Season 38 Final Jeopardy! Contest

[Clanstarling]

23 hours ago, Trey said:

I've never heard the hand grenades part.

22 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I've always suspected that Dear Old Dad made up the hand grenades part. It always made us laugh.

My dad used it - he was career military and it makes sense given the meaning. I suspect a lot of men heard that in basic training, if nothing else.

[Clanstarling]

20 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Not surprisingly (to me) the "hand grenades" part isn't recorded as being added until the height of the Vietnam War, in 1970: https://grammarhow.com/almost-only-counts-in-horseshoes-and-hand-grenades/

That doesn't mean your dad didn't make it up, @Good Queen Jane, it just means he wasn't the only one who came up with it. A lot of these things are part of the zeitgeist of a time. 

Kind of like how Alexander Graham Bell wasn't the only person who invented a telephone: wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_telephone#Invention_of_the_telephone
And while the Wikipedia article depicts all white guys as inventors, I like to think there were others too.
 

Now that you mention it, I'm seeing "atomic weapons" too, for what counts as significant when saying something was "close" or "almost," and that may be the most apt example.
I see "skunks" too. 

Thanks for looking it up - Dad served during that era (well, before and during).

Skunks - yep that tracks. We get skunks in the neighborhood, and have certainly been the "beneficiary" of a long distance spray.

[ams1001]

9 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Skunks - yep that tracks. We get skunks in the neighborhood, and have certainly been the "beneficiary" of a long distance spray.

I was housesitting for my parents once and one of the cats got out somewhat late at night. I tried looking for him but it was too dark. Around midnight I decided to go out with the flashlight one last time before going to bed (he'd most likely be back in the morning, but I was worried about something happening to him, of course) and I saw something crossing the street a couple houses down. It was a skunk. It was damp and drizzly and you could smell it in the air. In my head I told the cat, "if you get sprayed you're staying in the garage until mom and dad get home." Then I finally saw him at the corner of the neighbor's house and managed to hustle him back inside. He didn't get sprayed but because of the misty weather he still had a vague smell of skunk on him until his fur dried.

[illdoc]

I needed a 5/5 to get to 50%. And I got a 5/5 .... WRONG!  Not a good week. 

Week 46:  0/5   Overall:  110/230 (48%)   14*.   Hoping for better next season!!!

[Trey]

Did you already get today's FJ?

[illdoc]

4 hours ago, Trey said:

Did you already get today's FJ?

I have someone at home who watches J! with me, so the only way I can answer FJ without her answering first is by looking it up on the "thejeopardyfan" site.

[ams1001]

Week 46: 2/5 with one *
 

YTD: 90/230 (39.13%) with 12*

Went to the store this afternoon. I have ice cream, bananas, strawberries, and hot fudge. Also blueberries and three gigantic peaches.

[shapeshifter]

31 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Week 46: 2/5 with one *
 

YTD: 90/230 (39.13%) with 12*

Went to the store this afternoon. I have ice cream, bananas, strawberries, and hot fudge. Also blueberries and three gigantic peaches.

Hah! At least I matched you for this one last week (46):
2/5 with one *
and I went grocery shopping too!
The bananas will be ripe tomorrow.

[PBnJay]

Interesting side note to the contest: Did anyone get FJ 1 and FJ 229 correct?

1. The 13 Colonies. Founded by an advocate of religious freedom, it was the site of America’s first Baptist church & oldest synagogue. 
229. Tech History. For about 20 years after its invention, it had few practical uses; then suddenly it revolutionized grocery checkouts & home audio.

Saber is considering a special prize for anyone who did. Just sayin'. Maybe she can be pried out of her sabbatical over the weekend ... ?

ETA: At least we get Matt Amodio on Monday, some consolation.

ETAA: Fixed the number of the season's last clue.

Edited July 30, 2022 by PBnJay

[Driad]

Week 46: 4/5 + 1 *.
Season 38: 161/230. 26 *, 3 M*, 10 A*, 3 R*.
Bringing stuffed mushrooms, inspired by a Tuesday clue.

[Side note] I don't remember whether I got FJ1 correct last September, but I got it correct today.  I did get FJ224 today.
 

[opus]

1/5

That’ll do it for now. To quote The Happenings, see you in September

[zoey1996]

Week 46 1/5

YTD: 103/230  9*, 2MR*, 6A*, 2M*

I ended at 44.78%. Slight improvement over last season's 43.33%.

Edited July 30, 2022 by zoey1996

[Prevailing Wind]

3/5 Didn't keep track of asterisks.  The two I missed were lasers and Galileo.

[Trey]

1/5 this week.  I've had far too many 1/5 weeks this year.  On the plus side I am pretty sure I didn't get any 0/5 weeks.  Still haven't achieved the elusive (for me) 5/5.  Maybe next year.

I hope Saber will be back to run the contest and will be posting again.  I do miss her.

See you all in six weeks if we do have another contest.  I will be watching the reruns so may be posting there and hope you will join me. 

Updated to add 1*.

Edited July 30, 2022 by Trey

[Clanstarling]

1*/5 this week. I'm not sure, but I may be ending the season on the same score I started it. Oh well, at least I got the asterisk.

[ams1001]

Updated my charts:

6 Weeks with 0 Correct
10 Weeks with 1 Correct
15 Weeks with 2 Correct
11 Weeks with 3 Correct
3 Weeks with 4 Correct
1 Week with 5 Correct

Also, pie, because pie. 🍰

Edited July 30, 2022 by ams1001

[ProudMary]

Week 46:  2/5*

Season total: 91/230.  39.56% (So I'm calling that 40%.) 😉

This was my first season playing in the contest and I must say it was a humbling experience. In the past, when I was just sitting on the couch, shouting out answers without keeping score, I absolutely believed that I consistently got 50-60% of FJ responses correct. Obviously, this was an eye opener, and not in a good way for one's ego!

18 hours ago, PBnJay said:

Interesting side note to the contest: Did anyone get FJ 1 and FJ 224 correct?

I struck out on both the first and last FJs of the season, but I'm a bit confused by 224: Isn't the last FJ of the season #230?

[PBnJay]

Oops. Someone forgot to renumber the last week. Thanks @ProudMary. Here are the clues.

WEEK 46 • July 25, 2022 — TWO asterisk *  
* 225. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Honored in 1998 as part of a rock group & in 2019 as a solo artist, this singer was the first woman to be inducted into the Hall twice.  *
226. Literary Animals. This children’s book character, introduced in 1926 & a friend of the title character, gets his name from the sound he might make.
* 227. Real People in Poetry. Milton wrote of this contemporary: “When by night the glass of ” him “observes imagined lands and regions in the moon.” *
228. Countries of Europe. It’s the only independent survivor of the Spanish March, buffer states created to protect Christian Europe from the Moors.
29. Tech History. For about 20 years after its invention, it had few practical uses; then suddenly it revolutionized grocery checkouts & home audio.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

Updated my charts:

6 Weeks with 0 Correct
10 Weeks with 1 Correct
15 Weeks with 2 Correct
11 Weeks with 3 Correct
3 Weeks with 4 Correct
1 Week with 5 Correct

Also, pie, because pie. 🍰

Very nicely done! 👏

32 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

...it was a humbling experience. ...Obviously, this was an eye opener, and not in a good way for one's ego!

And that👆 is why I'm here! To boost the egos of the deflated! (in comparison)
For FJs, I got:

• 18 Weeks with 0 correct
• 18 Weeks with 1 correct
•  6 Weeks with 2 correct
•  4 Weeks with 3 correct

--which would be a tiny speed bump of a curve, rather than a bell curve.

So, lots of room for improvement, except, at my age, not so much room?
Meh. This was my first season of trying. I can at least give it another go.✊

[DXD526]

3/5 with a *. Distressing that none of them knew Stevie Nicks. Makes me feel ancient. 

[ams1001]

9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Very nicely done! 👏

And that👆 is why I'm here! To boost the egos of the deflated! (in comparison)
For FJs, I got:

• 18 Weeks with 0 correct
• 18 Weeks with 1 correct
•  6 Weeks with 2 correct
•  4 Weeks with 3 correct

--which would be a tiny speed bump of a curve, rather than a bell curve.

So, lots of room for improvement, except, at my age, not so much room?
Meh. This was my first season of trying. I can at least give it another go.✊

Your pie looks like a turned-around peace sign ☮

[M. Darcy]

2/5 with 2*

[Ailianna]

3/5 with 1*.

[j5cochran]

Week forty-six: three of five with both of the asterisks! I was rolling at the beginning of the week and fell apart at the end.

For the year, I'm 121/230 or 52.61%. For kicks and giggles, I went back to my text files for previous years. For season 37, I was 127/235 or 54.04%, and for season 36, my records show 116/200 or 58%. 

I'm getting old. Who's got the Neuriva?

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Your pie looks like a turned-around peace sign ☮

Ooo! I love my Peace Sign Pie! ☮

A slice for everyone!

[Toothbrush]

3/5 w/both * 

Like @DXD526 I was distressed that no one got my Queen, Stevie Nicks, correct. And literary animals is almost always Eyeore - so much so that I pre-guessed it. Galileo seemed easy to figure out, but guess not since it was a TS. As usual I sucked at geography & anything technical. 

[secnarf]

3/5*

Would have been great to finish the week with my first (I think?) 5/5, and I actually think if my brain was working a little bit faster I could have come up with both Galileo and Andorra. Alas, it was not to be.

I have not been keeping track week to week, so I don't know what my overall stats are, but I would imagine I am somewhere around 20-30% for the season.

[OperaLover1229]

3/5 for the last week. 

[labresq]

3 this week with one *

I've enjoyed this!  Thanks for making it possible 

[Clanstarling]

I only keep score during a week, and then promptly put it behind me. The weekly competition is more fun for me, since I know in the long haul, I'm at the tail end of the curve with all of you very smart people.

PS - I think I'm pretty smart too - but age has dulled my response time and I accept that. 🙂

Edited July 31, 2022 by Clanstarling

[zoey1996]

18 hours ago, PBnJay said:

Oops. Someone forgot to renumber the last week.

Week starts at 226.

226, 227, 228, 229, 230.

[PBnJay]

9 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

18 hours ago, PBnJay said:

Oops. Someone forgot to renumber the last week.

Week starts at 226.

Looking at the master FJ list, wrong numbering started Week 32, way back on April 18. The last number of Week 31 was 155. The first number of Week 32 was -- mistakenly --- 155. So, numbers have been one off for 15 weeks.

GAH! I guess you guys can number any clue/answer any way you want, including the last one.

[shapeshifter]

I lost a week somewhere, so I added and extra 0/5 to leave more room for improvement. 😉

[Browncoat]

I had 3/5 for the final week.

[labresq]

My chart:

  3 Weeks with 0 Correct
15 Weeks with 1 Correct
12 Weeks with 2 Correct
14 Weeks with 3 Correct
  2 Weeks with 4 Correct
39% (89/230)

Not a perfect bell curve, but oh, so close!  Also - anybody know how many asterisks were available during this season?  I got 11 total - just curious about that percentage.

[Grundoon59]

3/5 with 1* - I apologize to all Stevie Nicks fans - I am of the right vintage to have gotten this but too many people/radio stations overplaying Rumours in my youth drove me to distraction so I didn't guess her. 

Good solid middle of the week - Eeyore and Andorra popped into my brain easily (thanks in part to recently watching an old Rick Steves' travel show that went to Andorra) and Galileo was a Hail Mary guess,

Don't know where my brain was on Friday but I wouldn't have gotten Laser if you spotted me the Lase. 

I have no clue where I place overall this season but have had a delightful time participating.  Thanks to all for the posts and fellowship!

[Browncoat]

I don't know my stats, either.  My records are missing the two weeks I was out of the country.  I could go back through this thread and find my scores for those weeks, but I'm too lazy.

[Mindthinkr]

1/5 the last week. Age is definitely getting to my brain. I knew so much more than I was able to spit out, but I’ve had a wonderful time and enjoy the camaraderie. Have a great August all 🙋🏼‍♀️

[PBnJay]

1 hour ago, labresq said:

Also - anybody know how many asterisks were available during this season? 

Ask and ye shall receive! There were 47 asterisks this season. The first in FJ 18 in Week 4, the last in the last week, Week 46, FJ 227 (or 228, depending on who's counting). So almost one * per week.

And remember Matterisks? In Week 2, there were two Matterisks but no asterisks. A rare occurrence! 

I am a huge Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood fan but I missed that FJ as well. So don't hate everyone who didn't guess her.

[helpmerhonda]

3/5, two*

[theartandsound]

Final week of season 38: 4/5, two *.

[Good Queen Jane]

3/5, 1*. 

In high school, I wrote a science paper about those newfangled lasers which everyone thought were cool, but rather useless. Yes, I am old. Nonetheless, I missed the FJ, because see above.

[Trey]

Will we be getting our total scores?  I know mine is nothing to brag about but I can use it to spur myself on next season.

[PBnJay]

2 minutes ago, Trey said:

Will we be getting our total scores?

Yes. But Saber is behind getting totals done and I've been working to light a fire under her. There also will be a Final FJ Contest for next season. Hoping Saber will be back amongst the living by then. Winners for this season will be announced too, once totals are figured. I know Saber got behind recording weekly scores.

[Trey]

I hope Saber starts posting again and I am glad to hear there will be a contest next season.

[theartandsound]

I miss Saber. I hope they are doing okay!!! Wish she would post again.

[Driad]

We trust that whoever kept the statistics for the Season 38 FJ contest will post the final results when they have time.  Virtual coffee / tea / whatever for you.