Jeopardy! Season 40 (2023-2024)

[dgpolo]

7 minutes ago, Trey said:

13 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I went with Porgy.

Me too.  It was wrong but at least Paul Robeson did play Porgy. And there was a murder committed in Porgy and Bess although not not committed by Porgy.

And me, glad I wasn't the only one. Othello never occurred to me. I was somewhat distracted by a recent Twitter thread where people were listing actors who had been professional athletes and Robeson came up, I hadn't known that about him so when he came up in this clue my brain decided to reflect on that for a while.🤔

[Prevailing Wind]

35 minutes ago, Trey said:

I was distracted during most of Jeopardy round by a cat who needed attention and I missed a lot of DJ too.

...for the most excellent of reasons.  Time is never wasted petting a cat.

[Clanstarling]

On 1/16/2024 at 5:20 AM, ABay said:

If the answer is Paul Robeson the question is going to be about Othello or Ol' Man River. He did so much more but J! knows those 2 things.

 

15 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I went with Porgy.

My first thought was Porgy, then I thought of Othello - and then talked myself out of Othello. Sigh...

[ams1001]

January 17:

70% / 70% / 69%

Okay game. Ran US Stamps, missed one in Around the Globe and Politics as Unusual, two in Born on Jan 17 and Inconvenient words, and three The Fist & The Furious Movies. In DJ I didn't run anything but missed one in If Food be the Love of Music, Frailty Thy Name is Man, and Summer of Our Discontent, and two in Not to Be Confused, Alliterative Terms, and Find the Fish. Got all three DDs but did not get FJ. (Starting to think about round foods for the FJ Contest potluck...)

TSes: (J had 4; DJ had 4) I got recount, invoice, lapis lazuli, piranha, and haddock.
 

[Browncoat]

Instaget FJ for me tonight.

I also got the TS of recount, invoice, and lapis lazuli.  I might have gotten some in the fish category if I'd been able to look at the clue a little longer.  But probably not.

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I might have gotten some in the fish category if I'd been able to look at the clue a little longer.  But probably not.

It was an archive game for me, as the episode will be preempted by basketball, and I ran that category.  It was fun, but challenging!  I read quickly -- far more quickly than any host speaks, so it gives me time to look at clues in categories like this one, anagrams, etc. before they disappear -- but I know for a couple of those fish clues it took me longer than the clue would have been up on the screen had I been watching like normal.

(My trick for categories like the fish one is to completely ignore the words themselves, as the sentence is meaningless -- I look at the last few letters of each word and the first few letters of the next word and see if a new word that fits the category is formed.  Sometimes a word is so silly it stands out as probably only being used because it's part of the answer, and I jump right to that word and quickly see the response, but if not I scan in order as quickly as I can [which is why piranha took me the longest, as it used four words, and they were the last ones "... swamp I ran harder"].)

I had a good first round; I ran Jan. 17, stamps, politics, and words, and got all but one in geography.  I should have also only missed one in movies, but I could not get Cinderella Man from my brain to my mouth (Superbad, I was never going to get).

If it wasn't for frailty, I'd have had a great DJ, but in that one I missed all but Ichabod Crane.  I only ran discontent and fish, but I got all but one in confused and music (of those four correct, all but cherry pie were guesses, but they all count).  I missed two in alliteration, but that was almost another got all but one category -- I knew acetylsalicylic, but what came out of my mouth was a jumbled version of that.

FJ was not an instaget, but came to me pretty quickly.  (The two incorrect answers were doozies!)

Edited January 18 by Bastet

[Grizzly]

I recognized all 3 players and remember liking them. But I am very disheartened to not be seeing Devin again after tonight.

[30 Helens]

Count me among those who guessed “Porgy” on Monday (although I had to read the clue on j-archive; no episode here). It’s the only Paul Robeson role I could think of, and I vaguely remembered a murder. 

No clue for Tuesday’s FJ. I can’t keep the old nations straight; how can I be expected to know the new ones? The runner-up’s “hope he tanks it” response had the whiff of bad sportsmanship, even though I’m sure she was going for a joke.

I did get today’s FJ, although it was purely a guess. (“They started it fifty years earlier and had to pause construction,” Mr. Smug added from the other end of the sofa.) I guess nerves got to the two wrong contestants, because how is a bridge reminiscent of a chimney? And when did the Eiffel Tower move to America? 

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

My trick for categories like the fish one is to completely ignore the words themselves, as the sentence is meaningless -- I look at the last few letters of each word and the first few letters of the next word and see if a new word that fits the category is formed. 

Same here. I start scanning as soon as the clue goes up and try to block Ken’s voice, because the reading is just distracting. I missed piranha because it required putting four words together, although I did think there was something sneaky about having those short words together and would have gotten there with a few more seconds. I think. Maybe.

[Cotypubby]

Ah yes, that most American of structures, the Eiffel Tower. 😆🤦‍♀️

FJ was an instaget, really what else could it be!? Glad Juveria knew it because those other answers, wow.

[kathyk2]

I loved the born on this date category since it's my niece's nineteenth birthday. I also ran the food and rock music category.

[Bastet]

53 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

I missed piranha because it required putting four words together

Oh, holy balls, thanks for subtly alerting me I said three instead of four; that capital "I" in the midst of it all apparently threw me off not just in taking so long to put the correct response together out of the nonsense sentence, but, apparently also in describing my process.  I've corrected my post.

[bad things are bad]

My knee jerk response to FJ was Eiffel Tower,  but my husband pointed out that the category specified American.  Then it was pretty easy. 

Juveria is really dominant.  Hope she continues 

[SweetSable]

Are regular games ever coming back?  

[Cotypubby]

After the Champions Wildcard competition, the Tournament of Champions will start Feb 23, regular episodes probably won’t begin until April.

[ams1001]

January 18:

80% / 63% / 70%

Good first round, not good second. Ran Take It Back! and The Mising Letter, missed one in Sports (!) and The Past Presently, and two in Classical Music and Vegetable Stew. In DJ I ran Painful Memories and An "H" & "R" Block, missed two in Movie Titles with Numbers in Them and The Writer's Strike, three in A Woman's Place, and four in On the Map (probably would have gotten Maine if I'd been paying more attention to the screen, but looked up too late to really process the image).

Did not get FJ. But at least I had the same guess as all the players.

TSes: (J had 1; DJ had 7 + both DDs) I got hyperbole, harmony, New Orleans, and Oregon (DD).

I don't usually pay that much attention to Ken's wardrobe, but I liked his purple shirt and tie combo tonight.

[Katy M]

I didn't say Ho Chi Minh because i didn't think that was the right answer.  However, I'm not going to say what I did say, because it's embarrassing and makes no sense.

I got the missed clues of hyperbole, harmony and New Orleans.  And if that wouldn't make a great title for a Hallmark movie, I don't know what would.

I got the entire category of H&R right.

Not too bad, but I need final to come out in the black.

[Browncoat]

I am gobsmacked that I got FJ!  Mind you, I only got it because I couldn't remember Ho Chi Minh's name.  Yes, I know, Ho Chi Minh City and all, but I just drew a blank.  The only other person of that era I could remember was the correct response to FJ, so I shrugged and wrote it down, thinking it was wrong.  As I said, gobsmacked.

I also got the TS of Wellesley, hyperbole, New Orleans, and Oregon.

[BuckeyeLou]

I was thinking like all the Contestants:  I said Ho Chi Minh also. 

[dgpolo]

2 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I am gobsmacked that I got FJ!

Me too! I knew it wasn't Ho Chi Minh and Pol Pot came out of nowhere, crazy.

[secnarf]

22 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Ah yes, that most American of structures, the Eiffel Tower. 😆🤦‍♀️

FJ was an instaget, really what else could it be!? Glad Juveria knew it because those other answers, wow.

I found it funny because Juveria was also the only Canadian of the three of them. But yes, I felt bad for the Eiffel Tower answer; obviously forgot about the category.

For tonight, I immediately said Ho Chi Minh, then realized that made absolutely no sense. I did a project on the Cambodian genocide in high school and so it wasn't a huge stretch to get Pol Pot, though I couldn't remember if the year was correct.

[shapeshifter]

Yesterday I guessed the base of the Statue of Liberty. At least I was only a year off on the date.

And at least I instagot the TSs of spinach and lapis lazuli. 

 

Today I blurted out Ho Chi Minh, but knew that wasn't right, switched to Pol Pot, but then went back to Ho Chi Minh. 😕

I did get the TSs of hyperbole and Lane [Bryant].

Martha is awkwardly charming in a delightful way.

 

+++++++++

 

ETA:

5 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

I knew Ho Chi Minh didn't make sense. My only guess was Nguyen Van Thieu (although I couldn't actually remember his name), even though that didn't make sense either. Pol Pot never occurred to me.

Hah! If I hadn't wasted so much time trying (and totally failing) to come up with Nguyen Van Thieu, I probably would've settled on Pol Pot.

Edited January 19 by shapeshifter

[SoMuchTV]

I really thought Martha would have come up with Pol Pot (speaking as someone who’s not much younger than she is and lived through a lot of 20th century history). At least I can claim I got a TS FJ!

Interesting that she went with the bet (0) that would have gone to a tiebreaker if she & 2nd place were both correct, rather than $1 which would guarantee her a win if correct, no matter what anyone else did (I think I have that right!). I probably would have gone the other way but I’m sure she had reasons. 

[Bastet]

I remember Martha and was rooting for her.  Older ladies for the win!

The hyperbole TS surprised me.

While I correctly figured it was Tyson, I'm not surprised Kendra guessed Holyfield; the clue called it "making the best of a bad situation" which is usually used in the context of coming up with making the best of something bad that happened to you, not making money off something shitty you did to someone else.

I had a just okay first round; I only ran classical music (which was a pleasant surprise) and take back.  I got all but one in vegetable and past, but missed two each in the rest.

I did better in DJ, when it's usually the opposite; I ran women, pain, and H&R and got all but one in map and strikes.  I missed three in movies, but it should have just been two -- I only got as far as "Allison Something" for the M3GAN clue before a contestant rang in.

FJ was an instaget.

[30 Helens]

I, too, took a fast train to Ho Chi Minh City and never looked back. Oh, well.

I hope Martha practices saying “what is” before she returns.

Ken had me laughing out loud with his comment of “I didn’t think I could say the short words”. (In response to one contestant’s kids -students?- wondering why Ken had used a long word like “conceive” to describe making a baby.)

[MrAtoz]

I knew Ho Chi Minh didn't make sense. My only guess was Nguyen Van Thieu (although I couldn't actually remember his name), even though that didn't make sense either. Pol Pot never occurred to me.

[dgpolo]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I hope Martha practices saying “what is” before she returns.

This bugged me more than it probably should have, but after she lost a clue because of it, she almost did it again! I think she should go the Matt Amodio route and just start saying What's...? every time she rings in.

[ams1001]

January 19:

70% / 60% / 66%

My week began and ended with a "meh...." Ran Games, missed one in America Before 1800, British TV, and From S to Y, two in Book Title Animal and four in St. Louis. In DJ I ran nothing, missed one in Musical Theater and Famous Forgeries, two in Asian Capital Cities, Newer Words & Phrases, and Existentialism, and four in Agriculture.

Got all three DDs and my first and only FJ of the week!

TSes: (J had 3; DJ had 3 + both DDs) I got Rats (of Nimh), Howard Hughes (DD), 42nd Street (DD),  and Vermeer.
 

Edited January 20 by ams1001

[Katy M]

I'm assuming "the mobile guy" would not be accepted.  But, I can never reember his name.

I got the missed clues of rats, pigeon, Howard Huges and Vermeer.

I got the entire categories of s-y and book animals right.

I had a really good (for me) first round but a terrible terrible DJ and, of course, missed FJ.  I'm in the hole big time.

[Browncoat]

Sadly, I focused on "circus" and went with Barnum.  I didn't even pay attention to the year or anything else.  Oh well.

I did get the TS of rats, Busch Stadium, 42nd Street, and Howard Hughes.

[Bastet]

I vaguely recognized all three contestants.

I was a bit off my game in the first round; I only ran the vocabulary category.  I got all but one in America, St. Louis, and games, but missed two in TV and was terrible in books, missing three.

I only ran one category in DJ, too - forgeries - but had a great round.  I missed two in musicals, but got all but one in the rest (even words & phrases, despite the fact I'd only ever heard of two of them - throuple and microdosing).

I didn't get FJ, though.  I've heard of him, but that's about it.

[30 Helens]

I know nothing about Alexander Calder except that he did mobiles. And that Jeopardy loves him. So when a clue comes along that hints at mobiles, I know Calder must be the answer. Even if the year seemed a little too early to me.

[ABay]

Same reasoning here.

[chessiegal]

I saw a Calder mobile in the East Building of the National Gallery in DC. It left an impression.

[ams1001]

7 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I know nothing about Alexander Calder except that he did mobiles. And that Jeopardy loves him. So when a clue comes along that hints at mobiles, I know Calder must be the answer. Even if the year seemed a little too early to me.

Exactly.

Honestly had no idea if the year was reasonable or not. Wiki tells me he lived from 1898-1976. Apparently he went by "Sandy."

"In New York City, Calder enrolled at the Art Students League, studying briefly with George Luks, Boardman Robinson, and John Sloan. While a student, he worked for the National Police Gazette where, in 1925, one of his assignments was sketching the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Calder became fascinated with the circus action, a theme that would reappear in his later work."

[Clanstarling]

15 hours ago, Katy M said:

I'm assuming "the mobile guy" would not be accepted.  But, I can never remember his name.

I can remember his name, but for some reason "Pollock" tends to come out of my mouth. It's a mystery, since I know both of their works. But this time it came out right!

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I saw a Calder mobile in the East Building of the National Gallery in DC. It left an impression.

I saw one in a museum in Portland - it made an impression, which was that I wasn't too impressed.  Of course, it was small and really didn't look that much different than something you'd put over a crib. Maybe the one in the National Gallery would wow me. 🙂

[chessiegal]

14 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I saw one in a museum in Portland - it made an impression, which was that I wasn't too impressed.  Of course, it was small and really didn't look that much different than something you'd put over a crib. Maybe the one in the National Gallery would wow me. 🙂

It was huge! It was hung from the ceiling in an open area and had several large red pieces. I was standing on a staircase, and it must have been over 20 feet or more in size.

[ECM1231]

What? 2 correct FJ in a row? Well, that never happens. Lol 

Knew Calder b/c my son wrote a paper about him for a college art course, which he had to present to the class. I was his audience as he practiced, but that was at least 15 years ago. 

[chessiegal]

Turns out the Calder I saw was done to hang in the National Gallery. I'd forgotten it had more than red. It was impressive from floor level, but I went up nearby stairs to take it all in.

[possibilities]

On 1/11/2024 at 3:32 PM, proserpina65 said:

The Puritans who ran Massachusetts Bay colony hated anyone who believed differently, so they were fine with banning non-Puritans.  Roger Williams was too much of a free thinker for them.  From ushistory,org on his banishment: "Two ideas got him into big trouble in Massachusetts Bay. First, he preached separation of church and state. He believed in complete RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, so no single church should be supported by tax dollars. Massachusetts Puritans believed they had the one true faith; therefore such talk was intolerable. Second, Williams claimed taking land from the Native Americans without proper payment was unfair."

It really does make MA the bad guys and RI the good guys (as my acquaintance always maintained). I need to find the history that explains how MA changed, because I live in MA and it's one of the better/more egalitarian and tolerant states these days, in my opinion (I have no opinion about modern day RI, as I've never been there).

I caught up on all this this week's shows yesterday, as I was too busy to watch them live, and I laughed at the characterization of the Washington Monument. I think that's always been a structure that invites derisive reviews (mostly regarding its phallic nature), and I hadn't heard that particular one before. 

When they have categories like the find-the-fish one, I wish they would leave it on the screen until the contestant answers, because I'm sure I could find them if I could see them for more than fraction of a second. Staring at the contestant's face while they look at the clue just doesn't work for me. I need the sustained visual for those types of challenges.

Long and Juveria are both dominant players. It will be interesting to see them go head to head. 

[proserpina65]

On 1/20/2024 at 2:55 AM, 30 Helens said:

I know nothing about Alexander Calder except that he did mobiles. And that Jeopardy loves him. So when a clue comes along that hints at mobiles, I know Calder must be the answer. Even if the year seemed a little too early to me.

I hesitated briefly because I wasn't sure if he was American, but as you say, mobiles = Calder.

20 hours ago, possibilities said:

It really does make MA the bad guys and RI the good guys (as my acquaintance always maintained). I need to find the history that explains how MA changed, because I live in MA and it's one of the better/more egalitarian and tolerant states these days, in my opinion (I have no opinion about modern day RI, as I've never been there).

The lesson here is that Puritans suck.  Any colony they ran was going to be extremely non-tolerant.  Kicking them out of the government at some point was the best decision those in Massachusetts ever made.

Pol Pot was an instaget for me.  Took me a moment to come up with the Washington Monument but it was the only chimney-like structure I could connect with the date so I said it.

 

[30 Helens]

23 hours ago, possibilities said:

When they have categories like the find-the-fish one, I wish they would leave it on the screen until the contestant answers, because I'm sure I could find them if I could see them for more than fraction of a second. Staring at the contestant's face while they look at the clue just doesn't work for me. I need the sustained visual for those types of challenges.

Yes! This frustrates me with all the word challenges. I don’t know why they don’t employ a split screen on these occasions: half on the contestant’s face, half on the clue. Or just leave the clue in a box in the corner of the screen.

[ams1001]

January 22:

70% / 73% / 72%

Not terrible…In J I ran It's Getting Cold In Here, missed one in Letters of the Law, The Job is the Movie Title, and So Put On All Your Clothes, two in Word Origins, and four in What a "Day"; in DJ I ran Whose What, missed one in Tempera-Mental Artists and This Category is "Mid", and two in Short Stories, Aviation Pioneers, and Jukebox Musicals.

Got all three DDs but not FJ.

TSes: (J had 3; DJ had 7) I got fishnet, The Time Traveler's Wife, Gloria Estefan, Bob Dylan, and Andrew Wyeth.
 

[Katy M]

I very confidently said Tennessee and thought what  a ridiculously easy question. I even "knew" that the pres and vice in question were Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson.  Boy, did I get taken down a couple pegs.

I got the missed clues of fishnet, Earth Day, The Time Traveler's Wife (oh how I hated that book) and Andrew Wyeth.

[Browncoat]

I said Ohio without any confidence, just because there have been so many from Ohio.  I was not surprised to be wrong.

But I did get the TS of fishnet, Earth Day, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Andrew Wyeth.

[secnarf]

28 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I said Ohio without any confidence, just because there have been so many from Ohio.  I was not surprised to be wrong.

Me too!

Mostly I'm just happy that I have absorbed the knowledge that many presidents are from Ohio. I had no idea where Lincoln was born.

[SoMuchTV]

30 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I said Ohio without any confidence, just because there have been so many from Ohio.  I was not surprised to be wrong.

 

1 minute ago, secnarf said:

Me too!

Mostly I'm just happy that I have absorbed the knowledge that many presidents are from Ohio. I had no idea where Lincoln was born.

Another Ohio guesser. But Abe Lincoln reading by candlelight in his log cabin in Kentucky is burned into my brain for some reason. Not that it helped me get to the right response. 

[Bastet]

The fishnet TS surprised me.  Any time the first clue selected in a category is a TS, I wonder if they didn't understand the category, but this wasn't a vague title - obviously, it's going to be about clothes - and the clue had hints.

I almost ran the entire first round, but I joined the contestants in being stumped by Balmoral, and I missed two in movies.

In DJ, I only ran aviation (Cessna was pure guess, but it counts).  I got all but the "Cat Person" TS in short stories (that's right, the ultimate cat person had never heard of that story), all but The Time Traveler's Wife TS in Whose What, and all but the Neil Diamond TS in musicals.  But I missed three in artists, which was pretty good since I'd never even heard of tempera art (I looked it up when the game ended), and another three in "mid", which was disappointing since I'm usually good at vocabulary categories. 

I had no idea for FJ, so guessed Ohio since so many presidents have been from there (along with Virginia, but of course that couldn't be it since it was one of the 13).  But that seemed way too obvious, so I was expecting it to be wrong.

[shapeshifter]

3 minutes ago, Bastet said:

But I missed three in artists, which was pretty good since I'd never even heard of tempera art

Now I feel even older than I am, LOL. I guess school-age kids haven't painted with tempera paint since the 70s. 

I guessed Ohio for FJ.

My TSs were Fishnet, Bob Dylan, and Andrew Wyeth. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

3 hours ago, Katy M said:

I very confidently said Tennessee and thought what  a ridiculously easy question. I even "knew" that the pres and vice in question were Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson.  Boy, did I get taken down a couple pegs.

One of the poorly-formed thoughts that crossed my mind was that I knew that Lincoln had been born somewhere other than Illinois, and I thought that that might have been Tennessee. And in order to bolster that idea my subconscious offered up "born on a mountaintop in Tennessee" (which sadly took too long to lead me to the conclusion that that was not Lincoln but Davy Crockett).

[30 Helens]

I thought it might be Lincoln, so I guessed Illinois. Sigh. Right track, wrong lane.