Jeopardy! Season 41 (2024-2025)

[30 Helens]

Didn’t know whether to give that story^^ a laugh or a horrified face, so I settled for a neutral thumbs up. I hope the cat wasn’t offended that you opted for pizza over the other delivered treat. 

[Trey]

36 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

Didn’t know whether to give that story^^ a laugh or a horrified face, so I settled for a neutral thumbs up.

 

Ditto.  I was going to use the laugh but then thought of the poor little dead mouse.  

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

Didn’t know whether to give that story^^ a laugh or a horrified face, so I settled for a neutral thumbs up. I hope the cat wasn’t offended that you opted for pizza over the other delivered treat. 

I don't think she intended to share. When I first saw her she was hunched over it and I thought it was a hairball or something (even though they weren't prone to those, but it was the same color as her). When I got close she grabbed it and ran to the other side of the fireplace.

1 hour ago, Trey said:

Ditto.  I was going to use the laugh but then thought of the poor little dead mouse.  

He was so cute, too. Just a baby still. 🙁

[Katy M]

I said the Dnieper.  I'm not sure on a scale of 1 to 10 how stupid an answer that is, but it's definitely wrong.

 I got the missed clues of peasant's revolt and Wilkie Collins.

 

 

[Grizzly]

Drew looks even hotter in a suit. And did you see him bopping away to the think music? My life is going to be so dull without that smile. If they do a remake of Barbie, he could be Ken. 

[Browncoat]

I almost said Volga, but after a bit more thought, actually came up with the correct response for FJ!  It has been marginally warmer today -- it got above freezing, and it's meant to be less cold tonight as well.  A low of about 18 instead of 6.

I also got the TS of Silver Spring, hexagram, and The Wild Robot.

[Shrek]

Just a quick cat/mouse story. One of mine brought in a mouse who then escaped & ran under the couch but his tail was still visible so I grabbed it hoping to catch him & release him back outside. Anyway I yanked it quickly & his tail came off in my hand, so I'm stood there holding his tail while the cat is chasing a tail less mouse around the house.

[ams1001]

January 23:

77% / 83% / 79%

Had a pretty good game tonight! In J I ran The Night Sky and Curls, missed one in For the "Gram", and two in Colorful World, Page to Screen, and Fun. In DJ I ran Alliterative Lit, 9-Letter Words, and Orchestra, missed one in January Babies and News Personalities, and three in History of Britain. Did not get FJ.

TSes: (J had 2 + the DD; DJ had 3 + 1 DD) I got Silver Spring (DD, before he got it wrong), Simone de Beauvoir (DD), and Wilkie Collins.

[possibilities]

I am having a weird week. I thought I'd seen all the episodes, but reading all yours comments, I'm thinking I might have missed one. Either that, or my attention blanked out and I missed a bunch of something I thought I was watching.

 

[Driad]

Drew's tie was neatly tied. Did he tie it himself this time?

[ams1001]

40 minutes ago, Driad said:

Drew's tie was neatly tied. Did he tie it himself this time?

I wish Ken had asked!

[Packerbrewerbadger]

Could jeopardy please have Drew and Sam Buttrey compete against each other for like a week or more……..? Maybe Matt Amodio on the last buzzer………

[Bastet]

The J! curse strikes again, with David Lynch.

I almost ran colorful world, but I joined Will in saying Silver Springs instead of Spring.  I corrected myself immediately, possibly before Ken would have had a chance to rule me incorrect, so I could give myself credit, but I'll keep it as an almost.  I definitively ran everything else in the first round except page to screen, in which I missed two.

I did not continue to kick ass in DJ, though.  I only ran words.  I got all but Billy Budd in lit and all but Abby Phillip in news, but missed three in Britain and two each in the rest.

FJ was an instaget, though, so I looped back around to a high note.

I'm rooting for Mehal, so glad to see him in the lead.

[Prevailing Wind]

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

I am having a weird week. I thought I'd seen all the episodes, but reading all yours comments, I'm thinking I might have missed one. Either that, or my attention blanked out and I missed a bunch of something I thought I was watching.

That happens to me, too. I'll be reading the comments and have no idea what y'all are talking about and then someone mentions something that I *do* remember and I'm baffled as to why I don't remember the rest of the stuff.  Ah, the blessings of aging.

(Remember when a post like this would get slammed for "boards on boards"? I never understood that rule from TWOP.)

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, Katy M said:

I said the Dnieper.  I'm not sure on a scale of 1 to 10 how stupid an answer that is, but it's definitely wrong.

The Dnieper River was my first FJ wild guess because it's where my grandparents resided. Then I switched to Po, which I googled post-game to see is at least the longest river in Italy. 

I did get the TS of hexagram. I suspect the moving graphics on the too-far-away and too-tiny screen confused them.

 

11 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Drew looks even hotter in a suit. And did you see him bopping away to the think music? My life is going to be so dull without that smile. If they do a remake of Barbie, he could be Ken. 

Heh. I wondered if Drew was doing a sort of interview to be a trivia game show host, you know, just in case any producers were watching.

 

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

The J! curse strikes again, with David Lynch.

😢 The game was taped November 13. 
I don't know how far in advance they write clues.
In an interview originally published in August, Lynch said, “I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out. And I can only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen” (bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/david-lynch-music-sound-chrystabell-cellophane-memories).
So, in this case, the FROM PAGE TO SCREEN top clue naming David Lynch might have been intended as an end-of-life shout-out to him, which doesn't feel curse-like to me. 
A clue writer familiar with the ravages of emphysema might have thought it could wind up being an inevitable homage, but hoped he'd see it. 
Is that how some of the past "Jeopardy! curses" have seemed too?

[proserpina65]

Go Drew & Mehal!  I'd love it if Drew won, but Mehal is quite acceptable as well.

I vacillated between Ural and Volga but ended up with Volga.  Oh well, at least Will got it wrong.

Other than FJ, I had a really good game.  Ran 3 categories (Colorful, Night Sky & Alliterative Lit) and got all but one clue in 7 others ("Gram", Page To Screen, Curls, Fun, Britain, 9-Letter Words and January Babies).  I also got the stumpers/missed DDs of Silver Spring, hexagram, The Wild Robot, the Peasants' Revolt, Simone de Beauvoir (I caught the irony of her finishing just behind Sartre in an exam, given their eventual long relationship) and Wilkie Collins.

I said Arby's for the curly fries question.  I'm from the East Coast, so Jack in the Box is not familiar to me; I've heard of it but know very little about it.    And I almost said George II for that Britain clue, but then said William II instead for some stupid reason.

On 1/22/2025 at 7:34 PM, ams1001 said:

But I got FJ! It was a total guess of the only two British spy novelists I ever would have come up with, based on "double agent" in the clue. Never read either of them.

I got John Le Carre but said Robert Ludlum for the other.  Didn't even think of Ian Fleming.  For some reason I don't associate him with double agents.  The character names meant nothing to me so that didn't help.

I wanted to snark on Will for getting Silver Spring wrong but I know it's very common for people who aren't from Maryland to make it plural.  So I won't.

10 hours ago, Bastet said:

I almost ran colorful world, but I joined Will in saying Silver Springs instead of Spring.  I corrected myself immediately, possibly before Ken would have had a chance to rule me incorrect, so I could give myself credit, but I'll keep it as an almost.

I'd have given you credit for correcting yourself before Ken could've ruled.

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The Dnieper River was my first FJ wild guess because it's where my grandparents resided. Then I switched to Po, which I googled post-game to see is at least the longest river in Italy. 

The word "oblast" made me think of Russia/former Soviet Union countries, so I figured it had to be one of the big Russian rivers and I knew it wasn't the Neva.  That left me with the Ural and the Volga, and I ended up choosing the wrong one.

Edited Friday at 03:17 PM by proserpina65

[MrAtoz]

I almost said Volga, based on the mention of the river being 1,500 miles long (turns out the Volga is even longer than that). But the mention of monuments saying Asia and Europe meant that it must have been at the dividing line between those two continents. I'd actually never heard of the Ural River, but I knew that the Ural Mountains are the traditional separation of Europe from Asia. So I guessed that there was probably a river named Ural as well.

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I said Arby's for the curly fries question.  I'm from the East Coast, so Jack in the Box is not familiar to me

Same.

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I'm from the East Coast, so Jack in the Box is not familiar to me

We had Jack in the Box where I grew up, in upstate NY-- which is East Coast. 

 

[ams1001]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I said Arby's for the curly fries question.  I'm from the East Coast, so Jack in the Box is not familiar to me; I've heard of it but know very little about it.    

I went with Jack in the Box just because of the "Double Jack Burger" in the clue. I figured it was either a reference to the restaurant brand or the type of cheese on the burger, and since I'd never heard of the burger name to even associate it with anything else, I guessed the restaurant.

[SomeTameGazelle]

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I'm rooting for Mehal, so glad to see him in the lead.

Mehal played a great game and I am rooting for him but I liked Will's interview where he talked about how he pulled himself together after being disappointed in his first loss to be satisfied with having played at all.

[proserpina65]

54 minutes ago, possibilities said:

We had Jack in the Box where I grew up, in upstate NY-- which is East Coast. 

 

According to its website, it no longer has any locations in New York.  It does have some in North Carolina, though.  I've never seen any nor even any signs for them, but that just means I haven't been near any.

8 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I went with Jack in the Box just because of the "Double Jack Burger" in the clue. I figured it was either a reference to the restaurant brand or the type of cheese on the burger, and since I'd never heard of the burger name to even associate it with anything else, I guessed the restaurant.

The name of the burger wouldn't have helped me at all because the restaurant chain is simply one about which I'd never think.

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

The name of the burger wouldn't have helped me at all because the restaurant chain is simply one about which I'd never think.

I mean, I know it exists; that's about it.

[proserpina65]

7 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I mean, I know it exists; that's about it.

I vaguely knew it existed but I would never have come up with it in a million years.  So good for you for getting it.  🙂

[Clanstarling]

21 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I was housesitting for my parents once and one of the cats caught a tiny mouse somewhere in the house and brought it to the living room. I thought it was dead but then it rolled onto its back and started screeching. 😢 I got the cats away and scooped it onto a paper plate. That's when the pizza guy showed up.

(I put the plate down on the porch so the cats couldn't get to it, paid for my pizza, then put the mouse out under a plant in front of the house. Checked on him once and he was still alive, and a little while later he was dead. The next morning it was gone; presumably became a snack for one of the neighborhood cats. Poor baby. But I guess the pizza guy got a story to tell.) 

I once had two cats, one was a hunter (torti) and the other, Chessie, was basically a dog in cat's fur. The one time Chessie got near to catching a mouse, she chased it into the house, where it ran up walls, and finally into a backback. We hauled the backpack out quickly and let the mouse go. But poor Chessie kept looking at the last spot she saw the mouse and meowed sadly.

[ams1001]

Oops.

 

 

Edited Friday at 08:38 PM by ams1001

[Katy M]

I said Grieg because trolls takes me to Scandinavia. then I thought ack, it could be Sibelius.  And then I said, don't get fancy, you know nothing about composers. Stick with Grieg.  Whew.

I got the missed clues of Truly Madly Deeply (love that song_, Little Dorritt and Alzheimer.

I got the entire categories of meal and anagrams right.

[Browncoat]

I said, "Oh, it's the Norwegian one!  What the heck is his name?"  Pretty sure that wouldn't have counted.  <sigh>

The only TS I got were Little Dorrit and Alzheimer.

[ams1001]

January 24:

80% / 43% / 61%

Did really well in J and really badly in DJ. In J I ran In the Earth, missed one in Pink, Movie Vengeance, Meal Break, and Educational Anagrams, and two in Places to Visit. In DJ I missed one in Famous Names, two in 90s Hits, three in Change the Middle Letter and Like the Dickens (shoulda done better in that one), and four in Historic States and Running.

Did not get FJ; I also guessed Sibelius, mostly because the youtubers TwoSet Violin did a video where visited Sibelius's home, and with trolls in the clue I figured it'd be in that part of the world, at least. 

TSes: (J had 1; DJ had 6 + 1 DD) I only got Dr. Alzheimer.

I was rooting for Drew but I liked everyone and will be happy to see Mehal again in the TOC.

Drew walking off after not getting the Celine Dion clue. 🤣 Now I really want to know the story behind him thanking her. And I must admit I did enjoy him removing his jacket as the credits rolled. 💪🏻
 

[SoMuchTV]

Thejeopardyfan site’s recap for today tells us:

Quote

Although he did not know this as the time, as the alternate, Drew is also headed to the Tournament of Champions as Lisa Ann Walter’s replacement.

I’m a little surprised they didn’t insert an announcement at the end to let us know. 

[Browncoat]

10 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Drew walking off after not getting the Celine Dion clue.

That was hilarious!

[possibilities]

Why is Lisa Ann Walters not competing? 

I thought it was sweet that Mehal hugged Drew when he came back after missing the Celine Dion clue.

Edited Saturday at 02:43 AM by possibilities

[SoMuchTV]

11 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Why is Lisa Ann Walters not competing? 

I thought it was sweet that mehal hugged Drew when he came back after missing the Celine Dion clue.

Here’s all I know;

https://thejeopardyfan.com/2024/11/32nd-toc-field-confirmed-lisa-ann-walter.html

Can Drew bring Celine Dion as his plus-one audience member?

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Why is Lisa Ann Walters not competing? 

"...due to production and scheduling delays caused by last summer’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Under normal circumstances, the 2023 TOC would have already aired by now, long before the second season of Celebrity Jeopardy."

https://www.tvinsider.com/1121543/jeopardy-why-lisa-ann-walter-isnt-in-2024-tournament-of-champions/

 

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

I thought it was sweet that Mehal hugged Drew when he came back after missing the Celine Dion clue.

Yes, that was cute. And then Drew hugged him when he won.

[HyeChaps]

Quote

Heh. I wondered if Drew was doing a sort of interview to be a trivia game show host, you know, just in case any producers were watching.

shapeshifter!  I was thinking the same thing!  Especially with the crack about being born in 1994.  

[Bastet]

Yay, Mehal!

So close -- I got everything except Bhutan in the first round.

Nowhere in the vicinty of close in DJ, though; I blew Dickens almost entirely, only correctly guessing Bleak House.  Other than that, I did fine -- I ran '90s hits and middle letters and got all but Dr. Alzheimer in names (I really can't believe all four of us missed that one), missing two each in the rest.

No idea for FJ.

[januaryman]

Drew is hilarious - I hope he makes it to the finals. I don't like Will so I'm glad he didn't advance. Some people just bug me for no good reason.

[30 Helens]

8 hours ago, januaryman said:

Drew is hilarious - I hope he makes it to the finals. I don't like Will so I'm glad he didn't advance. Some people just bug me for no good reason.

Will lives near me, so I should have been rooting for him, but from the start he gave me a certain good ol’ boy vibe that can be grating to us Texans who don’t share certain traditional Texas views. He also made a point of thanking Jesus, which always annoys me. I have nothing against religion per se, people can be as religious as they want to be, I just ask that they keep it out of game shows and sports. Jesus doesn’t care who wins Jeopardy.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 1/24/2025 at 7:31 PM, Katy M said:

I said Grieg because trolls takes me to Scandinavia. then I thought ack, it could be Sibelius. 

Although troll did make me think Nordic, hill persuaded me that I needed to look to the anglosphere where I got completely stuck after discarding Händel as not interested in trolls. If my knowledge of classical music were more solid maybe I could have broken through the false language barrier I had created in my own head.

[bad things are bad]

4 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

He also made a point of thanking Jesus, which always annoys me

Absolutely agree 👍 

[shapeshifter]

41 minutes ago, bad things are bad said:

Absolutely agree 👍 

5 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

He also made a point of thanking Jesus, which always annoys me

It made me cringe a bit, but given that it was the only time he did it, and it was his last time on national TV, I can understand his impetus to do a shout out to his Whatever.
I'm guessing the post-production editors reached a similar conclusion.
But I did appreciate that it solved the riddle (in my mind) of whether he was perhaps just reared going to bible studies, or if he was still a practicing believer.
IDK. Maybe I would have rather not known.

 

I see Drew Goins writes for the WaPo.
So My his Heart Will Go On. ❤️‍🩹

[Prevailing Wind]

Help me, please. Ever since the clue about the Ferris Wheel in Vienna, my mental jukebox has been playing, non-stop, "The Third Man Theme."  All day long I'm hearing zithers in my head. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP.

 

[ProudMary]

17 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Help me, please. Ever since the clue about the Ferris Wheel in Vienna, my mental jukebox has been playing, non-stop, "The Third Man Theme."  All day long I'm hearing zithers in my head. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP

That's right where my mind went, too. The Ferris Wheel in the clue, which is so prominently featured in The Third Man, is the main reason I had the correct response. I might not have gotten to Vienna in time without it.

As to getting rid of the earworm, you have to replace it with another song. Pick something you like and listen to it a time or two. Then you have a new earworm! I almost always choose something by Talking Heads. They usually do it for me. (And now, "I Zimbra" is rattling around my brain. I'm good with that. 🙂)

[Browncoat]

We can replace it with Edmund Fitzgerald....

 

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP.

7 hours ago, ProudMary said:

As to getting rid of the earworm, you have to replace it with another song.

My current earworm is Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog, if that appeals...