Jeopardy! Season 37 (2020-2021)

[Browncoat]

I completely guessed for FJ, and guessed the only one I could think of who might have been in the right time period.  I was shocked!  Shocked, I tell you!  to find out I was correct.  I am generally terrible at Royalty.

I also got Snake River and Begorra.

[BuckeyeLou]

The Jeopardy "curse" continues, they had a question about Lenny & Squiggy tonite(Laverne & Shirley)...and Squiggy just passed away 😞

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, BuckeyeLou said:

The Jeopardy "curse" continues, they had a question about Lenny & Squiggy tonite(Laverne & Shirley)...and Squiggy just passed away 😞

I thought about that, too. 😞 

5 minutes ago, Katy M said:

BTW, when med terms came up, I was thinking that "algia" is a suffix for pain. Is nostalgia supposed to be painful? 

Now you made me go google. "late 18th century (in the sense ‘acute homesickness’): modern Latin (translating German Heimweh ‘homesickness’), from Greek nostos ‘return home’ + algos ‘pain’." So...yeah, kinda.

[saber5055]

Add me to the group who got Snake River and Begorra, and I'll raise you one Cutty Sark.

I saw the FJ category and thought "Oh, cr*p" and I was correct. My guess of Charlemagne was cr*p and only a few hundred centuries off.

Brayden is a MACHINE. I hope he stays around a long time. It makes AT happy.

[zoey1996]

I knew begorra and Cutty Sark. For FJ I guessed Henry VIII, but James 1/6 also crossed my mind.

I too thought of Squiggy.

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Brayden is a MACHINE. I hope he stays around a long time. It makes AT happy.

Alex seemed to be encouraging Brayden to bet bigger on the FJs. 

I got a lot of the first half, and patted myself on the back for getting Snake River and Silk Road before anyone on screen.

I guess if I'd watched more with my parents I would have gotten faster and we could have bonded over the show.

Edited December 17, 2020 by shapeshifter
Deleted “Brayden made Alex happy too”

[saber5055]

12 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Brayden made Alex happy too.

Just fyi, AT is Alex Trebek.

[Bastet]

No one knowing Michelle Bachelet = Chile was a little surprising, but the TS that surprised me more in that category was no one even taking a guess for Norway; the clue spotted Scandinavia, so there weren't many to choose from (even thinking culturally rather than strictly geographically) - take a shot!

Ding dongs also surprised me - gross, IMO, but quite popular - but maybe they were trying to think of the name of those other nasty chocolate things from Hostess, the ones with the white swirl on top.  Or maybe none of them are of the right age for it to be a ready association; I didn't pay any attention other than Brayden looks like he's 14.

I got everything except for two of the TV comedies in the first round, but was not as good in DJ (as is my usual pattern); I only missed about half a dozen scattered clues, though, so still a good game.  Until FJ; I didn't even have a guess (not unexpected, given the category).

[M. Darcy]

Nuremberg! I lived there when I was little. 

[saber5055]

22 minutes ago, M. Darcy said:

Nuremberg! I lived there when I was little. 

Did you have lots of gingerbread, breakfast, lunch and dinner?

[Prevailing Wind]

I got the Silk Road & a few others. For FJ, I went with the guy who re-did the bible & guessed King James. I never would have come up with H8 - isn't he the one who broke with the Pope & started his own religion? Some "defender of the faith."

[Mindthinkr]

I got all 3 DD’s as well as Snake, Cutty Sark, and FJ. Who am I this week? I also thought of the Jeopardy curse when the Laverne and Shirley clue came up. Brayden is just a wiz. Both of his games were runaways. 

[Trey]

48 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I got the Silk Road & a few others. For FJ, I went with the guy who re-did the bible & guessed King James. I never would have come up with H8 - isn't he the one who broke with the Pope & started his own religion? Some "defender of the faith."

I believe there was a Final Jeopardy maybe last year with this being the gist of the clue.

My ts's were Snake River, Ding Dongs, and begorrah. Instaget FJ.

I don't really like runaway games but Brayden is pretty impressive. He does sway a bit though.

 

[GreekGeek]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

 I never would have come up with H8 - isn't he the one who broke with the Pope & started his own religion? Some "defender of the faith."

I thought the same thing. I guessed Mary I ("Bloody Mary"), since the clue didn't say "he."

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

never would have come up with H8 - isn't he the one who broke with the Pope & started his own religion? Some "defender of the faith."

That was later.  After Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Theses, Henry VIII published a pamphlet refuting them and the Pope named him the Defender of the Faith.  It wasn't until the Pope refused him a divorce, that he broke with Rome.  Because he was a big whiny baby. So, Anne Boleyn was a protestant, but Henry VIII really wasn't. The religion he started was basically catholocism without the pope.  And that kings can get divorced.

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I never would have come up with H8 - isn't he the one who broke with the Pope & started his own religion? Some "defender of the faith."

That's kinda why he came to mind first; I said it somewhat sarcastically, like, "it's probably Henry VIII" with a little laugh. But I was right!

[MrAtoz]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

After Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Theses, Henry VIII published a pamphlet refuting them and the Pope named him the Defender of the Faith.  It wasn't until the Pope refused him a divorce, that he broke with Rome.

It's also probably worth mentioning that these were two different popes.  Henry was named Defender of the Faith by Pope Leo X.  The annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was refused by Pope Clement VII.

[M. Darcy]

12 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Did you have lots of gingerbread, breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Gingerbread and bratwurst - breakfast of champions 

[M. Darcy]

Episodes that will air for Alex’s favorite episodes 

[saber5055]

Yeah, tomorrow is the last day for the regular season until January 4. Time is flying.

[proserpina65]

Jesus fucking Christ, I hate Brayden.  So much so that, under other circumstances, I'd stop watching until he was gone, but I'm not missing any of Alex's final games.  So I will suffer through.  But I was pleased that I got FJ with very little difficulty, and he did not.

[ams1001]

My best night so far this week. 

Ran Streaming Service, Copping a "Tude" and 1800s America, got 4 correct in six other categories, all three DDs (again!), and Final Jeopardy.
Got 23/30 in each round plus FJ for a final score of 77%.

[proserpina65]

20 hours ago, Bastet said:

No one knowing Michelle Bachelet = Chile was a little surprising,

Why?  I'm pretty good with foreign leaders, but I've never heard of her.  For the other, I was torn between Sweden and Norway, and guessed wrong.  But yeah, I was surprised no one tried.  I did know Iceland the minute I saw her name ended in "dottir".

[illdoc]

Cyrano was a TS???? And I thought FJ was easy! Of course, "Play Characters" and one comes up with a non-play character ("Zorro") and one comes up with a non-title character ("Laertes"). At least the champ had a title play character (so to speak).

[Katy M]

I got FJ after first saying Don Quixote and switching to Cyrano.  

The only TS I got were Victoria Falls (which was surprising after someone answered Lake Victoria) and Quebec.

I got the entire categories of streaing and author's pets right and the entire category of man about town wrong.

[M. Darcy]

I got FJ! Cyrano was the only one I could think of who had a connection to dueling (good thing Hamlet didn’t occur to me).

[Browncoat]

I am tired of Brayden and the Runaway Games.  And I was terribly surprised that he missed FJ!  It was an instaget for me, so give me that asterisk!

I also got the TS of things with wheels, Victoria Falls, roach motel, 409, and Gravity's Rainbow.

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, M. Darcy said:

I got FJ! Cyrano was the only one I could think of who had a connection to dueling (good thing Hamlet didn’t occur to me).

I did think Shakespeare first, but then I figured out what "visage's central ornament" meant.

[SoMuchTV]

So am I the only one who’s heard of Welcome to Night Vale?

[Bastet]

5 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Why?  I'm pretty good with foreign leaders, but I've never heard of her. 

She was the first woman elected president in Chile, and the first Chilean president to be reelected in a long time (something like 80 years).  When she was a med student, her father was killed by Pinochet's goons, and she and her mom were tortured; she went into exile for several years before returning.  She had to start her education all over again as her European university credits were not honored.  When she graduated, the government denied her public sector work on political grounds; she wound up heading up the medical department of an NGO.

When Pinochet was ousted, she was able to work in the Health Department and eventually became Health Minister.  She dramatically overhauled the country's healthcare system.  Somewhere in there she furthered her other primary interest, civil-military relations, by getting a Master's in that field, and later became Defense Minister - not just the first woman in Chile, but all of Latin America (and one of a handful in the world).  She instituted wide-ranging reform there, too.

Upon being elected president, she appointed the first Cabinet that was 50/50 men and women.  A shit ton of reforms happened during her two terms.

She now heads the UN's Human Rights Commission.

[Kimmmmmm]

I'm not at all tired of Brayden...he's fun to watch and hope his run continuess for a long time!

[proserpina65]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

She was the first woman elected president in Chile, and the first Chilean president to be reelected in a long time (something like 80 years).  When she was a med student, her father was killed by Pinochet's goons, and she and her mom were tortured; she went into exile for several years before returning.  She had to start her education all over again as her European university credits were not honored.  When she graduated, the government denied her public sector work on political grounds; she wound up heading up the medical department of an NGO.

When Pinochet was ousted, she was able to work in the Health Department and eventually became Health Minister.  She dramatically overhauled the country's healthcare system.  Somewhere in there she furthered her other primary interest, civil-military relations, by getting a Master's in that field, and later became Defense Minister - not just the first woman in Chile, but all of Latin America (and one of a handful in the world).  She instituted wide-ranging reform there, too.

Upon being elected president, she appointed the first Cabinet that was 50/50 men and women.  A shit ton of reforms happened during her two terms.

She now heads the UN's Human Rights Commission.

Wow, she sounds quite accomplished, but there's still no way I would ever have heard of her.  And I know someone whose family lives in Chile; of course, we don't ever talk about politics.

[ams1001]

25 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

So am I the only one who’s heard of Welcome to Night Vale?

I have! I've never listened to it but a friend of mine is a fan.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

But I was pleased that I got FJ with very little difficulty, and he did not.

And I was pleased that I came up with the same FJ answer as the Brainiac Machine Brayden. He's a good thing happening at a bad time for Mr. Trebek, and I hope he continues to win. Plus I like runaway games because I hate stress, and close games are stressful for me.

The FJ verbiage confused me but if I had more time to contemplate it I might have realized all that OTT verbiage was about a nose.

No I wouldn't.

I got Victoria Falls, Quebec (poor AT, another missed Canada clue. Why don't people look at a Canadian map in between scouring Europe and Asia maps) 409 and Roach Motel, which I found hilarious. I remember those commercials: "They'll check in but they won't check out." Even though they do indeed "check out," although in a different way.

1 hour ago, SoMuchTV said:

So am I the only one who’s heard of Welcome to Night Vale?

Yes. Just you and ams1001.

Edited December 18, 2020 by saber5055

[proserpina65]

6 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Plus I like runaway games

I think part of why I hate Brayden is that I hate runaway games.  I don't enjoy it as much when the winner is a foregone conclusion.  (Unless the winner is really cute, of course.)

[GreekGeek]

26 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I think part of why I hate Brayden is that I hate runaway games.  I don't enjoy it as much when the winner is a foregone conclusion.  (Unless the winner is really cute, of course.)

I hear you about the runaways. It’s why I started rooting against Ken around win 20. (Though I would be OK with him as host.) I like that Brayden seems kind of uncertain at times but rings in anyway. Just when you think he’ll miss a DD, he says the correct answer.

[Bastet]

Brayden's luck in finding the DDs is really something.  I like the way he leans in to better see/hear/concentrate on them; it's a cute little quirk.

I wouldn't have predicted 409, herbicide, roach motel, or San Francisco to stump them, but no true surprises -- until FJ.  I'm surprised none of them twigged to nose ("my visage's center ornament" as a source of mockery) and thus came up with it.

The only clue I missed in the first round was diets (I've never heard of any of them other than Mediterranean), but I missed at least a dozen in DJ.  No one blown category, just a lot of scattered misses.  But I rebounded in FJ.

Edited December 18, 2020 by Bastet

[3 is enough]

I’m not sure why, but Brayden reminds me of Donald Trump. 🤷🏼‍♀️  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is some similarity.
If he wins tomorrow he will be there to start Alex’s last week.  I’m pretty sure our local news in Las Vegas will be interviewing him at some point.

Edited December 18, 2020 by 3 is enough

[shapeshifter]

10 hours ago, Kimmmmmm said:

I'm not at all tired of Brayden...he's fun to watch and hope his run continuess for a long time!

I enjoy seeing Alex's delight in Brayden. Alex likes smart people, so Brayden must have seemed like a gift.

9 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Brainiac Machine Brayden. He's a good thing happening at a bad time for Mr. Trebek, and I hope he continues to win.

Exactly.

 

I was able to think of a lot of DJ answers before they were spoken, and I did know San Francisco (lived in Northern Cali for 20+ years from the late 1970s through 2001).

 

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by shapeshifter

[SHD]

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

So am I the only one who’s heard of Welcome to Night Vale?

No! But I admit I only know of it because the guys behind it were guests on Colbert’s show about 5 years ago.

[853fisher]

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

She was the first woman elected president in Chile...

In this case, I certainly. recognized her name but couldn't match her to Chile.  Great example of the supplementary material I so enjoy in this thread.  That includes everything from paragraph-length summaries to standalone fun facts to personal stories.  Thank you all!

14 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I like that Brayden seems kind of uncertain at times but rings in anyway.

I was thinking that Brayden does well at quickly teasing out what a clue is most likely referring to even when he doesn't know it.  This particularly struck me on the "in 1964 I was the first accused as I practiced as an attorney in Johannesburg" clue.  I don't think he definitively knew that it was Mandela any more than I did, but we both sensed that the clue was likely to be Mandela, given the general style we've picked up from watching over the years.  Returning has probably increased his confidence in these kinds of answers even more.  I sense that he might not be my first choice to grab a beer with, but I can't say he isn't playing admirably.

21 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

Episodes that will air for Alex’s favorite episodes 

Far be it from me to turn my nose up at any tribute to Alex, but I have to confess that I would have preferred a richer chronological mix of episodes.  These are all from the past 15 of 35 years.  Perhaps only during that time frame did Alex do the kinds of categories described.

 

I remember Carl Hiaasen's charming young adult novel "Hoot" from fifth grade or so.  I think I knew he was a columnist in Miami, but not that he was writing novels like "Strip Tease."  Wikipedia tells me that "it is a crime novel set in Florida and features Hiaasen's characteristic black humor."  Once I return a few things, that will have to be on my list at the library.

I was a little disappointed San Francisco was a triple stumper, as I type this from there.  Perhaps Herb Caen was before their time, looking at those onstage.  It seems he is invoked most often to make a point about "Old San Francisco" as we face up to the changes we've allowed to be wrought over the past few decades.  I have never been convinced of his unimpeachable status as a guardian of "Old SF" myself, but I'm sure he'd be disappointed if anyone agreed with him all the time.

A few others were fun for me personally.  My big brother from Alabama married a creative writing and literature teacher from North Carolina and had a Flannery O'Connor themed reception featuring a group puzzle, so I am naturally expected to know any question about her.  "Only the shadow knows," like "it certainly is, Ollie" and many others, is one of those little sayings my father likes to use.  He doesn't like to be "interrogated" about things like that, so as I've been peeling back layers of pop culture over the years, I've been delighted to come across the source of many of them.  And sometimes they mean I know game show clues!

Edited December 18, 2020 by 853fisher

[Browncoat]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

I like the way he leans in to better see/hear/concentrate on them; it's a cute little quirk.

 

9 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I like that Brayden seems kind of uncertain at times but rings in anyway.

 

3 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I was thinking that Brayden does well at quickly teasing out what a clue is most likely referring to even when he doesn't know it.  

Ken Jennings did all of these things.  And not all of Ken's games were runaways, unlike James's games that nearly always were.  

[MrAtoz]

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

Brayden's luck in finding the DDs is really something.

It may not be entirely luck.  He answers a lot of clues correctly, which means he gets to control the board most of the time.  When you control the board, you're more likely to find Daily Doubles.

I have nothing to complain about with Brayden.  He's a good player (I have no problem with educated guesses when you're not sure), and seems likeable enough.  And like others have said, I'm glad that Alex got to experience another good champ in his final games.  He always seemed to enjoy good players.

It's sad to realize that the games we're seeing this week were all taped on Alex's next-to-last day of work.  The final week's games will have been taped on his last day.  I think about the contestants who taped on that day.  How they will always know that they were there on Alex's final day of Jeopardy, even though none of them knew it at the time.  How bittersweet would that be?

If Brayden has a long run, as he seems likely to do, he might still be champion for Alex's final game.  I can't imagine how that would feel, if it were me.

[Mindthinkr]

It is so nice to see Alex excited, as he seems to be with this champ Braydon. I had a decent game. I came up with Victoria Falls, Quebec (shocker not one contestant got that), Roach Motel, and San Francisco. Once I heard the correct answer to FJ it all made sense, but not to me in time to answer the question correctly. 

[Prevailing Wind]

6 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I remember Carl Hiaasen's charming young adult novel "Hoot" from fifth grade or so.  I think I knew he was a columnist in Miami, but not that he was writing novels like "Strip Tease."  Wikipedia tells me that "it is a crime novel set in Florida and features Hiaasen's characteristic black humor."  Once I return a few things, that will have to be on my list at the library.

Start with his first, Tourist Season, and read them in order. The latest one is Squeeze Me. There's a recurring character (not in all the novels) and it's helpful to know his background from the start. You can skip Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World, especially if you're a Disney fan. You might get disillusioned. And you can skip Paradise Screwed, Kick Ass, and Dance of the Reptiles...those are collections of his columns for the Herald. I couldn't read more than two columns at a time without getting extremely angry at how TPTB run Florida.  My favorite is Native Tongue for its opening sequence and the many mentions of Warren Zevon. (Somebody told WZ about it, so he went to a book signing to meet CH and they became lifelong friends.)  Basket Case has a song in it - lyrics by CH, music by WZ and it's on WZ"s album My Ride's Here. WZ also gave CH the title for Skinny Dip. CH was writing it, sending chapters to WZ to read as he was dying from mesothelioma. The last chapter was in the FedEx system when Zevon died. 

The second novel is Double Whammy and it amazed me that bass fishing was such a big deal in some quarters. Even if you think you'll hate it because bass fishing is dumb, read it anyway - it's Hiaasen; you can't go wrong.

Count me as one who's heard of Welcome to Nightvale. I've never listened to a podcast, but there are some novels. I got the first one from the library and it could be I just wasn't in the right frame of mind, but it seemed to be quirky for quirky's sake. It seemed forced to me, so I forgot about continuing. Maybe some day, when lockdown doesn't have me in such a tailspin, I'll try it again,

[proserpina65]

7 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I was a little disappointed San Francisco was a triple stumper, as I type this from there.  Perhaps Herb Caen was before their time, looking at those onstage.

I've never heard of him, so I had no clue on that one.  In fact, I think the only clue I got in that category was Carl Hiassen.

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Ken Jennings did all of these things.  And not all of Ken's games were runaways, unlike James's games that nearly always were.

I didn't like Ken at the time, and I still don't like James.  And I can't wait to see the back of Brayden.  I'm glad, I guess, that Alex enjoyed having him as a contestant, but that doesn't make me want to see more of him.

[Trey]

I still like Brayden.

Only three ts's for me: Victoria Falls, Quebec - I'm surprised no one even guessed at it, and 409.

My first thought for FJ was Man in the Iron Mask. First off, not a play and then I reread the clue and "visage's center ornament" stood out so I changed it to Cyrano de Bergerac.

I've heard of Herb Caen but said LA instead of SF, so right state at least.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

Brayden's luck in finding the DDs is really something.

It may not be entirely luck.  He answers a lot of clues correctly, which means he gets to control the board most of the time.  When you control the board, you're more likely to find Daily Doubles.

Yes, Brayden is statistically likely to find the DDs, but also, aren't the DDs typically not under the top rows?
Since Brayden uses a bit of the James Holzhauer method of going for the higher amounts early, he is also more likely to find the DDs early.

[bad things are bad]

On 12/17/2020 at 11:57 AM, M. Darcy said:

Gingerbread and bratwurst

Bratwurst mit broetchen und ein Fanta, bitte

Although I'm old enough now to have ein bier. 

I confidently said all three contestants would get Cyrano. I was wrong

[saber5055]

9 hours ago, 853fisher said:

"Only the shadow knows," like "it certainly is, Ollie" and many others, is one of those little sayings my father likes to use.

Same with my mom, so I was quite familiar with Lamont Cranston when The Shadow was one of the shows played on late-night radio a while back. I love old radio shows.

@MrAtoz, your post made me cry. So insightful. Thank you.