Jeopardy! Season 40 (2023-2024)

[30 Helens]

I managed a record store (RIP Camelot!) in the early 90's, so there was no way I was going to miss Friday's FJ. Except I did. For which my only excuse is I was out of that business before 1996 and as far as I knew the lyrics were "Macarena macarena macarena macarena, macarena macarena macarena macarena. Macarena macarena macarena macarena, HEYYY macarena." And repeat.

On 5/4/2024 at 12:20 PM, Clanstarling said:

So sorry @30Helens

No need to apologize. We'll just chalk it up to memory muddle, cognitive paralysis's equally vexing cousin. I know them both very well.

[proserpina65]

On 5/3/2024 at 8:00 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

Forget FJ.  I never know music.

I'm usually good at pop music but I had no clue for FJ.  Never liked that song and promptly forget it as soon as it's done playing.

 

[astrohip]

13 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

as far as I knew the lyrics were "Macarena macarena macarena macarena, macarena macarena macarena macarena. Macarena macarena macarena macarena, HEYYY macarena." And repeat.

Quote of the week!

 

PS: Me too.

[ams1001]

May 6:

70% / 60% / 66%

So-so start to the week. In J I ran 19th Century and State Mottoes, missed one in Floral, two in Dark Side, and three in Abbey Road and Homophones. In DJ I ran The Plot Sickens and Known by their Initials, missed two in TV "AD"s, three in 4-Letter Verbs and Colleges & Universities, and four in Combat Pilots.

But I got FJ and all but two of the missed clues! 

TSes: (J had 1; DJ had 6 + 1 DD) I got Minnesota, Five Feet Apart, PT Barnum, FW De Klerk, Inspector Gadget, and Madame Secretary..

Aw, I was rooting for the champ to get to five. Oh well. I liked the new guy, too.
 

Edited May 6 by ams1001

[Katy M]

FJ was an instaget.

I got the missed clues of De Klerk (I didn't know his initials in time, but even though that was the category, nobody else was penalized for that), PT Barnum, Madam Secretary and Inspector Gadget.

 

[Browncoat]

I could picture the uniforms referenced in FJ in my head, and knew they guarded the Pope, but could not for the life of me come up with the name.  Boo, hiss.

But I did get the TS of Minnesota, F. W, De Klerk, P. T. Barnum (thank you, The Greatest Showman), Madam Secretary, Inspector Gadget, and Temple.

[SoMuchTV]

A question for y’all. At the end of today’s episode, Ken said Jeopardy Masters is coming up on this abc station. It seemed seamless, but it must have been customized based on the station, right?  Anyone who watches J! on a non-abc station, what did you hear at the end of the episode?

[Browncoat]

12 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

A question for y’all. At the end of today’s episode, Ken said Jeopardy Masters is coming up on this abc station. It seemed seamless, but it must have been customized based on the station, right?  Anyone who watches J! on a non-abc station, what did you hear at the end of the episode?

I wondered about that too.  I'm not at home, where I watch on a CBS affiliate, so I don't know.  I watched tonight on an ABC affiliate.

[bad things are bad]

Thought Swiss Guards right away,  actually saw a few in Rome 2 weeks ago.  But Medici threw me off. But I didn't have anything else.

 

[ams1001]

52 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

A question for y’all. At the end of today’s episode, Ken said Jeopardy Masters is coming up on this abc station. It seemed seamless, but it must have been customized based on the station, right?  Anyone who watches J! on a non-abc station, what did you hear at the end of the episode?

I didn't hear that but I watch on ABC anyway so it probably wouldn't have registered.

[ABay]

I got Minnesota because I was a hardcore hockey fan once upon a time and the MN team was the North Stars.

[Bastet]

Well, boo, I was hoping Weckiai would hit five wins.

The Minnesota TS surprised me; I'd have put money on someone guessing Maine, but with that and Washington ruled out, I also would have put money on the third contestant finally coming up with it.  Good thing my predictions on wrong answers/non-answers are all for imaginary money.

I missed three in Abbey Road (the Beatles clue, as I generally do, plus Ed Sheeran and The 1975 [never even heard of them]), but if not for that I'd have only missed two - Polk (I was trying to count to the 11th president, but only got through eighth before someone rang in) and sensor/censer (I had no idea what the second image was, so was struggling to come up with what they wanted for the first) - in the entire first round. 

I ran verbs and colleges and got all but Adam Ruins Everything in "Ad", and missed two each in the rest of DJ, so not bad.

I had no idea for FJ, though; Medici brought to mind the arts, not popes, and that didn't translate to any group that would have uniforms, so I never got anywhere in my thinking.

Edited May 7 by Bastet

[Cotypubby]

Hmm I said “Vatican Guard” for FJ. I wonder if that would have been accepted. I knew exactly what they wanted, the stripes guys that stand around the Vatican.

[secnarf]

Took me longer than I should have, but as they were reading out the first (incorrect) response, an image of the Swiss guards popped into my head. A bit slow but I'll take the credit ;)

[BuckeyeLou]

37 minutes ago, Cotypubby said:

Hmm I said “Vatican Guard” for FJ. I wonder if that would have been accepted. I knew exactly what they wanted, the stripes guys that stand around the Vatican.

Thats what I said too!

[30 Helens]

5 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Hmm I said “Vatican Guard” for FJ. I wonder if that would have been accepted.

I say yes, since that was also one of my guesses. I would also accept “Pope Guards” and “Pope Posse”.

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I say yes, since that was also one of my guesses. I would also accept “Pope Guards” and “Pope Posse”.

In that case, I got FJ, too!  The best I could do was Vatican Guards or Pope Guards.

[proserpina65]

FJ was an instaget although I could certainly understand people not getting the Swiss part because of the Medici in the clue.

So glad Weckiai is gone.  She was really bugging the hell out of me for some reason.

I knew the P.T. Barnum clue because my father always said he wanted to name me Jenny Lind.  He was kind of obsessed with her for some reason.  My mother compromised on Jennifer Lynn instead.

(Note to those familiar with her from The Greatest Showman: pretty much everything about the character in the film is completely made-up other than Barnum paying her to come out of retirement to do the US tour he arranged.  No romance ever happened.)

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

(Note to those familiar with her from The Greatest Showman: pretty much everything about the character in the film is completely made-up other than Barnum paying her to come out of retirement to do the US tour he arranged.  No romance ever happened.)

Oh yeah.  A lot about that movie was entirely fictional.  And remarkable -- like his children who didn't age over the span of several years.  But it does help me remember that Barnum brought Jenny Lind to the US.

[PaulaO]

I have no memory of Weckiai (I know I bungled that spelling) losing so today was very confusing.  Also, the first 10 minutes were interrupted with severe weather warnings.

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

I have no memory of Weckiai (I know I bungled that spelling)

Nope, you got it right.

[SoMuchTV]

19 hours ago, Bastet said:

Well, boo, I was hoping Weckiai would hit five wins.

Same here, I was just warming up to her.  The story behind her name probably helped.  And the fact that I finally managed to remember how to pronounce it ("wakey-eye").

[ams1001]

19 hours ago, Bastet said:

and The 1975 [never even heard of them])

I've heard of them but I could not have told you a song they sing or what they looked like. That's the year I was born so you'd think I'd at least remember there's a band by that name. But you'd be wrong.

19 hours ago, Bastet said:

all but Adam Ruins Everything 

I was annoyed I missed that one because I've probably seen every episode and I listen to his podcast (called Factually!).

 

[EtheltoTillie]

So many TSs today!  And I failed to get most of them.

I got FJ because they used mantilla in the clue.  I had never heard of the novella. It's the only character I could think of who'd wear a mantilla.

Do we have a name for this type of clue, where you can make the educated guess?

 

[Katy M]

I said Esmerelda. Then I said Hunchback of Notre Dame wasn't a novella.  And that's as far as I got.

I got the missed clues of Aunt Polly, Aaliyah, Jim Morrison, Lindsay Lohan, Newfoundland, teeth, useless, Po, Pulitizer, and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.

I got the entire category of relative right.

Looks like  I had a good night. But looks can be deceiving.  My first round was OK.  After that, not so good.

[ams1001]

May 7:

53% / 56% / 55%

In J I missed one in It's All Relative, two in Books, Death in the Capital, and Hodgepodge, three TV Movies, and four Words in Jeopardy. In DJ I missed one in Dinosaurs, two in Pronunciation Advice, Ralphabet, Pop Music (of three they got to), and Tear U-S Apart (of four), and three in Around the Adriatic.

But FJ was pretty much an instaget. "Mantilla" sent me to Spain and I couldn't think of anything else.

Terrible game…but at least it wasn't just me. There were 21 missed clues, three left on the board, and the combined Coryat score was just over half of last night's - $21,200 vs $42,000. Yeesh.

TSes: (J had 9; DJ had 11 TSes, 1 missed DD, and three clues left behind!) I got heroin, Hilary Swank, Jim Morrison, teeth, Po, Ralph Reed, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, and Newfoundland (DD).

I liked Allison's story; my cousin's daughter did a semester at sea. I could not tell you where all they went, though.

Edited May 8 by ams1001

[Browncoat]

Mantilla led me to Spain and abandoned me there.  I did not get FJ.

But I did get quite a few TS, including Aunt Polly, dray, Jim Morrison, Hillary Swank, Lindsey Lohan, Newfoundland, teeth, Emerson, Bunch, and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.

[Grizzly]

As I'm reading this thread, a commercial came on that used Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now. Where was it earlier? I knew the song/movie but couldn't come up with the title.

I did get Hillary Swank, Jim Morrison, Emerson and teeth. The short skirt in FJ took me to Wonder Woman even though I knew the year was way too soon.

[Bastet]

Even with how many they'd already missed, the Jim Morrison TS still made me sigh.  These folks are worse at pop culture than I am; they missed half the TV movies (despite pictures of two of them) and all the music (well, of the three they managed to get to; of those three, I only knew "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", which is now stuck in my head, so thanks a lot, J! writers).

Matthew realizing he just mispronounced oophorectomy when the clue told him not to was funny.

I ran TV movies and hodgepodge and got all but one in deaths and relative, but missed two each in the rest, so not my best first round.  Better than the contestants, though -- nine TS that round.

Almost the same numbers in DJ -- I ran Adriatic and pronunciation and got all but one Ralph (Bunche, I am sad to say [I'd have been thrilled to join the contestants in not knowing Ralph Reed, on the other hand]), but missed two each in the rest.  Still better than the contestants, with 11 TS this time.

FJ took half the Think music to come to me; mantilla made me think of Spain right away, but then there was a pause before Carmen came to mind.  I didn't know the story started as a novella, but the year made sense and I had no other ideas, so stuck with her.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Do we have a name for this type of clue, where you can make the educated guess?

Instaguess??

 

Jim Morrison was a TS? 
I am so old. And so is my blacklight poster of him, wherever it is. 

 

 

On 5/6/2024 at 10:32 PM, Bastet said:

Well, boo, I was hoping Weckiai would hit five wins.

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Same here, I was just warming up to her.  The story behind her name probably helped.

I had already investigated her name origin and so already thought it was cool and wanted her to get to 5 wins. 
And, yes, she did seem like a "to know me is to love me" kind of person.
Maybe if they need Second Chancers again Weckiai will get "the call"? 

[EtheltoTillie]

Instaguess--I like that!

My laugh reaction is for @shapeshifter's black light poster.

Edited May 8 by EtheltoTillie

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Instaguess??

Only if it happens as soon as you finish reading/hearing the clue -- it's based on instaget, where you immediately know the answer.  The difference is, while it still immediately comes to you, it's as a guess based on something or a combination of things in the clue/category making it spring to mind, not as a certainty because you know the fact(s) at issue.  If it's your guess after pondering of the info provided by the clue/category and coming up with something that seems to fit, it's just a regular ol' educated* guess.

As a recent personal example, the Big Kahuna FJ clue:  Surfing legend Duke Kahanamoku has been called by this 2-word nickname that describes any dominant person or expert.

I know almost nothing about surfing, and have never even heard of Duke Kahanamoku, so I don't specifically know that he's been called the Big Kahuna (whereas if I did, that would be an instaget).  But a Hawaiian name plus two-word nickname for dominant/expert made "Big Kahuna" come immediately to mind -- an instaguess I figured would turn out to be correct. 

By contrast, tonight's FJ was an educated guess, but not an instaguess; I got to Spain immediately, but had to mull over the clue in its entirety before Carmen emerged as a probable response.

*And then, as opposed to educated, there's the WAG - wild-assed guess - where, regardless of how long it takes you to make that guess, you can't identify what in the clue/category you're, even subconsciously, basing the guess on, seeming to pull it out of your ass.

Edited May 8 by Bastet

[30 Helens]

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Mantilla led me to Spain and abandoned me there.  I did not get FJ.

Same here. I had no idea Carmen began as a short story and wracked my brain trying to think of a well known Spanish literary heroine.

40 minutes ago, Bastet said:

And then, as opposed to educated, there's the WAG - wild-assed guess

Yes, or as I have always known it, the SWAG-- silly (or stupid) wild-assed guess. I SWAG  my way through a lot of Jeopardy clues.

Stunning amount of missed clues today. I did not keep count, but I would swear Ken answered more clues than the contestants. Also, was it just me or were the contestant stories unusually long? Half way through her monologue, I yelled at Alison to "stop listing countries!" She didn't listen, and I don't think she left any out.

I can't believe nobody knew the Lizard King.

[EtheltoTillie]

Thanks, everyone. I’ll call Carmen an Instaguess for me, then, as I thought of it right away and “knew” it had to be the answer.

This is the type of clue I’ve always enjoyed, where the writers come up with an obscure factoid for something very well known, so even if you don’t know the link you “know” the answer. 

[Bliss]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

 

Yes, or as I have always known it, the SWAG-- silly (or stupid) wild-assed guess. I SWAG  my way through a lot of Jeopardy clues.

 

Ditto. I am seriously considering changing my name to Ms Swag.

[Clanstarling]

15 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I got FJ because they used mantilla in the clue.  I had never heard of the novella. It's the only character I could think of who'd wear a mantilla.

Same here. I associated mantilla with Spain, and the only character I could of was Carmen. I thought it was a stupid guess, since I only knew it from the Opera. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I got FJ because they used mantilla in the clue.  I had never heard of the novella. It's the only character I could think of who'd wear a mantilla.

Yeah, that's what did it for me.  I love the opera and did not know about the novella but "mantilla" + otherwise somewhat racy outfit = Carmen.

 

[ECM1231]

13 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

can't believe nobody knew the Lizard King.

I'm assuming this was the one about Jim Morrison? I was surprised by that also, but maybe they were too young? I wasn't into that genre of music back in the day, but of course knew who The Doors were. Didn't know that was his nickname, though, and looked it up.

[ams1001]

14 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Also, was it just me or were the contestant stories unusually long?

Not just you.

41 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

I'm assuming this was the one about Jim Morrison? I was surprised by that also, but maybe they were too young? I wasn't into that genre of music back in the day, but of course knew who The Doors were. Didn't know that was his nickname, though, and looked it up.

I didn't know the nickname, either, but at least I know he was the Doors frontman, and he died four years before I was born.

[ProudMary]

5 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

I'm assuming this was the one about Jim Morrison? I was surprised by that also, but maybe they were too young? I wasn't into that genre of music back in the day, but of course knew who The Doors were. Didn't know that was his nickname, though, and looked it up.

Yes, to his Lizard King nickname and also Mr. Mojo Risin', memorialized in "L.A. Woman." That nickname is, of course, an anagram of Jim Morrison.

[ams1001]

May 8:

63% / 80% / 70%

Meh first round but pretty good second. In J! I ran Planets, missed one in Nursery Rhyme Characters, two in Bananas and Rapper's Delight, and three in Silent Consonants and I.T. In DJ I ran Tiers, missed two in Quarters and one each in everything else.

Had no clue for FJ.

I got all the DDs; the players missed them all. 

TSes: (J had 5 + the DD; DJ had 8 + both DDs) I got Mars (DD), Neptune, forthcoming (DD), waterfall, Lake Placid, Conestoga* wagon (DD), Northwest Territory, Cotton Mather, and Roseanne Conner.

*I better get that one; my college's yearbook is called The Conestogan.
 

[Katy M]

I had no clue on FJ.

I got the missed clues of Conestoga, contempororaries, Margarita and Cotton Mather.

 

[Browncoat]

I had no idea for FJ, either, but I was trying to come up with a rhyming opera title, not what they wanted.

But I did get several TS, including Knave of Hearts, waterfall, Conestoga, and contemporaries.

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, Browncoat said:

I had no idea for FJ, either, but I was trying to come up with a rhyming opera title, not what they wanted.

Yeah, I guess that’s on me for assuming they were going for a title, but I really didn’t care for what they did there. 

[opus]

In honor of the rhyme scheme, me no get-o Rigoletto libretto

[Bastet]

I'll start in the shallow end -- I really liked Allison's top, especially the color.

That grandmaster = chess stumped all three surprised me, but in a game with 12 TS I suppose nothing should surprise me.

I can't believe Ken initially accepted Roseanne Barr instead of Conner, with character right there in the clue.

I figured I was going to blow nursery rhymes, but only missed two.  I missed another two in rappers.  I ran planets, words, and bananas, and got all but Turgenev in IT, so had an okay first round.

I ran quarters, 18th c. and tiers, but missed three in lit and two each in close and moms, which is pretty decent for DJ.

I had absolutely no idea for FJ, though.

[30 Helens]

The category was opera, so there was no way I was going to get it, but still. I do know some names of operas, and tried very hard to think of one that rhymed, but that wasn't even the task.  Maybe it's just me and my string of bagel answers, but I feel like the FJs have become much more difficult since the writers' strike. Are they trying to punish us for watching without them?

9 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I didn't know the nickname, either, but at least I know he was the Doors frontman, and he died four years before I was born.

I can always count on this board to make me feel ancient.

[SomeTameGazelle]

57 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

The category was opera, so there was no way I was going to get it, but still. I do know some names of operas, and tried very hard to think of one that rhymed, but that wasn't even the task. 

I stared very hard at the category and clue. I know that I have a mental block where I am incapable of differentiating between Rigoletto and Pagliacci. On the one hand the plot sounded like one of those, but on the other neither rhymed. And the category was quite clear that it had to rhyme.
 

Quote

 

RHYME TIME: OPERA VERSION

Telling the story of a Duke, a jester & the jester's daughter, it was written by poet Francesco Maria Piave.

 

I googled Rigoletto and immediately the result named Piave as the author. So I was very confused wondering where the rhyme was. Was  it just that Piave was a poet? It did not make any sense. But I committed to Rigoletto (even though technically with the assist from Google I should not count it) and started to watch the contestants' responses. I absolutely hit the roof (I cursed aloud! At Ken!) when Ken gave "Rigoletto libretto" as the alleged rhyme. It's very weak as a rhyme, for one thing, but also it is so normal to say that someone wrote <title> that I really think they needed to go harder than "it was written" to reasonably extract "libretto" as part of the response. Maybe something closer to "this book of the opera was written." I would not be surprised if the ambiguity put a contestant off responding with Rigoletto and making the leap to add libretto.

Edited May 9 by SomeTameGazelle

[The Wild Sow]

10 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

10 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I had no idea for FJ, either, but I was trying to come up with a rhyming opera title, not what they wanted.

Yeah, I guess that’s on me for assuming they were going for a title, but I really didn’t care for what they did there. 

I'm with you.  I was pretty sure it was Rigoletto - that was the 2nd opera I ever saw, and I knew that "Jester = Rigoletto" - but couldn't for the life of me figure out where the rhyme was supposed to be.

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Conestoga* wagon (DD)

I've actually been to Conestoga Township, PA, for their Christmas events.  It's a charming place.

FJ was an instaget.  I knew the characters were from Rigoletto and it seemed obvious to me that the clue was asking for something written by Piave.  Given the rhyming requirement of the category, it had to be libretto.  Fun fact: Francesco Piave wrote many librettos for Verdi, among others, including the one for my favorite Verdi opera, La Traviata. 

This is where I should note that I've seen Rigoletto in person and that I know enough about opera to have a favorite Verdi opera which is not my favorite opera ever.  That would be Tosca by Giacomo Puccini.  So any difficulty I could've had with FJ would've been due to the rhyming part, not the opera part.  Had FJ been Rhyming Politics or Rhyming Math/Science, I'd have been screwed.

11 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I can always count on this board to make me feel ancient.

If it helps, I was 6 when he died.

10 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

It's very weak as a rhyme, for one thing, but also it is so normal to say that someone wrote <title> that I really think they needed to go harder than "it was written" to reasonably extract "libretto" as part of the response.

I don't think it's a weak rhyme, but the clue did require more knowledge of opera than a lot of people have.  It also required picking up on the difference between "written by" and "composed by".  I know that a poet would most likely have written a libretto, which are the words sung in an opera (along with any stage directions) as opposed to the music written by the composer, but I've been an opera fan for decades.  If one has just a casual or passing knowledge of the genre (to use Alex's favorite word), then that FJ was hellaciously difficult.  Like TOC-level FJ.  So although I got it right away, I'm not going to judge anyone who didn't.