Jeopardy! Season 38 (2021-2022)

[SoMuchTV]

Yet again, E B White has led me astray in FJ. 

[Katy M]

I got  FJ, but it was a complete and utter guess.

I got the missed clues of exhume, Louis XVI, the Maze, a, and Massachusetts.

I got the entire category of I did that right and the entire UN category wrong.

 

[ams1001]

Just now, SoMuchTV said:

Yet again, E B White has led me astray in FJ. 

That's who I picked, too. I didn't think it was right, but I had nothing better, and when you say 'style guide,' who else do you think of?

[853fisher]

I said "unbury" instead of "exhume."  Inelegant, but it seems to fit!

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

I said "unbury" instead of "exhume."  Inelegant, but it seems to fit!

It's a word...exhume is listed as a synonym.

[chessiegal]

Got FJ thanks to Ken Burns and Lynn Novick for their PBS documentary on Hemingway. I find Hemingway to be a fascinating person.

[shoregirl]

I wish the Les Mis would have been an answer in both categories it would have made me laugh.

Jimmy Rollins trended on Twitter for a little bit because he wasn't this Jimmy Rollins

[Cotypubby]

Never actually read any Hemingway but I know that any time they ask about a short terse writing style it’s always Hemingway.

[HyeChaps]

My wild FJ guess was Jimmy Breslin.

But, if anything, he was wordy.

[Bastet]

I was very surprised by The Jungle being a TS (not that no one recognized the character name - I didn't, either - but that "packing houses" didn't twig at least one to meat packing, resulting in an "a-ha, at $200, it has to be The Jungle" moment).  I was also a little surprised by exhume going unanswered; I guess they don't watch crime dramas, where bodies get exhumed on the regular.

I only ran etymology and musicals in the first round, but I only missed six among the other four categories, so it wasn't great but it wasn't bad.

I did slightly better in DJ, which was exciting as I usually do notably worse -- I only ran tools and body, but only had five misses.

For FJ, I wasn't sure if I should be thinking of authors who wrote like that, or authors who wrote long flowery sentences (someone who, once he got to do his own writing, rather than being assigned stories and dictated a style, went in the opposite direction).  I thought the former most likely, so Hemingway was my first guess.

[30 Helens]

This was one of those days where I knew so much more than I was able to spit out in time. (Me: “Oh, the- the-“ Ken: “The Jungle.” Me: “Yeah!!”) I’m afraid that’s exactly what would happen to me if I were to go on the show. FJ was an instaget, though, so… yay?

”Shouldn’t he be able to open his own door, though?” Silly as it was, it’s this kind of quick ad lib that makes me love Ken. Especially since he lets it lay there in its own dad-joke-ness and moves on. Another host might have been so impressed with their own cleverness that the joke would have been punctuated with a giggle and a shimmy.

[GreekGeek]

10 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Yet again, E B White has led me astray in FJ. 

I never thought of him. If I had, I would have been unsure of the answer. But yes, "terse and vigorous" = Hemingway.

I was sure Lara would buzz in for Louis XVI once Louis XV was ruled incorrect. Given the way the rulings have gone lately, I wondered if Jimmy could have gotten away with "Louis"?

I also got Les Miserables, The Jungle, Massachusetts, atomic energy, red blood cells, and 9/12/01. I agree it was surprising that The Jungle was a TS, but maybe people got hung up on the name "Jurgis" and tried to figure out which book had a hero by that name. 

[Mindthinkr]

On Monday I did so so. I got Sanford, Deborah, and knew it was Lake Superior. No FJ. 
Yesterday I came up with Louis XVI, The Jungle, Massachusetts, the DD of solar Plexus, Red blood cells, and I’m another White guesser for FJ. I just read a biography on Hemingway last year, but in my defense I was under anesthesia for a couple hours yesterday and wasn’t thinking too straight. 

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, ams1001 said:

No FJ. Never read any Hemingway...I'll blame it on that.

Forced to read Hemingway - got it in a flash. Never did like him - more of a Steinbeck fan, myself.

9 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

This was one of those days where I knew so much more than I was able to spit out in time. (Me: “Oh, the- the-“ Ken: “The Jungle.” Me: “Yeah!!”) I’m afraid that’s exactly what would happen to me if I were to go on the show. FJ was an instaget, though, so… yay?

That was me too - and The Jungle is a book I'm really familiar with with and just couldn't get it to come to mind. Sheesh.

I did fairly well, almost ran a couple of categories, so it was a good game for me.

[Trey]

I knew Hemingway worked as a reporter in Toronto in his younger days so FJ was an instaget. At least an instaguess because I suppose lots of writers were reporters at one time in their lives.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Trey

[proserpina65]

On 2/14/2022 at 7:10 PM, 853fisher said:

No FJ joy for me.

I had no idea either.  I figured Superior was the lake but had not a clue about any cities on its shores.

On 2/14/2022 at 10:30 PM, shapeshifter said:

Yeah, I wonder if at least in part Dave is baring his forearms in solidarity with Amy? 

I doubt it.  He's probably just more comfortable that way.  Not everything is about Amy.

On 2/15/2022 at 6:09 AM, Browncoat said:

I would much rather a contestant stand with their arms crossed than lean on the podium.

I don't much care how they stand.  It's generally about comfort.  Hell, even swaying is about comfort.

On 2/14/2022 at 10:34 PM, Bastet said:

It's an odd thing to enjoy, I know, but I always do like when contestants stand with arms crossed like that, as I am certain if I ever experimented with buzzer holding positions that would be my best as well.

I can't remember what I did.  Guess I need to go back and watch the tape again because now I'm curious.  Although I think I'll skip FJ.  (I'm really glad I wasn't on any sites with comments about Jeopardy when my show aired.  I'm sure the comments were not kind.)

[proserpina65]

16 hours ago, ams1001 said:

That's who I picked, too. I didn't think it was right, but I had nothing better, and when you say 'style guide,' who else do you think of?

I knew it was Hemingway because that's something which bugs the hell out of me about his writing.  I find myself wanting to smack him and shout "Use some damned compound sentences!" when reading anything he wrote.

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I was very surprised by The Jungle being a TS (not that no one recognized the character name - I didn't, either - but that "packing houses" didn't twig at least one to meat packing, resulting in an "a-ha, at $200, it has to be The Jungle" moment). 

I'm not.  Does anyone read The Jungle?  Hell, I'd barely know it existed if it didn't turn up as a Jeopardy clue now and then.

5 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Yesterday I came up with Louis XVI, The Jungle, Massachusetts, the DD of solar Plexus, Red blood cells,

I didn't get The Jungle (obviously) but did get the others.  Both solar plexus and red blood cells were complete guesses, though.

3 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Forced to read Hemingway - got it in a flash. Never did like him - more of a Steinbeck fan, myself.

I hate Hemingway but I had to read him in both high school and college.  I refuse to ever read his stuff again.

[Clanstarling]

6 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I knew it was Hemingway because that's something which bugs the hell out of me about his writing.  I find myself wanting to smack him and shout "Use some damned compound sentences!" when reading anything he wrote.

I'm not.  Does anyone read The Jungle?  Hell, I'd barely know it existed if it didn't turn up as a Jeopardy clue now and then.

I didn't get The Jungle (obviously) but did get the others.  Both solar plexus and red blood cells were complete guesses, though.

I hate Hemingway but I had to read him in both high school and college.  I refuse to ever read his stuff again.

I don't read Hemingway, but every now and then I wonder if there was something I missed as a young woman (probably not, the hyper masculinity and what I thought of as dull prose turned me off then, and I've only grown more irritated with it).

I did read The Jungle (lit major - hit most of the biggies (in American and British lit anyway) It was a pretty good book as I recall - though the second half is a bit of a socialist tract. The author used to say he aimed for people's hearts and hit their stomachs (it was the cause of a lot of changes in the meat packing industry).

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Clanstarling

[proserpina65]

3 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I did read The Jungle (lit major - hit most of the biggies (in American and British lit anyway)

That makes sense.  I had to read various Hemingway works for an American lit class in high school and for a general lit class in college - never again.

[ams1001]

25 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I'm not.  Does anyone read The Jungle?  Hell, I'd barely know it existed if it didn't turn up as a Jeopardy clue now and then.

I've read it, but not in school.

[30 Helens]

I also read The Jungle for “pleasure”. In quotes because I remember it being kind of a slog to get through, although fascinating in its description of the horrible conditions. It was part of a read-the-classics-I-somehow-missed-in-college-and-high-school binge I went through around age 30 that also included titles like Brave New World and 1984. (I know, right?)

I’ve never been able to make it through an entire Hemingway book, but I did read some short stories in college and found his prose beautiful in its simplicity. So maybe he works better in short form. Or maybe his books are just boring.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Hell, I'd barely know it existed if it didn't turn up as a Jeopardy clue now and then.

That's what I mean - they ask about it a lot, but all you ever have to know is Sinclair, Chicago, or meat industry, which is why I was surprised none of three people who prepped for a J! appearance got that $200 clue.  I guess "packing houses" alone wasn't enough; they'd have needed "meat-packing houses" specified.

[ams1001]

29 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

I also read The Jungle for “pleasure”. In quotes because I remember it being kind of a slog to get through, although fascinating in its description of the horrible conditions. It was part of a read-the-classics-I-somehow-missed-in-college-and-high-school binge I went through around age 30 that also included titles like Brave New World and 1984. (I know, right?)

When I worked at the bookstore I was in charge of fiction and frontlist for a couple years so I maintained the school summer reading tables and took them down at the end of the summer. A lot of the books were mass market paperbacks that got stripped, and we were allowed to take stripped books so I have a lot of those books-I-never-read-in-school (to be fair, some were because they didn't exist yet when I was in school)...I've read some of them. Someday maybe I'll work my way through them all.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, 30 Helens said:

Or maybe his books are just boring.

The ones I read were, especially The Old Man and the Sea.  It wasn't even that long, but it seemed interminable.

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

I guess "packing houses" alone wasn't enough; they'd have needed "meat-packing houses" specified.

I think that's why I didn't get it.  I thought of other kinds of packing houses, but not meat packing.

[possibilities]

I'm relieved to discover I'm not the only person who loathes Hemingway.

I never read The Jungle, but we talked about it in high school social studies, because it had such a big role in getting food standards enacted.

[Browncoat]

Catching up from last night.  I also said White for FJ because of the style guide.  Hemingway never occurred to me, and I have no specific recollection of ever having read any of his books.  

I did, however, read The Jungle in high school, which put me off hot dogs for a long time. I never have liked any kind of sausage.  So I got The Jungle, the maze, solar plexus, and red blood cells.

Catching up on the college tourney now.

[853fisher]

I loved seeing Agnes Moorehead.  I think she is just fantastic and I wish more people knew more about her accomplishments.  Allen Ludden once asked her what she planned to do during Bewitched's upcoming hiatus.  She answered, as casually as if she were describing a trip to the supermarket, "oh, I think I'll go to Spain to visit my friend Orson Welles, I haven't seen him in some time."  What a dame!

"Big Little Lies" made me smile too.  HBO screened the first episodes of its second season at a movie theater here, and I was invited through their loyalty program. They gave away t-shirts that just read"BIG LITTLE LIES."  Once as I boarded the bus, a woman I passed said something like "I love your shirt, so few people are talking about it, because they're terrified."  I didn't feel like finding out what ideology / issue she'd thought I was commenting on!

[ams1001]

60% / 77% / 67%

Ran Flick Pics and Kid Lit in the first round, and Planetary Talk in the second. Only got one each in Naval Conflict and Adverbs and missed one or two in everything else. My only TSes were Sir Walter Raleigh and swans. No FJ.

I was rooting for Dave, because I like him enough to want him to keep going, but I liked Charles, too.

After all her little side comments and the uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-ing over her DD bet I was actively rooting against Emily.
 

[Katy M]

Fj was an instaget.

I got the missed clues of Swan, and Sir Walter Raleigh.

I got the entire categories of lying and 4 words right.

I had a great night.

[Driad]

Aw, I had hoped to see Dave's Mohawk in a different color.  (The purple just looked like black to me.)

[Browncoat]

Yet again, I had no idea for FJ.  I may be suffering from Jeopardy! burnout -- catching up from last night plus tonight's regular show and the college tournament.  So much Jeopardy!

But I was able to come up with the TS of Nicely, feathers, swans, and Raleigh.

I will miss Dave and his mohawk, but the new champ is good, too.  I was rooting for the woman, though.

[Mindthinkr]

I got feather, and Sir Walter Raleigh. FJ was an instaget. Who can forget Madame DeFarge stitching all those names into her knitting? 

[Browncoat]

13 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I got feather, and Sir Walter Raleigh. FJ was an instaget. Who can forget Madame DeFarge stitching all those names into her knitting? 

Me, apparently!  😁

[Cotypubby]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

That's what I mean - they ask about it a lot, but all you ever have to know is Sinclair, Chicago, or meat industry, which is why I was surprised none of three people who prepped for a J! appearance got that $200 clue.  I guess "packing houses" alone wasn't enough; they'd have needed "meat-packing houses" specified.

I’ve never heard meat-packing just referred to as “packing houses” so I had no clue on that one. Any of those other things you mentioned, yeah they would have gotten me to The Jungle right away.

This is all I could think of with the 3rd contestant:

Edited February 17, 2022 by Cotypubby

[Bastet]

I was rooting for Emily, because her asides (e.g. not losing her black card since she got Tracee Ellis Ross and "duh" when the feathers TS was revealed) were cracking me up.  Barring that, I wanted more Dave.  So, of course, Charles won.  But good for him; he exploded in DJ.

The plutocracy clue was lazy; Pluto has not been classified as a planet for the last 15 years or so.  Yes, many planetary scientists disagree with the IAU's current definition of planet, but the IAU gets to name astronomical objects, so, officially, Pluto is not a planet.

I only ran Greek letters/Roman numerals and winter in the first round.  I almost ran adverbs and movies, missing one in each.  But I was terrible in Kid Lit; The Swiss Family Robinson was the only one I knew (I could picture Matilda, but I couldn't remember her name, and the others I'd never heard of).  I figured I'd bomb Naval Conflict, too, but wound up only missing two.

I was on fire in DJ, though -- I ran planets and words and only missed one each in the rest.

But I joined the contestants in not knowing FJ. 

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm having a weird FJ week. So far, I've guessed at each one and gotten it right!

I loved how Ken revealed the correct response of "Nicely" and then, before going to break, mentioned how nicely everyone had been playing. Somehow, I don't think Bialik could come up with an ad lib like that, but it was perfect.

[Scott]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

I was rooting for Emily, because her asides (e.g. not losing her black card since she got Tracee Ellis Ross and "duh" when the feathers TS was revealed) were cracking me up.

Wow.  I truly might not have watched tomorrow if she had won.  There are plenty of contestants that annoy me (let's face it--I hate everybody), but Emily was in a class of her own.

[30 Helens]

7 hours ago, Driad said:

Aw, I had hoped to see Dave's Mohawk in a different color.  (The purple just looked like black to me.)

I, too, was hoping we’d be treated to Mohawks of the rainbow. Ah, well.

Emily won me over with her Black Card comment, and while I admit she wavered a bit too long on the DD wager, I wish she’d gone for the YOLO (which also cracked me up). I think she’d have been fun to watch.

No FJ for me today. Like Dave, I was trying my best to turn Anarchy into a political period.

[graybrown bird]

For FJ, I answered "The Terror."  Do you think that would have been accepted?

[Clanstarling]

19 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I’ve never been able to make it through an entire Hemingway book, but I did read some short stories in college and found his prose beautiful in its simplicity. So maybe he works better in short form. Or maybe his books are just boring.

I can think of several authors who are better in the short form. I think it's because they have constraints and can't go wandering off like they can in a novel. (mind you, not all wandering off is bad, some can be truly excellent - but those would be different authors).

13 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I got feather, and Sir Walter Raleigh. FJ was an instaget. Who can forget Madame DeFarge stitching all those names into her knitting? 

Me too, apparently. Even though it was a surprising instaget for me. I have a skimmed surface knowledge of French history, but somehow Reign of Terror stuck.

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

Yes, many planetary scientists disagree with the IAU's current definition of planet, but the IAU gets to name astronomical objects, so, officially, Pluto is not a planet

Well, this non scientist is a IAU dissenter. Take that Neil DeGrasse Tyson!

7 hours ago, Scott said:

Wow.  I truly might not have watched tomorrow if she had won.  There are plenty of contestants that annoy me (let's face it--I hate everybody), but Emily was in a class of her own.

I just thought she looked uncomfortable, and her jokes were amusing, though delivered quietly.

Had a pretty good night, I didn't run anything, but I got lots of answers (except for Equator, geography being one of my worst categories).

And FJ was an instaget, so that made me happy.

[Trey]

2 hours ago, graybrown bird said:

For FJ, I answered "The Terror."  Do you think that would have been accepted?

A little iffy, I think. But I wouldn't rule it out.*

I did get FJ but not with much confidence.  I didn't know they called it that before the event, thought it was more a description of what had happened, sort of like The Great War.

*I have reconsidered and I am now giving it to you.  I've seen it often enough referred to as just "the Terror".  Can't speak for the judges though.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Trey

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, Bastet said:

The plutocracy clue was lazy; Pluto has not been classified as a planet for the last 15 years or so.  Yes, many planetary scientists disagree with the IAU's current definition of planet, but the IAU gets to name astronomical objects, so, officially, Pluto is not a planet.

Pluto is still a dwarf planet, so that's good enough for the category as far as I'm concerned.

I started to answer the French Revolution for FJ but then realized it was more than a year, so the Reign of Terror had to be it.

[Katy M]

27 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Pluto is still a dwarf planet, so that's good enough for the category as far as I'm concerned.

Plus, some of us refuse to recognize the demotion:)

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

Plus, some of us refuse to recognize the demotion:)

I don't necessarily disagree with the criteria upon which it was based, but they really should just grandfather Pluto back in.  It was an actual planet for so long.  Plus it's named for the Roman version of my favorite Greek god.

[853fisher]

It struck me as a bit sad that Pluto was not able to complete even one trip around the sun between discovery and banishment!  But I guess the scientists didn't think of that.

The very funny, but sometimes a little crude, "Rick & Morty" did an episode in which the protagonist's father insists Pluto is still a planet while helping with homework.  They are subsequently kidnapped by Plutonians and asked to do a press tour as "scientists from Earth."  I won't spoil the twist, just in case.

Edited February 17, 2022 by 853fisher

[Prevailing Wind]

Besides, if you deny Pluto planethood, what the hell are Virgos supposed to do? Pluto is their ruling PLANET.

[possibilities]

Don't worry. Mercury rules Virgo. It's Scorpios who have to really worry. 

[853fisher]

Close but no cigar in FJ. I knew it had to be “Sesame Street” but picked Elmo. I was surprised to learn he didn’t show up until 1980. Big Bird did cross my mind as perhaps the other most popular character, but for some reason I can't rationally justify, I thought Big Bird would probably be older than 6 1/2! Oh well.

The Lincoln promo category seemed to go on and on, and then we missed 3/5 clues in the last category, my pet peeve! File under much pettier grievances: when we're playing a category in order, no need to name the speaker before each clue. Somewhere in the middle: Goodwin's pronunciation of "joo-byoo-lent" made my foot itch.

[possibilities]

When I was at U of Chicago, they did not have + and - grading. It was a huge campus controversy at the time. I guess they changed the policy between then and now.

I also thought for sure FJ was Ses Street, though Charlie Brown wasn't a bad guess. I knew Elmo was too new, but I didn't think Big Bird, either, for some reason. So I was stumped.

Are the contestant stories getting longer? I mostly blame the video category for the unrevealed clues, though, since they always seem to take longer no matter who is doing them. 

 

[ams1001]

67% / 77% / 72%

Doris Kearns Goodwin was on The Late Show last night, too.

Does it count as running the category if they only got to two clues and I got them both right? In DJ I ran Animals, Measure of Authority, and "For" What It's Worth, and missed one in A Hard Category. No FJ (I also thought Charlie Brown...but Peanuts isn't really a TV show - more TV specials - so I didn't think it was right). I knew Big Bird was 6 but I didn't think of Sesame Street.

TSes were A & F (grades with no +), satyr, 'in the eating', and gold. Now I want pudding.

I would have been good with Charles continuing, but I liked Matt, too. (I also liked Linda but she was a little slow in picking sometimes. Nobody truly bugged me tonight, which was nice.)

27 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

The Lincoln promo category seemed to go on and on, and then we missed 3/5 clues in the last category, my pet peeve! File under much pettier grievances: when we're playing a category in order, no need to name the speaker before each clue. Somewhere in the middle: Goodwin's pronunciation of "joo-byoo-lent" made my foot itch.

I was wondering if they're required to say the guest clue-giver's name every time... (but then Ken called her "DKG" and I don't know if that counts).

22 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Are the contestant stories getting longer? I mostly blame the video category for the unrevealed clues, though, since they always seem to take longer no matter who is doing them. 

Certainly feels like they are (especially in the college tourney), but the game has a time limit for each round, so the interviews wouldn't have an affect on that.

Edited February 18, 2022 by ams1001