teebax

For today's game, I had Katie Sagal, Point Nemo, lice, Julia Gordon Lowe, and Kindred, which I only knew because I've been playing old games on the archive. I said pony express immediately and was surprised it was a TS. Will is a dominant player. I thought John was going to give him a run for his money, but he faded in DJ.

I just watched "The Old Man and the Gun" this weekend, and, strangely, I think it helped me get to "nine old men" because what else would they have called them before a woman showed up? I also had The Good Earth and FJ, but for me it just wasn't that fun of a game. Will had a pretty big lead, and I think I just checked out a bit while watching.

Lol. He was like that Will Farrell character on SNL. I give hin a pass on that because it may be caused by hearing problrms, but I couldn't root for him because it's unacceptable to go on Jeopardy and not know what an anagram is. Between that and St. Elmo's fire I did some head-scratching during the game.

I had boccie (never seen it spelled like that either), Immortal Beloved, JFK, and said Mariah Carey before Alex finished reading. Why does being from Idaho have anything to do with not knowing FJ? Joan was from Washington State by way of Canada and she knew it. That was a strange comment.

I can't remember the last time I actively rooted against a contestant. I was happy he lost, but I'm sad about Jill. I liked her calm demeanor and playing style. I had Tallchief, Amy Adams, Lesabre, and FJ after some thought.

If I had a comfortable lead and had bet zero, I'd have totally written "Oh the huge manatee" for FJ. Yes, I do spend my entire day with teenagers. I had late night talk show, Jefferson Davis, Lean, cajole, Saudi Arabia, Ming, Lara., and FJ immediately. I wouldn't have accepted Jill's response of string bean were I a judge. It didn't fit the clue.

I got "backspace" incorrect. I called it erase because that's what I've always called it, even though it is clearly labeled "backspace" on my laptop. D'oh!

That was a fun game. I like when it's close. I had double indemnity, bananas, good grief, preemption, and cable. I had FJ pretty quickly, once I made sure they wanted the book, not the author. Lol. I liked all three contestants today, but congratulations to Jill.

WTF? You have to be married to be an adult now? TIL I'm a child. (eyeroll) Anyway, I agree with Bill about people who play so many video games life passes them by. I read a lot of advice columns, and I see letters about this all the time. I couldn't care less about comic books or superhero movies: not my thing. However, I feel bad for people trying to have adult relationships with people who are obsessed with gaming. I think that was Bill's point.

For me, I thought the clue was saying "this author" instead of "this book." It's actually a common mistake. We see contestants do it and boardies like me do it too. I did mention it was inexcusable to me when I went back and rewatched. I'm trying to get better about not making those boneheaded mistakes. It happens when I play on J board too, though.

I'm officially counting boo as correct. It seems @GreekGeek and I were sharing a brain this evening.

I had Borden, The Birds, and thorns. I misread the FJ clue and said Atwood. Boo hiss indeed. I rewatched it, and that was an inexcusable mistake for me. I said "boo" for sweetheart in the two vowels category. Judges? It was something about a current word, and I've heard people call someone their boo. (I'm pleading my case here!)

That was an exciting game today! I had unsung, NASDAQ, The Book Thief, Chipotle, December 25th, and FJ in an instaget. Congrats to Haley on the win! I was fine with John, but I liked the way she played. Her summer camp sounds amazing.

You're comment about "admitting" being gay is a bit strange. You admit something negative about yourself. I'm not comfortable with the idea I have to "admit" being gay. I'm pretty proud of it. That being said, I had the same thought about him missing a Broadway category FJ. I mean, I'm pretty butch. If there were a softball or WNBA category, I'd expect a lesbian to run it, even though none of my female partners have remotely been interested in sports. Anyway, one of my interview stories is about my partner wanting to go to Greece and my wanting to take her if I can. If it comes up, I wonder how many people watching from home will think I'm referring to a business partner.

That was my thought process as well, but I've actually seen the musical. I don't remember it being broken into parts. However, knowing about Frankie Valli made it an easy one for me.

I played softball growing up so that may also be the case for me.

@j5cochran that's one of my recurring nightmares: to get an FJ question that I don't know and then find out I'd have gotten the next day's correct. Timing really is everything! Someone asked what I studied that came up during my test, and I forgot to answer: classical music (who composed the Brandenburg Concerto), mythology (something about Aphrodite being Venus), and UK royals (can't remember the questions, but there were two I wouldn't have known otherwise). I watched a great series on Greek mythology on Amazon Prime. I also watched a Nordic one that wasn't as well done. I need to do the same for Roman and Egyptian mythology. I had never really been interested in mythology and am growing to love it. I wish I could say the same for classical music, but I at least now know who wrote some of the major works. Something else I forgot to mention was that I am left-handed but felt more comfortable using the buzzer with my right hand. That really surprised me.

Thanks for the votes of confidence. I'll keep you all in the loop, of course.

I have provided my stories, but they didn't ask about them. They wanted to know how we'd spend our winnings, besides paying off bills. I said I'd do a radical remake of my classroom to bring it into the 21st century. They didn't feed us, and we weren't in the studio. We were in a hotel in Culver City. I stayed there, but most didn't. It was about $220 a night, so I don't blame them. However, it was pouring rain, so I was glad I chose to stay at the same place as the audition. We received clicky pens to practice with and earbuds in a Jeopardy pouch. Apparently if you make the show you get a discounted room, but the only discount I got was AARP thanks to my mom going with me. The show will pay for your travel if you win on Wednesday and have to come back on Tuesday, the next taping day. They mentioned it became a huge deal when Ken was on his winning streak.

Thanks, Jill! Oh, there were people who didn't get it. I had no problem because that's how I call categories when I play at home (working through the j archive). They said they're looking for contestants who came to play, so I think it's important to heed their advice.

The pool is for 18 months, so they can call at any time, but they try to give about a month's notice. They pull teachers tournament contestants from the regular pool. There was a gentleman who was upset he didn't qualify for the tournament because he teaches in a prison and not a school. You have to be teaching full-time in a school. The grade range is from grades K through 12. There were about 30 in my audition group. There was another group coming in right after we finished. It took about 2 1/2 hours. Mock games were played using the actual buzzers. Buzzer mashing is instructed. They also told us not to say full category names. Players who said "I'll take (blank) for (dollar amount) were lightly scolded and reminded to keep it moving. Don't say please or I'll take. Don't say I'll take African Countries for six hundred, just say Countries for six. I mentioned that I prefer starting at the tops and was told Alex does too. I already knew that, but it was nice to hear. We were all tested in person after the online test. I assume that's to ferret out any cheaters. We weren't given our scores but were given time to chat amongst ourselves while they graded our score sheets. That's why I'm confident in how I did. Let me know if I can answer any other questions. It was fun, and I highly recommend auditioning. My studying paid off. There were three questions that I got correct because of my studying! Sorry if this is scattered. I just got home, and I'm mentally spent. Lol.

I wanted to post here and just say my auditon went really well. I had a great time and really enjoyed meeting the other hopefuls. I'm now eligible for the Teachers Tournament and regular Jeopardy. I'm hoping for the tournament but know it's only 15 spots. I enjoyed meeting the staff members, who were all friendly and supportive. I did extremely well on the test (46/50 I think) and in the mock game, but I know that may not matter. There were three other Tucsonans in my audition group, which surprised me. I bonded with one of them. So, if nothing else, I'm rooting for everyone in my group. It'd be cool to see one (or some) of them on the show.

My audition is Thursday in Culver City. Fingers crossed! I had Carrie Fisher, which was a surprising TS, and John Philip Sousa. Final Jeopardy came to me immediately, and I wasn't surprised all three contestants had it right. That one was pretty easy. One of my students said he hopes I make the show and finish in the red so he can laugh at me. That was one of the meanest things I've been told. Thankfully, the rest of the class got all over him for it. He said he was just kidding but, really dude?

Me too. That was such a great show. I recently went back and watched the entire run again. It holds up well!

To be fair, he gave me exactly what I wanted! I like the new champ, but I liked Jessica too. Either of them winning would have been fine by me.