Jeopardy! Season 32 (2015-2016)

[CarpeDiem54]

I liked Chris (what's not to like about a retired fireman who's now a math teacher?) and am glad he won.

I like these tournaments.  They make me feel like a genius.  The TS's I got were Gucci, radon, defense mechanism, Chamberlain, Pitt (I remember from last week - yay!), Stay With Me, Serengeti (missed DD) and MacMillan (they practically gave the answer - Mac and Jack - duh!).

I guess Diane, apparently a Latin and Greek expert, didn't "put in the work".  I know basically nothing about the Greek language, and even I got FJ.

[YoureSoUrban]

I liked Chris a lot too and I'm glad he won.  

It was pretty awkward the couple of times the lady in the middle gave her answer so confidently but was totally wrong (Timberlake and Azkaban are the two I remember). 

Did Buzzy really qualify for the next TOC?

[dcalley]

Old business:
"The other one": I searched the archive and Alex hasn't said this as often as I thought. 
Here's one. NONFICTION
In 2015 this feminist magazine founder recounted "My Life on the Road"

Spoiler

 

(Niki: Who is Friedan?)
(Alex: You had to go for the other one.)
Gloria Steinem
Triple Stumper

No, Alex, Friedan wasn't a feminist magazine founder.

 

CPR: I'm not that old (I think), but CPR was mandatory in my high school, and it was the old way. All I know about the new way is pumping to the beat of "Stayin' Alive."

[GreekGeek]

1 hour ago, CarpeDiem54 said:

I liked Chris (what's not to like about a retired fireman who's now a math teacher?) and am glad he won.

I like these tournaments.  They make me feel like a genius.  The TS's I got were Gucci, radon, defense mechanism, Chamberlain, Pitt (I remember from last week - yay!), Stay With Me, Serengeti (missed DD) and MacMillan (they practically gave the answer - Mac and Jack - duh!).

I guess Diane, apparently a Latin and Greek expert, didn't "put in the work".  I know basically nothing about the Greek language, and even I got FJ.

It's sad that the material seems dumbed down and yet there are so many TS's. It plays into the "those who can't..." stereotype. I didn't know "Stay With Me" but I did figure out the others.

Diane just mentioned the prefixes of Latin and Greek in the interview, so maybe that's all she knew. Something about her bugged me for some reason.

[Pallida]

My dvr didn't record because the guide included "teachers tournament" in the title. Grrr! 

[peeayebee]

In DD I was doing really well at first. I got all five clues in Produce the Produce and ... whatever was to the right of that category.

I also got radon, Gucci (duh!), Azkaban, and MacMillan (basically as a guess). There might have been other TSs, but I can't recall now. At first in the DM category I wasn't thinking about "DM", so I missed the first couple. Then I got 'dark matter' -- was that wrong? Did the woman pronounce it differently?

I thought it was a pretty fun game. 

[rubaco]

Quote

There might have been other TSs, but I can't recall now.

I thought both diacritical marks and defense mechanism were pretty obvious, in the DM category.

Really liked Chris too, and he's from my neck of the woods. I don't normally pay much attention to the teacher's tourney, but that game was a decent one.

[Good Queen Jane]

It's nice that the teachers all get money for special projects, but I missed the videos of the students cheering on their teachers that they used to show around the interview sections. They gave you a sense of what kind of school they teach at and the teachers all looked so touched and/or amused by the good luck wishes. So boo hiss to no videos.

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, rubaco said:

I thought both diacritical marks and defense mechanism were pretty obvious, in the DM category.

Yeah, with those two I wasn't thinking about the category, so I didn't get them. If I'd remembered 'DM', that would have helped poke my brain.

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, CarpeDiem54 said:

I liked Chris (what's not to like about a retired fireman who's now a math teacher?) and am glad he won.

I like these tournaments.  They make me feel like a genius.  The TS's I got were Gucci, radon, defense mechanism, Chamberlain, Pitt (I remember from last week - yay!), Stay With Me, Serengeti (missed DD) and MacMillan (they practically gave the answer - Mac and Jack - duh!).

I guess Diane, apparently a Latin and Greek expert, didn't "put in the work".  I know basically nothing about the Greek language, and even I got FJ.

I didn't hear all of the clue for Chamberlain and therefore had no answer for that one, and I got the Masai Mara Reserve confused with the Serengeti plain, oy.  But I got pretty much everything else.  I felt like a genius.  :-)

[Gimmick Genius]

I made an educated guess on Chris's first DD about the "Gate of Hell" in the Turkish ruins. Pluto is the god of the underworld, ergo: Plutonium.

And did you notice? Before the first commercial break they started at the top of the left-hand category, went straight down in order, then did the same with the second and the third categories. It was beautiful. What discipline!

[teebax]

5 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

It's nice that the teachers all get money for special projects, but I missed the videos of the students cheering on their teachers that they used to show around the interview sections. They gave you a sense of what kind of school they teach at and the teachers all looked so touched and/or amused by the good luck wishes. So boo hiss to no videos.

Agreed. I lived in Allentown, PA, for several years and wanted to know where Chris taught. I love that he was a firefighter first and has now had the same profession as both of his parents. I kept waiting for the video of his students and was disappointed they didn't show one.

I don't think it's fair to say that those who can't, teach. Some of the best regular Jeopardy contestants we have had were teachers. There are a few careers that are well represented on the show, and teaching is one of them. However, as someone who transitioned to teaching from the business world, I'm a bit biased.

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, Gimmick Genius said:

I made an educated guess on Chris's first DD about the "Gate of Hell" in the Turkish ruins. Pluto is the god of the underworld, ergo: Plutonium.

My guess, which I thought was kinda educated, was Luciferonium. I'm not too good with the elements, and I probably had Ted Cruz on my mind. *shudder*

Edited May 3, 2016 by peeayebee

[dcalley]

7 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

It's nice that the teachers all get money for special projects

I meant to mention this. It's nice, but sad that teachers so often have to reach into their own pockets or go without and occasionally get lucky when some company looking for free advertising, good PR, and tax write-offs gives out some money.

[ottoDbusdriver]

A shoes category and no one got 'Gucci' -- they even gave them the first letter.

Ummm, Chris, methane is not an element on the periodic table, let alone a noble gas.

Chris did spell FJ incorrectly, and it did actually changed the sounding of the word (panorama vs. panarama).

[mojoween]

I have no idea where I pulled it from, but I said Arizona and Missouri before time ran out.

I liked the middle guy well enough, but with one clue left I thought his DD wager was curious because he took himself out of a runaway.

[Trey]

I got Arizona but not Missouri.

The fellow on the end totally made up a Shakespeare play with "Everything is Humour".  Well, it did make me laugh:)

Not as good a game as last night but okay.

The winner sure was hyper.

[Mondrianyone]

I thought the winner said "Duvalius" for "Duvalier" and was waiting for the adjustment when he hit the DD.  But it never came, so maybe I misheard.

[ottoDbusdriver]

45 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I liked the middle guy well enough, but with one clue left I thought his DD wager was curious because he took himself out of a runaway.

That really made no sense -- and then his FJ wager was also a little odd.  He should have wagered $0 and played for the tie -- even if it turned out to be a tie and he lost the tie-breaker he would still be nearly guaranteed a wildcard spot.

[Lois Sandborne]

43 minutes ago, Trey said:

The fellow on the end totally made up a Shakespeare play with "Everything is Humour".  Well, it did make me laugh:)

Even better, he said, "Everything in Its Own Humour." I'm still amused trying to figure out which play he could've been thinking of with that.

This whole game was kind of goofy. I really want to know why Nicole was so tickled by Van Halen.

And, I spent that Dedications category hoping they would mention Emma's dedication to the Prince Regent, which is one of my favorite historical anecdotes.

I really liked Lesser Known Names and was proud to get the Bessie Coleman clue. FJ I thought was pretty easy.

[dcalley]

Please tell me the winner was not a math teacher, because his bet made no sense whatsoever. $0 or $1 were the only good choices.

Just now, Lois Sandborne said:

This whole game was kind of goofy. I really want to know why Nicole was so tickled by Van Halen.

"Hot for Teacher" is pretty inappropriate (and thus funny) for inclusion in the teachers tournament, and apparently the contestant coordinator reacted and made Nicole laugh.

[mojoween]

The winner is a sixth grade English teacher. I remarked to my son that I hope he doesn't have any ESL students because with the rapidity of his speech they would have no hope to understand him.

[CarpeDiem54]

Darn, the only contestant I liked, Greg, crapped out.  Jason, with his staccato machine gun fire speech made me stabby.  Nicole was kind of odd - am I the only one who noticed she'd slip into an (English?) accent now and again?

I got Much Ado About Nothing, pasta, Paris and elevation.

I got the Arizona right away for FJ but couldn't beat the Missouri out of my two living brain cells.

[GreekGeek]

6 hours ago, teebax said:

 

I don't think it's fair to say that those who can't, teach. Some of the best regular Jeopardy contestants we have had were teachers. There are a few careers that are well represented on the show, and teaching is one of them. However, as someone who transitioned to teaching from the business world, I'm a bit biased.

I agree! But I've become very sensitive to any criticism of teachers, being one myself, and one of the most common ones is that teachers aren't the "best and brightest" of their subject. So when someone brags about her work on spelling bees and then misses a vocabulary question, it irks more than if, say, a businesswoman had missed it.

Edited May 4, 2016 by GreekGeek

[Spunkygal]

29 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

I thought the winner said "Duvalius" for "Duvalier" and was waiting for the adjustment when he hit the DD.  But it never came, so maybe I misheard.

Yep, I was waiting for the adjustment, too. 

[The Wild Sow]

Quote

I thought the winner said "Duvalius" for "Duvalier" and was waiting for the adjustment when he hit the DD.  But it never came, so maybe I misheard.

He just said "Duvaliers" - plural.  The clue asked for "this family" so Duvaliers was fine (plus, Baby Doc et al were just in the reruns of Doonesbury - along with Zombie Duke!)

Quote

I got Arizona but not Missouri.

Yeah, me too.  Kept wondering if the Enola Gay had a memorial, and if so, whether it would be in Hawaii! 

[Mondrianyone]

12 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

He just said "Duvaliers" - plural.  The clue asked for "this family" so Duvaliers was fine

I considered that possibility for a second or two, but Alex is such a stickler for pronunciation--especially of French, as we all know--that I couldn't figure out why he'd let that one go by without at least repronouncing it, correctly:  Doo-val-YAYS instead of Doo-VAL-yers.  Maybe I'm not the one losing my hearing!  ;o)

[chessiegal]

19 minutes ago, The Wild Sow said:

He just said "Duvaliers" - plural.  The clue asked for "this family" so Duvaliers was fine (plus, Baby Doc et al were just in the reruns of Doonesbury - along with Zombie Duke!)

Yeah, me too.  Kept wondering if the Enola Gay had a memorial, and if so, whether it would be in Hawaii! 

While I wouldn't call it a memorial, the Enola Gay is at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, near Dulles airport. I highly recommend the museum if you are in the DC area and are interested in air travel history.

Edited May 4, 2016 by chessiegal

[peeayebee]

I didn't get FJ. I almost always think about Europe when WWII comes up, even with the clue saying it was when the US got involved. If I'd paid attention, I might have come up with Arizona, but definitely not Missouri.

For TSs, I got Much Ado About Nothing and elocution. Not sure if there were any others.

[M. Darcy]

As soon as I started thinking outside of DC, I got FJ pretty quickly.  Though, my answer might have been the Missouri and the Pearl Harbor Memorial (which is kind of correct).

[operalover]

I almost died listening to Alex pronounce "le" and "Haïtien" in that Haiti Cap-Haïtien clue..one of the funniest French pronunciation showing off yet! I always have to rewind these cause my jaw is on the floor. 

[teebax]

18 hours ago, dcalley said:

Please tell me the winner was not a math teacher, because his bet made no sense whatsoever. $0 or $1 were the only good choices.

"Hot for Teacher" is pretty inappropriate (and thus funny) for inclusion in the teachers tournament, and apparently the contestant coordinator reacted and made Nicole laugh.

That was a funny moment.

I thought it was a good game, but there were some easy TS's that I can't now remember. I got half of FJ and couldn't for the life of me remember the Missouri. This is one of the tournaments I really like.

[ClareWalks]

Argh! My DVR has decided it doesn't want to tape Jeopardy this week. What a dick. When I noticed it wasn't taping today, I set it on record, but it turns out (and this is not a spoiler for today's episode) that Kasich's stupid speech (I assume it was stupid, I FF'd) took up almost the ENTIRE ep except FJ. Booooooo. 

[Trey]

Jill certainly deserved that win.  The other two just weren't in it. 

My TS's were Christmas tree, frisbee, hummingbird, and Switzerland.  I am usually pretty good at unscrambling words but I found this egg-laying category pretty hard.

Almost instaget FJ.

[CarpeDiem54]

I liked Jill.  I'm glad she bet $0 in FJ instead of doing something crazy.

I got National Christmas Tree and David Bowie (I love their duet of "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth").

Clueless on FJ.  I have a hard enough time remembering the names of the Earth's features.

[mjc570]

There were some surprising TSs, although of course, I can't remember what they were.  I thought FJ was so obvious - they were all female names, and Venus is the only "female" planet - I was trying to think if any female-named moons had named features, but decided that was just too hard. I totally missed the National Christmas tree. 

Maybe I'm getting smarter as I get older (or watch more J!), but I think the clues have been pretty easy in this teachers' tournament.  Given how good many of the teachers are, I think they could up the challenge a bit. 

[secnarf]

I also thought FJ was obvious, and was surprised none of them got it. Part of it was knowing how Jeopardy clues are constructed, though. Those names were in the clue for a specific reason, so I said, 'what do these women have in common? Oh, they're women! Therefore, Venus.' I was also surprised hummingbird was missed.

I am finding these games a bit underwhelming, though. I hope in the semi-finals and finals they pick up a bit.

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, secnarf said:

I also thought FJ was obvious, and was surprised none of them got it. Part of it was knowing how Jeopardy clues are constructed, though. Those names were in the clue for a specific reason, so I said, 'what do these women have in common? Oh, they're women! Therefore, Venus.' I was also surprised hummingbird was missed.

I am finding these games a bit underwhelming, though. I hope in the semi-finals and finals they pick up a bit.

Aside from the fact that FJ was a TS for a really easy clue, the worst part was that Hannah is a science teacher (math and science teacher, actually)

[peeayebee]

I too was surprised that the FJ was a TS. It took me a second, but then Venus seemed to only possible answer. 

I got David Bowie and was yelling it at my TV. I think I had another TS but I can't remember now.

I liked the winner. She looked like a teacher I would like to have had.

[YoureSoUrban]

Quote

I got National Christmas Tree and David Bowie (I love their duet of "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth").

I love that duet also and was surprised none of the teachers knew of it.

FJ was an instaget and I thought I had to be wrong to get it so quickly. I thought it was more worthy of a DD.

[Jesse]

All the answers were birds, right? 

[Trey]

14 minutes ago, Jesse said:

All the answers were birds, right? 

Yes, they were all birds.

[proserpina65]

Quote

I can't remember what they were.  I thought FJ was so obvious - they were all female names, and Venus is the only "female" planet - I was trying to think if any female-named moons had named features, but decided that was just too hard.

Due to the phrasing of the clue it took me a moment to get that they wanted the name of the planet, but once I did, Venus seemed obvious.  Mars?  With all those female-named features?  Really?

I'm glad Jill played the FJ wagering safe - she deserved her win.

I will admit to almost completely blowing the US Geography category.  Usually that would be a good one for me, but for some reason my brain took that one off.

Oh, and on Tuesday's show, I missed an opera clue for the first time that I can remember, mainly because if it ain't Crime and Punishment, I've got nothing when it comes to Dostoevsky.  Plus, I had no idea there was an opera based on his work.  The other clues in that category, however, were so easy I could've answered them in my sleep.  Opera is one of my best categories.

Edited May 5, 2016 by proserpina65

[proserpina65]

14 hours ago, Trey said:

Jill certainly deserved that win.  The other two just weren't in it. 

My TS's were Christmas tree, frisbee, hummingbird, and Switzerland.  I am usually pretty good at unscrambling words but I found this egg-laying category pretty hard.

Almost instaget FJ.

I missed the National Christmas tree, but got the rest.  I suck at unscrambling words so that category was a bust for me.

[rereader2]

For FJ I first thought Venus because of all the female names, but then second-guessed myself, because how can a planet with temperatures hot enough to melt rock have surface features? So now I have to go back and read up on Venus, because I am clearly wrong.

[teebax]

1 minute ago, rereader2 said:

For FJ I first thought Venus because of all the female names, but then second-guessed myself, because how can a planet with temperatures hot enough to melt rock have surface features? So now I have to go back and read up on Venus, because I am clearly wrong.

That's what I love about the show; I learn so much I didn't know! I had a similar thought about FJ and went with Venus because nothing else made sense to me. But I didn't know Venus had surface features. 

[Trey]

Quote

Due to the phrasing of the clue it took me a moment to get that they wanted the name of the planet, but once I did, Venus seemed obvious

Me too..  It was their use of "surface features" that slowed me up because I first wondered if we were supposed to say what the features were, i.e. lake, crater, mountain or whatever.

[PaulaO]

My sister and I have a stock answer when we don't know FJ  "What is I do not understand the question."  That's what I said last night.  I couldn't tell if they were looking for what kind of features, or the planet's name.  Very confusing.  

Quote

 

[bad things are bad]

That FJ was VERY poorly-worded 

[operalover]

I didn't realize they were birds or maybe I would have done better as birding is one of my hobbies and I like anagrams but I stunk up the place on that category. 

Also how did they miss La Boheme- Paris the other night and why did that guy guess Prague? Just guess any city?