, TX (KTXA)

Monday's recap will have a slightly different tone.



Mostly because I think the show needs to have a bit more of a diverse writing staff. I'm not sure who was involved with the WHAT WOMEN WANT category or thought it was funny in 2014, but I didn't find it amusing in the slightest.

As for Final:

Category: Agatha Christie

Clue: In the 400-page book "Agatha Christie A to Z", entries beginning with this 6-letter word start with page 224 & end on 238.

Alan Lange 10400 - 3000 = 7400 (What is poison?)
Elisa Korb 13200 + 13200 = 16400
Catherine Hardee 18800 - 7601 = 11199 (What is Poirot?)

(For the record: I matched Catherine.)

As I said, I think there is something to be said for "poor performance following offering a tie" -- I'm sure there's probably enough Archive data to tell me, I just need to ask the right question to get the data that I want!

Jeanie will eventually have some fun stories from the Tournament of Champions; one of us will have a recap tomorrow!

Speechless

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     As I was getting my nails done today ("Evening Seduction"), I tried to come up with an explanation for you about last week. For my part, I was at the Tournament of Champions in Los Angeles. So I hope that alone will be enough to make it up to you. Plus, I worked hard to talk to everyone, and many people seem willing to appear in Hangouts. As for Andy, I'll let him speak for himself if he wants. By the way, I hoped we'd do a recap every day but must admit I didn't expect it.
     Did I miss anything noteworthy? And anyone want to know whether Trebek still has his mustache? And do you have any other questions?
     This week's contestants:
Emily Herndon
Elizabeth Crofton
Shane Curtis. I notice he's from Kansas City. I hope he's enjoying the baseball, like I would be if the Royals      were playing again before Friday!)
Venkat Krishnan. He refers to the Boston Red Sox.
Carol McGhee
Brendan McParland He refers to the Washington Nationals!
Rena Morse
Jason Washington
     And today:
Shawn Choe
Linda Fraley

Terri Pous
     Speaking of "Terri" and last week, I watched a Terry play in the Tournament of Champions (O'Shea). I had to tell Andy I didn't remember her at all. Do you? I talked to her briefly at the party after the tournament. She had tights on with the playing card suits: spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs. And by the way, she said (not to me) that she is 20 years old!
     Shawn is a 2-day champ. That means he might make the ToC list today?! And judging from the tournament contestants, I think Andy must be right: The contestants we're seeing on TV now are not eligible for the ToC I just saw and a new list does start. Doesn't make sense to me but that's the way it appears to be.
     Watching Shawn at first, I was thinking he might well make the list today. But he was tied with Terri and got as many right at the first break. And it was Terri who Trebek said was on a roll, after he interviewed the contestants!
Shawn 3800 (7 right)
Terri 3800 (7 right)
Linda 600 (One right)
     Ben Ingram sent me a chat message as I was starting to blog today, saying I might like today's first category. It's Vamos La Brasil. Wouldn't you know it would be where the Daily Double of the round was found, by Terri?
Shawn 3800
Terri 4400 (One right)
Linda 600
     Terri wagered everything ! on this clue: "Good luck getting across town! The metro area of this city west of Rio covers more than 3,000 square miles." She was right!
     I got this triple-stumper in An Unknown Number of Songs, on a guess: "It took Sammy Hagar 16 hours to get to L.A.! 'I Can't Drive __." I think there were 2 more triple-stumpers in the category!
     At the end of the round:
Shawn 6200 (3 right)
Terri 9200 (4 right and one wrong)
Linda 2000 (2 right)
     I got this triple-stumper in Kitchen Abbrev.: "ACV, this kind of vinegar, has lots of uses."
     When Shawn found the first Daily Double in Atlas Chaps, Mr. Trebek said he'd "been laying low for a while."
Shawn 9800 (5 right)
Terri 17200 (8 right)
Linda 10000 (7 right)
     Shawn wagered on this clue: "This 16th century cartographer wasn't projecting when he coined the term 'atlas' to describe a large book of maps." Shawn and I got it right.
     Terri found the next Daily Double in Arctic Animals. There was one clue on the board after this one.
Shawn 12800
Terri 23600 (5 right)
Linda 10800 (One right)
     She wouldn't have to wager much to get a runaway. But she wagered 10000. That made me sit up and take notice. This was the clue: "The fur of this largest weasel family land animal is used to trim parkas because it doesn't mat or freeze in the cold." She was wrong, saying what I thought I might in her position. Did anyone know this? The last clue of the round was a triple-stumper.
     The Final Jeopardy category was Music. This was the clue: "John Williams said his music for this event, not a film, tried to capture 'the spirit of cooperation, of heroic achievement.'" Come on now. Too easy. Linda was wrong though and lost everything! Shawn, strangely said the same thing and lost 8800. I'd like to know why they guessed what they did. Terri was right of course and added 10001.
     I was looking forward to updating the ToC list, but if Terri keeps playing like this maybe I will Wednesday.

One year ago: Where do you get that gift wrap?
Two years ago: Q and A: Sara Lehmann
Three years ago: Fri-day, Fri-day, Jeopardy! on Friday...
Four years ago: The most important Meals of the day

Faux no they didn't

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     Yesterday, Terri Pous won for the first time.






Terri
Carol McGhee
(The closed-captioning says she is a lawyer, but she's a policewoman!)

Brendan McParland
(I like the ponytail.)
     I started out with a sweep of Whose Movie Title?, which ended with this triple-stumper: "An Oscar-winning foreign film: her'Feast.'"
     At the first break:
Terri 4200 (8 right)
Brendan 600 (4 right and one wrong)
Carol 1600 (2 right)
     What did you think of Brendan's Christopher Walken impression? I believe he was sweeping Make Room when he found the Daily Double there. (And by the way I don't think I knew any of them!) We had 4 clues left in the round after this.
Terri 4600 (One right and one wrong)
Brendan 3200 (6 right and one wrong)
Carol 2400 (One right)
     He wagered 2000 on this clue: "This French room completes the title of a book by the Marquis de Sade, 'La Philosophie dans le....'" He was wrong. :-( Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning then. The next 2 clues were triple-stumpers and Terri got the next clue, leaving one hidden.
Terri 5200
Brendan 1200
Carol 2400
     Since I'm no longer keeping track of my Coryat and am blogging when the episode is first on, I find my mind wandering until there's a long pause after a clue is read, and I have to rewind to see if I know it! In the case of this clue from Short Stories, I remembered seeing "Nebraska" in the clue and blurted the correct response. (Call it Pavlovian?): "Her'On the Gull's Road' is set not in Nebraska but aboard a ship cruising the Mediterranean." The next clue was the Daily Double, and it was Brendan's. We're still in Short Stories.
Terri 6000 (2 right and one wrong)
Brendan 5200 (5 right)
Carol 6000 (3 right and one wrong)
     Brendan wagered 2000 again on this clue: "In this Edgar Allan Poe story, a fatal & hideous pestilence causes scarlet stains upon the body 'and face of the victim.'" I knew this cold. Brendan did too and said it slowly for emphasis. I think Terri knew too - she was nodding!
     Well Brendan found the next Daily Double too, in Straits.
Terri 5200 (One wrong)
Brendan 4800 (One right and 2 wrong)
Carol 5200 (One wrong)
     This time he wagered 1000 on this clue: "Cities lying on this strait include Tarifa, Spain & Ksar es Seghir, Morocco." Now's the time for a response that Carol gave earlier in the category. Brendan got it.
     Like in the Jeopardy round, one clue was left covered in Double Jeopardy. I don't know about you, but this runaway took me by surprise.
Terri 11200 (4 right)
Brendan 4200 (2 right and 2 wrong)
Carol 3600 (2 right and 2 wrong)
     How did this happen, when Brendan got both Daily Doubles right this round?
     The Final Jeopardy category was Fauxbituaries. Yeah. This was the clue: "He received a real obituary in the Albuquerque Journal in 2013 nothing his 'long battle with lung cancer.'" I have to say "Yeah" again. This is a really, really bad category and clue. There is not enough TOM. I guess "faux" was supposed to lead you to a fictional character. What did you guys think? Carol didn't have a response and lost 3500. I didn't have a response but Brendan's crossed my mind. It was wrong, and he lost everything! Terri was right. I wouldn't have gotten this if you'd given me til the end of the year. She added 2000. Hey, maybe I will add her to the ToC list tomorrow! I wouldn't mind seeing all 3 of these contestants play again.
     I hope you like it as much as I do that Andy and I aren't waiting til 9 p.m. to publish. The only thing I don't like is, I wait all day to blog and I'm done in less than an hour!
     
One year ago: Can you tell me how to get...
Two years ago: A Day Late, and a Hedgehog Short?
Three years ago: Fri-day, Fri-day, Jeopardy! on Friday
Four years ago: Blogging to beat the (marching) band


Bordering misery

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     So Terri Pous won her second episode yesterday. I like Terri, and I want to update this ToC list for my first time! By the way she's agreed to come to our Hangout next week. Also confirmed so far: Tod Macofsky, David Kendall and Sports Jeopardy champ Alex DeFrank.
     Today:
Terri

     Jason Washington's and Emily Herndon's pictures weren't uploaded by the time I'm ready to publish, but I can add them later. I want to point out though, Emily's hair was down in her Howdy and up on the show!
     My first bachelor's was in communications but like the contestants, I was stumped on the first 2 clues we saw in Journalism Cliches. I did get this triple-stumper at the very last second. (Really, it was probably too late.) "A representative example; the first such youngster appeared in the 1930s."
     Emily owns a bakery, and I could tell she knew some in Fruit & Nuts where Terri rang in first. Did you like how Emily said "Rock Lobster" on her first response? It surprised me! I don't know that song, but I knew it wasn't "Love Shack" like Jason guessed.
     At the first break:
Terri 2000 (7 right and one wrong)
Emily 2000 (3 right and one wrong)
Jason -1200 (One right and 2 wrong)
     How lucky for Terri that the Daily Double was in Bordering Missouri, and after seeing 4 of the clues?! She'd better wager it all. How many states border Missouri anyway? She wagered 2000 on this clue: "It has the smallest legislative branch in the nation, 49 senators." I of course knew we had a unicameral (which Trebek mentioned before revealing the correct response) but not that we had 49 senators. Now I really want to know how many states border Missouri, but I can't be bothered to look right now.
     I did know this triple-stumper, in You're So Vain: "A vanity search is self-Googling, or this kind of surfing. "
     I went "Oh, come on you guys" on this last clue of the round in Named in the Bible & the Koran, but I think I responded "Jonas" (not out loud): "This reluctant prophet is Yunus."
     At the end of the round:
Terri 3200 (5 right and one wrong)
Emily 3000 (2 right)
Jason -1000 (2 right and one wrong)
     Terri found the first Daily Double of Double Jeopardy in Grave New World. We'd only seen one other clue so far.
Terri 3600 (One right)
Emily 3000
Jason -1000
     Terri wagered on this clue: "He was entombed with his Gibson Les Paul in 1981 in Saint Ann, Jamaica." She and I were right.
     Did you see Emily and Jason try to ring in before the sound effect was even played on this one in Movie Sound Effects? "Put 'em up; one of these contests is about to start." The sound that followed was described by closed captioning as "bell clangs, crowd claps." I didn't like the neg bait on this one in the same category: "It's a spooky night if we hear the sound of this 'great' raptor." Jason, I feel sorry for. Not so much Emily, who guessed!
     Remember how yesterday I said I've been snapping to attention when I notice a clue's gonna be a triple-stumper? That happened today, where I responded correctly after thinking about what I'd just heard: "In the 1520s this founder of the Jesuits was twice imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition." It happened again as Terri was trying to be more specific on this one in That Book Gave Me a Nightmare: "In 'The Hungry Moon,' horror stalks a town in England that practices the faith of these pre-Christian priests."
     Oh, Jason. Did you see say "Close Encounter of the Third Kind" on this one in That Book Gave Me a Nightmare? "Bearing the name of a Catholic rite, it's Whitley Strieber's supposedly true account of his abduction by aliens." No wonder he didn't know the Jesuits clue! I guessed right on this one.
     Unlike yesterday, I thought Terri was much further ahead than she was toward the end of the round. She found the other Daily Double in You're So Vein with 2 clues on the board after this one, and both of those were worth 400. Plus Trebek had warned we were almost out of time.
Terri 6000 (4 right and 2 wrong)
Emily 4200 (5 right and 3 wrong)
Jason 200 (5 right and 3 wrong)
     I'd have put the game out of reach here. (The clue was worth 800.) Terri wagered on this: "Ancient Egyptians and Romans believed in the Vena Amoris, a vein thought to run straight to the heart from this finger." Terri got it. Had she but wagered more! It was the last clue we saw.
     The Final Jeopardy category was Novel Title Characters. This was the clue: "'His madness being stronger than any other faculty,'he'resolved to have himself dubbed a knight by the first person he met.'" And by the way this book is a must-try if you haven't. It's a delight. So in my mind, this comes down to wagering. I had to delete the other stuff I said when two people got this wrong! Did you?? Jason did! He didn't lose anything though. Emily was right and added 3900. Terri...? She was wrong!! She lost 1401. D'oh, I don't get to update the ToC list! Like I said, if only Terri had wagered more on her Vein Daily Double. Good episode today though.

One year ago: Can you tell me how to get...
Two years ago: A Day Late, and a Hedgehog Short?
Three years ago: Fri-day, Fri-day, Jeopardy! on Friday...
Four years ago: "Put that in your blog and smoke it"



Andy's Back

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Andy here, with my first recap back after my hiatus!

Don't worry, we'll be discussing two weeks' worth of shows at our next live panel, on October 14th at 6:30 PM Eastern!

Rena Morse and Venkat Krishnan are the challengers for Emily Herndon, who won $8,100 yesterday! (No pictures today.)



MUTT
JEFF
THE BEST PICTURE OSCAR DIDN'T GO TO...
"DEL" AWARE
DYNASTY
NORMAN ROCKWELL'S SATURDAY EVENING POST COVERS

(Surprisingly, there was no underlining of "Saturday Evening Post" -- I thought there would be!)

At the first break, the scores were:

Venkat $3,000
Emily $1,400
Rena $1,400

Emily once named a cake pop Owlex Trebek!

Back to the game, I would have bet money on ROCKWELL having the Daily Double. I was wrong - MUTT $400 had it! Rena got to play it, with scores at:

Venkat $3,800
Rena $1,600
Emily $1,400

Rena bet $1,000. Her clue: Ice cream in layers of chocolate, vanilla & strawberry is named for this city. Her correct response left $600 on the table, putting her score at $2,600.

However, Rena did well enough to take the lead by the end of the round! The scores after 30 sat at:

Rena $4,800
Venkat $4,600
Emily $3,000

DJ! round categories:
EARS TO CLASSICAL MUSIC
LINGUISTICS
EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION
THAT PLACE IS "GRAND"
WORLD WAR I SLANG
WRITERS ON THE PERIODIC TABLE

I went 5/5 in PERIODIC TABLE including the $2000 Triple Stumper: British mistress of mystery _ _ James

CLASSICAL MUSIC $1600 had the Daily Double! Rena played this one too! Scores were:

Rena $7,600
Emily $6,200
Venkat $6,200

Like a broken record, Rena bet $1,000. Her clue: What a ride! In 1856, Wagner finished this opera, unwittingly adding his work to numerous future movie soundtracks. Rena's correct response put her at $8,600.

Just after the minute-to-go warning came, Emily found the final Daily Double under WORLD WAR I SLANG $800. Scores:

Rena $16,200
Emily $9,000
Venkat $7,400

(Here's a tip: Bet big.)

Emily chose not to. She bet $1,000. Her clue: The German gun "Long Max" was not as famous as this alliterative Krupp product. The trivia gods were so incensed by this bet that they put "Gatling Gun" into Emily's head, causing her score to fall to $8,000.

She did manage to recover to keep Rena from a lock, though! Scores going into Final:

Rena $16,200
Emily $11,600
Venkat $7,400

FJ! category: HISTORICAL FIGURES

FJ! clue: A 2012 poll by Britain's national museum voted this man, born in 1732, as the nation's greatest military enemy

Venkat 7400 - 6400 = 1000
Emily 11600 - 4601 = 6999
Rena 16200 - 7001 = 9199

Rena will defend Friday and I'll have the recap!

Dan's on a roll

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     I found out the cast list for King of the Nerds was released this week, which means the world knows now Colby Burnett will be appearing. Do you guys watch this show?
     Did you guys see the reference to Jeopardy! on Celebrity Name Game recently? (I worked on getting caught up on it today.) I want to be on that show so badly!
     I've started tracking my Coryat again since seeing on the boards that the difficulty level's gone up this season. Do you guys think that's true? So my Coryat on Friday was 21800 (24000 without negs).
     A couple of people pointed out to me that there are only 10 Howdies this week. They're anticipating a tie. Will we get it today? First, here are the week's contestants:
Sarah Horvitz
Regina Cabrera (I'm pretty sure this is an occasional attendee at O'Brien's.)
John Campbell (A romance novelist?!)
Jim Hamilton
Chris Hoeh
Alexander Persaud
Candice Torres
     And today:
Shane Curtis
(I bet he's glad the game was rained out!)
Amanda Brown

Dan Tran
     Dan's hair, reminiscent of Milos Raonic, is too good to mention it in his caption. I hope they gave him a standing ovation in the studio! And hey, the outfit's great too. Pay attention, gentlemen. As for Shane, I don't like the color combo but I like the shiny tie. It looks like it's made of vinyl!
     I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't hinted at on the boards, but Trebek walked out without a mustache today. See my comment on seeing him without a mustache at the ToC! I wonder, did the mustache episodes air before these contestants taped?
     Have you guys heard of this, in Food & Drink?: "Sometimes called 'Italian Sashimi,'it's catching on in the U.S.; the name is simply Italian for 'raw.'" I got this triple-stumper in Official Languages, on a guess: "Rundi." I negged on this next one, though: "Xhosa."
     Dan found the Daily Double of the round in Questionable Grammar in Lyrics.
Shane 1000 (4 right and one wrong)
Dan 2000 (4 right)
Amanda -800 (2 right and 2 wrong)
     Dan wagered everything on this clue: "'Every little thing she does is magic, everything she do just turns me on' has an issue with agreement of these 2 elements." Dan and I were right. At first all I said was "verbs," but I snapped out of it in time.
     That was the last clue before this first break. I got this first clue after the break, still in Questionable Grammar in Lyrics: "Bryan Adams: 'That'd change if she ever found out about you & I'; 'I' should be in this grammatical case." It was a triple-stumper. Then, like above, I negged on the next clue!: "'Damn I wish I was your lover' should be '...were your lover', as this mood is used to express a wish." It was a triple-stumper, too.
     I said "guillotine" on this one in Cause of Death? and am counting it right: "England's Charles I went 2 pieces by this method." Then I got this next clue in the same category, a triple-stumper: "Anton Chekhov, a man of letters, was felled by this 2-letter disease."
     We had a whole lot of clues left when Trebek gave the minute warning. Four were left covered.
Shane 2400 (3 right and one wrong)
Dan 5200 (3 right and one wrong)
Amanda 0 (One right and one wrong)
     I got this triple-stumper in The Cast of Fast Times at Ridgemont High: "Before 'Leaving Las Vegas,'this Oscar winner had some 'fast times' as Brad's bud."
     Shane found the first Daily Double of the round in International Trade.
Shane 6400 (4 right)
Dan 7200 (3 right and one wrong)
Amanda 0
     Shane wagered on this clue: "Per U.S. D.O.T. figures, this central American nation has the largest registered merchant fleet in the world." Shane and I were wrong. He went on a tear then though, and answered 4/5 in On a "Roll".
     I'm not surprised this one in Saintly Women was a triple-stumper. I got it, but I think you have to be Catholic to know!: "On Feb. 11, 1858 she saw a vision of the Virgin Mary on the banks of the Gave River." I didn't get the next 2 in the category though, both triple-stumpers too! Not sure how this was a triple-stumper, though: "It's said that she wiped the face of Christ with a veil while he was on the way to his crucifixion."
     Shane found the next Daily Double in A Confederacy of Dunces.
Shane 9600 (6 right)
Dan 6800 (One right and one wrong)
Amanda 2000 (One right)
     Shane wagered on this clue, read by Jimmy: "Union soldiers found Robert E. Lee's handwritten plans wrapped around 3 cigars and lying in a field east of Sharpsburg, Maryland 4 days before this bloody 1862 battle." Shane and I were wrong. I thought Dan was strong to get those next 2 toughies in the category! Mr. Trebek gave the one-minute warning then with 6 clues left.
     I regret not ringing in on this one in Poems: "In an ode, Keats called this object an 'unravish'd bride of quietness,' a 'foster child of silence.'" It was a triple-stumper. I thought it couldn't be that obvious at 2000! Wait a minute - did I still win from the fourth podium?
     We had 2 clues left at the end of the round.
Shane 7600
Dan 10400 (2 right)
Amanda 2000        
     Take a minute now and figure out what you'd wager.
     The Final Jeopardy category was Sports Figures. This was the clue: "He was featured on the September 22, 1947 cover of Time with the caption 'He and the boss took a chance.'" I didn't try on this one but I doubt I'd have gotten it. The contestants were all stumped, too. Amanda didn't lose anything though, while Shane lost 2000 and Dan lost 4800. That's right - we'll see them both tomorrow!
     My Coryat today was 15600 (17400 without negs).
One year ago: Q & A with Cori Wilhelm!
Two years ago: Andy talks Jeopardy!
Three years ago: [untitled]
Four years ago: A princess and diva appear on Jeopardy!

LIVE HANGOUT LINK - Episode 8 (October 14, 2014)

Oh Danny, boy

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     Click here if you missed our Hangout tonight. We were honored by the presence of:
Terri Pous
Shawn Choe (who deserves a shout-out for seeking us out)
Ben Ingram
Alex DeFrank
David Kendall
     I'm having a hard time finding this week's contestants for a Hangout. If you are one or know someone who is, I could use your help.
     Yesterday, Shane Curtis and Dan Tran tied for the former's second win and the latter's first. Today:
Candice Torres
Shane

Dan
     Candice did what I would have and went to Celebrity Marriages when she had a chance. I swept the category! I'd have gotten the clue about her anyway, but I saw this tweet while reading my timeline last night:

     And no, I don't follow her! Someone I follow favorited this. My sweep of the category included this triple-stumper: "This British actress wore a short Chanel dress for her 2013 wedding to indie rocker James Righton."
     At the first break:
Shane 3000 (5 right)
Dan 2200 (3 right)
Candice 2000 (5 right)
     Nice of Shane to say his wife is awesome!
     I didn't like "2"-Square Crossword Clues much. But Candice found the Daily Double there.
Shane 4400 (3 right)
Dan 3200 (2 right)
Candice 2800 (2 right)
     She wagered 1000 on this clue: "Get above it all here, AKA Dapsang." She got it right. I thought this at 1000 was the easiest in the category!: "A London arena, or something we literally can't survive without." I am a tennis fan though.
     At the end of the round:
Shane 5000 (One right)
Dan 5200 (2 right)
Candice 4200 (One right)
     Anybody heard of this, in 3 Straight Vowels?: "In this outdoor ring toss game, a ringer is usually worth 3 points."
     All 3 contestants negged on this one in World Cities: "In 2014 this Spanish city honored El Greco on the 400th anniversary of his death with a series of exhibitions & concerts." I said what Candice did! The next clue was the Daily Double, and Dan got it.
Shane 5000 (2 right and one wrong)
Dan 6000 (3 right and 2 wrong)
Candice 1400 (2 wrong)
     Dan wagered 3000 on this clue, still in World Cities: "Morocco was named for this city known for its centuries-old red clay buildings." Dan was wrong. And once again, the clue at the bottom was the easiest: "On an evening lantern hike, you can see the ski slopes used in this Austrian city's Olympics."
     As you know, I read Steve Martin's Born Standing Up recently, and now I'm working on Carole King's A Natural Woman. (They're both terrific, by the way.) Martin says the founder of the Eagles intended for their name to be just "Eagles," and in her book King actually refers to Martin saying that! Weird. So Jeopardy!'s got it wrong I guess in this clue, in "Dirty" Entertainment: "This song mocking the media was Don Henley's first solo hit after splitting from the Eagles."
     I wish I'd rung in on this one in 19th Century Americans (read by Sarah): "This is what it looks like now, but in 1875, Deadwood was just a mining camp that sprung up after this lieutenant colonel and his 7th cavalry found that the Black Hills were rich in gold." She said "Calvary"!
     There were 6 clues left when Trebek gave the minute warning. Those Who Wrote It clues were hard! I did get this triple-stumper on a guess: "'Where I want to start telling is the day I left Pencey Prep.'" The next clue was the Daily Double, still in the same category. It was Dan's.
Shane 15000 (8 right)
Dan 5800 (4 right and 2 wrong)
Candice 1800 (One right)
     Dan wagered only 2000 on this clue. Never mind that it's only worth 800!: "'We asked you to speak about women and fiction -- what has that got to do with a room of one's own?'" Dan was wrong anyway. (I was right.) This was the last clue in the round.
     The Final Jeopardy category was Business. This was the clue: "Today this company markets more than 100 times the number of products found in a slogan it used in 1896." Candice was wrong and lost 1799. Dan was wrong but didn't lose anything. Shane was right! He adds 3000, and of course we'll see him tomorrow.
     My Coryat today was 20000 (22000 without 2 negs).
     Now for a ToC list update:
Catherine Hardee $95,201 (4 wins)
Bill Cossen $50,602 (3 wins)
Shane Curtis $42,001 (3 wins)

One year ago: Q & A with Cori Wilhelm!
Two years ago: Andy talks Jeopardy!
Three years ago: Auk!
Four years ago: A princess and diva appear on Jeopardy!

Sigh.

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Andy here!

We have Regina Cabrera and John Campbell challenging Shane Curtis today; will Shane win his 4th?


J! round categories:
DECADES OF ASIAN HISTORY
WHICH SANDWICH?
SURROUNDED BY WATER
TV GUIDE SAYS
NO RUSH
JUST "MBLE" ALONG

The third clue of the game picked was SURROUNDED BY WATER $400. John got to face the clue all by himself as it was the Daily Double!

Scores:

John $400
Shane $0
Regina $0

John bet $400. In 1869 Africa became completely surrounded by water with the opening of this. His correct response put his score at $800 and left $600 on the table.

Regina seemed to be nervous, unfortunately. She stumbled a bit when giving responses and selecting clues, but also seemed to recover by the time the show went to first break! Scores after 15:

Shane $3,400
John $2,600
Regina $200

Alex claimed to have never heard of a "destination wedding" during Regina's interview. Really?

Coming out of the break, Regina's nerves seemed to take over again and she negged a few times again! I really felt bad for her. Shane had most of the good time on the buzzer!

After 30 clues, the scores sat at:

Shane $7,000
John $4,000
Regina -$400

DJ! round categories:
WHEN IN ROME...
HEALTH & MEDICINE
THE NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY
PULITZER PRIZE DRAMA WINNERS
NICKNAMES
THE SOUND OF MONEY

Shane only got 1 of the first 17 clues of the round and John actually vaulted well into the lead! This included John's running of THE NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY!

We got to HEALTH & MEDICINE and NICKNAMES with both Daily Doubles unseen! John saw the first one at $1200 in HEALTH... -- the scores were:

John $16,400
Shane $10,200
Regina $2,000

John bet just $1,600. His clue: In 1911 a Swiss psychiatrist coined this term for a withdrawal into one's inner world in patients with schizophrenia. John went for "lock-in" and fell to $14,800. That was a tough clue!

Regina actually got to the last one, under NICKNAMES $1200! Scores:

John $18,400
Shane $10,600
Regina $2,800

Regina bet $2,000. Her clue: Once known as the Napoleon of the West, he did mess with Texas. Regina's correct response put her at $4,800!

Scores going into Final:

John $20,400
Shane $12,200
Regina $4,800

FJ! category: WORDPLAY

FJ! clue: Subtract a letter from the name of a keystroke found in computer commands & you get this violent reaction to social change

Regina 4800 - 0 = 4800
Shane 12200 - 12200 = 0
John 20400 - 4000 = 16400

Ugh. ANOTHER BET FOR THE TIE. WHY WHY WHY.

Oh well, John's the new champ and he'll be back tomorrow!

Stand up and cheer

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     Yesterday, romance novelist John Campbell defeated 3-time champ Shane Curtis. Let's see what he does today. First I want to show you a Twitter conversation I had this morning!
Jim Hamilton
John Campbell

Chris Hoeh
     Does anybody know of John's books? Better yet, has anyone read them? And best, can anyone track him down for me? :-) Andy and I hoped to have our Hangout about this week's episodes this weekend, but contestants are still making themselves scarce. Sorry.
     John started with a tough category, Alexander Hamilton, Grumpy Guy, but he did well in it, going 4/5. Uh, I didn't. I did sweep Music, so that includes this triple-stumper: "In 2004 he won a Song of the Year Grammy for 'Daughters.'" At the first break:
John 3800 (6 right)
Chris 1400 (3 right and one wrong)
Jim 1600 (5 right)
     John found the Daily Double of the round in Inventive Thinking.
John 4200 (One right and one wrong)
Chris 2600 (2 right and one wrong)
Jim 1600
     John wagered 2000 on this clue: "More than Bell's sidekick, he came up with a ringer that let a telephone caller alert the recipient." John and I got it right. Again, one of the easier clues appears at the bottom of a category instead of the top!
     The next clue was a triple-stumper I got right in Elements of the Fairy Tale: "Weavers don't weave; a kid tells it like it is; out goes a G rating for not-so-brief royal nudity." Jim was so close, and the other contestants still didn't pick it up! I got it right before his neg. I also got this triple-stumper in Egging You On: "This 3-word Chinese-American dish also includes bean sprouts, water chestnuts, scallions & ham." At the end of the round:
John 8400 (3 right)
Chris 4200 (2 right)
Jim 2000 (One right and one wrong)
     There'd been 2 clues left in the round.
     Double Jeopardy was brutally difficult, yeah? I'm sure you also noticed John was sometimes painfully slow to select. Near the end of the round I thought it was a strategy to see as few clues as possible and thus ensure his lock, but I can't explain the other times! Really I think he needn't have worried.
     John found the first Daily Double of the round in European Rivers. (Yucky category.)
John 11200 (3 right)
Chris 4200
Jim 2400 (One right)
     John wagered 3000 on this clue: "Iberus was the ancient name for the longest river entirely within this country." Did you guys lose the coin flip like I did? John was right. Chris then negged on a 2000 clue! Ouch!
     John found the next Daily Double too, in Social Science Books.
John 16600 (3 right and one wrong)
Chris 2200 (One wrong)
Jim 2400
     This time John wagered 1000, on this (impossible?) clue: "'What do school teachers & sumo wrestlers have in common?' is one question asked in this 'crazy' 2005 book." Why was crazy in quotes, anyway? Not that it matters. Of course John didn't get it.
     At this point, since John was selecting so slowly, Chris and Jim should've picked higher-valued clues. But they didn't until Trebek gave a time-running-out warning. (Contestant coordinators advise contestants to do that no matter the situation.)
     I got this triple-stumper in Feel-good Movies: "1952, starring Lana Turner: 'The ____ Widow.'" I said what John did though (and was wrong) on this last clue of the round, in Social Science Books: "James Surowiecki wrote of 'The Wisdom of'these large groups, as opposed to Elites." It was my only neg of the game. Two clues were left covered. I like books, so I'd like to have seen those.
John 17200 (3 right and one wrong)
Chris 4200 (3 right)
Jim 6000 (3 right)
     The Final Jeopardy category was Literature. This was the clue: "This title 1864 adventure is embarked upon by a descent into Iceland's Mount Sneffels." I got this pretty easily. Chris and John got it, too. Pretty bizarre response of "Heidi" from Jim. A "title adventure"?! Poor Jim had to hear Trebek say he loved the humor, but I don't think Jim was trying for laughs. Anyway Chris doubled his score, Jim lost 2400, and John added 1800. We'll see him tomorrow. I hope I get to update the ToC list then.
     My Coryat today was 17800 (18600 without the neg).
   
One year ago: Ryan #JeopardyVote The Sequel
Two years ago: Two Canadians!
Three years ago: Auk!
Four years ago: A princess and diva appear on Jeopardy!

Hip to know "square"

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     First, big props to Shawn Choe. He noticed something that's bothered me since the site was redesigned: The blog archive only goes back 500 posts. I tried to fix it and couldn't, but Shawn took initiative and solved it. Take a look. Thank you so much, Shawn. I'm tempted to give him the laundry list of other blog things that have been driving me crazy! ;-)
     Yesterday the ever-intriguing John Campbell won his second episode. I hope he wins huge today.

Sarah Horvitz
John
Alexander Persaud
(Dubuque's actually quite pretty.)
     I wonder where Alexander lives now!
     I expected Trebek to say "We're finding it way too early" when John found the first Daily Double after one clue, in The Team, The Team, The Team. (What a weird category name.) John had 200 and wagered 1000 on this clue: "The athletic teams of this New England school founded in 1861 are called the Engineers." He and I knew this!
     I know this one in Clothing & Fashion from Trebek hassling Brad Rutter about it when I watched the ToC tapings recently: "GQ calls this hanky with a geometric name the most indispensable tool for defining a man's style." I didn't know til Trebek told the studio audience (over and over) that Brad appeared in Vanity Fair recently. Trebek didn't like that Brad was wearing jeans that day, with clothes that would've otherwise been in a suit. I thought Brad looked nice!
     At the first break:
John 2000 (5 right and 2 wrong)
Alexander 2400 (3 right)
Sarah 2800 (5 right)
     I bet this one in Clothing & Fashion stumped every home viewer, too: "For the man not quite at his college weight, Levi's & Gap jeans both come in this 7-letter style." Poor Sarah and Alexander negged on it. And I knew this triple-stumper in the same category from having gone to Oktoberfest, but I couldn't dig it out in time: "The word for this dress worn by the buxom beer-serving Munich fraulein comes from the German for 'little girl dress.'" I did get this triple-stumper in NSFW: "Don't feed this 'equal-opportunity mauler' after smoking a funny cigarette, as a Montana park employee did."
     At the end of the round:
John 4400 (4 right and one wrong)
Alexander 3400 (3 right and one wrong)
Sarah 4400 (3 right and 2 wrong)
     John found a Daily Double at O Captain! My Literature Captain!.
John 6000 (2 right)
Alexander 6200 (3 right)
Sarah 7200 (5 right and one wrong)
     He wagered 4000 on this clue: "He'went content to the crocodile'; instead of 'bad form', his last words should have been 'Here's seconds!'" John and I got it. Immediately, for the first time today, he resumed his very pokey selecting style!
     Sarah found the next Daily Double in 14 Letters or More.
John 11600 (One right)
Alexander 8200 (One right)
Sarah 8400 (One right)
     Sarah wagered 2400 on this clue: "In psychology this means to separate conflicting feelings as if into different boxes in order to cope." She got it!
     I said what John did on this one worth 2000 in Broadway Musicals by Song: "Lola, Pat, George & ensemble: 'Sex is in the Heel.'"
     Like has been happening a lot this week, there were clues left on the board when the round ended.
John 10000 (One right and one wrong)
Alexander 13000 (3 right)
Sarah 14400 (4 right and one wrong)
     The Final Jeopardy category was Coats of Arms. Yuck, again! This was the clue: "This country's coat of arms features a palm tree & a 19th century American sailing ship." This was a triple-stumper. For my part, I was doing other stuff during this clue and still haven't considered it! John lost 4400, Alexander lost 7000 and Sarah lost a whopping 13000. I'll spare you the math: Alexander wins.
     I think John had the ability to win many games, so I'm sorry this one ended this way. (Nothing against Alexander.)
     My Coryat today was 13800 (18800 without negs).

One year ago: Ryan #JeopardyVote The Sequel
Two years ago: "Fortune favors the bold" (and other TMQ musings)
Three years ago: Auk!
Four years ago: A princess and diva appear on Jeopardy!


LIVE HANGOUT LINK - Episode #9 (October 20, 2014)

Guy Smily

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     First, here's tonight's Hangout in case you missed it.
     Second, look what I saw in the Lincoln Journal Star this weekend:

     The guy on the far left jumped out at me (figuratively speaking). Do you remember him too? Hey, he is a dueling pianist according to the archive. I only noticed that now. And from Connecticut! I probably got way too excited about this.
     This week's contestants:
Angela Chuang
Mike Harwood
Sam Heft-Luthy
Matthew LaMagna
Ali Palmer
Amy Thon
Elizabeth Webster
Deb Williams
     And today:
Emma King
Alexander Persaud


Frederick Foster
     Alexander won his first episode last time.
     Does It's Time for a Flat Circle have some meaning I don't know about?
     The extra-cheerful Frederick found the Daily Double of the round in Letters from Writers:
Alexander 0
Frederick 200 (One right)
Emma 800 (3 right)
     Frederick wagered 1000 on this easy clue: "To F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925: 'We are going in to Pamplona tomorrow. Been trout fishing here.'" Frederick got it.
     At the first break:
Alexander 600 (One right and one wrong)
Frederick 1400 (One right and 2 wrong)
Emma 3600 (5 right and one wrong)
     Naturally I swept Country Music, but what's unnatural is these two being triple-stumpers:
  • "Many a country singer got his start at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe, including this 'Friends in Low Places' superstar." Emma said George Strait!
  • "'Don't Think I Don't Think about It' was a big country hit for this former lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish."
  • "She's not only been a mentor to Kelly Clarkson -- in 2013, she became Kelly's mother-in-law."
     At the end of the round, we still didn't see 3 clues.
Alexander 3800 (4 right)
Frederick 3400 (4 right)
Emma 5000 (4 right and one wrong)
     Emma made the mistake of going to The Balkans (though we probably would've gotten there eventually). Alexander negged on the first one (as did Frederick), but Alexander got the rest of 'em, opening up a huge lead. 
     A still-happy Frederick got the first Daily Double of the round, in A "B" in American History.
Alexander 10200 (6 right and one wrong)
Frederick 4600 (2 right and one wrong)
Emma 6200 (2 right)
     Frederick wagered everything on this clue: "A governor's failure to stop Indian raids prompted this 1676 rebellion led by a Virginia planter." Frederick and I didn't know. :-( It looked like tape stopped there but I don't know why.
     Emma found the next Daily Double in Contranyms
Alexander 17400 (6 right and one wrong)
Frederick 2000 (2 right)
Emma 9400 (3 right) 
     I'd been sweeping the category, so I might've wagered it all. Emma wagered 5000 on this clue: "To ask for professional advice, or to give it." This was tough, and she didn't come up with it either. We had 5 clues left, and 2 were left covered at the end of the round. I wonder if anyone would've picked up the correct response on the last clue, after Emma negged on it. Alex ruled her right at first, and the end of the round buzzer sounded.
Alexander 17400
Frederick 4000 (One right)
Emma 3200 (One right and one wrong)
     The Final Jeopardy category today was the wide Literature. This was the clue: "A chapter heading in this 19th century work calls the title character 'one-eyed, lame,' another calls him 'deaf.'" Emma was wrong, and she lost 3199. Frederick was right and he added 3000. Alexander was right and added 2600. We'll see him tomorrow!
     My Coryat today was 18400 (22200 without negs).

One year ago: Ryan #JeopardyVote, final answer
Two years ago: Deja deja deja deja vu
Three years ago: The Ls don't have the Eyes
Four years ago: Sara gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct

Teleflubbies

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     Yesterday Alexander Persaud made the ToC list (which will be updated at the bottom of this post). I love it, and I hope he kills it again today. Trebek said at the top of today's episode Alexander seems to be getting better each day.




Alexander
Mike Harwood

Ali Palmer (What does she analyze?)
     It was Mike who started strong though, getting 4/5 in Othello. And he didn't slow down. At the first break:
Alexander 2800 (4 right)
Ali 800 (2 right and one wrong)
Mike 4800 (9 right)
   I love Alexander's choice of what he's going to do with his winnings - going with his dad to the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia/New Zealand. Trebek liked it too.
     We (okay, Mike) finally found the Daily Double in Money Talks.
Alexander 5400 (4 right)
Ali 1400 (2 right and one wrong)
Mike 6800 (3 right)
     Mike wagered 1400 on this clue: "Like Annie says, if something's a sure thing, you can do this, put up the last money you have." I got this but to my surprise, Mike didn't!
     It was too close for me to be comfortable at the end of the round.
Alexander 5400 (One right and one wrong)
Ali 1800 (One right)
Mike 6000 (2 right)
     Alexander seemed to think his response of "Tinky Winky" was as funny as I did on this triple-stumper in Take the Stairs: "In a nursery rhyme, he runs 'upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown.'" But good for him for knowing the correct response to this next clue, still in Take the Stairs!: "Some believe the spiral staircase in the Loretto chapel in Santa Fe was built by this patron saint of carpenters himself!"

     I've seen that and it is cool. By the way, happy feast of Pope Saint John Paul II!
     Ali found the first Daily Double, still in Take the Stairs!
Alexander 7000 (2 right and one wrong)
Ali 3400 (One right)
Mike 6000
     Ali wagered it all - which I would've done - on this clue: "The Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome is located near the foot of these famous stairs." She got it!
     We were having quite an exciting game by the time Mike found the next Daily Double in Getting in Shape. It seemed like Alexander and Mike were taking turns responding correctly, and both seemed to be hunting for the Daily Double.
Alexander 11000 (3 right)
Ali 10800 (4 right and one wrong)
Mike 13600 (7 right)
     Were you expecting Mike to get negged here for saying "pinchers" on this clue in Crabby!?: "A crab's front legs develop into claws called chelae, better known by this 'ouchy' name." Immediately after that clue was read, Mike seemed to pause waiting for Trebek to change his mind. At any rate, he wagered on this Daily Double clue: "It's a diamond-shaped rhombus, or a medicated sore throat candy." Mike got it. Like Ali before him, he faked me out as to whether he was going to get it. As a nurse, I dispense lots of those but I've never heard that word used in a geometry sense.
     Oh man, these scores at the end of the round:
Alexander 16200 (5 right)
Ali 12000 (2 right)
Mike 18600 (3 right and one wrong)
     Come on, Alexander!
     The Final Jeopardy category was Eponymous Geography. I bet Alexander felt comfortable with this. This was the clue: "Named around 1616, it's the world's fifth-largest island & the largest named after a person." Ali was right! She added 4300. Alexander was wrong!! He lost 7800. Mike was wrong too and lost 13801. Ali wins?!? Okay. We'll see how she does tomorrow.
     I did not track my Coryat today. This is the only World Series game I'll be able to catch, and I had a church event tonight. In other words, I didn't want to spend time watching the episode twice. :-) My Coryat yesterday, by the way, was 27600 (28600 without negs).
     The ToC list:
Catherine Hardee $95,201 (4 wins)
Alexander Persaud $61,000 (3 wins)
Bill Cossen $50,602 (3 wins)
Shane Curtis $42,001 (3 wins)

One year ago: Ok, go
Two years ago: Deja deja deja deja vu
Three years ago: The Ls don't have the Eyes
Four years ago: Fruity language indeed
   

Success is not final

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     First, I'm so glad this didn't pass me by: Megan Barnes is appearing on Wheel of Fortune tomorrow. This might be the first full episode of it I've ever seen.
     Yesterday, Ali Palmer won her first episode in a pretty strong performance. Let's see if she keeps it up today.


Ali
Matthew LaMagna

Angela Chuang
     It was evident Angela was seated during the episode. I hung around to see if she was in a wheelchair. Nope, but she did have a big brace on her leg.
     I swept, and I suspect we all did, That Is So Like Late 20th Century.
     Each contestant got to say I'm Sexy. Luckily two of the correct responses were men. Can you imagine the uproar? I almost swept this category, but I didn't know this: "This actor has portrayed Johnny Storm & the patriotic Steve Rogers."
     At the first break:
Ali 3000 (6 right)
Angela 1400 (3 right and one wrong)
Matthew 3800 (6 right)
     Trebek apologizing for putting someone on the spot in his interview? Is that a first?
     I wish I'd rung in on this triple-stumper in What the?!: "Hel was banished by this chief god to run Niflheim, but it's not hell, per se, just a spot for those dead of old age or disease." I got the rest in the category.
      I thought sure the Daily Double would be in the video category Alaskan Plant Life. But it wasn't. Matthew found it in U.S. Military Medals. We'd gotten the less-than-a-minute warning with 6 clues left, and now there were 3 after this. Those plant life clues were long, and a couple were triple-stumpers.
Ali 2400 (One wrong)
Angela 1400
Matthew 7200 (7 right)
     Matthew wagered on this clue: "To be eligible for this medal, you must have been held captive after April 5, 1917." I'd never heard of this but I got it right anyway. :-) Probably not the writers' finest hour! This wound up being the last clue we'd see this round.
     My parents and I went to this today. So I was happy to see a category about Winston Churchill when otherwise I'd groan. Today, it was the last category the contestants went to! I thought I knew this correct response from the movie, but I was wrong. :-( And it was a triple-stumper: "The evacuation from this French seaport inspired Churchill's 'We shall fight on the beaches' speech."
     I said "CSI" on the first two clues (and was wrong) in TV Initials.
     I knew this triple-stumper in 3 "T"s before Ali gave the correct response but didn't phrase it in the form of a question: "For their operettas, Sullivan was the composer & Gilbert was this."
     Angela found the first Daily Double of the round in I Have a Theory.
Ali 3600 (2 right and one wrong)
Angela 3800 (3 right)
Matthew 16400 (6 right and one wrong)
     Angela wagered everything on this clue: "John Nash's Nobel Prize announcement mentions this theory that looks at rivalries among competitors." She and I were right.
     I threw out a response and it was correct, on this triple-stumper in Canals: "The Suez Canal is entered from the Mediterranean through this Egyptian port."
     Ali found the next Daily Double in Literary San Francisco.
Ali 5600 (3 right and one wrong)
Angela 8400 (One right)
Matthew 20400 (3 right)
     Ali too wagered it all, on this clue: "This bookstore on Columbus Avenue at Broadway is also a publisher whose books include 'Howl.'" Oh no, she was wrong! That was a tough clue. Did you guys know this one? Luckily Ali got the last clue we saw, so she'll play in Final Jeopardy.
Ali 1200 (One right)
Angela 8400
Matthew 20800 (One right)
     The Final Jeopardy category was French Food History. This was the clue: "A popular product was born when Jean Naigeon of this city substituted the juice of unripe grapes for vinegar." Ali didn't write anything, but she didn't lose anything. Angela was wrong and lost everything but 100. (Why wager so much?) Matthew was wrong too and lost 3000.
     Those of you who watched the Hometown Howdies know what happens tomorrow.
     My Coryat today was 23400 (27000 without negs).

One year ago: Applause
Two years ago: Spiraling out of control
Three years ago: The Ls don't have the Eyes
Four years ago: Fruity language indeed

Oh, no! Mr. Bill!

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     So, am I gonna update the ToC list today? I will if Matthew LaMagna wins. By the way, if you are him or know him, a reader wants him in our next Hangout. I of course have tried a couple things and they haven't worked. We're having a Hangout at 6 p.m. Central tomorrow, but if I don't hear from him he can always come to the next one. ;-) For that matter, if you are or know anybody else this week, I'd love to hear from you!
     My Coryat on Friday was 28400 (29400 without negs).
     This week's contestants:
Ryan Alley
Eileen Dreyer
Jenica Jessen
Tyler Johnson
Allison Solomon
Michael Wille
     And today:
Bill Albertini
Matthew

Dori Phillips
     I loved the category name Straight Out of Compton's Encyclopedia. And Matthew's my kind of guy for starting with Stock Up on Candy, with no hesitation. And that was the last category name read! And how about when Bill said "Stock Up for Candy on...for 400." :-D Sorry, Bill!
     Speaking of Bill, I should've gotten this one right in Stock Up on Candy: "If you're stocking up on candy at Costco (symbol COST), you'll know this house brand is named for a city in Washington." I had reviewed Bill MacDonald's pub quiz questions for his first time hosting at O'Brien's. I did get this triple-stumper in U.S. Cities: "Mary Todd Lincoln was born in this Kentucky city, now a major center for horse breeding." And everyone negged! And I was proud to know this triple-stumper cold in the same category: "That's a statue of Vulcan, in this Alabama city."

     I've been to Birmingham and read about this as I was preparing for my trip.
     Matthew found the Daily Double in U.S. Cities. I sure hope this is right but I have my doubts because I've been texting my mom:
Matthew 2600 (5 right and one wrong)
Dori 1200 (3 right and one wrong)
Bill 800 (4 right and one wrong)
     Matthew wagered it all on this clue: "British general John Forbes named this city for a certain William the Elder." This was tough. Matthew missed it too. Trebek seemed to take pleasure in telling him he had no money! This was the last clue before the break.
     When's the last time you heard a contestant say his favorite movie for his Trebek interview? "Road House," in Bill's case. And that was sweet when Trebek told Bill he was not a disappointment to him! Apparently Bill tells a lot of people his favorite movie, because he said people expect something more cultured to be his favorite.
     Not to nitpick but Matthew said "Gettin' Jiggy with It" in his interview. I like that song, and the fact that Matthew does karaoke! I hate the song "Shout" by the Isley Brothers. Automatic change of station.
     I got this last clue of the round, a triple-stumper in Straight Out of Compton's Encyclopedia: "'It is bronze and weighs 2,080 pounds...is three feet high and measures fully twelve feet around at the lip.'" The scores:
Matthew 1200 (3 right and one wrong)
Dori 5800 (7 right)
Bill 1800 (3 right and one wrong)
     Bill found the first Daily Double of the next round in Last Complete Novel.
Matthew 400 (One wrong)
Dori 7400 (3 right)
Bill 4200 (3 right)
     Bill wagered 3000 on this clue: "'Command Authority' (2013)." Huh?! Whoa, Bill got it! And he was blowin''em out when Matthew found the next Daily Double in The Congress of Vienna.
Matthew 2000 (4 right and one wrong)
Dori 5000 (3 right and 4 wrong)
Bill 14800 (6 right)
     There were only 2 clues on the board after this one; one worth 1200 and one worth 2000. Poor Matthew wagered on this clue: "The Congress redrew the map of Europe; Prussia gained much of this area centered on a river, including Bonn." He got it but it was the last clue! :-(
     It's pretty sad when you look for yourself in the audience shot of a Jeopardy! commercial!
     The Final Jeopardy category was Rock & Roll. This was the clue: "A restaurant chain took its name from a British band's fourth chart-topper, this 1967 song." Matthew got it and doubled his score. Dori was wrong and lost 2500. Bill was right, much to his surprise because he wrote an extra word. He added 4750! Lucky break!
     I tried to track my Coryat today but got mixed up on clue values and didn't want to figure out where I went wrong. Sorry. On one hand I was doing well, but on the other I fudged some responses for both better and worse - I had a hard time deciding whether to count some things right.

One year ago: Controvrsy, Controvers
Two years ago: Frowns all around
Three years ago: Stand and deliver
Four years ago: [untitled]
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