Jeopardy! Season 39 (2022-2023)

[Quickbeam]

Yesterday’s game was like a study of dead air. Probably the weirdest game I’ve seen in years. 

[chicagofan]

Fair to middlin' game today - not great but not horrible either.

Ran "History Hysteria" and got 4 in "2 Parts Make a Whole" in the J round. TSs were Home Depot and koi (the only one I got right in that category). Did a little better in DJ - ran "Yes, You Canal" and got 4 in "Romancing the Stones" and "Impostors". TSs were smidgen and midwife (DD).

FJ - had no clue. Ran through a bunch of capitals but nothing struck me as correct. Didn't think of Amsterdam but don't think I would have settled on it even if I did.

Glad David didn't win - he wasn't too bad, but I don't like too much unnecessary (in my opinion) commentary. Just pick a clue and play already.

Edited June 9, 2023 by chicagofan

[Bastet]

Another archive game for me, so for a couple I'm giving myself credit based on my belief I'd have known it had I been able to see the picture.

Much better game for the contestants.  Not so much for me.

I only ran late night and parts make a whole (that was a fun category) in the first round, but I got all but one in history and silent letter words -- got the TS in that category, but guessed "Hymn" for the Kardashian kid.  (I am perfectly okay with missing that one.)  I missed two each in fish and hairstyles.  So, not my best first round, certainly, but an okay start.

Then came DJ.  I was terrible in literature, missing all but Robinson Crusoe (I should have guessed Asimov for the clue about robots, but stupidly said nothing and then did a mental head smack when I read the response).  I was also pretty bad in stones and impostors, missing three in each.  I only ran canals.  I got all but the midships TS in mid, but missed two in pop culture.

I was totally blank for FJ for a while, and then it came to me in a flash.  Not in time to write it down if I was playing on stage, that's for sure.

[proserpina65]

God damn it, almost got rid of him!

[ams1001]

June 8:

70% / 57% / 64%

Okay first round…ran Late Night Talking, missed one in History Hysteria and two in everything else. Not okay second round…missed one in Canal, two in Literature, Romancing the Stones, and Impostors, and three in "Mid" and Pop Culture. 

FJ wasn't quite an instaget; my immediate first thought was Holland and then I had to remember if Amsterdam is the capital or not.

Got the TSes of Home Depot, bass, carp/koi (I said both), permit (with a big question mark, based on the "document" part of the clue; never heard of the fish), lacquer, mop top, and midwife (DD; wasn't familiar with the quote but "pregnant" in the clue made it seem like a pretty logical guess for a word needing to contain "mid").
 

Edited June 8, 2023 by ams1001

[SeanC]

Trump getting indicted and interrupting Jeopardy, his most evil act yet.

[Prevailing Wind]

NBC cut in just as the clue was read and I said, "Donner Party" but Lester Holt started yakking.

I claim foul, though. The reindeer's name is Donder. Donder and Blitzen = Thunder and Lightning.

I went to thejeopardyfan to read FJ.  I got Amsterdam, but for the wrong reason. I thought of the tulip business, not the Dutch East India Company.

[chicagofan]

Sorry Prevailing Wind, but the German word for thunder and the corresponding reindeer is Donner. 🙁

[dgpolo]

6 minutes ago, chicagofan said:

Sorry Prevailing Wind, but the German word for thunder and the corresponding reindeer is Donner. 

According to Gene Autrey (of Rudolph fame) it's Donner.

[Mindthinkr]

I got a few TSs and even surprised myself getting FJ by remembering the East India Tea Company (that’s what my mind said anyway). 

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

God damn it, almost got rid of him!

I've been taking a break, last night & tonight. Hope springs eternal.

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, opus said:

If any of this is FJ tonight I am so ready 👍

LOL,, I was in the wrong thread.  Although I guess that was kind of obvious.

[GreekGeek]

14 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I got a few TSs and even surprised myself getting FJ by remembering the East India Tea Company (that’s what my mind said anyway). 

I came up with the right answer for the wrong reason, figuring it had something to do with New Amsterdam becoming New York. I conflated that transfer of power with the selling of Manhattan Island to the Dutch.

I thought it was going to be an Allison runaway until that late run and successful DD wager by Suresh.

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, SeanC said:

Trump getting indicted and interrupting Jeopardy, his most evil act yet.

Thankfully they interrupted the beginning of Wheel here instead.

58 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I went to thejeopardyfan to read FJ.  I got Amsterdam, but for the wrong reason. I thought of the tulip business, not the Dutch East India Company.

I did, too, actually.

[opus]

27 minutes ago, Katy M said:

LOL,, I was in the wrong thread.  Although I guess that was kind of obvious.

Out of curiosity, what show was that? I didn’t recognize any of the names.

[Prevailing Wind]

2 hours ago, chicagofan said:

Sorry Prevailing Wind, but the German word for thunder and the corresponding reindeer is Donner. 🙁

Well, damn. My mother lied to me.

[30 Helens]

1 hour ago, opus said:

Out of curiosity, what show was that? I didn’t recognize any of the names.

General Hospital. A show that is even more tedious than the last few Jeopardys. (Seriously, what is up with these contestants? I am always very reluctant to criticize them, because anyone who makes it onto the show is demonstrably smart, and almost certainly smarter than me, but… I’m confused by all the missed questions as of late.)

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

God damn it, almost got rid of him!

What’s wrong with Suresh? He seems perfectly pleasant to me. 

I had no clue for FJ. The husband got it, and was very proud of himself. (I was proud of him, too.)

I was out of the room for the “dauphin” answer, but I heard it and shouted a protest. Was I wrong, or did she say “dauphien”? I don’t expect perfect French pronunciation, but extra syllables should not be allowed. Unless the current Jeopardy guideline is “eh, close enough”, which other recent rulings would seem to support.

 

[The Wild Sow]

Sounded like “Doe-FAN” to me. We’re in a hotel  & I was watching on YouTube just now (was out doing vacation stuff so didn’t watch in real time.) Since the “Dauphin” IS the term for the heir apparent to the French throne, I thought they might come back and accept it.

It cut off before FJ (I see there was an indictment which interrupted the show??  LOL be on vacation for ONE day and miss all the news!). So, what was FJ and who won?

 

ETA: Never mind - found it!

Edited June 9, 2023 by The Wild Sow

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Well, damn. My mother lied to me

Your Mom was right too: wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus's_reindeer#Eight_reindeer     

Quote

Eight reindeer

The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore, A Visit from St. Nicholas(also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), is largely credited for the modern Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.[8]

The eight reindeer, as they appeared in the first publication of Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823.

The poem was first published in the Sentinel of Troy, New York, on 23 December 1823. All eight reindeer were named, the first six being Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and the final two "Dunder" and "Blixem" (meaning thunder and lightningin colloquial New York Dutch).[9] The relevant part of the poem reads:

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:
"Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,
"On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixem;
"To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

The eight reindeer, as they appeared in a handwritten manuscript of A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore from the 1860s.

Moore altered the names of the last two reindeer several times;[9] in an early 1860s version of the poem, written as a gift to a friend, they are named "Donder" and "Blitzen" (with revised punctuation and underlined reindeer names). The relevant part reads: 

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As printed in An American Anthology, 1787–1900, 6th impression between 1900 and 1909.

When Edmund Clarence Stedman collected the poem in his An American Anthology, 1787–1900, he also used "Donder" and "Blitzen", italicising the names.[10]

The modern German spelling of "Donner" came into use only in the early twentieth-century, well after Moore's death.[9]

 

Meanwhile, I have whiffed all FJs so far this week, but picked up a couple of TSs that no one else has mentioned upthread — including Lending Tree and cod.

Wednesday’s debacle seemed in part due to more esoteric clues than usual, which can make or break a game.

I do think Allison (Thursday) may have been the strongest player of the week, but those darn DDs can also make or break a game.

I can’t help wondering if the bar or threshold for contestants was lowered a bit in response to noise on social media about runaway games being boring, but now that there was so much love for the Masters Tournament, and these mediocre players are eliciting possibly louder groans on social media, TPTB will re-tweak the algorithm to capture some brilliant players too who possess a broader knowledge of information.

 

 

8 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

It cut off before FJ (I see there was an indictment which interrupted the show??  LOL be on vacation for ONE day and miss all the news!). So, what was FJ and who won?

https://j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=8046

Edited June 9, 2023 by shapeshifter

[30 Helens]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I can’t help wondering if the bar or threshold for contestants was lowered a bit in response to noise on social media about runaway games being boring,

I have actually wondered if the reason we have had so many runaway games/ long-term champs is because the bar has been lowered a bit. Not to diminish the accomplishments of an Amy, or a Sam, but if they’re not getting the caliber of contenders* as in past years, it becomes that much harder to unseat them.

*I also don’t mean to minimize the intelligence of recent players, because I’m sure the standard is still high, just maybe not as high as before? (Like, would they let me in?)

[laredhead]

I guess it's a "thing" with contestants who want so much to say "Let's make it a true daily double", to answer wrongly, and then lose all of their $$.  I would never do that so that I would have at least $100 left to play the FJ question.  Count me among the watchers who have been wondering about the trivia knowledge of the latest group (entire week or two) of contestants.  It's been more frustrating than boring for me to realize how much they don't know.  

[Trey]

Another unexpected win from Suresh.  I like Suresh.

I got the ts's or missed DDs of bass, lacquer, Home Depot, loaf, and amidships.

I did not get FJ but it was obvious when it was revealed.

[annzeepark914]

2 hours ago, laredhead said:

I guess it's a "thing" with contestants who want so much to say "Let's make it a true daily double", to answer wrongly, and then lose all of their $$.  I would never do that so that I would have at least $100 left to play the FJ question. 

Whenever I hear, "Let's make it a true daily double", I usually roll my eyes (unless it's James!) But then, I'm not a mega risk taker. And I always worry about contestants who are in the red as they get closer to FJ. As I've said before, it's a good thing I'll never be a contestant. I'd forget everything I know 🥴 

[Cotypubby]

9 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

Sounded like “Doe-FAN” to me. We’re in a hotel  & I was watching on YouTube just now (was out doing vacation stuff so didn’t watch in real time.) Since the “Dauphin” IS the term for the heir apparent to the French throne, I thought they might come back and accept it.

They did accept it, because that was the answer. Allison got it right. 

[chessiegal]

Local David Ford (Pasadena, MD) made the front page of the newspaper The Capital  today.

[Katy M]

27 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Whenever I hear, "Let's make it a true daily double", I usually roll my eyes (unless it's James!) But then, I'm not a mega risk taker. And I always worry about contestants who are in the red as they get closer to FJ. As I've said before, it's a good thing I'll never be a contestant. I'd forget everything I know 🥴 

I'm not much of a risk taker, but if it was the first half of the first round and I have less than $5K, I'd probably say it.  Second to last clue in the last round, no way, unless I have less than half the total or half the total plus $100 of the leader.  Worth risking not being in FJ for a chance to win that you wouldn't otheriwise have.

[The Wild Sow]

1 hour ago, Cotypubby said:

They did accept it, because that was the answer. Allison got it right

No no no...I meant I expected them to come back and accept “Heir to the throne,” which one of the guys had said.

[SomeTameGazelle]

6 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

No no no...I meant I expected them to come back and accept “Heir to the throne,” which one of the guys had said.

I didn't think I heard Suresh put that in the form of a question so I wasn't sure if that complicated the ruling. 

[Clanstarling]

On 6/7/2023 at 4:03 PM, chicagofan said:

FJ was an instaget. I thought "Slovenia borders Italy which was part of Yugoslavia which no longer exists". Helped that we once had a tenant who was originally from Slovenia when it was part of Yugoslavia who would go home for visits. Briefly considered Slovakia, but then thought "no, I think Austria and Hungary are between it and Italy". Yay!

It helped that one of my relatives was from Slovenia (back in the old Yugoslavia) so I knew its location.

22 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Should've gotten Merrick Garland but didn't and also said Kamala Harris instead of Kevin McCarthy because apparently I cannot count.

Me too.

16 hours ago, chicagofan said:

Glad David didn't win - he wasn't too bad, but I don't like too much unnecessary (in my opinion) commentary. Just pick a clue and play already.

And for me, it's something I like, so I was sad to see him go. Different strokes 🙂

14 hours ago, Katy M said:

LOL,, I was in the wrong thread.  Although I guess that was kind of obvious.

I was so intrigued - I never remember the names of the players so I was "which one was Willow? And had she been ill?" LOL.

Couldn't watch Wednesday because of the game. So we watched Wednesday and Thursday, one after another. I did pretty well on Thursday's game. Ran a couple of categories, and did well on most others. So a triumph for me. Wednesday, not so great.

But hey, I got FJ both days, so yay!

[proserpina65]

Not a great game for me last night, but I did get more than half of the 15 stumpers.  Seriously, where are they getting these contestants?

I only ran History Hysteria and Canal, but got all but 1 clue in 2 Parts, Catch Of The Day, Late Night, Hairy Styles, "Mid" Category, Stones and Impostors.  My stumpers were Home Depot (seriously, how was that a TS?), bass, carp, permit, lacquer, mop top, smidgeon, midwife and amidships (Thank you, Ioan Gruffudd and your fantastic cheekbones for sparking my interest in the British Navy!).

FJ wasn't exactly an instaget but I did think of it pretty quickly.  I figured it either referred to the Dutch East India Company or the tulip craze.

16 hours ago, SeanC said:

Trump getting indicted and interrupting Jeopardy, his most evil act yet.

Glad I watch Jeopardy on a channel which didn't go to a special report during it.  I had no idea what my best friend was talking about when she texted me - she watches on the Philly ABC channel where they run Jeopardy at 7:30, I guess.

12 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

What’s wrong with Suresh? He seems perfectly pleasant to me. 

I struggle with his accent.  Which is not his fault; my ears are the problem.  But still, will be happy when he's gone.  And when they get better contestants.

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Wednesday’s debacle seemed in part due to more esoteric clues than usual, which can make or break a game.

I didn't find them particularly esoteric.  And I didn't watch the Masters Tournament, so my dissatisfaction with the last couple of games has everything to do with the lackluster contestants.

4 hours ago, laredhead said:

I guess it's a "thing" with contestants who want so much to say "Let's make it a true daily double", to answer wrongly, and then lose all of their $$.  I would never do that so that I would have at least $100 left to play the FJ question.  Count me among the watchers who have been wondering about the trivia knowledge of the latest group (entire week or two) of contestants.  It's been more frustrating than boring for me to realize how much they don't know.  

I would do it if it was a category of which I was very confident.  The dreaded Opera category, for example, or something about medieval history.  Didn't get the chance with my game, although I probably would've made it a true DD for the Dickens category and been right.  Weird coincidence, that DD answer was The Old Curiosity Shop, and that was the example the contestant coordinator used during our prep when she said we didn't have to include the first "the" in titles of things like books.  Kinda spooky, actually.

47 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

It helped that one of my relatives was from Slovenia (back in the old Yugoslavia) so I knew its location.

I was relatively sure of its location, but I'll confess to thinking of it because of Melania Trump.

[Prevailing Wind]

I got a bit confused. I know Slovenia is next to Italy, but Italian Chef Lidia Bastianich was born in 1947 in "Allied Occupied Italy" - but the town is now in Croatia. I weakly thought Croatia, but I went with what I know from jetpunk.com's Countries of the World and said Slovenia.

[Slade347]

18 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I do think Allison (Thursday) may have been the strongest player of the week, but those darn DDs can also make or break a game.

I think Allison was probably kicking herself at the end of the game for going to the top of that final category in Double Jeopardy instead of looking for the second Daily Double that was still on the board. I think she's a good candidate for the Second Chance tournament  

[chicagofan]

Not one of my best games but not the worst either. One of those where most of what I didn't get was stuff I didn't know/never heard of. Sigh.

Only really good category in the J round was "State Holidays" which I ran. In DJ I ran "With This Ring" (4 for 4) and got 4 in "Around the World". TSs/missed DDs were Spain (Medina Azahara/Islam/Europe/Moors=Spain), San Juan Hill (DD), Siegfried and Havel (DD).

No clue for FJ. I was kinda confused by the clue but when the correct response was revealed I knew that I would never have gotten it - what you don't know you don't know.

[Trey]

Tim had some very boneheaded answers but he did come up with some harder answers too.

Does anyone know how many ts's there were?

I got the ts's of Beethoven's Fifth, Armenian, Lite Brite, acoustic guitar, and the missed DD of San Juan Hill.

I had no idea for FJ.  I said Mrs. Dalloway just to have something to say and was pleased that I at least had the right author.

[ams1001]

June 9:

63% / 45% / 53%

Ugh, terrible game. I did run Classic Toys & Games, missed one in State Holidays and Quick Books, two Retronyms, three Pets on Film and four in Diaspora. In DJ I missed two in Starts with W, Eponymous Science, With This Ring, and Euro Leader, three in TV (I only got Norm from Cheers and and Jan Brady, but I at least knew two of the others were Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, which I've never watched), and completely failed Around the World.

Had no clue for FJ. Could only think of Jekyll & Hyde but I knew the year was wrong anyway.

Got the TSes Lite-Brite (also one of my favorites as a kid), The Hate U Give, Kate Chopin, and Václav Havel (DD).

14 minutes ago, Trey said:

Does anyone know how many ts's there were?

10 11 TSes - six seven in J! and four in DJ, plus they got all three DDs wrong.

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by ams1001
miscounted

[chicagofan]

8 minutes ago, Trey said:

Does anyone know how many ts's there were?

J round had 7 TSs and a missed DD and DJ had 4 TSs and 2 missed DDs.

[Katy M]

I knew it came out way earlier, but for lack of a better answer I also said Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

I got the missed clues of Kate Chopin, Beethoven's 5th, USSR, Lite-Brite, the Hate U Give, Creed, Spain and taoism.

I got the entire categories of holidays, toys, and books right.  And that sounds like a movie I want to live in.

Good first round, OK second.

I knew it came out way earlier, but for lack of a better answer I also said Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

I got the missed clues of Kate Chopin, Beethoven's 5th, USSR, Lite-Brite, the Hate U Give, Creed, Spain and taoism.

I got the entire categories of holidays, toys, and books right.  And that sounds like a movie I want to live in.

Good first round, OK second.

4 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

ut I at least knew two of the others were Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, which I've never watched),

Me, too.  I read the Game of thrones books, never cared about zombies and guessed wrong characters on both.

[Bastet]

Another archive game for me, since the episode will be pre-empted by basketball.  So, once again, for a couple of clues I gave myself credit based on believing I'd have known the correct response had I been able to see the picture.

I ran retronyms and holidays and got all but one in diaspora and toys & games, but missed three in books and two in films in the first round, so I'm still not quite back to form.

I ran around the world, "W", and leaders, and got all but one in science.  I missed three in TV and two in ring, but that's pretty good for a DJ round.

I did not get FJ; I forgot all about that book. 

Oh, well -- at least I still had a better game than the contestants.  Jeez, what is happening lately?

[Prevailing Wind]

I said "Of Human Bondage."

I also said, "Who's Gumby, Dammit"  Did anyone else?

[SoMuchTV]

I think I yelled at more contestants for more wrong guesses tonight than I have in a long time. I don’t even know how to spell or pronounce Otka(?) but I knew it was a pig. 

Points to Mayim for “that’ll buy a lot of Lego.” I’m not a stickler for that kind thing but I know some people are, and it’s not “legos”. 

[Quickbeam]

I’m a mediocre player but once again Women’s Studies helps me out. I read Orlando in a class on gender in 1976. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

I got the missed clues of Kate Chopin

I was surprised by Mayim's pronunciation of Chopin since the clue pointed us to the composer's name. As far as I can tell they should be pronounced the same but instead of shō-PAN Mayim said it as CHŌ-pin. 

[ams1001]

10 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I was surprised by Mayim's pronunciation of Chopin since the clue pointed us to the composer's name. As far as I can tell they should be pronounced the same but instead of shō-PAN Mayim said it as CHŌ-pin. 

According to google's pronunciation thingy, it is the same as the composer.

[Browncoat]

I am stuck in Heathrow, so another archive game for me.  I did get FJ tonight — because of the movie with Tilda Swinton many years ago.  It stuck with me.

I also got the TS of Beethoven’s 5th, Lite-Brite, The Hate U Give, San Juan Hill, and Taoism.  

I am stuck in Heathrow because my flight to Dulles was cancelled AFTER we sat on the plane for nearly five hours.  They did at least feed us while we waited for a fuel pump to be repaired/replaced, but they could’t get it fixed.  Meanwhile, the first ones off the plane got hotel rooms while the rest of us had to fend for ourselves and get reimbursed.  Some lucky ones also were re-booked by the airline before we all made it off the plane.  I did not get a voucher, nor was I immediately re-booked.  I had to stand in line at customer service to get a new flight, which leaves at 8:00 tomorrow morning.  And since it was after midnight by the time that booking was made, and I have to change terminals, I opted not to try to find a hotel room for what would amount to three or four hours.  I can’t even change terminals (from 5 to 2) until five this morning.  It’s just after three now.  I don’t usually sleep on planes, but I might this time!

[possibilities]

I knew Orlando. I read enough Virginia Woolf to conclude that she has what I consider to be a s****** semi-colon.

I thought Mayim did well tonight, both with the interviews and with keeping the pace and rhythm during the game.

I was rooting for Vicky for the utterly superficial reason that I liked her look.

 

I have no idea why the word is censored with *** s. It's not an slur. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by possibilities

[SoMuchTV]

2 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I have no idea why the word is censored with *** s. It's not an slur. 

Maybe I haven't read enough Virginia Woolf but I have no idea what the s*** word is meant to be. Any chance you can explain it a non-censored way?

[dcalley]

I've been meaning to drop this info into this thread; apologies if it's old news. The show has been actively recruiting trivia players and is even going to audition eligible people who attend the Game Show Boot Camp that James has been promoting. The FAQ on that site mentions that the show also holds auditions at the Mensa Convention and SporcleCon.

 

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Maybe I haven't read enough Virginia Woolf but I have no idea what the s*** word is meant to be. Any chance you can explain it a non-censored way?

She uses a shocking number of semi-colons, so I was joking that she has a s

 

p

 

a

 

s

 

t

 

i

 

c

 

semicolon

 

[Bastet]

The site has recently enabled a filter where words that are used as slurs are automatically altered to be replaced with * for all but the first letter.  This came up recently when reference to the cat breed Maine Coone (the final E added so the word will appear) was altered, even though obviously "coone" is not a slur in that context.  Unfortunately, it does not also automatically trigger moderator review, so that an actually bigoted post would be removed entirely (that still falls on readers to flag) and a benign use of the term would be left intact.  But that's the explanation of how you wind up with the s***** for a term like $pastic (again, I altered it to leave mostly intact and make the point). 

It works fine with things like talking about a Maine c**** (this time left alone) cat, where it's clear by context what the obscured word is, but not so much in situations like this, where it's not anywhere near as obvious.

Edited June 10, 2023 by Bastet

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, dcalley said:

I've been meaning to drop this info into this thread; apologies if it's old news. The show has been actively recruiting trivia players and is even going to audition eligible people who attend the Game Show Boot Camp that James has been promoting. The FAQ on that site mentions that the show also holds auditions at the Mensa Convention and SporcleCon.

 

Now I’m curious to know if this past week’s players were recruited differently than usual, given their [cough] performances.
Or perhaps they were the inspiration for Boot Camp. 
But Wednesday’s clues did seem to include more from narrow areas of knowledge than usual too. 
Might there be behind-the-scenes pressure (or just encouragement and/or freedom) to tweak things in general, just as there have been new tournament formats added? 

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

I was rooting for Vicky for the utterly superficial reason that I liked her look.

And I was charmed by Tim’s dimpled smile and seeming good nature:   

If they gave him bonus points for camera appeal, as a portrait painter, I understand that impetus. 
Hmmm. Maybe they’re doing that in general now? Or were trying it out when the past week’s contestants were selected?  
Or has personal flair always been an unavoidable consideration? 
I recall the person who stopped Amy’s streak had really fun eyeglass frames that they purchased in hopes of making an impression during the selection process.