Jeopardy! Season 40 (2023-2024)

[Bastet]

Was Matt's garbled pronunciation Ken said they'd accept as larynx "larnyx"?  I can't imagine accepting that, but it's what my ears heard.

The c'est la vie clue struck me as a little odd; if the B*Witched song was a recent one, I'd understand going with that one for the "it's also a [band/artist] song" hint, but with both being decades old, I'd think Robbie Nevil's song by that name is the better known.  Moot point, I'm sure, as virtually everyone who knew it would know it simply from French for that's life, it just stood out to me.

The Yukon TS surprised me.

As for my performance ... Yikes; not my game tonight (not as bad as Zoe's, but not good).  In the first round, I ran school and 20th c. and got all but canoe review (because I was trying to think of something to rhyme with boat; canoe never occurred to me since they're two different things) in Rhyme Time and all but Sally Bowles in novellas, but missed two in true stories and three in currencies.

I didn't run a damn thing in DJ.  I got all but true patriot love in Canada, but that's as good as it got; I missed three each in Hot Ones (great show, but I only watch it when the guest is someone I "know") and guards and two each in the rest.

I did eventually come up with FJ, but it took me a ridiculously long time.

[Cotypubby]

Bah, again I knew exactly what they wanted in FJ but the name just wouldn’t come to me. “Not Hans Christian Andersson, the German one, the brothers that wrote the fairy tales, wtf is their name!!”

Grimm. Duh of course.

[ams1001]

31 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Was Matt's garbled pronunciation Ken said they'd accept as larynx "larnyx"?  I can't imagine accepting that, but it's what my ears heard.

A little googling suggests that maybe some regions (midwest, from what I saw) pronounce it that way? I feel like I've heard it before once or twice but in my mind it was just a mispronunciation. But maybe it's more common than I thought? Like they pronounce the N and X distinctly instead of running them together and that naturally produces a vowel sound in between.

The archive has this:

(Matt: What's the larnyx?)
(Ken: Uh, yes... we will take that. Yes, [*].)
[NOTE: This pronunciation was also accepted in show #4966, aired 2006-03-27.]

There's some discussion on it in the reddit thread for the game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jeopardy/comments/1dswh6c/jeopardy_discussion_thread_for_mon_jul_1/

[possibilities]

3 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Just as DJ was starting, NBC broke in with Biden's speech. Now the talking heads seem to be yammering away the half-hour. Damn.

Same thing here. 

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

Was Matt's garbled pronunciation Ken said they'd accept as larynx "larnyx"?  I can't imagine accepting that, but it's what my ears heard.

My mother has been complaining to me for ages that some people are pronouncing it larnyx and that Jeopardy has been accepting it. It was still a shock to see it happen. If I were Jeopardy I would never write a clue with larynx as the response ever again although I would probably include the word in clues and make pointed remarks about its pronunciation constantly. (That said I accept the general descriptivist rule that if a pronunciation is attested it is unreasonable to rule against it no matter how shocking it seems.)

Too bad Cat didn't pull through. Other than that last DD and FJ she played a very strong game. 

Edited July 2 by SomeTameGazelle
Prescriptivist was not the word I meant.

[30 Helens]

I don't know if it's regional, but "larnyx" is a very common mispronunciation. That's how I remember hearing it as a child (Northeast US) and how I pronounced it myself for many years. I was well into my 30's before I realized it was wrong. I can't remember if someone corrected me or if I finally looked closely at the spelling, but yeah. It happens. 

But whether it should be an acceptable pronunciation on Jeopardy is another story. Unless the dictionary or some other authoritative source lists it as an alternate pronunciation, I say no. What's next? Accepting "nucular"? (They probably already do. Arrgh.)

I got Bacillus, and so did Zoe. It was the first thing she muttered before stumbling through a bunch of other answers and landing on Botulism. That's gotta hurt.

I knew FJ was the Grimm brothers, but I blanked on the actual name of the book. The best I could do was a very uncertain "Tales of the Brothers Grimm". Oh well. C'est la vie. (Robbie Nevil version)

[Prevailing Wind]

I didn't realize it wasn't larnyx until I saw the word pharynx. It was a lightbulb moment for me. I was a mid-teen.

[chessiegal]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

Was Matt's garbled pronunciation Ken said they'd accept as larynx "larnyx"?  I can't imagine accepting that, but it's what my ears heard.

The Jeopardy! Fan said they'd accepted that pronunciation before.

Quote

Andy’s Thoughts:

The pronunciation “larnyx” has been accepted by the show before; Alex Trebek himself called it “a common pronunciation” on the March 27, 2006 episode.

My husband quickly came up with Grimms. I got as far as those guys who wrote a book of fairytales.

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I didn't realize it wasn't larnyx until I saw the word pharynx. It was a lightbulb moment for me. I was a mid-teen.

9 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I don't know if it's regional, but "larnyx" is a very common mispronunciation. That's how I remember hearing it as a child (Northeast US) and how I pronounced it myself for many years. I was well into my 30's before I realized it was wrong.

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

Was Matt's garbled pronunciation Ken said they'd accept as larynx "larnyx"?  I can't imagine accepting that, but it's what my ears heard.

Although for 50 of my 70 years I've lived in geographic regions where "lar-nicks" allegedly passes for "larynx," I've never heard it before.
At least, not consciously. I'm not sure I've ever heard larynx pronounced outside academia or a medical setting. Wouldn't laypersons say "voice box"?

Perhaps more interesting:
When I heard contestant Matt Brooks say "lar-nicks," I thought: Aw. So close, buddy.
But then, when Ken said they'd accept "that," in my mind I "heard" Matt correct himself. So weird. Is this self-gas-lighting?

 

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

The Yukon TS surprised me.…canoe never occurred to me since they're two different things…I did eventually come up with FJ, but it took me a ridiculously long time.

TSs:
I knew Yukon because that's where my sister lived with DH #1 during the Vietnam War draft.
I got as far as "canoe" because the NY Times crossword puzzle used it for "kayak" recently, but Jeopardy! clues are usually stricter, so I started puzzling it in my mind and didn't get to the second half of the rhyme in time.
Heh, but "faster caster" didn't get away from me.

FJ: The category of GERMAN BOOKS totally psyched me out such that I barely glanced at the clue, but then I did read it to myself and last minute second I realized it was Grimm's Fairy Tales. I wonder if Cat did too but it was too late to write it?

ETA after reading @proserpina65's post (2 below):
For "GERMAN BOOKS" I first thought of Hesse, but only read 2 novels (Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game) a very long time ago.

Edited July 2 by shapeshifter

[chessiegal]

38 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Wouldn't laypersons say "voice box"?

Not this layperson.

[proserpina65]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

But whether it should be an acceptable pronunciation on Jeopardy is another story. Unless the dictionary or some other authoritative source lists it as an alternate pronunciation, I say no. What's next? Accepting "nucular"? (They probably already do. Arrgh.)

Or foilage.

FJ was an instaget.  I was expecting something by Goethe or Hesse but actually got something with which I am familiar.  Whew!

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I got as far as "canoe" because the NY Times crossword puzzle used it for "kayak" recently, but Jeopardy! clues are usually stricter, so I started puzzling it in my mind and didn't get to the second half of the rhyme in time.

Same.

 

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

ETA after reading @proserpina65's post (2 below):
For "GERMAN BOOKS" I first thought of Hesse, but only read 2 novels (Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game) a very long time ago.

And I was thinking of Thomas Mann, and Erich Maria Remarque 🙂 But I got the Grimms fairly easily, thank goodness.

[possibilities]

I have never heard "lar-nicks" before. I have lived in the northeast USA most of my life. I'm 58. I'm becoming a curmudgeon again because this pronunciation upsets me! I hate it! And they better not accept "nu-cu-lar" either!! I don't care if one of our former Presidents said it that way! 

What is wrong with me? Why this hill to die on?

[ams1001]

47 minutes ago, possibilities said:

What is wrong with me? Why this hill to die on?

Because it's incorrect!!!

[30 Helens]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I don't care if one of our former Presidents said it that way! 

What is wrong with me? Why this hill to die on?

And I shouted a correction at the TV screen every time, until I gave up and just started rolling my eyes.

I will join you on that particular hill.

[Shrek]

It annoys me as well, whenever I hear anyone say something differently from the way I've said it all my life the first thing I do is ask myself if I've been saying it wrong all my life. But people from different places will always say some things differently, no matter how much we might hate it, I'm always getting told I pronounce aluminium wrong & my answer is always "it's right for me & where I grew up so I don't need the lesson thanks".

[Katy M]

I said Stella. After the time when he said we probably knew the musical better, i thought of  Roxy.

I got the missed clues of Westminster Abbey and fathoms.

I got the entire category of biblical proportions right.

Pretty bad night.

[ams1001]

July 2:

57% / 73% / 64%

Oy. Missed one in Miscellany and Leisure Timing, two in Landmarks, and three in the rest.

Much better in DJ; ran "X" Words, missed three in Elementary (annoying; I usually do better in that category), two in Biblical Proportions, and one in everything else.

Didn't get FJ (I got the show but didn't come up with the character in time). Missed all the DDs, too, but so did they.

TSes: (J had 4 + the DD; DJ had 6 + both DDs) I got maple leaf, bell ringing, magnesium deficiency, xylem (thanks to not knowing it last time it showed up on J!), Daymond John Jay Leno, carbon, Paul Stanley Reed Richards (but only after the first wrong response gave me the second part; I knew Paul Stanley).
 

Quote

In 1985, Sir Harold Kroto & 2 U.S. chemists discovered a new molecular form of this element, the fullerene

Fun Fact: One of those 2 U.S. chemists was my uncle (by marriage; he and my aunt divorced when I was around four; they lived in Texas and I don't remember him).

Edited July 2 by ams1001

[Grizzly]

Kelly had a nice game, hope she goes on a run. I knew they wanted the female lead in Chicago and I could picture Renée Zellweger, but the name wouldn't come to me.

Edited July 3 by Grizzly

[Bastet]

That Chrysler Building answer to start the game was something.

I ran landmarks and sports, got all but tricolor in flags and all but bell ringing in leisure, and missed two each in the rest, so a decent but not great first round.

I was firing on all cylinders in DJ, though; I even almost ran a Bible category (I got all but fathoms).  I ran stands and X and got all but vanadium in elements, all but Amun-Ra in old news, and all but Daymond John Jay Leno (I knew Leno, but could have sat here until I died and not come up with the other guy -- the only reason I didn't also miss the Paul Stanley Reed Richards clue is because the two guys seemed sure the Reed was Reed Richards [I have no idea who that is] and I knew the Stanley was Paul, so I decided to go with their answers for the second part, but if they hadn't helped I would have never come up with Reed Richards).

FJ was an instaget.

[ams1001]

24 minutes ago, Bastet said:

and all but Daymond John Jay Leno (I knew Leno, but could have sat here until I died and not come up with the other guy

I don't watch Shark Tank but my parents do so sometimes I see it at their house. Otherwise I doubt I would have come up with Daymond John (and I definitely didn't know how to spell it). 

22 minutes ago, Bastet said:

the only reason I didn't also miss the Paul Stanley Reed Richards clue is because the two guys seemed sure the Reed was Reed Richards [I have no idea who that is] and I knew the Stanley was Paul, so I decided to go with their answers for the second part, but if they hadn't helped I would have never come up with Reed Richards).

Same. I know very little about Marvel.

[possibilities]

I've always pronounced "miscellany" as "mis-SELL-any" (not "misa-LAY-nee")

Folks wanna weigh in onthat one?

[SomeTameGazelle]

3 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Kelly had a nice game, hope she goes on a run. I knew they wanted the female lead in Chicago and I could picture Renée Zellweger, but the name wouldn't come to me.

I thought of Velma Kelly first and then tried to reason out whether they wanted Velma or Roxie because I have read about the inspirations for each without retaining those names. (Turns out Belva Gaertner inspired Velma which I had no hope of differentiating from Beulah Annan.) Luckily it occurred to me that Chicago is mostly about Roxie's trial.

I laughed very hard at Chris' guess of Annie even after he said he was thinking of Annie Get Your Gun.

I feel extra bad for Cat since Matt did so poorly today but I was rooting for Kelly.

I got phosphorous, footlights, Westminster Abbey, Union Jack, bell ringing, and Friday. 

 

[30 Helens]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

I've always pronounced "miscellany" as "mis-SELL-any" (not "misa-LAY-nee")

Folks wanna weigh in onthat one?

Definitely misa-LAY-nee. I've never heard it pronounced the other way. Just curious... do you also say "mis-SELL-any-us"?

Do you think they would have accepted just "Roxie" for FJ? I couldn't think of her last name.

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

(Turns out Belva Gaertner inspired Velma which I had no hope of differentiating from Beulah Annan.)

I was at my parents' last weekend and they were watching one of those true crime shows on the ID channel and one of the stories they did was about Belva Gaertner, so my first thought was Velma Kelly but then I reread the name and knew it had to be the other one but I couldn't get to the character in time. (I was also a little distracted in the moment so it took me longer to process the clue.)

[SoMuchTV]

5 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Definitely misa-LAY-nee. I've never heard it pronounced the other way. Just curious... do you also say "mis-SELL-any-us"?

 

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

I've always pronounced "miscellany" as "mis-SELL-any" (not "misa-LAY-nee")

Folks wanna weigh in onthat one?

Guess I have to fight you both.  I pronounce it MISS-uh-laney.

And I have no idea why the quotes are reversed.  I swear I clicked them in the right order.

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I pronounce it MISS-uh-laney.

So do I.

[proserpina65]

I did not get FJ.  I knew which musical and could picture Rene Zellweger because I knew they wanted her character, but the name absolutely would not come to me.

14 hours ago, Katy M said:

I got the missed clues of Westminster Abbey and fathoms.

I got the entire category of biblical proportions right.

Same here on both.  Wish they'd lighten up on the religion-adjacent categories for awhile, though.

5 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

 

Guess I have to fight you both.  I pronounce it MISS-uh-laney.

And I have no idea why the quotes are reversed.  I swear I clicked them in the right order.

And now I'm not sure how I pronounce it. 🥴

[Browncoat]

Archive game for me, as I went to see "Ghostlight" last night.  Good movie -- bring your kleenex.

FJ took me a minute, but I came to the correct murderer in time to write it down.

I also got the TS of Westminster Abbey, footlights, Maple Leaf, bell ringing, fathoms, iodine, and xylem.  I suspect I would have gotten carbon if I'd seen the photo in the clue.  Sometimes when I use the archive and there's a picture that I can't see, I sort of give up on the clue altogether.  That clue was one of those times.

13 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

And now I'm not sure how I pronounce it.

Same, but I think it's MISS-uh-LAY-ney, with a greater emphasis on MISS, but still a slight emphasis on LAY.

[possibilities]

I decided to look up the "miscellany" pronunciation:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/miscellany#google_vignette

Apparently I somehow picked up the UK pronunciation. Not sure how that appeened! I did have an elementary school teacher who was British, but I don't recall her saying that particular word. 

US and UK pronunciations are both given at the link.

[Clanstarling]

52 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

And now I'm not sure how I pronounce it. 🥴

That often happens to me when we have these discussions. I start saying them, and then kind of forget how I actually say it. Plus, even as a kid, I tended to pronounce things the way the people around me did (and I lived in many regions).

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I suspect I would have gotten carbon if I'd seen the photo in the clue.  Sometimes when I use the archive and there's a picture that I can't see, I sort of give up on the clue altogether.  That clue was one of those times.

It was similar to this:

[Prevailing Wind]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

It was similar to this:

But there was another structure inside.

 

[Browncoat]

Hm.  I'm not sure if I would have gotten it or not.  I did record the game, so maybe I'll try to find time to watch.

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

But there was another structure inside.

Yeah, I couldn't find one like that. Their picture was blue with yellow inside, I think.

[Katy M]

Took me a while, but I got FJ.

I got the missed clues of cloistered, wifi, golden calf, Doris Day Day, and South Africa.

I got the entire categories of read and name right.

I knew Clarence Darrow, but all my brain could think was Darwin.  LOL.

[ams1001]

July 3:

83% / 73% / 77%

Had a pretty good game today! In J I ran The Name Doesn't Mean Anything, Read 'Em & Weep, and Meltdown, missed one in Lonely Word, and two in Picture the Hit Song and 20th Century American History. In DJ I ran Science Stuff and missed two in "GR"8 Words, Paintings, Proclamations, Don't Go Jason, and Waterfalls.

Did not get FJ.

TSes: (J had 5 + the DD; DJ had 3 + 1 DD) I got cloistered, wi-fi, golden calf (DD), bridal veil (they were actually asking for the article of clothing, not the name of the waterfall; if she had left off "Falls" she would have been fine).
 

[SoMuchTV]

The “ew” vs “u” made me immediately think of Stu(ew)art but then I wasn’t sure of the first name. Is it Mary? That sounds right. Or should I just put down the last name? Would they take that? I wavered but I think either way I would have been ruled correct, right? Right?  I’m telling myself, yes. 

[Browncoat]

I went back to yesterday's show and saw the fullerene clue -- I think I would have gotten carbon from that image.

But today, I was just as stumped on FJ as the contestants were.  Seemed obvious when Ken revealed the correct response, though.

I did manage the TS of cloistered, wi-fi, golden calf, Doris Day Day, Iguazu, and bridal veil.

[Bastet]

I ran songs, lonely, and names, got all but the Organization of American States TS in history and all but golden calf in meltdown, and missed two in books, so I had a pretty good first round.

DJ, not so much.  I only ran GR8 and the only one I almost ran was science, getting all but Livermore.  I almost blew Jason entirely, but Seinfeld saved me and I at least got Steinbrenner.  I missed three in paintings and two each in the rest.

I joined the contestants in having no idea for FJ. 

[shapeshifter]

18 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I almost ran was science, getting all but Livermore.

I got Livermore, having driven by signs for it in the 90s when commuting from Sacto to Palo Alto to get my Library Science degree. 

I knew Wifi and Golden Calf. 

I loved the look on the new champ's face when Ken pointed out that he had redeemed his family's place in Jeopardy! history, or something like that.

[Bliss]

I don't remember ever wishing for a contestant to win as much as I did for Kelly. I just really (really!) liked her, enjoyed her voice, and hoped she'd have a long run. No, I'm not gay... I simply appreciate a woman whose strength is evident in her gentleness. She rarely answered incorrectly and I don't remember her ever blurting out a wild guess.

Aww shucks.

I do like the new champ, thankfully.

I'm on a roll with FJ this week. There... now that I've written that, I'll be jinxed for sure!

[stonehaven]

The larynx conversation reminds me that I saw a video on FB from last year of ME ranting against Jeopardy for calling those of us that are particular about "anxious/eager"usage as "language fussbudgets". I rarely rant in my FB videos so for me to do that, the show must have pissed me off...LOL...

I did okay on yesterday's show but I was yelling "Desolation!!!" several times.  Dylan's relevance faded a bit I guess.

[Clanstarling]

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I got Livermore, having driven by signs for it in the 90s when commuting from Sacto to Palo Alto to get my Library Science degree.

Made that commute many times to visit my parents - but we also knew Livermore very well because we were both in tech most of our careers (got my MLS just after Prop 13 passed - different school in the Bay Area - so the well dried up and into the tech world I went).

Edited July 4 by Clanstarling

[possibilities]

If you can't be a fussbudget about Jeopardy, then what's the point of the show? Isn't it super-fusssbudgety by design?

They nitpick contestants a lot. It's only when they themselves mess up that they act like being a fussbudget is laughable.

[shapeshifter]

48 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Made that commute many times to visit my parents - but we also knew Livermore very well because we were both in tech most of our careers (got my MLS just after Prop 13 passed - different school in the Bay Area - so the well dried up and into the tech world I went).

My memory and typing were/are imprecise and incomplete: I got my MLS at San Jose State in 2000; Palo Alto was an internship for the degree.

[SoMuchTV]

On 7/3/2024 at 10:43 AM, possibilities said:

I decided to look up the "miscellany" pronunciation:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/miscellany#google_vignette

Apparently I somehow picked up the UK pronunciation. Not sure how that appeened! I did have an elementary school teacher who was British, but I don't recall her saying that particular word. 

US and UK pronunciations are both given at the link.

Ran into another head-scratcher pronunciation today; I'll take this to Small Talk.

[Browncoat]

Almost instaget FJ for me tonight.  Sharks led me to the correct response.

The only TS I got was gridlock traffic.

[ams1001]

July 4:

47% / 73% / 61%

Wasn't home to keep score but just checked the archive. Terrible first round...in J I ran Play Time, missed two in American History and Hit the Grid-y, and four in the rest. Much better in DJ; ran We've Never Had that Response, missed one in See You in the Funny Papyrus, Pacific Islands, and Known by their Initials, two in 3 E's Only, and three in Latin Music.

FJ felt too easy but was pretty much an instaget.

TSes: (J had 5 + the DD; DJ had 3) I only got gridlock traffic.