Jeopardy! Season 39 (2022-2023)

[Clanstarling]

20 hours ago, chicagofan said:

I have a friend (different one from the one with the "U.N.C.L.E. room" who was into Star Trek, kind of unusual since we were in middle school/junior high during its run. She was a Spock girl.

My ex husband was a Spock guy. He tried to model himself after Spock. Looking back, not sure how I missed that huge warning light. Love Spock on Star Trek (though I was more a Bones gal). In real life, no so much.

It was a decent game. I didn't run anything, but did fairly well in most categories. I got FJ but I thought I was wrong. Had no idea HUAC started so early.

Edited June 16, 2023 by Clanstarling

[Cementhead]

4 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I was fine with Suzanne winning, too, though I wish Holly could have stayed a bit longer. She reminded me of a more cheerful Frances McDormand.

Thank you!  That's who it was!  She was reminding me of somebody, too, but I could not nail who.

[chicagofan]

49 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

It was a decent game. I didn't run anything, but did fairly well in most categories. I got FJ but I thought I was wrong. Had no idea HUAC started so early.

Me neither. Looking at the clue I'm not sure what even made me think of HUAC, especially the part where it said it was still issuing subpoenas as late as 1969. Not all that surprising when you think about it as the 60's were turbulent times. At least now I'll have at least one correct FJ this week.

[ProudMary]

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Had no idea HUAC started so early.

I had no idea it ended so late!

[chicagofan]

Good J round and o.k. DJ round. Was fine with Ben winning but thought his reaction afterwards was a bit much.

Ran "Birthstones" in the J round - I usually do well in that category. Got 4 in "3-Letter Words Ending in X" and "Finish Last". Only one TS though - bloodstone.

In DJ, I got 4 in "That European Language". TSs/missed DDs were Scottish Gaelic, Finnish, prodigal (DD) and plethora.

No FJ today, but in hindsight I probably could have gotten it. Should have associated d'Iberville with Louisiana/New Orleans and gotten to Lake Pontchartrain that way. Oh well.

Another DD long pause from Mayim today before ruling correct on German. It especially irritates me when I agree with the contestant's correct response and then doubt myself when she does that.

And I was thinking WTF with her pronunciation of Ikea, but it looks like she pronounced it the way they do in Sweden. Except we're not in Sweden.

[Trey]

Another crappy game for me.

Only two ts's, Australia and Gaelic.

I also said Lake Champlain for FJ.  As soon as it was declared incorrect I realized it was that one in the south, Lake Pontchartrain. 

And now new champions are being knocked down like ninepins.

[ams1001]

June 16:

63% / 67% / 64%

Not a good night. Started out well, running 3-Letter Words Ending in X, but missed one in Birthstones, two in Grease & Roam and Night Skies, and three in Finish Last and Continental Geography.

Did a little better in DJ, though still not great. Missed one in Fountain and All a Bit Much, and two each in everything else.

Did not get FJ. I was thinking Louisiana, so at least I was in the right area. But I was also thinking rivers, not lakes.

My TSes were Australia, binary system, prodigal (DD), Scottish Gaelic, and Apollo.

I was rooting for Ben as soon as I saw the adorable doggie pin on his jacket; was hoping she'd ask about it. I also liked Erica's shirt.
 

[Browncoat]

I also said Lake Champlain, then changed my mind, but could not bring Pontchartrain to my brain for anything.  I doubt they would have accepted, "that really big lake in Louisiana that takes about 30 minutes to drive across," but that's all I had.  

I did get a few TS, though, including binary, bloodstone, prodigal, plethora, and Scottish Gaelic.

[Mindthinkr]

1 hour ago, chicagofan said:

No FJ today, but in hindsight I probably could have gotten it. Should have associated d'Iberville with Louisiana/New Orleans and gotten to Lake Pontchartrain that way. Oh well.

That’s exactly what got me to the correct FJ. I used to live in New Orleans so it was a quick association. TGFF (thank goodness for Friday).
 

I only ran 3 letter words ending in x and Birthstones. I came up with winter, Gaelic, Bloodstone, and Finnish (which came out of nowhere). 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Mindthinkr

[30 Helens]

This was a tough game for me. I’m not sure which is more frustrating, a game where I’m shouting out answers to the TSs while the contestants stand there like deer in headlights, or a game where I sit and listen like a sad, silent dummy. Probably the second, because at least I get to feel smug for the first.

I said Lake Champlain for FJ, and was confident enough in its French derivation that I never thought to travel south.

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I was rooting for Ben as soon as I saw the adorable doggie pin on his jacket; was hoping she'd ask about it. 
 

There’s always tomorrow!

[SomeTameGazelle]

I have never read The Da Vinci Code or seen the movie, and prompted by "Harvard symbologist" I couldn't think of the character name and got stuck on Tom Hanks.

I also knew they wanted William Blake but only got as far as William [Lamb! Tiger! You know who I mean!].

For FJ I was hunting for French but forgot about Louisiana and probably wouldn't have come close to Pontchartrain because I didn't know it was anyone's name and would have thought they called the lake that because of something to do with pont=bridge.

[ams1001]

9 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I have never read The Da Vinci Code or seen the movie, and prompted by "Harvard symbologist" I couldn't think of the character name and got stuck on Tom Hanks.

I haven't read/seen it, either. I've heard the character's name but I said Langston instead of Langdon. I was close.

[chessiegal]

I didn't get FJ, but my husband did by knowing d'Iberville was involved in settling Louisiana,

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I said Lake Champlain for FJ, and was confident enough in its French derivation that I never thought to travel south.

That was our problem, we both focused north instead of south - which really ticks me off as I have family in New Orleans and have seen Lake Pontchartrain.

I did okay in general, almost ran two categories (I never heard of bloodstone as a birthday gem - the other March one is aquamarine), and did reasonably well in some. Completely tanked in others.

But I got a couple of FJs this week, so I'm good.

[ECM1231]

18 hours ago, Trey said:

And now new champions are being knocked down like ninepins

😂

[ECM1231]

3 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

(I never heard of bloodstone as a birthday gem - the other March one is aquamarine)

Ditto. I was only familiar with aquamarine for March and had to look up bloodstone to see what it looked like.

I'm December which has 4 birthstones which is quite a lot to choose from!

[ams1001]

8 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

I'm December which has 4 birthstones which is quite a lot to choose from!

I'm October so I was happy they had an opal question (I love opals; I even have a virtual pet bird named Opal). October also has tourmaline; I have a dark green one in my college 'ring' (which is really just the top part of the typical class ring as a pendant); usually you see pink.

[Bastet]

I wasn't home last night, and didn't bother reading through the whole game on the archive, just FJ.  I reasoned my way to it:  Between the Southeast being a prime area from which Native Americans were forced out by settlers and a French name making me think of the Louisiana Purchase, my mind went to Louisiana first.  With "wide water" meaning it was something big, Lake Pontchartrain sprang immediately to mind (I'm sure it helps that I've been there).  That sounded like it could be someone's name, so I stuck with it.

[Kimmmmmm]

20 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I'm October so I was happy they had an opal question (I love opals; I even have a virtual pet bird named Opal). October also has tourmaline; I have a dark green one in my college 'ring' (which is really just the top part of the typical class ring as a pendant); usually you see pink.

I'm June,  which is pearl, but also alexandrite,  which I prefer.

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, Kimmmmmm said:

alexandrite

Had to google that one. Pretty!

[Clanstarling]

21 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

I'm December which has 4 birthstones which is quite a lot to choose from!

I was glad to find there were more, since I've always hate turquoise with a passion. Zircon and Blue Topaz are nice, but Tanzanite is a pretty purple, so I guess it's my favorite.

[DrSpaceman73]

I read the show last week, forget which day, that had the huge # TS added up to 23 of them.  Out of 60 questions. Over 1/3.  The record is 24. 

I understand the rules but still kind of bs to accept HUAC as an answer but turn down house un-American activities commission.  

[chicagofan]

There's a 5th December birthstone. Lapis lazuli is a traditional December birthstone along with turquoise. I'm not a December baby, but I really like lapis and have some nice silver jewelry pieces I purchased on trips to New Mexico.

Alas, I'm a July baby so only one birthstone for me. So it's good that I like rubies.

Edited June 18, 2023 by chicagofan

[Driad]

Having so many birthstones for each month is confusing but sometimes convenient.  I made a necklace for my mother, with the birthstones of her family members.  One person insisted on having their stone be their favorite color, which was not the usual color of the birthstones, but one stone had that color as an alternative.  (If we hadn't found that, I would have used the person's favorite color anyway, but this made it a bit easier to explain.)

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I understand the rules but still kind of bs to accept HUAC as an answer but turn down house un-American activities commission.  

But commission is incorrect.  It's committee. 

[SoMuchTV]

3 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I understand the rules but still kind of bs to accept HUAC as an answer but turn down house un-American activities commission.  

 

17 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

But commission is incorrect.  It's committee. 

Yeah, it sucks for the contestant who was so close, but they added something that made it incorrect.  Basically like responding with a full name with an incorrect middle initial, when they would have accepted the last name alone.

[Bastet]

12 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Yeah, it sucks for the contestant who was so close, but they added something that made it incorrect.  Basically like responding with a full name with an incorrect middle initial, when they would have accepted the last name alone.

That's my feeling as well -- the contestant could have simply written HUAC, but chose to write it out, yet got one of the words wrong, so the response is wrong, which is like including the first name when the last would suffice, only you get the first name wrong.  Well, sucks to be you.  Maybe someone who wrote HUAC thought it was Commission, too, or didn't know which one it was.  What counts is they were smart enough to just write HUAC.

Edited June 18, 2023 by Bastet

[DrSpaceman73]

9 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

 

Yeah, it sucks for the contestant who was so close, but they added something that made it incorrect.  Basically like responding with a full name with an incorrect middle initial, when they would have accepted the last name alone.

But it's different on fj too because you have no idea if they will take an acronym.  You put Huac and take a chance they so no need the full name. Well they didn't.  A regular question you say the acronym then you can clarify 

Like I said i know the rule and it's applied correct but this is where the rules in place suck. 

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

That's my feeling as well -- the contestant could have simply written HUAC, but chose to write it out, yet got one of the words wrong, so the response is wrong, which is like including the first name when the last would suffice, only you get the first name wrong.  Well, sucks to be you.

Like I side on final he has no idea if they'll take Huac.  

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

But it's different on fj too because you have no idea if they will take an acronym.  You put Huac and take a chance they so no need the full name.

I never even considered them not accepting HUAC, it is so commonly referred to that way.  I just did a quick internet search and every single title either immediately put HUAC in parentheses after House Un-American Activities Committee or just plain led with HUAC.

[30 Helens]

33 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I never even considered them not accepting HUAC, it is so commonly referred to that way. 

Yeah, and it’s not even a case of commonly used initials, it’s an actual acronym. Would anyone think they had to write out the full name of NASA?

There’s always a slight gamble in deciding whether it’s better to give more information or less in FJ (“Can I just write ‘Carson’? Or will they think I mean Johnny?”) but unless you’re positive about the full response it’s always best to go with the shorter one. He gambled wrong. It happens.

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

But it's different on fj too because you have no idea if they will take an acronym.  You put Huac and take a chance they so no need the full name. Well they didn't.  A regular question you say the acronym then you can clarify 

Like I said i know the rule and it's applied correct but this is where the rules in place suck. 

Like I side on final he has no idea if they'll take Huac.  

Oh I get it, and that's why I (non-ironically) said it sucks for the contestant who got it wrong.  But I still acknowledge that the ruling was consistent with the rules, which are I'm sure are no secret to anyone who has gotten to this stage of the game.  He had to take a chance (spell it out, and risk getting a word wrong,  or use the acronym, and risk that it wouldn't be accepted) and sadly it didn't work out for him.

And I really don't have any idea how the rules could be amended to make it any better for this kind of thing.  Slippery slope and all that.

[possibilities]

I had no idea what my birthstone was, so I looked it up. There are three, and two of them I have never even heard of!

https://www.gia.edu/birthstones/august-birthstones

[Prevailing Wind]

Who decides which birthstones apply to which month?  Why do six months only have one each?

[bad things are bad]

D'Iberville got me to Mississippi,  where I spent my truncated senior year of high school,  and D'Iberville was a school we played in basketball. (I sucked, but it was a small school and I was tall). Mississippi got me eventually to Pontchartrain 

Wonder if they'd have accepted just Gaelic?

[possibilities]

6 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Who decides which birthstones apply to which month?  Why do six months only have one each?

 I had the same questions. This is what I found:

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/history-of-birthstones/

[Prevailing Wind]

From the article: "The modern birthstone list is the list established by the National Association of Jewelers, but the traditional birthstone list also includes birthstones that have been historically associated with each month. Most people choose between the two lists depending on their taste and the look they are going for with their piece. There are also lists of alternative birthstones based on astrological signs, guardian angels, seasons, and even birth hours, providing you with a large range of options to find the perfect gem to represent you."

Why don't you just pick a stone you LIKE? I always thought the birthstone cult was nonsense. This confirms it.

[chessiegal]

15 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Why don't you just pick a stone you LIKE? I always thought the birthstone cult was nonsense. This confirms it.

Taking this to small talk.

[SHD]

Another barnburner of a game today. *sarcasm*

Champ seems like he could be Adam Sandler’s younger, more serious brother. I was kind of surprised the phrase “local lunatic” was allowed in that story.

I did not get FJ. I went with Taylor Swift. 

[chicagofan]

Not the best of games for me, but not truly awful either. Surprised that they cleared both boards considering all of the TSs and missed DDs. And we almost had Ben in FJ by himself - yikes!

Did better in the J round than in DJ. Got 4 in "It's a Special Day" and "On the State's Longest Western Border". TSs/missed DDs were Palestine, Quechuan, ficus (DD) and Montana.

Only got 4 in "What an Idiom!" in DJ. TSs/missed DDs were Henry V, Croesus, Sherman, Charles de Gaulle (DD) and nautical miles.

And I don't know how I did it or where the hell the answer came from, but I got FJ.  Went thru a bunch of female entertainers in my head and somehow Dolly Parton popped up in there at the last second so I went with it shaking my head at what I was sure was a wrong response. Imagine my shock when it turned out I was right.

 

[ams1001]

June 19:

63% / 50% / 57%

Sigh. Ran Five Letter Words, missed one in Special Day, three in TV, Animal Kingdom, and State's Western Border, and four in Getting an Eyeful (though one of them was because I missed what category they picked and didn't get my brain in gear in time).

Double sigh. Missed one Idiom, two Random Facts, Weights & Measures, and Movie Crossover, and four in Shakespeare and Generals. (Now I want to see Snow White and the Seven Samurai.)

FJ was an instaget; I remember reading about it. At least I started the week with an asterisk.

My TS were ficus (DD), American Samoa, Palestine, Montana, Sherman, nautical mile, and Oort Cloud.

A runaway game and the champ didn't even have 10K. Another doggie pin. I need her to ask about them tomorrow!
 

Edited June 19, 2023 by ams1001

[Katy M]

I had no idea on FJ and was completely unconfident when I saw the category.

I got the missed clues of Montana, Ron Burgundy and the temple of Doom, Hans Gruber and Scooby-Doo (after she said Beethoven0, Henry V, Croesus, Sherma and De Gaulle.

Despite those i had a terrible night.  I did better in DJ than the first round, but that's not saying much.

[Trey]

A good enough game for me with the ts's or missed DDs of ficus, muskox, Palestine, Henry V, Croesus, Sherman and Wellington.

I remember reading or seeing on tv about Bezos giving big money to somebody but I thought it was Oprah. But it didn't surprise me that it turned out to be Dolly Parton.

[Browncoat]

Instaget FJ for me tonight.  I remember reading about it.  Also, Dolly Parton is a treasure.  Hooray for an asterisk to start the week!

So many TS!  Ones I got include ficus, muskox, American Samoa (after Guam was ruled incorrect), Montana, Croesus, nautical mile, Gen. Sherman, Duke of Wellington, and Oort cloud.

34 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

34 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

(Now I want to see Snow White and the Seven Samurai.)

Me, too!  (No idea why this quoted the way it did.)

[Prevailing Wind]

I feel stupid not knowing it was Dolly.

But, jeez, Jonathan... you've been trying since 1986 to get on J!.  Perhaps there was a reason you didn't get on all those times you sent in the postcard.  For the past few weeks, it's been seeming like the contestant quality has dropped.  If this weren't the case, perhaps Jonathan would still be sending in his applications.

[Good Queen Jane]

Where are they getting these contestants? They need to send talent scouts to recruit from this forum!

[ams1001]

In case anyone was wondering, there were 23 missed clues. Seven in the first round and 12 in the second, plus all three DDs and FJ (well, I guess technically that was a double stumper...).

[bad things are bad]

Just my luck I'd get Opera, Mythology,  and African Geography if I ever got on the show 

[secnarf]

My immediate response to FJ was Dolly Parton...then I paid more attention to the word "entertainer" and thought of Oprah...then decided she is too rich for someone to give her money to donate to buy cars for her audience ;) So luckily switched back to Dolly Parton in time.

[Grizzly]

No one so far has said they got the ts of King Lear. I thought that was the easiest one in the category (since it was the only one I knew). Also had ficus, Palestine, and half credit for knowing it was one of the Henrys. FJ was an instaget, who else but Dolly has a huge heart. Sorry Jonathan and his grandma's dream ended so soon.  And the lady was very quick in her picks. 

[SHD]

I didn’t enjoy the mash-ups category. I thought they were all going to have a middle connection like the Snow White one. The rest were just two different answers pushed together.