Jeopardy! Season 32 (2015-2016)

[proserpina65]

56 minutes ago, mojoween said:

From the context I'm getting from all of your posts, I'm quite sure I would not have gotten FJ.  It occurs to me that I don't think I've read ANY Sherlock Holmes and any knowledge I have must be from pop culture osmosis.

I've watched Sherlock and the series of movies on PBS with Rupert Everett, but the FJ answer never occurred to me.  I knew Watson had been in wounded while in the army, but I just couldn't put that together with the clue.

[Clanstarling]

3 hours ago, tvaddict44 said:

Glad to see that several of you were skeptical of Matt's reading an encyclopedia at 1 - that's even too early to be looking at pictures, isn't it?

That's about the age my kids ATE books if I didn't put them up.  Both are pretty sharp cookies - maybe Matt was trying to ingest knowledge in a more visceral manner.

I didn't get ee cummings, primarily (so I tell myself) because the initial word in the poem was capitalized and there wasn't anything else in the quote that is typically capitalized.

[peeayebee]

I just looked up that ee cummings poem. The very first word is capitalized, and there are others are the beginning of some of the stanzas. Honestly, I didn't think he capitalized any words. I liked the Punny Definition category, though it took me a while to get into the swing of it. 

In the Rivers and Lakes category, for the Hamburg clue I said the Rhine. I knew that was an answer just the other day, but someone here said that if it's a river in Germany, you should say Rhine. So I did! And I was wrong.

[Browncoat]

I said Rhine, too!

[Mondrianyone]

For some reason the multi-quote option is malfunctioning for me today, so I can't refer back to the posts asking for the ID of my old actor boyfriend.  I'll let him be anonymous so he doesn't get associated with some loon who posts on a Jeopardy! forum.  But he wasn't just a face in a crowd scene--he's a character actor with tons of credits.  And now I feel like an idiot for bringing it up at all.

47 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I just looked up that ee cummings poem. The very first word is capitalized, and there are others are the beginning of some of the stanzas. Honestly, I didn't think he capitalized any words. I liked the Punny Definition category, though it took me a while to get into the swing of it.

I remember reading a long time ago that the notion that cummings lowercased everything was mistaken.  I just did a quick Wiki lookup, and here's the link to that part of his page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings#Name_and_capitalization  Bottom line is that it wasn't a hard and fast rule of his never to capitalize anything.

Bonnie just made the end of this terrible week a little bit sunnier.

[teebax]

Like many of you, I'm thrilled that Matt is gone. I thought he might be ruining Jeopardy episodes for me for at least a week. Hopefully, I'll forget the former 1-year-old-encyclopedia-reading-child-of-a-PhD guy rather quickly.

I liked Bonnie a lot. Knowing what happens to contestants I like, I'm not optimistic about her sticking around long. But I'm rooting for her just because she beat Matt.

[Bastet]

Quote

From the context I'm getting from all of your posts, I'm quite sure I would not have gotten FJ.  It occurs to me that I don't think I've read ANY Sherlock Holmes and any knowledge I have must be from pop culture osmosis.

Same here.  The archive isn't updated yet, so I figured I'd just go ahead and look up FJ and come generally spoil myself here.  I know jack all about Sherlock Holmes; I just sat here thinking of what I can associate with him and came up with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. Watson.  Yeah.  So neither narrator nor war injury would have got me there.  If detective had been in the clue, based on the time frame I'd have probably (eventually) guessed the right story -- but I'd have guessed Holmes rather than Watson. 

Edited July 9, 2016 by Bastet

[ClareWalks]

Re: reading the encyclopedia at one "years" old...give me a break. Your parents should have bought you some nice board books to chew on if you were bothering her textbooks. My son "reads" books all the time, usually by drooling and chewing on them, usually when they're upside-down. It does not make him a savant of some sort. 

By some miracle I hadn't noticed the swaying before, but I noticed it this time. Glad Bonnie won, she seems like a nice lady, and I loved her very subtle "fuckin' seriously?" face when nobody buzzed in to say Clark after her Lewis guess. 

[Prevailing Wind]

7 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Police cruisers often don't have full backseats.  I found that out when a friend had to wait in one after a car accident.  She said it was more like a very narrow bench.

Makes it easier to clean up the puke when they pick up drunks.

3 hours ago, teebax said:

Like many of you, I'm thrilled that Matt is gone. I thought he might be ruining Jeopardy episodes for me for at least a week. Hopefully, I'll forget the former 1-year-old-encyclopedia-reading-child-of-a-PhD guy rather quickly.

Isaac Asimov once said that "PhD stands for 'Phony Doctor.' "  (as opposed to MD)  If I were a, you know, client of his and saw those two shows, I'd UMMM dump his ass so damn fast, he'd need, you know, extra Brylcreem to keep his hair in place during the spinning. You know.

[Browncoat]

Can we have Bonnie back please thank you?  Between the jumping to the highest value clue and the random gestures, I'm not a fan of Pam.  Mostly it's the jumping to highest value clue.  Funny, though, that she left the Swedish category for the other one -- she had to have known there was a DD in the Swedish category.  Maybe she was afraid she'd bet big and miss?

I got MiniWheats, and Freedmen's Bureau, and was yelling "Registrar!" at the TV when they all whiffed that one.

I feel like I should have known FJ, but I couldn't come up with anything.  It was familiar, when I saw it, but I don't think I ever would have thought of it.

[Trey]

I'm sorry to see Bonnie go so soon.  Pam perhaps isn't as annoying as Matt but I do dislike her starting at the bottom of the categories.

I wasn't keeping track of my ts gets tonight - I'm not sure I even got any.

Did not get FJ.  I said Kamchatka but apparently that is just a peninsula, not a city.  I've heard of Vladivostok but it didn't enter my head.

[Browncoat]

I only know Kamchatka from Risk.

[CarpeDiem54]

Darn!  Bonnie, I'm sorry to see you go.  I'm not too thrilled with Pam.  I didn't like her starting with high dollar clues and saying the dollar amount before the category.  I don't know why that bugs me, but it does.

That Hat category was Teen Tournament worthy.

I didn't get any TS or FJ.  Boo hiss.

[Writing Wrongs]

In honor of the category theme, I was hoping someone would pronounce the one category "Ape Tit".

[Jesse]

I would have liked more of Bonnie and her funny stories, but liked Pam fine. 

I guess I've heard of Vladivostok, but would literally have never have come up with it.

[secnarf]

I liked Pam because of her story about space shuttle launches. It is on my bucket list to see a rocket launch (and I live nowhere near any sort of launch site). I came very close a few weeks ago in Florida, but due to weather it was scrubbed until the day after I left. Instead I spent the day waiting for the launch that never happened.

I did quite like Bonnie and wouldn't have been disappointed if she had won, though.

I got a few TS - registrar was one that really surprised me, even without knowing the category.
I hadn't the slightest clue for FJ, though.

[peeayebee]

2 hours ago, CarpeDiem54 said:

I didn't get any TS or FJ.  Boo hiss.

It always makes me laugh when someone quotes Alex's "Boo hiss."

I'm sorry to see Bonnie go. She was nice, quiet, and smart. I kind of like Pam, though not her jumping to higher valued clues.

I didn't get FJ. I'm not sure I've even heard of Vladivostok. I guess I should have.

[Spunkygal]

Not only did I love Bonnie because she is the Matt slayer, but also because she reminds me of Miranda Hart, the British actress/comedienne who is Chummy in Call the Midwife, one of my favorite shows ever. 

[Enigma X]

I am (again) watching now but I sure hope Pam did not win. 

[Enigma X]

6 minutes ago, Enigma X said:

I am (again) watching now but I sure hope Pam did not win. 

Just ugh!

My problem with her is she is too animated for me.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Enigma X

[ottoDbusdriver]

AT and Bonnie pronounced toque as 'toke', rhyming with coke -- who calls it a toke ?

Why did AT boo hiss Bonnie when she missed that DD in the DJ round ?  That seemed uncalled for.

FJ was teen tournament easy.  What the hell was Mike thinking when he answered with "What is Shanghai ?"

And Bonnie is a one and done.

[Clanstarling]

2 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

AT and Bonnie pronounced toque as 'toke', rhyming with coke -- who calls it a toke ?

I do - but you made me curious, so I looked it up on merriam-webster, and that's the pronunciation they use (yay for sound files! http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toque). How do you pronounce it?

I got Vladivostock - but only because it was literally the only Russian town I could think of which I wasn't sure was inland.

[teebax]

I missed two of the Hat answers and FJ. Based on what some of you are saying, I'm not even Teen Tournament material!

I did run the sports category, so maybe I'm just Sports Jeopardy material.

Edited July 9, 2016 by teebax

[Bastet]

Quote

FJ was teen tournament easy.

I could have literally sat here until I died and not come up with it; I've never heard of Vladivostok.  With two of them getting it right, it's clearly someplace I should have heard of, but nope.

[ABay]

Heard of it, didn't know it's a port.

It was one of the rare shows I watched in real time and didn't hit the mute during the interviews. I wish Bonnie had won but I also liked Mike for his Mick Foley story. Mick Foley is awesome.

Whenever I miss FJ, I know @ottoDbusdriver will have deemed it Teen Tourney level or otherwise obscenely easy.

[mojoween]

I'm not too thrilled with Pam.  I didn't like her starting with high dollar clues and saying the dollar amount before the category.  I don't know why that bugs me, but it does.

I missed last night's show (aww, a sports category was in it?) but saying the dollar amount first would have driven me bonkers too.

[teebax]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

 

I missed last night's show (aww, a sports category was in it?) but saying the dollar amount first would have driven me bonkers too.

They named the movie, and you had to name what sport it was about. I loved that category!

[Jesse]

3 hours ago, tvaddict44 said:

I was also a little annoyed by the whole Swedish word category.  Those Scandinavian words are hard enough when one is struggling through a mystery written by one of that area, but it really doesn't seem a fair topic for a game show aimed in general at those with an American education. Our language is based on Latin and romance languages and also has a Germanic base -- isn't that enough to form wordplay clues from? Guess I'm grumpy because that's the only topic I ever do well at all....

I thought those particular words were close enough to our English words to figure it out from hearing them -- and maybe hearing them even more than looking at them. 

I did also like the guy last night, FTR. All three of them seemed like people I could be friends with!  Also, I think Pam won me over when she was clearly afraid to say Petit Dejeuner to Alex.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Jesse

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm gonna miss Bonnie's dog stories. Pam's OK, but for the pointing the buzzer & not starting at the top.

I knew Vladivostok!  Yay, me!  (But then I thought maybe Irkutsk, but settled on Vladivostok because I knew for certain it was in the east; not sure WHERE Irkutsk is.)

[secnarf]

3 hours ago, tvaddict44 said:

I was also a little annoyed by the whole Swedish word category.  Those Scandinavian words are hard enough when one is struggling through a mystery written by one of that area, but it really doesn't seem a fair topic for a game show aimed in general at those with an American education. Our language is based on Latin and romance languages and also has a Germanic base -- isn't that enough to form wordplay clues from? Guess I'm grumpy because that's the only topic I ever do well at all....

I think anything is fair game in Jeopardy. They've had categories based on other languages in the past, and (just as an example) a few based on Chinese history. It's not limited to topics typically included in American education. And the Swedish words they chose, as well as the clues around those words, offered a lot of help to the contestants. Most of the words were about as close to English as the German words would be - and with the clues given, it was easy enough to figure out most of the answers even if there had been a blank rather than the word in Swedish.

[Roaster]

I like when the writers come up with categories I've never seen before: Swedish words, sports movies, hats -  all good.

I wonder if someone in the writers' room thought up Petit Dejeuner just knowing Alex loves to pronounce French words to the hilt.

[mojoween]

58 minutes ago, teebax said:

They named the movie, and you had to name what sport it was about. I loved that category!

I would have run that I bet.  I'll have to check out the archive.

[peeayebee]

There were one or two clues in the Swedish category that there was no way I could have figured out. Maybe I need to rewatch to post which ones they were.

22 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I knew Vladivostok!  Yay, me!  (But then I thought maybe Irkutsk, but settled on Vladivostok because I knew for certain it was in the east; not sure WHERE Irkutsk is.)

Irkutsk sounds familiar. Wasn't it in Risk? Let me check... Yes, it was. 

I also looked up Vladivostok. It's the home port of the Russian Pacific fleet and the largest Russian port on the Pacific Ocean. I don't think I've ever come across either of those facts. It's also the twin city of Juneau and Tacoma. Not sure I knew that before. Hey! Yul Brynner is from there! Maybe I might have heard of that some time. I wonder if it's ever been a location in a Bond movie.

Edited July 9, 2016 by peeayebee

[opus]

33 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I would have run that I bet.  I'll have to check out the archive.

I missed McFarland, USA :(

[peeayebee]

I had no idea that was about track. I immediately thought coal mining, but I guess I was thinking of Harlan County, USA.

[alias1]

1 hour ago, Roaster said:

I like when the writers come up with categories I've never seen before: Swedish words, sports movies, hats -  all good.

I wonder if someone in the writers' room thought up Petit Dejeuner just knowing Alex loves to pronounce French words to the hilt.

I thought the Swedish words were not that hard.  I missed one or two.  And I loved when Pam said something like " that category that I can't pronounce."  I liked Bonnie, but i'm ok with Pat.  I thought she was kind of funny when picking out those high dollar clues (something I usually hate).  She seemed to get such a kick out of the fact that she could.    

[teebax]

I don't like board jumping, but other than that I didn't have a problem with any of them yesterday. I loved the new categories and didn't mine the Swedish one. I think I got four of those right.

[trow125]

As someone who was born in Sweden and speaks the language, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Swedish words category. I shut up and let my non-Swedish husband answer them. Luckily for him, he ran the category. I think the only tricky one was the $1000 clue, which was the Swedish word for bird (fågel). I am not sure that the context was enough for someone with no familiarity with the language to get that one, so I wasn't surprised it was a TS.

Oh, and in case anyone was curious: Alex's Swedish pronunciation was NOT GOOD. Stick to French, Alex!

[biakbiak]

FJ was an instaget because as a child I was obsessed with Trans-Siberian railroad, yes I was a weird child.

Edited July 9, 2016 by biakbiak

[YoureSoUrban]

Of course there's a champ I really like and she's gone. She kept her smile throughout though, which was terrific.

Quote

 I didn't like her starting with high dollar clues and saying the dollar amount before the category.  I don't know why that bugs me, but it does.

I can't stand it either.

[Jesse]

6 hours ago, Roaster said:

I wonder if someone in the writers' room thought up Petit Dejeuner just knowing Alex loves to pronounce French words to the hilt.

It was an SNL Celebrity Jeopardy reference like I think all of the categories in that round. Here are some of the classics: https://www.buzzfeed.com/fivezaj/10-iconic-misreadings-of-the-snl-celebrity-jeopar-a8zp?utm_term=.ecpJdn3yGm#.asnDb7Rr5Z

[ABay]

I got fagel because I've been half-assedly trying to teach myself German, and the German word for bird, Vogel, is pretty close to fagel (v sounds like f). But without that, I don't know if the rest of the clue would've been enough.

Were all of the categories in the round SNL tributes? States That Begin with Californ, A Petit Dejeuner...?

Edited July 9, 2016 by ABay

[Roaster]

Ahhh, you're probably both right about SNL and Petit Dejeuner.  I didn't catch that.

[DrScottie]

6 hours ago, Jesse said:

I did also like the guy last night, FTR. All three of them seemed like people I could be friends with!  Also, I think Pam won me over when she was clearly afraid to say Petit Dejeuner to Alex.

Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds (Turd Ferguson) on SNL called it "Ape tit." It's possible she was worried she would have said by mistake

[rereader2]

On 7/7/2016 at 8:36 PM, SierraMist said:

Just like almost everyone here, I couldn't believe the two guys knew they were talking about the Sherlock Holmes stories, but didn't know that Holmes was never the narrator and he never was wounded in the war. 

Actually there are two stories that Holmes narrates--but he was never wounded in war. Watson was a total instaget for me. (But then, I am a little bit of a Holmes nut--I even own two sets of the Complete Works, one of which is the New Annotated version--so it was blindingly obvious!)

And I got fagel because Yiddish. :)

Edited July 10, 2016 by rereader2

[Clanstarling]

I got Watson because the first episode of Sherlock spent a lot of time focusing on John's leg injury from the war.

I overthought fagel - I recognized it from German - but thought for some reason they wanted a specific species of bird.

[alias1]

12 hours ago, rereader2 said:

Actually there are two stories that Holmes narrates--but he was never wounded in war. Watson was a total instaget for me. (But then, I am a little bit of a Holmes nut--I even own two sets of the Complete Works, one of which is the New Annotated version--so it was blindingly obvious!)

 

I had to look it up, but you are correct.  Out of the 4 novels and 56 short stories, Holmes does narrate two of his adventures very near the end of his chronicles (and two not very well known to me apparently).

[peeayebee]

20 hours ago, ABay said:

Were all of the categories in the round SNL tributes? States That Begin with Californ, A Petit Dejeuner...?

You're right. I didn't even think of that. CATCH THESE MEN (Catch the semen) and "S" WORDS (Swords) were another two. BTW, the one category was A PETITE DEJEUNER. I wonder why they spelled it that way.

22 hours ago, trow125 said:

I think the only tricky one was the $1000 clue, which was the Swedish word for bird (fågel). I am not sure that the context was enough for someone with no familiarity with the language to get that one, so I wasn't surprised it was a TS.

That's the one I missed. "Fågel means this type of creature." Usually there's something in this type clue so you can figure it out. I guess from the posts here that the word is similar to bird in a few languages. Fugl (Norwegian), vogel (Dutch), vogel (German), fugl (Icelandic), vugel (Luxembourgish). BTW, Esperanto for bird is birdo.

Funny, when Bonnie got DD wrong, and Alex said it was chevalier, when he then said "Boo hiss," even that was in a French accent.

[rereader2]

1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

 "Fågel means this type of creature." Usually there's something in this type clue so you can figure it out. I guess from the posts here that the word is similar to bird in a few languages. Fugl (Norwegian), vogel (Dutch), vogel (German), fugl (Icelandic), vugel (Luxembourgish). BTW, Esperanto for bird is birdo.

And "faygele" in Yiddish is "little bird." (And one of my cousins-by-marriage is named Faigel, which means bird. Don't know how a Swedish word got adopted into Yiddish, though, unless it was through German.)

[trow125]

3 hours ago, rereader2 said:

And "faygele" in Yiddish is "little bird." (And one of my cousins-by-marriage is named Faigel, which means bird. Don't know how a Swedish word got adopted into Yiddish, though, unless it was through German.)

I think they were both through German. I found this online:
The diminutive of the Yiddish fogel, meaning bird, faygele is derived from the German word for bird, vogel. 
That might have been why it was chosen for Jeopardy: not many people speak Swedish, but the odds increase that someone might have known it from German, Yiddish, or Dutch.