Jeopardy! Season 41 (2024-2025)

[Prevailing Wind]

Is it OK to say, "Macbeth" in a television studio? I was prepared to say, "Who is the Thane of Cawdor from 'The Scottish Play'?"

[Clanstarling]

14 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Sigh, I thought Macbeth was too obvious. Drew was cute, was rooting for him.

I went for the obvious, as there were just too many blood filled plays to choose from.

BTW, anyone who's interested, Drew is a columnist for the Washington Post. My husband was looking forward to seeing him, and I was surprised at how young he was. If you want to check out his columns on the Post here's the link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/drew-goins/

 

Edited September 26 by Clanstarling

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, ams1001 said:

My mom has a fun 7&7 story...being at a bar with a friend, meeting some Navy guys who bought them too many 7&7s, basically crawling into the house because she was so drunk, and having to get up the next morning to babysit my cousin. She thinks it's funny now (~60 years later...); probably not so much at the time. But she still doesn't drink 7&7s. 

They were my go-to drink at some point in my youth but I moved on to other cocktails.  About 10 years ago I was at a bar and ordered one.  It was so sweet I wasn't sure I could finish it.  Never again.

FJ was an instaget for me.  I love Macbeth.

[chessiegal]

Shakespeare title character + blood = MacBeth.

[possibilities]

Vanishing point and pinochle for me, in the TS/missed DD categories.

I played pinochle with some friends for a while and was so bad it it that it was almost not worth having me in the game, but I did recognize the rules at least!

[Bastet]

I'll be watching football tonight (go Giants!), so just checked the archive.

A lot of the TS stumped me, too; I only got Belgium, intuition, and Cecil B. DeMille.

I only ran brand, so I continue to be off my game in the first round.  I got all but Brazil in symbols, all but brill in fish, and all but Rihanna in albums, but I missed two in G7 and three in William & Mary.  Better than last night, at least.

DJ was brought to me by the number two.  I got all but amphora in begins & ends (the picture wouldn't have helped), but missed two each in everything else.

FJ was an instaget, though, so at least I keep ending strong.

[ams1001]

September 26:

67% / 50% / 57%

Not a good game tonight. In J I missed one in Brand and Fish, and two each in William & Mary, National Symbols, Albums, and Group of 7. In DJ I missed one in Begins & Ends With…, two in Novels and Landforms, three in Tree People and Psychology, and four in Famous Fathers-In-Law. No clue for FJ.

TSes: (J had 5; DJ had 6 + 1 DD) I got (Giorgia) Meloni, brill, A Passage to India.
 

6 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

They were my go-to drink at some point in my youth but I moved on to other cocktails.  About 10 years ago I was at a bar and ordered one.  It was so sweet I wasn't sure I could finish it.  Never again.

When I was in college the event space where they held weekend dances and concerts/comedy shows and stuff like that had a no-alcohol bar upstairs and they would come down with trays of mocktails to sell - strawberry daiquiris and piña coladas. Good times. Can't remember the last time I had a strawberry daiquiri...

[Katy M]

I said Lillian Helman.  I'm sure was way off in years, but I was trying to think of a playwright and would have never thought of Mae West in a million years.  Even had I paid attention to the category, doubt I would have gotten it.

I got the missed clues of Belgium, A Passage to India (before the wrong answer), Dead Souls, sibling rivalry (had no idea what show they were talking about, but took a wild stab) and intuition.

 

[GreekGeek]

I was almost certain that FJ would be a TS tonight; you'd have to be a movie buff to remember that Mae West not only acted but wrote. I was amused at the thought of Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf writing "spicy scenes." Dorothy Parker wasn't a bad guess though.

I thought David would last longer; he was so dominant in his earlier games.

[Browncoat]

Archive game for me, since we had a CBS special report on Hurricane Helene that took up the first half of the game.  I had no idea for FJ, but I did get the TS of G20, brill, shoal, and DeMille.

Hoping everyone in the path of Helene stays safe!  

[kathyk2]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

Archive game for me, since we had a CBS special report on Hurricane Helene that took up the first half of the game.  I had no idea for FJ, but I did get the TS of G20, brill, shoal, and DeMille.

Hoping everyone in the path of Helene stays safe!  

I was surprised David didn't win five games he was very smart. I thought the sibling rivalry clue was poorly written everyone doesn't have HBO. Cain and Abel would have been a better example. Final Jeopardy was impossible.

[30 Helens]

10 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

[7&7s] were my go-to drink at some point in my youth but I moved on to other cocktails.  About 10 years ago I was at a bar and ordered one.  It was so sweet I wasn't sure I could finish it.  Never again.

Same and same! That was my drink when I was a baby barfly because it was the only alcoholic drink I could stand, and because ordering it made me feel sophisticated. But now, it's just vile. I'll stick to wine.

3 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

you'd have to be a movie buff to remember that Mae West not only acted but wrote.

I know a lot about old movies (film major in college, even!) but I did not know that. Or if I did, I forgot. I had no idea for FJ.

1 hour ago, kathyk2 said:

I was surprised David didn't win five games he was very smart.

He was very smart, but he was also helped to a large degree by finding the right DDs at the right time and betting big. Aside from the first day, he had a tendency to lag for much of the game. He seemed to need that extra element of luck, and that's bound to run out eventually.

[Trey]

For FJ I thought it was more likely to be an actress than a writer so went with Greta Garbo.  If Mae West had occurred to me I would have gone with her.

 

[Clanstarling]

15 hours ago, Katy M said:

I said Lillian Helman.  I'm sure was way off in years, but I was trying to think of a playwright and would have never thought of Mae West in a million years.  Even had I paid attention to the category, doubt I would have gotten it.

Mae West was the first person I thought of, but I dithered, thinking the date was too early for her. But I did manage to answer (with no confidence) and was happily surprised!

15 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I was almost certain that FJ would be a TS tonight; you'd have to be a movie buff to remember that Mae West not only acted but wrote. I was amused at the thought of Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf writing "spicy scenes." Dorothy Parker wasn't a bad guess though.

I had no idea what Mae West did - just went with the only "old" woman I could think of who was "spicy." LOL

I'm crap at album titles, and missed most of them. At one point I said to my husband, "I'd only get an album title if they put up Hotel California." AND THEY DID. I laughed so hard.

[Moose135]

I didn't even have a bad guess for FJ; absolutely no clue.

[MrAtoz]

I got FJ pretty easily, although I recognize that it's a hard clue, and even suspected that it would probably be a triple stumper. I remembered, from my reading about old Hollywood, that Mae West had been arrested for writing and starring in a steamy play. I even remembered that the title of the play was simply "Sex."

Ultimately the arrest was good for her career, since it made her more famous and enhanced her image as a "sex symbol," as they said in those days.

[Katy M]

I said the Gateway Arch, too. So obvious when I heard the right answer.  Argh.

I got the missed clues of Jenny, wild goose chase, show, and vibrato/potato.  

another bad night.  Thinking of getting a brain transplant.

[ams1001]

September 27:

53% / 57% / 56%

Not ending the week on a high note…in J I missed one in Wild Lines and R Off, two in Nicknames, three in Canada Province Capitals and Dying on TV (never saw any of the shows; I guessed Downton Abbey based on the picture and Omar is literally the only Wire character name I know so I guessed that), and four in All Bets. In DJ I missed one in Authors and the Natural World, two in Languages and Words that Should Rhyme, three in Cameos, and four in Crisis.

But I got FJ almost instantly.

TSes: (J had 7; DJ had 5) I got Jenny, wild goose chase, and vibrato/potato.
 

[Browncoat]

Instaget FJ for me tonight.  

And I got the TS of Jenny, Beth, wild goose chase, Brad Pitt, and vibrato/potato.

I got Jenny because I used to collect stamps and always heard about the Inverted Jenny stamp.  And I very recently saw Deadpool 2, which helped with the Brad Pitt clue.

[Bastet]

Good game between three women that came down to FJ.

I watched with friends so didn't keep track of specifics, but I know it was another game continuing my recent pattern of knowing FJ right away, after not having done very well in the rest of the game. 

None of us had any idea for almost all the Dying on TV, cameos, and betting clues.  But we all loved the two vocabulary categories (and grumbled when the contestant said trio and bio instead of bio and trio; we know you don't have to follow the order of the clue, just get both words, but get annoyed by it).

[secnarf]

I got Downton Abbey, never having seen it, because following Maggie Smith's death, her character with the last name Crawley was mentioned approximately 40 times on the news/radio and in articles I read. So it didn't take much for me to connect the name Crawley to Downton Abbey while watching Jeopardy that night. I was half expecting Maggie Smith herself to come up in a clue, per the J! curse.

[Clanstarling]

13 hours ago, secnarf said:

I got Downton Abbey, never having seen it, because following Maggie Smith's death, her character with the last name Crawley was mentioned approximately 40 times on the news/radio and in articles I read. So it didn't take much for me to connect the name Crawley to Downton Abbey while watching Jeopardy that night. I was half expecting Maggie Smith herself to come up in a clue, per the J! curse.

One of the things I love about Jeopardy is the way my mind's path finds some answers.

In a indirect way, Maggie did come up in a clue. So I think it qualifies as a J! Curse. Now expecting Kris Kristofferson to appear in the clues...🥲

[proserpina65]

On 9/26/2024 at 7:35 PM, Katy M said:

I said Lillian Helman.  I'm sure was way off in years, but I was trying to think of a playwright and would have never thought of Mae West in a million years.  Even had I paid attention to the category, doubt I would have gotten it.

I looked at the date and thought "Well, Mae West is the only prominent woman I can think of from that time who did spicy scenes but I'm 100% sure that's wrong".  Went with it anyway.

On 9/26/2024 at 7:35 PM, Katy M said:

sibling rivalry (had no idea what show they were talking about, but took a wild stab)

Succession basically features several siblings fighting over which one will succeed their father as head of a huge corporation.  I never watched it but read enough about it in various sources to get that one.

On 9/27/2024 at 8:01 PM, Browncoat said:

I got Jenny because I used to collect stamps and always heard about the Inverted Jenny stamp.

That's why I knew it.

 

[ams1001]

September 30:

73% / 63% / 68%

Did pretty well in the first round (except for tracks…). I ran Music, missed one each in Central Americana, Hot Cross Bunnies, and Venture Bros., two in Starts with Silent K, and three in Hit the Track.

IN DJ I missed one in Women on TV, Put Some Respect On My Name, and 7-Syllable Words, two in Happened on September 30, and three in PA Literary History and Up Up & Away.

No FJ. 

TSes: (J had 2 + the DD; DJ had 8 + 1 DD) I got Canis Major & Minor (but only after he got it wrong), James Michener, Angela Bassett, and Carl Sagan.

Speaking of tracks, my town is home to the oldest horse racing track in the country and I learned recently that it is closing down at the end of the year. 🙁 (I also learned recently that it is the oldest track in the country...)

I like the new champ.

 

[Katy M]

I said Mount of Olives.  Silly me.

I got the missed clues of James Michener (love him) and Columbia.

I got the entire category of Central America right.

So-so night. Did way better on 7 syllable words than I thought I would.  Only missed one. The same one the contestants missed, so that made me feel better.

[ams1001]

16 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I said Mount of Olives.  Silly me.

[Browncoat]

I started with Ararat, but knew that was wrong.  It took almost all the think music, but I did finally come up with FJ (when I got to the other end of the alphabet!) just in time.  Fortunately it's a short word and didn't take long to write down.

I also got the TS of Pimlico, Canis Major & Canis Minor, Michener, Angela Bassett, August Wilson, and Carl Sagan.  Sagan was a wild guess -- I was surprised it was correct.

I wanted Ken to ask the new champ if his now-wife won when she was on Jeopardy.

[Bastet]

I'll be watching football, so just checked the archive.  Was the picture of Angela Bassett a terrible one or something -- I'm surprised that was a TS.

I only ran Central Americana in the first round, so I'm still a bit off my game, but thankfully not as bad as last week.  I got all but glissando in music (being able to hear the clip wouldn't have helped), all but Knossos in silent K (same with being able to see the picture), and all but Canis Major and Minor in bunnies.  I missed two each in venture bros and tracks (that one could have been far worse considering I despise horse racing [for how the horses and jockeys are mistreated]).

I only ran words in DJ, but did well; I got all but Queen Charlotte in women, all but B29 in away, and all but Tim Berners-Lee in names, and missed two each in Pennsylvania and Sep. 30.

I had no hopes for getting FJ based on the category, but, thanks to Bob Marley, I did.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

I wanted Ken to ask the new champ if his now-wife won when she was on Jeopardy.

Based on the new champ's game play today, I expect Ken will have many opportunities to ask that and other questions.

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 9/23/2024 at 7:36 PM, ams1001 said:

Never heard of a bouzouki.

I got it because of the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch.  The audio version I listened to included the line "would somebody shut that bloody bouzouki player up!" or something similar.

[proserpina65]

I did not get FJ DESPITE having Iron Lion Zion running through my head during the think music.  I feel like I should hand back my Jeopardy tote bag and picture with Alex Trebek for being so stupid.

17 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I like the new champ.

Me too.

I ran Hit the Track.  Thank you, years of watching horse racing and reading Dick Francis books.  I was practically screaming "Pimlico!!!!" at the screen.  Was a little surprised at that being a TS given the attention the Triple Crown gets every spring.  Also a little surprised by the Santa Anita TS but a bit less so.

17 hours ago, Katy M said:

I said Mount of Olives.  Silly me.

I got the missed clues of James Michener (love him) and Columbia.

I said Temple Mount then changed it to Mount Sinai.

I've never read Hawaii, but did read Centennial and Chesapeake, so 'vast novelized histories' had to be James Michener. 

I was shocked no one guessed the name of the biggest river in the Pacific Northwest for that clue.

You think they would've accepted "the guy who wrote Fences"?  I know his name but couldn't drag it out of my brain.

16 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Sagan was a wild guess -- I was surprised it was correct.

I knew who they wanted but Carl Sandberg got stuck in the way.

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

Was the picture of Angela Bassett a terrible one or something -- I'm surprised that was a TS.

No, it was a good one.  (Does she even take bad pictures?)  And recent, too.  Don't know what the malfunction was there.

16 hours ago, Bastet said:

all but Knossos in silent K

Funny thing, when I was at Knossos, the Greek tour guides were pronouncing the k.

[ams1001]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

Was the picture of Angela Bassett a terrible one or something -- I'm surprised that was a TS.

I don't watch the show but I had a vague knowledge somewhere in my brain that she was in it. The picture was of her in character (in a uniform with her hair pulled back) so it took me a second to place her face, but I still got it before anyone even rang in.

[MrAtoz]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Funny thing, when I was at Knossos, the Greek tour guides were pronouncing the k.

Yeah, the K in Knossos is NOT silent. At least not in Greek.

[illdoc]

WARNING for Chicagoland J! watchers----Wild Card baseball game so no J! at its usual time.  Both today (Tue), tomorrow and Thur (unless somebody actually wins, I suppose). So, archive game or watch at 3:07 am.

[Katy M]

FJ was an instaget.

I got the missed clues of Let sleeping dogs lie, swallow, Heavens to Betsy, Stowe, Idaho, and The Faerie Queen.

I got the entire categories of airports and avian poety right.

[ams1001]

October 1:

Happy birthday to me. 🎂

80% / 67% / 72%

Pretty good first round, pretty mediocre second. In J I ran Lunar Features and Toys & Games, missed one in 19th Century Culture Trip, Airports, and Name the Classic Band, and three in Familiar Phrases. In DJ I ran Avian Poetry, missed one in Sir Walter Raleigh and Film-pourri, two in America the Beautiful, and three in The Name Game and "C" to Shining "C". Got all three DDs but not FJ (never watched either version of the show).

TSes: (J had 5 + the DD; DJ had 9 + 1 DD) I got basalt (DD), heavens to Betsy, ET (DD), Stowe, Idaho, The Faerie Queene, and Jersey.

Was rooting for the champ but my second choice had to be Brooke; I lived in Old Bridge for four years. Mike's voice reminded me of Mo Rocca.

[Browncoat]

Instaget FJ for me, despite never having seen an episode of either version of the show.

I also got the TS of swallow, The Doors, basalt, rubies (after diamonds was ruled incorrect), Heavens to Betsy!, E.T., Mendenhall Glacier, and Stowe.

[SoMuchTV]

I did get FJ but I was strongly tempted to go several decades earlier, with All on the Family/Till Death Us Do Part. 

[Bastet]

Tonight's episode will be preempted by the debate, so I just checked the archive.

I missed three in lunar (seeing the pictures wouldn't have helped), but got everything else in the first round other than swallow.

DJ was a different story, however.  I ran film (well, giving myself credit that I'd have come up with Penguin had I been able to see the picture [Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as George and Martha, I don't need the picture; I love that movie]), but that was it.  I missed three each in names and Raleigh, and two each in the rest.

FJ was an instaget even though I've never seen either version.

[kathyk2]

Final Jeopardy was easy familiar phrases weren't familiar.

[Bastet]

43 minutes ago, kathyk2 said:

familiar phrases weren't familiar.

The only one I'd never heard was "One swallow does not make a summer".  I had no idea I'd heard the "wisdom is better than rubies" phrase until "rubies" unexpectedly popped out of my mouth upon reading the clue.  I second guessed myself with diamonds, but for some reason felt pretty confident it was rubies despite my near-total lack of familiarity with the source material.  Like the writers and Ken, I never would have anticipated that category being such a dud for contestants.

[kathyk2]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

The only one I'd never heard was "One swallow does not make a summer".  I had no idea I'd heard the "wisdom is better than rubies" phrase until "rubies" unexpectedly popped out of my mouth upon reading the clue.  I second guessed myself with diamonds, but for some reason felt pretty confident it was rubies despite my near-total lack of familiarity with the source material.  Like the writers and Ken, I never would have anticipated that category being such a dud for contestants.

I thought of diamonds instead of rubies. When the question mentioned Miss Ross I thought of Diana not Betsy.

[30 Helens]

Most of those "familiar" phrases were familiar enough that I recognized them after the fact, but they were just a bit too antiquated to roll off the tongue. I mean, I got "heavens to Betsy", but when is the last time anyone actually said that?

6 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I did get FJ but I was strongly tempted to go several decades earlier, with All on the Family/Till Death Us Do Part. 

I also wondered if it would be something from the '70s, given the number of sitcom imports in that decade ("Steptoe and Son", anyone?), but I felt pretty confident it would be my all-time comedy fave, "The Office", and I was right.  (Note to Bastet: either version would be worth your time, but I lean toward the American. More time, more character development. But feel free to quit after season 7.)

 

 

[Bastet]

29 minutes ago, 30 Helens said:

I got "heavens to Betsy", but when is the last time anyone actually said that?

Since I can recite Clue (where I learned the phrase) verbatim, I am prone to saying "Though heavens to Betsy I don't know why" far more than the average bear -- which still doesn't add up to much, but I do try to work it in when I can.

[MrAtoz]

8 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

I mean, I got "heavens to Betsy", but when is the last time anyone actually said that?

Last time I heard it was on an episode of Law & Order, when McCoy accused some smarmy guy of a crime (which he obviously had done). The guy responded, all innocent-like, "Heavens to Betsy! That would be against the law!"

[Clanstarling]

On 9/30/2024 at 4:32 PM, Katy M said:

I said Mount of Olives.  Silly me.

Better than what I said...Masada. Smacked my head when the answer was revealed. Zion, of course Zion. I'd ignored the reggae part of the clue (not to mention a lifetime of references to Zion.) Sigh...

On 9/30/2024 at 5:05 PM, Bastet said:

Was the picture of Angela Bassett a terrible one or something -- I'm surprised that was a TS.

I knew who she was, I watch the show she's on, but I could not pull her name from my sticky brain.

15 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I did get FJ but I was strongly tempted to go several decades earlier, with All on the Family/Till Death Us Do Part. 

I was tempted too.

9 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

 I mean, I got "heavens to Betsy", but when is the last time anyone actually said that?

I didn't get it (though Betsy did roam around in my brain w/o any other words). I've heard it before, perhaps in movies or books.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

Better than what I said...Masada. Smacked my head when the answer was revealed. Zion, of course Zion. I'd ignored the reggae part of the clue (not to mention a lifetime of references to Zion.) Sigh...

On 9/30/2024 at 8:05 PM, Bastet said:

Was the picture of Angela Bassett a terrible one or something -- I'm surprised that was a TS.

I knew who she was, I watch the show she's on, but I could not pull her name from my sticky brain.

"Great minds think alike"???
If I'd read Monday's FJ clue out loud (like my daily Jeopardy! alarm on my phone tells me to do) the "used in spirituals" part of the clue might've got me to Zion.

Recent TSs I knew were Rubies, Poppies, Queen Charlotte, and Carl Sagan.

[proserpina65]

18 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Instaget FJ for me, despite never having seen an episode of either version of the show.

I've seen some of both, didn't like either one.  It took a moment but I did come of with The Office in time.

I was surprised that none of the contestants got let sleeping dogs lie but a little less so for heavens to Betsy.

13 hours ago, Bastet said:

I had no idea I'd heard the "wisdom is better than rubies" phrase until "rubies" unexpectedly popped out of my mouth upon reading the clue. 

There's some bible quote about a virtuous woman's price being above rubies, which I only know because of a Rene Zellwegger movie.  That's how I got rubies for that clue.

18 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I did get FJ but I was strongly tempted to go several decades earlier, with All on the Family/Till Death Us Do Part. 

I thought of All in the Family but figured they wanted a show which had the same title on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

[Trey]

For FJ, I said Ghosts first then switched to The Office. I know it was very popular on both sides of the pond but I detested it.

[ams1001]

October 2:

73% / 37% / 55%

Did pretty decent in the first round…ran Health & Medicine, missed one in Australian Currency, Please Don't Go…, and We're Just Getting Started, two in TV, and three in "Fun". Did terribly in DJ (though they didn't do that great, either)…missed one in Theory, two in Bucket List, three in Triple Rhyme Time and Religious Matters, and totally failed Playwrights and Foreign Film Titles.

Again, I got all the DDs but did not get FJ.

TSes: (J had 4; DJ had 13! + 1 DD) I got acupuncture, republicans, prisoner's dilemma, Jainism, and Das Kapital (DD).