Jeopardy! Season 38 (2021-2022)

[ams1001]

23 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

My take from that then is that cross-bred dogs aren't mongrels or mutts (mutt btw means mongrel). At least to the world at large. That being said, I shuddered at the chiweenie. That seems like a terrible combination of traits. Poor puppy.

I've seen pictures of chiweenies; some are very cute and some are very odd-looking. I hope the weenie part is at least a miniature doxie. I always feel like breeding a tiny breed with a significantly larger breed is probably a bad idea. (I at least hope the larger breed is the mom.)

[MrAtoz]

51 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

(mutt btw means mongrel)

Mutt is at least more neutral-sounding.  I don't mind that.  My dog is not a purebreed, and I've never claimed he was.

"Mongrel" sounds insulting and judgmental, and I won't have it used about my pal.  Why not just call him a cur while you're at it?

Connotations of words matter.

[Trey]

1 hour ago, PBnJay said:

Agree with @shapeshifter that perhaps the show's leniency about articles missing before titles makes them lenient about articles added to the middle of names. As not right as that is.

Just the other night they accepted The House of Seven Gables instead of The House of the Seven Gables.  I thought it should have been ruled incorrect.

[853fisher]

I managed to remember a little snippet of the "vesti la giubba" aria, which even had the title of the opera in it, and still said "Rigoletto."  Oops!  For future reference, Rigoletto was a jester and "pagliacci" means "clowns."

"Yogi the Bear" set my teeth on edge too.  One of the more tortured arguments I've seen is that perhaps they were prepared to accept "Yogi" and considered "the bear" additional correct information the player is permitted to add.  My eyes rolled into the back of my head.  As just mentioned above, on Monday "The House of Seven Gables" was accepted, rather than "...the Seven Gables."  Some poster elsewhere claimed this had come up in the past and someone had been able to find an edition or two without "the."  So perhaps in some media somewhere, our friend from Jellystone Park is "Yogi the Bear," and the writers knew that already?  I don't know, I've got nothin'.

I was curious about the radio quiz Catherine mentioned.  I couldn't quickly find anything more than that it ran on Springbok Radio from 1967 to 1985 and had the tagline, "the exciting, dangerous quiz game."  I would certainly have guessed that TV service started earlier in South Africa than 1976, since I knew it existed in less economically advanced countries, but it turns out that there was significant opposition from the government.  Concerns were raised about its general corrupting influence, and various sociopolitical points particular to South Africa: for example, they could easily have imported English-language programs, but that would have been at the expense of broadcasting in Afrikaans, with which prospect the ruling coalition was not pleased.  But when South Africa was one of the few countries where it was impossible to watch the moon landing live, that proved a turning point.

[M. Darcy]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:17 PM, 30 Helens said:

I’ve always used “theatre” regardless. Don’t know what that says about me, other than maybe I read too many British mysteries as a kid.

One can never read too many British mysteries as a kid.  

[Clanstarling]

53 minutes ago, MrAtoz said:

Mutt is at least more neutral-sounding.  I don't mind that.  My dog is not a purebreed, and I've never claimed he was.

"Mongrel" sounds insulting and judgmental, and I won't have it used about my pal.  Why not just call him a cur while you're at it?

Connotations of words matter.

Oh yes, mongrels definitely carries a worse connotation. My dogs have all been mutts, except one that was an abused pure bred. They were all wonderful dogs.

28 minutes ago, M. Darcy said:

One can never read too many British mysteries as a kid.  

Or as an adult. 😉

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Trey said:

Just the other night they accepted The House of Seven Gables instead of The House of the Seven Gables.  I thought it should have been ruled incorrect.

Glad you posted that and I just double checked.  I said House of the the Seven Gables and was going to mark myself wrong, but decided to go with a close enough house rule.  But, I guess I was right after all.  So, yes, should have been ruled inorrectly.  They need to stick to their own rules or it's not fair to everyone.

[Welshman in Ca]

The only difference between a mutt & a designer breed is the parents. At least one parent of the mutt's usually gets loose & made out with the first female dog it came across while the designer dogs' parents were made to breed with each other usually for profit, just like a paid surrogate I guess or prostitute if you prefer.

There are plenty of abused & homeless animals without forcing them to procreate for profit. adopt don't shop people.

[30 Helens]

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I've seen pictures of chiweenies; some are very cute and some are very odd-looking. I hope the weenie part is at least a miniature doxie. I always feel like breeding a tiny breed with a significantly larger breed is probably a bad idea. (I at least hope the larger breed is the mom.)

Responded in Small Talk.

[dcalley]

On 7/18/2022 at 8:37 PM, ByaNose said:

How about do-winners? I know people hate give a trophy to everyone but I hate the tie breaker. 

There were co-champs until 2014 (the show didn't officially announce it until 2016, however). Some think the change was about the money, but I maintain it's just better for the show's production. Always having only one winner is better for the running of the show. You don't want someone to have flown out just to sit in the green room who now has to come back another time. Here is a 2021 article on the switch to tiebreakers: https://www.theringer.com/tv/2021/1/23/22245900/jeopardy-tiebreaker-scenario-rules-changes

I assume "wiener dog" would have been accepted for the "weenie" part of the "Chiweenie" clue.

[ams1001]

13 minutes ago, dcalley said:

Some think the change was about the money, but I maintain it's just better for the show's production. 

According to the J! site:

Quote

The tiebreaker was first introduced in tournaments. The judges felt that a tiebreaker yielding one winner kept the gameplay brisk and competitive. In the years following the lift of the five-game maximum (the rule that contestants could only win up to five regular games), the judges concluded that it was fitting to bring that same level of competition to the regular games.

[Katy M]

i was like, OK, it's in New York.  Wall Street? Broadway?  5th avenue?  Guess I'll pick Broadway.  So, i guess I got it,b ut not at all confident.

I got the missed clues of Moscow, somebody that I used to know, cybercafe and Franco-Prussian War.  

I got the entire category of abs right.

[Browncoat]

I had to think a bit for tonight's FJ, but it came to me in the last second -- just enough time to write it (completely and legibly!) before the music stopped.

I only managed three TS:  Stars & Stripes Forever, Moscow, and Daffy Duck.  I was a little surprised that Moscow was a TS, but I was absolutely gobsmacked that Daffy Duck was. Was Daffy before their time?

[ams1001]

80% / 67% / 72%

Not as good a first round as last night, but still pretty good. Ran National…, missed two Bugs and one each in everything else. In DJ I ran Eating & Drinking Places, missed one in Nice ABs, three Titles, and two in everything else. Got all the DDs and TSes of Stars & Stripes Forever, Moscow, Daffy Duck, Somebody That I Used to Know, and Cybercafe (and I at least correctly guessed that the "can you not step on my gown" one was a Taylor Swift song).

Did not get FJ. Had no idea Broadway went that far.

[SHD]

So “cafe” (instead of “cybercafe”) couldn’t qualify as a BMS instead of being automatically wrong?

[Roaster]

36 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I was absolutely gobsmacked that Daffy Duck was. Was Daffy before their time?

Yeah, Duck Amuck is really famous and considered one of the classic cartoons.  It was only the $200 clue, so the J! writers thought it was easy, too.

[Bastet]

Add me to the list of those surprised by the Daffy Duck TS; it was a $200 clue that basically said "Not Donald, but the other duck" and one of them didn't even guess a duck!  Cybercafe surprised me, too, and that no one knew Laika was the Russian space dog, so it had to be Moscow -- Laika being the Russian space dog has come up many times on this show (which is the only reason it surprised me).

I missed ladybug, desk lamp, and two world capitals, but got everything else in the first round.

If it wasn't for the songs category, I'd have, for the second game in a row, only missed four in DJ as well -- I ran essays and eating & drinking and got all but one each in AB and Americans (I could not get Marian Anderson's name from my brain to my mouth in time), and only missed two in history.  But "Say My Name" was the only song I knew.  I guess I can at least console myself that if I'm only going to get one, at least it was the $2000 clue.  (I knew the "ain't no lie" song was familiar and kind of had the beat in my head, but it hadn't gelled by the time Matt rang in so I didn't get "Bye Bye Bye", and the others I'd never heard of.)

I didn't get FJ, though; I had no idea Broadway was that long!  I couldn't think of any NY street that long, so had no guess. 

[anniebird]

I can't take it any more - what does TS mean? I thought I would be able to figure out after hundreds and hundreds of posts, but no.

[chessiegal]

4 minutes ago, anniebird said:

I can't take it any more - what does TS mean? I thought I would be able to figure out after hundreds and hundreds of posts, but no.

TS = triple stumper. All three contestants didn't answer. 

[Bastet]

14 minutes ago, anniebird said:

I can't take it any more - what does TS mean? I thought I would be able to figure out after hundreds and hundreds of posts, but no.

As said above, it means Triple Stumper (a clue to which all three contestants failed to correctly respond), and for any other mystery references:  here is a glossary of terms frequently used in this forum.

[Driad]

The Jeopardy Glossary has lots of useful abbreviations etc.

[dgpolo]

39 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Cybercafe surprised me, too

My brain said Internet cafe which is two words so then it stalled.

40 minutes ago, Bastet said:

(I could not get Marian Anderson's name from my brain to my mouth in time),

I basically went...Ma Ma Ma Ma until the answer was said. That happens a lot, I either know the first name or first syllable but can't get the rest out of there.

40 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I didn't get FJ, though; I had no idea Broadway was that long! 

Sometime fairly recently, like maybe in the last 5 years, I learned that Broadway was from the Dutch so I guessed it w/o really thinking about how long it was.

[anniebird]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

TS = triple stumper. All three contestants didn't answer. 

Thank you!

[Cotypubby]

As soon as I saw the category name I pre-guessed Broadway, but then when I saw the clue I said “I have no idea!” thinking it was something in upstate NY. 🙄😅

[Prevailing Wind]

6 hours ago, SHD said:

So “cafe” (instead of “cybercafe”) couldn’t qualify as a BMS instead of being automatically wrong?

Y'know, that WOULD solve all the "that should have had a BMS" controversy if they just ruled it wrong all the time.

[South]

15 hours ago, Trey said:

Just the other night they accepted The House of Seven Gables instead of The House of the Seven Gables.  I thought it should have been ruled incorrect.

Same here.  I was in the midst of dinner and had a “seefood” moment.

[Trey]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

(I could not get Marian Anderson's name from my brain to my mouth in time),

Neither could I.  They did this same question a while ago (don't remember when) so I knew the answer but still couldn't get her name out in time.  Same with the Daffy Duck question.

My only ts was Moscow.

I wouldn't have gotten rolypoly (bug) if it hadn't been for the bug discussion we had here.

No idea for FJ.  I really thought hard about it but came up with nothing.  I threw out Stuyvesant Road for the Dutch connection just to have an answer.

[Mindthinkr]

I have been having decent games (Tuesday night was great and I ran a few categories), but I’m still not coming up with FJ. I used to be so good at this. I could clear boards and knew most FJs. Aging must be taking over my brain. I won’t stop as this mental exercise is good for me. 

[Trey]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

Aging must be taking over my brain.

I don't think it's aging in itself.  The categories and clues have changed over time too.  I used to be great on music categories; now I'm lucky if I've even heard of some the singers and their songs. And the same applies in other categories.

[Prevailing Wind]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

I have been having decent games (Tuesday night was great and I ran a few categories), but I’m still not coming up with FJ. I used to be so good at this. I could clear boards and knew most FJs. Aging must be taking over my brain. I won’t stop as this mental exercise is good for me. 

Ooooh... maybe you need some Neuriva!  More brain performance? Yes, please.

I think it's not necessarily the aging process on our brains as much as it is the aging out of popular culture.  Honestly, you go to look up something on imdb and those sidebars on the right are all about "famous" people I've never heard of.

[MrAtoz]

Same with me, particularly with the music categories.  I just don't follow contemporary music at all.  There are a few names, like Taylor Swift*, that you just can't avoid running across.  But I usually don't recognize any of the songs or singers that show up in these type of categories lately.

*Somewhat guilty confession: what I've heard of Taylor Swift's music, I actually kind of enjoy.  Not that I could necessarily quote any of the lyrics.

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, dgpolo said:

I basically went...Ma Ma Ma Ma until the answer was said. That happens a lot, I either know the first name or first syllable but can't get the rest out of there.

I got to Marion, but not her last name. Plenty of times, though, I'm repeating the first syllable hoping the rest of it will come out of my mouth eventually.

2 hours ago, Trey said:

I wouldn't have gotten rolypoly (bug) if it hadn't been for the bug discussion we had here.

I thought of the discussion too, I was one of the ones who'd always used rolypoly.

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I have been having decent games (Tuesday night was great and I ran a few categories), but I’m still not coming up with FJ. I used to be so good at this. I could clear boards and knew most FJs. Aging must be taking over my brain. I won’t stop as this mental exercise is good for me. 

1 hour ago, Trey said:

I don't think it's aging in itself.  The categories and clues have changed over time too.  I used to be great on music categories; now I'm lucky if I've even heard of some the singers and their songs. And the same applies in other categories.

I don't think I'm as good as I used to be either, but some of it is that I'm not up to date on pop culture. For example, I had a really good game today - almost ran the majority of the categories. Completely whiffed the rhyme category. I did know the Gotje song, but didn't get the answer because it's the video that sticks in my mind.

I got Daffy Duck and Moscow (I may not reliably remember the name of cosmonauts, but Laika the dog I've never forgotten).

I saw the unveiling of Luxo Jr back in August '86. It was a huge deal, and totally amazing. I think it was at a tech conference, but I don't quite remember the venue, except (unrelated to Luxo) I was near Steve Wozniak and was surprised at how short he was.

Marilyn Monroe's death is the first news story I remember. The image of them taking her covered body out sticks in my mind. I was a morbid little six year old, apparently.

So two of the clues I got because of personal experiences. That was cool.

I did not get Broadway, though my husband did. Sleepy Hollow confused me.

[South]

On 7/19/2022 at 9:09 PM, SoMuchTV said:

Am I the only one bugged by the pronunciation of dash-und without a Trebekian correction?  Or am I the outlier?  It is dox-und, right? I mean, we had one many decades ago and I never heard it pronounced otherwise until recently. 

My lifelong best friend had two of them when we were itty-bitty.  His family called them DASH-hounds.  Eventually, the world set us straight.  I still have the scar on my ankle from the smaller of the two.

[853fisher]

I knew "the Dutch" was supposed to make me think of New York, but for some reason, I associated Sleepy Hollow / Washington Irving with New England.  Having thoroughly confused myself, I said the Boston Post Road.  Oh well.

I was surprised by Ken's aside about Hong Kong.  I continue to think very highly of him overall but do think he lacks a filter at times.  I agree with what he said, this time, but I still think it is best to leave direct comment on politics out of it.

[proserpina65]

Tuesday's game:

Only ran 3 categories, all in the first round (20th Century America, "Lock" and Key).  Got several stumpers, mostly in DJ (Kiwanis, Frank Capra, cantilever, All The King's Men, loophole and candidate).  There were multiple categories where I missed only 1 clue and it was one I should've gotten.  FJ was an instaget, and the good ol' Opera category came through for me again.  I think I've only ever missed 2 opera clues ever: last week's Dead Man Walking and one from a few month's ago about Hansel & Gretel.

Last night's game was similarly mixed for me.  For the first round, I ran Quiz Bowl and It's A Bug, and got Stars & Stripes Forever, Moscow (poor, poor Laika) and Daffy Duck.  In DJ, I ran Famous Americans and Hey, Nice "Abs"!, but only got the Franco-Prussian War.  There were several clues where I almost had it but couldn't quite get the right word out, phonograph being the most notable one.

I guessed Broadway for FJ, thinking it was absolutely wrong.

On 7/19/2022 at 3:10 PM, shapeshifter said:

Or is not his call to make?

I think it's probably not his call to make.  I'm sure he's following instructions.  Just like Mayim is when she doesn't ask them to be more specific.

On 7/19/2022 at 8:01 PM, Katy M said:

Recently, but I don't remember it being so in years past. 

It's been a problem since at least 2015, when Alex Jacob was a multi-day champion.  So at least seven years.

On 7/19/2022 at 9:18 PM, PBnJay said:

I HATED that entire category of mixed breed mutt dogs like they are something special. Those writers need to get over it, a dog of two or more breeds is a mutt/mongrel, not some fancy schmancy hybrid,

Only two of the clues were dogs.

On 7/19/2022 at 10:52 PM, SomeTameGazelle said:

I thought Ken paused for longer than necessary before he accepted the response of Woolworth's and I wasn't sure why.

I wondered if the judge's weren't sure that Matt included the s at the end and they reviewed the recording before continuing.

On 7/20/2022 at 1:41 AM, 30 Helens said:

Where I grew up, there was one of those stores with its original sign, name written in old-fashioned script above the door: “Woolworth’s 5 and 10 cent Store”. I think the the cent symbol and/or ampersand may have been used, not sure, but that was definitely the wording, and everyone just shortened it to “Woolworth’s”. I would have yelled as loudly as I did at the “Yogi” answer if Ken The Jennings had ruled it incorrect.

Me, too.  We always included that possessive s.

On 7/20/2022 at 1:47 AM, Prevailing Wind said:

I wish we still had Woolworth's.  Especially their "Luncheonette."

Also me, too.

On 7/20/2022 at 8:47 AM, Trey said:

Hard to believe South Africa didn't have television until 1976.

Where was she from in South Africa?  Maybe they had it in cities but she lived somewhere more remote?

On 7/20/2022 at 9:09 AM, ams1001 said:

There's a long-running joke in the bookstore biz about people looking for a book and all they know is that the cover is blue. There is a meme floating around the internet where a store did a display of blue books with that on the sign. One of my prouder moments in my bookstore career was the day I found a book on very little more than "it's red." (I think the only other info they had was that it was on a certain display table in the recent past and a very general idea of the subject. I don't remember what the book was now.)

Yep, we got that all the time.

On 7/20/2022 at 9:33 AM, laredhead said:

I just saw this article about what the judges have allowed or rejected for final jeopardy answers.  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeopardy-viewers-debate-spelling-rule_n_62d7ac86e4b06e213fb896dd

I saw that yesterday.  I still say that they should've accepted Tubman because that's clearly what she wrote and shouldn't have accepted what looked like "oodel" to me.  No way was that a clear "g" at the beginning.

[853fisher]

7 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I wondered if the judge's weren't sure that Matt included the s at the end and they reviewed the recording before continuing.

I bet you are right, although I would argue that "Woolworth" should have been accepted if it had been offered - that was the formal name of the company and some contemporary media did refer to it that way.

5 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Where was she from in South Africa?  Maybe they had it in cities but she lived somewhere more remote?

I don't recall where / whether she said where specifically she was from.  What I read stated that test transmissions began in Johannesburg in May of 1975 and more followed in Cape Town and Durban in July.  National service on a regular basis started in January 1976.

[proserpina65]

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

As soon as I saw the category name I pre-guessed Broadway, but then when I saw the clue I said “I have no idea!” thinking it was something in upstate NY. 

I pre-guessed Route 66.

4 hours ago, Trey said:

I wouldn't have gotten rolypoly (bug) if it hadn't been for the bug discussion we had here.

That was the only reason I got it right.

2 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

*Somewhat guilty confession: what I've heard of Taylor Swift's music, I actually kind of enjoy.  Not that I could necessarily quote any of the lyrics.

I can quote several of her songs, but not that one, despite having heard it on the radio on the way to work yesterday morning.

29 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

I was surprised by Ken's aside about Hong Kong.  I continue to think very highly of him overall but do think he lacks a filter at times.  I agree with what he said, this time, but I still think it is best to leave direct comment on politics out of it.

Eh, if ever a politically related clue merited comment, it was that one.

4 minutes ago, 853fisher said:

I don't recall where / whether she said where specifically she was from.  What I read stated that test transmissions began in Johannesburg in May of 1975 and more followed in Cape Town and Durban in July.  National service on a regular basis started in January 1976.

Wow, that surprises the hell out of me.

[Trey]

20 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Where was she from in South Africa?  Maybe they had it in cities but she lived somewhere more remote?

No.  Transmission wasn't the problem.  It was the government that wouldn't allow television in South Africa because of its corrupting influence.

Here is a more thorough explanation from Wikipedia:

Television in South Africa

[ams1001]

3 hours ago, Trey said:

I used to be great on music categories; now I'm lucky if I've even heard of some the singers and their songs.

I suck at clues about recent music. Unless it's really ubiquitous, I probably haven't heard it, or if I have, I couldn't tell you who sings it. My car radio has been on the Symphony Hall channel for months, but more often than not I'm listening to podcasts on my ipod when I'm driving (and if I run out of podcasts I just shuffle my music playlist). The other radio channel I listen to most is Lithium, which is 90s alt-rock/grunge (you can't listen for ten minutes without hearing one or more of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, or Alice in Chains).

Edited July 21, 2022 by ams1001

[30 Helens]

5 hours ago, Trey said:

I wouldn't have gotten rolypoly (bug) if it hadn't been for the bug discussion we had here.

I immediately thought of this group when that clue came up. 

I call my desk lamp Luxo Jr.

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I pre-guessed Route 66.

I pre-guessed the Lincoln Highway.  Once the clue was revealed, like 853fisher, I went for the Post Road.

I googled images of Woolworth's - in the early days, it was F.W. Woolworth Co. Later, they added the 5 & 10, and then finally settled on Woolworth's.  But I also saw pics of Kresge stores - the ones we called Kresge's. (Parent of Kmart.)  I recall when I first moved to Georgia in 73, there was a Kmart nearby and almost across the street was a Woolco - Woolworth's answer to Kmart.

[South]

As mentioned earlier, I watched during dinner last night, so somehow I missed the comment on Hong Kong.  I reckon I’ll have to re-watch out of curiosity.

[PBnJay]

7 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I think it's not necessarily the aging process on our brains as much as it is the aging out of popular culture.  Honestly, you go to look up something on imdb and those sidebars on the right are all about "famous" people I've never heard of.

I watch TMZ and Daily Blast Live every day and am way up on pop culture and today's music makers. So I'm good from Paul Anka, the Kingston Trio through Post Malone, Common and T.I. I also have the radio tuned to Ryan Seacrest's show all day so am filled in on other pop things through that. I rule the modern-day singers, rappers and music categories. Don't stop learning, people!

4 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

5 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I was surprised by Ken's aside about Hong Kong.  I continue to think very highly of him overall but do think he lacks a filter at times.  I agree with what he said, this time, but I still think it is best to leave direct comment on politics out of it.

Eh, if ever a politically related clue merited comment, it was that one.

Totally agree with Proser. That was a totally accurate and timely comment. If anyone doesn't know what's going on with Hong Kong, you aren't paying attention. I gave Ken HUGE props for that quick one sentence. Loved it.

A couple years ago a group of young men from Hong Kong were invited to America to judge a dog show. I've sold show dogs to Hong Kong so was familiar with some of them. I commented to my friend, who was hosting them, I really wanted to ask them about what's happening in Hong Kong and was told not to, all of them were under surveillance while in the United States and all had been warned not to mention anything about China or what was going on in their home. I was profoundly disappointed but completely understood the stress they were under being in a free country.

So, yeay Ken.

Edited July 21, 2022 by PBnJay

[Prevailing Wind]

I must've missed the comment. What did he say?

[PBnJay]

3 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I must've missed the comment. What did he say?

Clue: "China pledged to leave this region's system in place for 50 years after 1997."

Answer: Hong Kong

Ken: "Pledged anyway."

Edited July 21, 2022 by PBnJay

[853fisher]

I am surprised to see Matt leave so soon.  I liked him and wouldn't've minded seeing him play a few more games, but I like Emmie too.  I thought Matt might have bet a little more on the last DD, which would have allowed him to put a bit more room between him and Emmie, but perhaps he wasn't confident in the category.

Re Hong Kong, spoiler tagged just to cut down on length (TLDR: I do agree with Ken's comment and might have been reacting to general shifts in discourse around political issues more than anything on J! in particular):

Spoiler

Maybe I am “overcorrecting” in a way, being harder on the comment than I would be otherwise in part because my reaction was to agree with it (and I asked myself whether I would feel the same way about a similarly-pitched political comment I did not agree with).

I do know and deplore what is going on in Hong Kong.  Perhaps it is silly to think there is a “slippery slope” from a fleeting criticism of the CCP to domestic commentary of the sort Ken sometimes engages in on Twitter, as was mentioned recently.

I think some of it is incisive and some of it is inane.  To be honest, I thought the clue made the same point that Ken emphasized, just in a subtler way.  I think I’d’ve felt differently about the clue alone.  It could be I’m just splitting hairs.

Perhaps my real problem is nothing to do with that clue but the way often shallow political discourse seems to have crept into more and more media territory, popping the forget-about-all-that-for-half-an-hour escapism I am sometimes looking for.

In any case, I agree with those who say that this particular comment was on the money.  Unless and until there is some ongoing shift, I won't worry about what could be.  I certainly still prefer Ken to host moving forward.

[ams1001]

70% / 70% / 70%

I seem to be doing steadily worse as the week goes on but at least tonight was consistent! In each round I ran two categories, missed 1 in one category, 2 in one category, and 3 in two categories.

Ran Old West and What's Your "Angle" in J! and Bottoms Up! and Health & Medicine in DJ. My only missed clues were also the only two missed in the first round - Madison Square Garden (DD) and David; got none in the second round.

And true to my earlier comment from this afternoon, in the Hitmakers category I got the Bee Gees and Billy Idol, and had no clue for Drake, Ariana Grande, or Katy Perry. FJ wasn't an instaget but I quickly connected the dots from Kid to Goat to Capricorn. 
 

[dgpolo]

Alex used to always ask the contestants to put down their buzzers when they hit a DD, for some time now I've noticed they don't do that anymore and I have always wondered why they needed to do that. Anyone know?

[mjc570]

I liked Matt a lot, but he lost me when he didn't get Madison Square Garden, which seemed so obvious.  That's one reason I'd be a terrible contestant even though I do know a lot of random stuff - I would freeze or blurt out a wrong answer then kick myself (mentally) for the rest of the game.

Edited July 21, 2022 by mjc570

[Katy M]

FJ was an instaget.

I got the missed clues of Madison Square Garden and On the Road.

I got the entire categories of old west and angle right.

I had another greeat night, only missing 18 clues total