Jeopardy! Season 41 (2024-2025)

[ams1001]

February 18: 
(My grandma would have been 107 today!)

57% / 53% / 54%

Slightly better than last night but still not good…In J I ran ISMs, missed one in Slang, two in Not a Thing Anymore and Borderline, three in Creeps, and failed Historic Top 40. In DJ I missed two in 80s Who Said It, TV Sitcoms, Earth Science, and Triple A, and three in Libraries and Russian Literature. Did not get FJ.

Second game in a row that I remembered 2 out of the 3. Even if I remembered that kid's tournament, I never would have guessed that kid grew up into Skylar!

TSes: (J had 3 + the DD; DJ had 1 + both DDs) I got fatalism, alpinism, North & South Vietnam (DD; lucky guess), and ionosphere (DD).
 

19 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I think it belongs in the Fetch vault, personally.

Okay, this is my second Mean Girls reference of the day. The first was a story about a rescued cat named Regina and her kittens named Cady, Gretchen, Damian and Aaron. (I wonder if kitten Gretchen fetches...)

[ProudMary]

FJ was an instaget. Supreme Court Decisions is a pretty good category for me anyway, but my basic knowledge of Plessy v. Ferguson was reinforced on a trip to New Orleans about eight years ago when a few friends and I all met up in the city for a few days. We stayed at a VRBO in the Bywater district. As we were walking toward the French Quarter one morning, we came upon this historic marker. (My photo.) Five blocks of Press Street in New Orleans in this district are now named Homer Plessy Way.

 

[Bastet]

And now Margaret loses, boo!

The fatalism TS surprised me.

I ran not a thing anymore and borderline, and got all but alpinism in ISM and all but potato western in slang, but missed three each in creeps and top 40, so it was not a great first round.

In DJ, I only ran '80s.  I got all but the dinosaur clue in Earth Science (I couldn't spit out the third in time) and all but mahatma in Triple A (and then did the V-8 forehead smack when it was revealed), but missed two in sitcoms - pretty good since Perfect Strangers is the only one I watched - and three each in libraries and Russian lit.

FJ was an instaget.

[Cotypubby]

lol got that one before even seeing the clue. As soon as I saw the FJ category I said “I bet it’ll be either Dred Scott or Plessy v Ferguson.” 
 

 

[30 Helens]

11 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Not just knitting - there's crochet, embroidery, and needlepoint.  That said, we had a local yarn shop for years but rent was increased and now they're just an online presence. Makes it hard to determine colors, especially if you've run short and are trying to match colors.

I don’t do yarn stuff, but I do occasional sewing projects. JoAnn is the last game in town for fabrics, and they’re teetering on the edge of going out of business. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I can’t match fabric colors, get a sense of weight and weave, and am forced to buy a minimum of 2 yards when I only need 1/4. Online shopping can be great, but it’s not great for everything. 

Today ended my 2-day FJ streak. I was running through all the famous court cases I could think of, pre-clue (Dredd Scott! Marbury vs Madison! Brown vs Board of Education!) but never landed on Plessy vs Ferguson. I felt a little vindicated to know I at least got the sequel.

[SomeTameGazelle]

6 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

never landed on Plessy vs Ferguson.

For some reason I have been associating Plessy v Ferguson with tractors/farm equipment and did not make the connection to trains for FJ. 

[januaryman]

I rooted for Margaret though I have nothing against the other 2. But tonight I'll be rooting for Rachael - who I've never seen before - because I can't stand Emily and Jonathan.

[illdoc]

14 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

JoAnn is the last game in town for fabrics, and they’re teetering on the edge of going out of business

There are 4 or 5 Joann's near me (that is, within 25 miles) and all of them are slated for closing! Hobby Lobby and Walmart (yes, Walmart) do have fabrics, even if there isn't as much variety, if those are an option for you. I've been hitting Joann's for animal eyes (6mm, 9mm, 18mm & 20mm) since those sizes seem to be only available there (I don't need 100 sets of whatever size, which is all you can get at Amazon).

 

[paulaolson57]

Decades ago there was a seniors tournament.    I can’t remember the age requirement.  

[chessiegal]

I'm looking forward to seeing Jonathan Fisher. I posted this before - the first time I saw him I thought, oh, bless his heart, he looks like the kid in Bad Santa. Turns out he is the kid in Bad Santa!

[shapeshifter]

24 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I'm looking forward to seeing Jonathan Fisher. I posted this before - the first time I saw him I thought, oh, bless his heart, he looks like the kid in Bad Santa. Turns out he is the kid in Bad Santa!

This video (and other sources) indicate Brett Kelly is the recent Jeopardy! contestant who was a child actor in Bad Santa:
https://youtu.be/qrVT-N0jyf0

 

[illdoc]

2 hours ago, paulaolson57 said:

 I can’t remember the age requirement.  

I think the minimum was ... brace yourself ... 50! The idea that "seniors don't have the quick reflexes for the buzzer that the younger folk do", so they had a special tournament. Wikipedia lists the "Kids Tournament", but not the "Seniors Tournament"--maybe it only aired once or twice.

[Quickbeam]

On 2/17/2025 at 10:29 PM, 30 Helens said:

 

I like Hannah, but I’m mystified as to how anyone can run a successful yarn store. As one product in a craft store, sure, but are there really enough knitters to sustain such a thing?

I’m an obsessed knitter and not alone. Hannah’s store, The Dropped Stitch seems more like a cozy hobby project. Not open that much and doesn’t seem to ship. The website is community focused and has other craft stuff too. It would be in my range drive wise but the selection of yarn is a little limited. The greater Chicago area has some excellent alternatives. 

[Katy M]

I said homer.  I was feeling pretty good about my answer when Ken said Virgil was a good guess.  Oh well.

I got the missed clues of Portugal and Yankee.

 

[ams1001]

February 19:

67% / 60% / 62%

I actually remember everyone tonight, to some degree at least (Rachael less than the other two, but she was familiar, at least).

In J I missed one in Sports, Lack of Energy, and Dragon, two in Liquor, and three in Authors not Authoring. In DJ I missed one in Broadway, three in Receding Heir-Lines and two in everything else. No clue for FJ.

TSes: (J had 7; DJ had 6) I got get in a fight (a guess I tossed out as a joke), battery, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (DD), largesse, and Portugal.
 

[Browncoat]

Apparently I wrote this last night and forgot to post it!  

So, for Tuesday:

I didn't have a clue for FJ.

The only TS I got were North & South Vietnam, Tropicana, ionosphere, and faraway.  

And for today:

I didn't have a clue for FJ.

And the only TS I got was battery.

[possibilities]

I was very taken with Jaskaran's beard. I want to know if it's as soft to touch as it looks, and whether it's that way naturally or if he uses something to condition it, and if so, what does he use? Clearly, none of this is any of my business, but that was my primary takeaway from his game. I am the only person in my family with fuzzy hair, so I take particular interest in hair issues.

I knew it was one of the segregation cases in the SCOTUS category, and I could even remember the details of the case... but not the name. Been having so much trouble with names lately! It must be a specific part of the brain that stores names!

---

I like imagining Ken wearing the friendship bracelet. I think the community of J! players must be one of the best parts of playing. Yes, if you win big money, that's awesome, but 2/3 of players don't win at all, let alone a huge amount, but the community seems to be there for all, and I like that.

My ex studied Ancient Greek and Latin, and I felt like I should know tonight's FJ, but I did not.

 

---

When thinking of yarn, don't forget weavers! They are probably not as numerous as knitters and crochet artists, but they do exist. 

I think, though, that shops like that are also community resources-- many times they host meetings and classes, so fans of the crafts can get together for social reasons, or to learn skills.

 

Edited 18 hours ago by possibilities

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

When thinking of yarn, don't forget weavers! They are probably not as numerous as knitters and crochet artists, but they do exist. 

I have an online acquaintance who works for a company in Colorado that makes looms! Sometimes she shares pictures of her weaving projects.

[30 Helens]

Taking crafting comments to Small Talk...

[MrAtoz]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think the community of J! players must be one of the best parts of playing. Yes, if you win big money, that's awesome, but 2/3 of players don't win at all, let alone a huge amount, but the community seems to be there for all, and I like that.

The folks who get to come back for tournaments probably get closer, but even people who just play once can become pretty friendly. There are private Facebook groups for Jeopardy contestants. You spend several hours with the people in your taping group, so you do get to know each other a bit. Several of the people that I completed against are now my Facebook friends. We don't get together or anything, but we still communicate, like each others' posts, and occasionally make Jeopardy-related jokes that no one else gets.

[proserpina65]

On 2/18/2025 at 3:45 PM, chessiegal said:

Regular play will then pause from January 2025 for the tournaments and resume in April 2025 until the season wraps up on July 25, 2025. There will also be fewer tournaments than last year, with just four,

How are there fewer tournaments?  There was the Second Chance tournament, the Wild Card tournament, the TOC, now the Invitational tournament, and I presume there's a Masters tournament coming up.  That's five already.  Are they not doing the College and Teachers tournaments this season?  And if there's no Masters tournament, what's the point of the Invitational tournament?

Honestly, they should drop it back to just College, Teachers and TOC.  All this other crap is so unnecessary.  And I do not want to keep seeing the same damned contestants over and over, no matter how much I liked some of them.

I did watch the last two episodes, mostly out of boredom but also because none of the contestants annoyed me during their initial appearances.  I did not get FJ either night, though.

On 2/18/2025 at 7:33 PM, Katy M said:

I said Dredd Scott, because I thought maybe something about slave owners traveling with their slaves on trains.  I feel like I was on the right track (pun intended).

I pre-guessed Marbury vs. Madison.  When I saw the clue, I wondered if it involved the Pullman car strike; obviously not.

[proserpina65]

19 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I'm looking forward to seeing Jonathan Fisher. I posted this before - the first time I saw him I thought, oh, bless his heart, he looks like the kid in Bad Santa. Turns out he is the kid in Bad Santa!

I liked Jonathan during his initial run.  Didn't know either of the two women but I was fine with any of the three winning.

I was desperately trying to come up with Plutarch for last night's FJ but got stuck on Virgil.  Oh well.

16 hours ago, possibilities said:

I like imagining Ken wearing the friendship bracelet. I think the community of J! players must be one of the best parts of playing. Yes, if you win big money, that's awesome, but 2/3 of players don't win at all, let alone a huge amount, but the community seems to be there for all, and I like that.

I don't remember it being anything like that when I was a contestant.  Yes, we were friendly in the green room and the lunch room, but for the non-winners, when your game was over, that was pretty much it.  Although I did run into the guy who won my game in the elevator of the hotel where contestants generally stayed, and we had a nice conversation.  And I friended him on Facebook for awhile.  But that's it, no greater Jeopardy community.  Maybe that mostly only happens for tournaments where the contestants would see more of each other?

2 hours ago, MrAtoz said:

The folks who get to come back for tournaments probably get closer, but even people who just play once can become pretty friendly. There are private Facebook groups for Jeopardy contestants. You spend several hours with the people in your taping group, so you do get to know each other a bit. Several of the people that I completed against are now my Facebook friends. We don't get together or anything, but we still communicate, like each others' posts, and occasionally make Jeopardy-related jokes that no one else gets.

Huh, that wasn't really my experience at all.  Although I was on the show almost 20 years ago, so some of that might be more recent.

[shapeshifter]

On 2/17/2025 at 10:06 PM, Good Queen Jane said:

Ken, I love you, but please stop making JIT a word!

On 2/17/2025 at 11:29 PM, 30 Helens said:

Acronyms are fine, but “JIT” is such an ugly sounding word. It sounds like someone holding back a violent sneeze. I think it belongs in the Fetch vault, personally.

On 2/18/2025 at 7:41 AM, possibilities said:

I agree that JIT just... sounds bad.

Last night I noticed Ken said something like "JIT, or "Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament" for those who don't care for that acronym."
At least, that's how it registered in my brain. He might have just been clarifying.