Jeopardy! Season 39 (2022-2023)

[SomeTameGazelle]

13 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

I knew the Dickinson quote (it's one of her better-known poems), but couldn't quite pull it out of my brain.

Hope floated into my brain but even though I also knew "the thing with feathers" I didn't make the link because for some reason I was hunting for an actual bird. 

2 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I actually am familiar with the author (Neal Stephenson) and I’ve read at least a couple of his books, but that wasn’t helping me… but at the last second the answer materialized. Not sure I could have written it down in time but I’m counting it here!

I didn't know enough about the author but after a moment of confusion, knowing that Meta was short for Metaverse, was confident in my guess.

I liked Sam and Emma and was happy with her win.

[30 Helens]

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I had absolutely no idea whatsoever for FJ tonight.  I've never heard of the novel or the author, so there was no possibility of getting it right.

Same here. I didn’t even know where to begin the guessing. I did know the TS of Bobby Brown (and was surprised it was a TS), and sort of got the Hawaiian Air one, in the sense that I knew it must be a Hawaiian airlines. But I said Aloha Air. Is that a thing?

 

 

 

 

[chicagofan]

There used to be an Aloha Airlines - per Wikipedia it ceased operations on March 31, 2008.

Edited April 21, 2023 by chicagofan

[Cotypubby]

2 hours ago, ABay said:

I've heard of Gibson and know what kind of books he wrote. I kept trying to think of a short form of cyberspace that made sense for the question.

 

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Same here; I thought of cyberspace but I didn't think it was right. I did know it was some kind of internet term (I have read in the past that it's from one of his books) but I couldn't come up with it.

But the FJ had nothing to do with William Gibson…

That was an absolutely terrible clue. Unless you’ve read the obscure book mentioned, I have no idea how you can possibly figure out FJ. I was trying to think of snow related company names.

Edited April 21, 2023 by Cotypubby

[Pallida]

Snow Crash is far from obscure, but I’m sure there’s varying familiarity depending on people’s genre preferences. I read it probably 20 years ago but remember nothing about it. 
 

However, I know Stephenson’s broader topics and got to the answer from a company’s name. Maybe I was helped by having Facebook open on my phone at the time. 

[SoMuchTV]

10 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

That was an absolutely terrible clue. Unless you’ve read the obscure book mentioned, I have no idea how you can possibly figure out FJ. I was trying to think of snow related company names.

I actually though the clue had two "ways in" - being familiar with with Stephenson's work (IMO not obscure but "it's easy if you know it") and companies that had changed names:  Google->Alphabet, Facebook->Meta...

[Clanstarling]

16 hours ago, chicagofan said:

I might be a little picky, but I think that Castro should have been a BMS. Yes, the Barbara Walters interview was an iconic one, but Fidel and Raul were both presidents of Cuba.

I thought so too - especially coming so soon after the Deschanel question.

15 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

If you knew me, you'd be saying, "How the heck did *she* know Bobby Brown when these young folks didn't?" 😸 

Bobby Brown isn't exactly a young man anymore, which is why I'm blaming missing him on the fact that I'm more familiar with his "older" look than that photo. But I knew he looked familiar (I'm fairly old).

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

I had no chance in hell at FJ; I had no idea what kind of books the author writes (I'd never even heard of him, that I'm aware of), so didn't know what kind of word to be thinking of.  With nothing to go on, I just gave up.

I knew Neal Stephenson was a cyberpunk SciFi writer (love SciFi, but not a fan of that genre), so I was struggling to get a tech word that would do. But I didn't get there.

It wasn't a great game for me, though I did almost run Literary Fruit and Politicians.

Edited April 21, 2023 by Clanstarling

[GreekGeek]

After feeling very smug about knowing “hope” on Wednesday night, I was totally stumped last evening. But congrats to Emma.

[argrow]

I'm glad Emma won, only because she is the only one who even attempted to answer the R&B songs category. Those were all my jams, so she's alright in my book.

I shouted Whitney Houston's husband for the Bobby Brown clue. That still counts, right?

Edited April 21, 2023 by argrow

[proserpina65]

I had a fantastic game going.  There was only one category where I missed more than one clue.  I ran History, Literary Fruit Stand, Missing U, '80s & '90s R&B Songs, My Prerogative and Globetrotting.  Got all but one in Face The Politician, Reptiles, "P"otpourri (would've gotten puce if I'd heard the category name), Triple Homophones and Remembering Barbara Walters.  My stumpers were Mango, Hawaiian Airlines, Bobby Brown and Draco lizard.

I was flying high, and then FJ happened.  I had no clue.  I've heard of Neal Stephenson and had a vague notion that his genre was steampunk, but I would never have come up with the correct answer in million years.

I'm disappointed to lose Devon, but I'm fine with the new champ.  Might've preferred Sam but only because of his medieval background.

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I actually though the clue had two "ways in" - being familiar with with Stephenson's work (IMO not obscure but "it's easy if you know it") and companies that had changed names:  Google->Alphabet, Facebook->Meta...

Neither of those ways meant anything to me.  I'd heard of the author but the title was obscure to me.

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I knew Neal Stephenson was a cyberpunk SciFi writer (love SciFi, but not a fan of that genre), so I was struggling to get a tech word that would do. But I didn't get there.

Yeah, that was me.  I used to be big into Fantasy, but not so much Sci Fi and never steampunk.

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

and companies that had changed names:  Google->Alphabet, Facebook->Meta...

I frequently forget Facebook is now Meta (I don't use it), and while I read about Alphabet at the time, I have literally never heard anyone refer to Google as anything other than Google, so that didn't stick in my mind, either. 

With the clue just saying the coined word (in the book I'd never heard of by the author I'd never heard of) was "later" (after the 1992 publication) shortened to be a company's new name, there wasn't even a time frame for me to try and come at it by thinking of companies that had changed names at that time.  "Recently" might have helped me think of Facebook > Meta if I didn't have that weird block where any time there's reference to it I think yet again "Oh yeah, I forgot that happened".  I really would have needed to know what genre the book was/what genre the author writes in to have had any chance at something coming to mind.

[SoMuchTV]

39 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Neither of those ways meant anything to me.  I'd heard of the author but the title was obscure to me.

Oh for sure.  I can't tell you how many times I've stared at FJ and said, there are two or three really good hints in that clue; too bad they're not helping me!  So I'd say FJ owed me one!

[Katy M]

I got FJ. First time in a while.

I got the missed clues of Shelve 12, Doc Martens (before the miss), Opium wars, Santa Cruz, Cricket and Nicholas nickleby

I got the entire categories of drive, Dickens and 5 letter right.

I had a great night.  I even got 3 right in Basketball, believe it or not.

[ams1001]

April 21:

63% / 67% / 66%

Was doing pretty well until they got to the California Missions…completely failed (but at least I wasn't alone; only one wasn't a TS). Ran You Drive, missed three in Basketball, and one each in "D.M."s, Rhyme Time, and Hard Bargain. In DJ I didn't run anything, but missed one in Dickens and Five Letter Words, and two in Lakes, Scientific Numbers, Foreign Political Parties, and Movies.

FJ was not quite an instaget, but was just a few-seconds-get.

My TSes were shelve twelve, Doc Martens, diacritical marks, Speaker of the House, Opium Wars, Cricket on the Hearth, Nicholas Nickleby, and golden ratio.
 

[Browncoat]

Instaguess FJ for me tonight, and I have The Mandalorian to thank for it!  It was a guess, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was correct.

I also got the TS of shelve twelve, diacritical mark, neophytes, cricket, Nicholas Nickleby, and miles/second.  

[chicagofan]

Halfway decent game today. Ran You Drive and got 4 right in Basketball Greats, Speak of the Dickens and Go Jump in a Lake. Got TS of Santa Cruz, the Presidio, Doc Martens, cricket, Nicholas Nickleby and Golden ratio.

And another missed FJ so only 1 for 5 this week.

Anjali must have had a brain fart because how does 1867 and the czar lead to the purchase of the Louisiana territory?

[GreekGeek]

It was good to have a FJ about antiquity after last night. I was surprised that two out of the three got it right; I didn’t think that the Praetorian Guard was that well known.  Great comeback by Emma; I was sure she was a goner after the first round.

[sharifa70]

That “Meta” clue was brutal, and I’ve actually read Snow Crash. Problem is, I read it when it was first published and all I could think of was “cyberpunk novel about a katana-wielding pizza delivery guy,” which was absolutely no help at all. I’m mad at myself now because I’ve been meaning to re-read it for some time now.

[Bastet]

Tonight's episode is pre-empted by basketball, so I just checked the archive.  Thankfully, not being able to see the pictures was mostly a non-issue.  I just gave myself credit for fluff, figuring I'd have recognized it given that it starting with F was spotted by the category.

I ran D.M., drive, and rhyme time (which was fun, but it bugged that the contestants gave their responses in the wrong order so many times [e.g. it's a fudge judge, not a judge fudge] -- I know it's not required, it's just a peeve of mine), and got all but one in missions (it helps to be a CA native; I'm not surprised they had such trouble with the category).  I missed two in basketball (it should have just been one, but I couldn't spit out goaltending in time) and three in hard bargains, so not my best first round.

It didn't get any better in DJ; I only ran lakes.  I missed three in Dickens and two each in the rest.

I capped it all off by, for the second day in a row, not having any idea for FJ.

[kathyk24]

Pace car should not have been a thousand dollar clue. I did great during the game no clue for final jeopardy.

[Trey]

I'm glad Emma won again although I thought she was a goner during the first round - it was good to see her pull herself up to be in the lead at the end.

I got the ts's or missed DDs of shelve twelve, opium wars, and cricket (on the hearth).  I said accents instead of diacritical marks - acceptable?

I knew praetorian guard but could not pull it out of the dark recesses of my brain in time so no FJ for me last night. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

4 minutes ago, Trey said:

I said accents instead of diacritical marks - acceptable?

It was in the DM category so diacritical marks was the only way.

[Trey]

1 minute ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

It was in the DM category so diacritical marks was the only way.

D'oh! I forgot the category. That happens to me a lot.

[Cotypubby]

Praetorian Guard came to me instantly but that’s just because it’s the only kind of “security” type group I can think of in relation to that era! I had no idea it was actually right and spent the rest of the time trying to think of what else it could be, couldn’t get anything else so stuck with it.

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

Pace car should not have been a thousand dollar clue. I did great during the game no clue for final jeopardy.

Given that I don't know squat about car racing, it worked as a thousand dollar clue for me. 😆

16 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Was doing pretty well until they got to the California Missions…completely failed (but at least I wasn't alone; only one wasn't a TS).

Having lived in CA, and our kids having done their third grade Mission projects, we knew (and have been to) quite a few. We missed the "central coast U.C. city is the only one named not for a saint, but for the cross" not because we didn't know Santa Cruz, but because we were looking for a mission that didn't have "Santa" in it's name. Sigh...

Mediocre game, but I got more than one in every category but "scientific numbers" which I knew was going to be a bust from the time the category was revealed.

[PaulaO]

Diacritical marks was an instaget thanks to Miss Becker,  my 8th grade English teacher.  I could stand at the podium til the end of the year and not come up with Praetorian Guard.  I wanted Igor to win.  I loved his story about Jeopardy!  helping him learn English because he could see the words as they were pronounced.

[ams1001]

50 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

We missed the "central coast U.C. city is the only one named not for a saint, but for the cross" not because we didn't know Santa Cruz, but because we were looking for a mission that didn't have "Santa" in it's name. Sigh...

I thought of Las Cruces but quickly remembered that's a city in New Mexico. I live clear on the other side of the country so that's my excuse..🤷🏻‍♀️

Edited April 22, 2023 by ams1001

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I thought of Las Cruces but quickly remembered that's a city in New Mexico. I live clear on the other side of the country so that's my excuse..🤷🏻‍♀️

That would have been a great guess, if there'd been one in California!

Edited April 22, 2023 by Clanstarling

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Having lived in CA, and our kids having done their third grade Mission projects, we knew (and have been to) quite a few. We missed the "central coast U.C. city is the only one named not for a saint, but for the cross" not because we didn't know Santa Cruz, but because we were looking for a mission that didn't have "Santa" in it's name. Sigh...

My kids too! They did some lovely clay craft projects.  
But I only got the TS of Santa Cruz because all I heard was “central coast U.C. city … saint…cross” and I have some personal history with Santa Cruz.

[DrSpaceman73]

Another one that should have a bms....Deschanel for the new girl. There's two of them. 

[possibilities]

When the winner scores lower than the 2nd place finisher, do they really only take home their actual score, or is there some provision to give them a minimum as with the other players?

[ams1001]

21 minutes ago, possibilities said:

When the winner scores lower than the 2nd place finisher, do they really only take home their actual score, or is there some provision to give them a minimum as with the other players?

I believe so; they get their amount and come back for the next game. If they lose the second game, at least they leave with that prize amount plus whatever they won the first game.

[30 Helens]

Yeah, I think that’s right. There have been plenty of times when $1 was the winning total, and that’s all they got. The main prize is supposed to be the title and the opportunity to return, and for many of them, I assume that’s enough. (Although I’m sure they appreciate having their airfare covered, at least.)

[Clanstarling]

14 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

My kids too! They did some lovely clay craft projects.  
But I only got the TS of Santa Cruz because all I heard was “central coast U.C. city … saint…cross” and I have some personal history with Santa Cruz.

My personal history is mostly the boardwalk - though I did take a class at the UC. Sadly I was looking for something w/o a saint (Saint Cross didn't make sense to me)

[chicagofan]

I was waiting for one of the clues to be about Mission Santa Barbara - the only one I've been to. I know I've been past the Presidio in San Francisco but not sure if I've actually been on the property (maybe on a tour my first time in San Francisco). And I got Santa Cruz - cross to Cruz to Santa Cruz. Plus I also spent a little time on the beach there waiting for a friend who had an interview nearby.

[MrAtoz]

For those who may be wondering about it, the "Santa" in Santa Cruz means "holy."  The city name translates as "Holy Cross."

The English word "saint" ultimately derives from the Latin sanctus, meaning "holy."  Most of the Romance languages use the same word, be it "san" or "sainte" or "santo," to mean both the adjective "holy" and the noun "saint" (e.g., a holy person).

[ams1001]

April 24:

53% / 57% / 55%

Starting off the week with a whimper. In J! I ran Animal Sounds, missed one in Games, two in American Lit, three in African Geography and Synonyms & Antonyms, and totally failed Beatles Songs. In DJ I ran Y Is the Only Vowel, missed one in Art, two in Made Good, three in Greek History and The United Nations, and four in Local Boy. Did not get FJ. My TSes were pawn & knight, Stratego, and Goodwill Ambassadors.

It can only go up from here, right?

[Trey]

I'm sorry to see Emma go but that's the way it goes.

I had only one ts: She Loves You.

I did get Santa Fe for FJ but never would have come up with Cheyenne.  I was thinking more of Sacramento.

I wonder where the woman in the middle thinks Denver is located, to be somewhere between Boston and Albany.

[Katy M]

I got FJ.  I was pretty sure of Santa Fe, but Cheyenne was a fairly wild guess.

I got the missed clues of something that looks like paint night, Stratego and goodwill.

I got the entire category of games right and the entire category of Beatles wrong.

I had a terrible DJ. I got syszygy (sp?) right, and was pretty impressed with myself.  too bad I didn't get flyby, I could have run another category.

Just now, Trey said:

I wonder where the woman in the middle thinks Denver is located, to be somewhere between Boston and Albany.

it's the lesser known Denver Vermont.

1 minute ago, Katy M said:

I got FJ.  I was pretty sure of Santa Fe, but Cheyenne was a fairly wild guess.

I got the missed clues of pawn and knight, Stratego and goodwill.

I got the entire category of games right and the entire category of Beatles wrong.

I had a terrible DJ. I got syszygy (sp?) right, and was pretty impressed with myself.  too bad I didn't get flyby, I could have run another category.

it's the lesser known Denver Vermont.

 

[chicagofan]

O.k. game today, although I think I should have gotten about a half dozen more clues right than I did - my brain just wasn't working fast enough. Got 4 TS - Strawberry Fields Forever, She Loves You, colonels and Goodwill Ambassadors - nice but not that great considering how many TS there were.

For FJ I got Santa Fe right away. My other city was Boise, but then I thought no, that's too far west. I was deciding between Cheyenne and Helena when time was up. 

What was Annee thinking? How does a road that runs north/south and passes through Denver go through Albany and Boston?

[dgpolo]

16 minutes ago, chicagofan said:

Strawberry Fields Forever, She Loves You, colonels and Goodwill Ambassadors

I got those (and only got colonels as it was the first rank I thought of after generals) as well as pawn & knight ; Stratego and Secretariat

[Browncoat]

I got FJ, but only just.  I really had to think about it -- first to realize we're looking for north/south, then to figure out what's north and south of Denver, then figure out the capitals! I got Cheyenne right away after that, then waffled between Salt Lake City and Santa Fe before flipping the mental coin and landing on Santa Fe with a barely legible scribble as the final notes of the think music played.  

I also got the TS of pawn & knight, Stratego, Strawberry Fields Forever, She Loves You, and She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.  I didn't get any of the second round TS.

22 minutes ago, chicagofan said:

What was Annee thinking? How does a road that runs north/south and passes through Denver go through Albany and Boston?

The long way around, I guess?

[ams1001]

26 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

The long way around, I guess?

I've seen some rather interesting routes for packages I've had delivered, so I guess you never know...

[Bastet]

Excellent come-back by Emma in DJ; I wish she'd known FJ.

Lots of TS in this game, but none of them shocked me; usually when there are that many, I find myself surprised at quite a few of them.

I'm usually pretty bad with Beatles clues, but I was absolutely terrible this time, not getting a single one in that category.  Other than that, I had a good first round; I ran synonyms, sounds, and American Lit, and got all but one in Africa.  I missed two in games (but I did get the Stratego TS).

In DJ, Local Boy was my weak category, but at least I only missed three in that one.  I did well in the rest of the round; I ran Made Good and Y (thanks to The X-Files for teaching me about syzygy), and got all but one in the rest.

I can't give myself credit for FJ, though; I knew Santa Fe, but figured the interstate went all the way up through Montana, so said Helena for the other one.  The elevation part of the clue took a bit to register in my brain, so by the time I realized wait, that can't be higher than Denver, and switched to Cheyenne, time was up.  So I have to count Santa Fe and Helena as my answer.  Oh, well; at least it's way better than Année's!

[30 Helens]

Mr. Helens and I worked on this FJ together, and we still didn’t get it right. Odd-numbered highway, so I knew it ran north-south. So what’s the highest elevation capital north of Denver? We guessed Helena. For south, we figured it had to be New Mexico, so… Albuquerque! Buzzzzt. What a disaster. 

On the bright side, I did really well on Beatles songs!

[Prevailing Wind]

The Beatles songs was the only category I ran.  LOL.

[Clanstarling]

15 hours ago, chicagofan said:

What was Annee thinking? How does a road that runs north/south and passes through Denver go through Albany and Boston?

To be fair, the clue didn't say anything about direction. Though that was a pretty odd guess. I used to live in Colorado as a child, so though it wasn't an instaget, I  I remembered going north out of Colorado and hitting Cheyenne, and going south and hitting Santa Fe.

My quest to learn geography is still paying off - Central African Republic was easy for me, though a few weeks ago I would not have gotten it. Now I need to learn the seas, lakes, and rivers...

I could have sworn that the ape ad was for Samsonite - the advertisers missed the boat there, at least for me.

It was an okay game otherwise, but hey, I got FJ at the beginning of the week, so I don't have to worry about a zero week.

[Katy M]

17 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I could have sworn that the ape ad was for Samsonite - the advertisers missed the boat there, at least for me.

When I was younger my mom always said I was an advertiser's worst nightmare.  I would remember commercials, but not what they were for.  I would either completely just not know, or think they were something entirely different.

[SyracuseMug]

15 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

To be fair, the clue didn't say anything about direction.

Even numbers of the Interstate generally run east/west, while odd numbers run north/south. I figure this should be common knowledge, especially among Jeopardy contestants. 😉