Jeopardy! Season 32 (2015-2016)

[Pallida]

My brother sent me a text while watching tonight. "If Alex ever "boo-hiss's" at me, I'm gonna jack him in the parking lot."

Cougar is the same as mountain lion.

[dcalley]

(Other than Kyle, who got to come back due to scheduling issues caused by Alex's surgery.)  They all lost because they gave the wrong FJ answer and bet too much.  No one's fault but their own.

Unimportant correction: Kyle's the current champ. Claudia's the one who came back (only to lose in the triple-$0 game).

 

I was impressed the woman made the right call to bet it all on that Roy G Biv DD, but then was unimpressed when she didn't get it.

[CarpeDiem54]

The FJ clue said this branch had a billion followers in the Middle East -- a billion -- and someone guessed Judaism.  Really ?

Israel would have to be a whole lot bigger to cram a billion people in there.

@Bastet - I, too, was impressed with Alex's pronunciation of those Welsh words.

[chessiegal]

I would have missed Fallingwater because I said Fallingwaters. Oops.

[secnarf]

The wording of FJ threw me for a bit - if it had said "branch of a major religion" or something along those lines then it wouldn't have been a problem, but I spent a bit of time trying to figure out what religion considered itself to be a "branch", before realizing that they just were going for a branch of a specific religion. I suppose that is what lack of sleep will do to a person! Once I realized what the clue was asking, I thought it was fairly obvious - Middle East + 1 billion followers should lead you right to Islam, and then Sunni is the largest sect of Islam by a vast margin - I think it's something like 80-90% of Muslims are Sunni. Shia and Sufism are very small in comparison. It surprised me that only one of them got it right, although I wonder if, in such a stressful situation, they were just as confused about the wording initially as I was!

[ABay]

Buffalo has several FLW buildings and at least one by his mentor, Louis Sullivan. The University went in with Stanford to buy a collection of material from a guy who worked with Wright and it was my job as a library worker to match 1000s of negatives to photos. Since FLW always wore a white suit, he always showed up a black blob on the negatives. There's something symbolic there but I'm not sure what. I also developed a strong aversion to the color orange after seeing it so often on the Taliesin West stationery.

[Prevailing Wind]

 

his pronunciation of foreign words is admirable to me -- other than Spanish words, which I can generally get right, and select words from other languages I've heard/spoken all my life, I always sound like an American saying a foreign word.  He doesn't.

I was disappointed in how he pronounced "Carlos Slim" - he said the last name as a Canadian/American, not pronouncing it "Sleem." I thought, "WTF? What's wrong with Alex?"  God knows, he'd never let "Nicaragua" get by without Español-ing it up.

[proserpina65]

I'm surprised that Roy G. Biv category gave them so much trouble -- they had a 1 in 7 shot at guessing the color in the answer (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet).

 

Maybe they, like me, had no idea what Roy G. Biv meant.  Although I still got all the answers right because the clues were pretty well written.  It did help knowing that the Dutch royal family are the House of Orange, though.

Unimportant correction: Kyle's the current champ. Claudia's the one who came back (only to lose in the triple-$0 game).

 

I was impressed the woman made the right call to bet it all on that Roy G Biv DD, but then was unimpressed when she didn't get it.

Oops!  Thanks for the correction.  I don't usually remember contestants' names unless I really like them or really hate them.

[proserpina65]

Alex was really showing off with that first Wales clue, wasn't he?  Kudos to him; I could have sat here all night and not come close to pronouncing that correctly.  I know he had time to practice, but as much as I mock his imitations of accents, his pronunciation of foreign words is admirable to me -- other than Spanish words, which I can generally get right, and select words from other languages I've heard/spoken all my life, I always sound like an American saying a foreign word.  He doesn't.

 

Agreed.  Welsh is a beautiful language, but it does have some wild pronunciations.

[Scott]

I was disappointed in how he pronounced "Carlos Slim" - he said the last name as a Canadian/American, not pronouncing it "Sleem." I thought, "WTF? What's wrong with Alex?"  God knows, he'd never let "Nicaragua" get by without Español-ing it up.

 

Hmm...I thought I did hear a bit of a "sleem".  It wasn't as exaggerated/meticulous (depending on which side of the coin you are) as his French pronunciations, but I thought it was there.  

 

Or maybe I was expecting it, so I just convinced myself I heard it.  

[Roaster]

One more win and Kyle will be a four-timer and probably qualify for TOC.  Given the dearth of multi-day winners recently, that's notable.

 

On today's FJ, I came up with the answer right at the end of the time period, so probably would not have had time to write the name down.  In retrospect, though, it wasn't all that hard to guess.

[teebax]

Kyle's hometown is next door to mine, and that's close enough for me to root for her.

I had no idea on FJ tonight and was impressed that she got it. I'm not a fan and know very little about Rowling. I was trying very hard to think of a famous Brit named Jo.

[Browncoat]

I guess the two who missed FJ aren't Harry Potter fans?  It was an instaget for me.  Although I am surprised that the category didn't specify famous female Brits.

[mojoween]

I said J.K. Rowling because she's British and Jo starts with J.

Did Alex start the show with a Vampiric accent or was I imagining things?

Oh I forgot about this yesterday I came in to the show right when the interviews started so what was that lady's story about pushing a nun about?

I was sad James Horner was a TS. I loved his work.

Edited January 22, 2016 by mojoween

[ottoDbusdriver]

At the end when the 3 contestants were standing around AT, I couldn't believe how tiny Jennifer was.  She was kind of cute too.

Edited January 22, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[dcalley]

I am surprised that the category didn't specify famous female Brits.

Progress?

 

I had been wondering if Percy Weasley would show up in the Percy category, so I was already in a Potter frame of mind.

[PaulaO]

Insta Get F J, although my co-worker is scheduled for the online test so we look at the NYT clue in the morning. It's the FJ question for the day so I feel I cheated.

[CarpeDiem54]

Whoever told Kyle to wear shoulder pads needs to be shot. Makes the poor woman look like a linebacker.

What was up with all the clues left in the regular round? Wasn't there about one and a half categories worth of clues left on the board?

I got Durango, Muses, Boss Tweed, garbology (I saw an episode of Law and Order with a garbologist on it yesterday) and Frederic Remington.

FJ was an instaget and I'm not a Harry Potter fan.

[secnarf]

FJ was an instaget for me - the clue was essentially a British author whose first name is "Jo". I then spent the rest of the time wondering if it could really be that easy. I feel like a person on Jeopardy should know who JK Rowling is, and that she used her initials because publishers thought boys wouldn't want to read Harry Potter if they knew it was written by a girl.

 

Then again, I can't help but wonder if this is one of the questions that the contestants on the teen tournament or college tournament might have found easier compared to contestants on regular Jeopardy.

 

There were a few surprising TS, but I can't actually remember any right now. I've been finding the games kind of dull lately - I want someone like Alex or Matt back!!

[LadyintheLoop]

Oh I forgot about this yesterday I came in to the show right when the interviews started so what was that lady's story about pushing a nun about?

 

 

I think it was about competing for an audience with Pope Benedict. Reminded me of Orrin Hatch on Murphy Brown: "I saw her push a nun once."

 

Rowling is Joanne; Jo March was Josephine. They shared a nickname, not a name.

[YoureSoUrban]

 

I said J.K. Rowling because she's British and Jo starts with J.

That was my method as well.

 

I guessed garbology as a goof; didn't think it was a real word.

 

I think Muses was too easy for a DD.

 

[CarpeDiem54]

I think Muses was too easy for a DD.

And still Kyle got it wrong.

[Pallida]

I'm kind of fascinated by Kyle's eyes so I've been poking around online to try to see more of them. Ignore how creepy that sounds. On Twitter, she said they edited out more info on her shark blood research. That makes me sad.

[peeayebee]

I got Durango, Muses, Boss Tweed, garbology (I saw an episode of Law and Order with a garbologist on it yesterday) and Frederic Remington.

 

I got all those too, except for Muses. Stupidly, I said The Graces. I also got James Horner.

 

I didn't get FJ. I thought they were asking for a Brit who shared a name with Louisa May Alcott. I couldn't come up with any famous Brit named Louisa.

[biakbiak]

I got Gummer simply because I have a weird dislike of Mamie!

[teebax]

FJ was an instaget for me - the clue was essentially a British author whose first name is "Jo". I then spent the rest of the time wondering if it could really be that easy. I feel like a person on Jeopardy should know who JK Rowling is, and that she used her initials because publishers thought boys wouldn't want to read Harry Potter if they knew it was written by a girl.

 

Then again, I can't help but wonder if this is one of the questions that the contestants on the teen tournament or college tournament might have found easier compared to contestants on regular Jeopardy.

 

There were a few surprising TS, but I can't actually remember any right now. I've been finding the games kind of dull lately - I want someone like Alex or Matt back!!

Just because they missed it doesn't mean they don't know who she is. I'm sure they know who she is but, like me, didn't realize what her initials stood for. I wasn't looking for an author whose initial stood for Jo, I was looking for one named Jo. Perhaps that was their undoing too.

[Spunkygal]

I got Gummer simply because I have a weird dislike of Mamie!

....a weird dislike of Mamie possibly because LBJ did not walk her down the aisle?? J/K

[Moose135]

I got Durango...

 

That was an easy one, especially since I've actually been to Durango in my Durango:

 

[M. Darcy]

I'm surprised two of them missed FJ just because even if you don't know JK Rowling's first name....JR Rowling is a good guess if they are asking for a British author.

[proserpina65]

I got Gummer simply because I have a weird dislike of Mamie!

That was a total "D'OH!" moment for me because I should've gotten it for the exact same reason.

[JudyObscure]

Maybe it's because I haven't read the Harry Potter books, but it seems to me like they can't go a week without some reference to them.  English Lit is my best area so my mind always starts running through everything from Chaucer to E. M. Forster but stops before this.  I'm going to start saying it for everything in the category the way I do Rodin for "Sculpture."

[peeayebee]

Unless it's a Western sculpture, then it's Remington.

[JudyObscure]

Heh. Yes.

 Women artists?  Georgia O'Keeffe or Frida Kahlo

Playwrights? Tennessee Williams or Ibsen

[PaulaO]

 Finnish composer is Sibelius.  General Scandinavia country question is Norway.

[Browncoat]

Poets?  Walt Whitman or Emily Dickinson.

[Browncoat]

Damn.  I haven't rooted against anyone as hard as I rooted against the new champ in a long time.  He was killing me with how long he took to choose the next clue and to answer.  But, like Kyle, I couldn't for the life of me think of the right battle for FJ.

 

I did, however, know anaphylactic shock.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Demi spelled 'Thermopylae' wrong -- she switched the 'a' and the 'y', yet was still given credit.  WTF ?  It also changed the pronunciation.

 

Damn.  I haven't rooted against anyone as hard as I rooted against the new champ in a long time.  He was killing me with how long he took to choose the next clue and to answer.  But, like Kyle, I couldn't for the life of me think of the right battle for FJ.

 

I hope the new champ doesn't last long.  Dude needs to speed things up.

 

What was up with AT calling on Demi on the first clue of the Jeopardy round when Kyle rang in -- is his eyesight going ? And they felt bad for his screw up and credited her with $200.

Edited January 23, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[secnarf]

I really don't like the new champ. He didn't really do all that well, and took a really long time to answer and pick categories.

Although, his voice sounds exactly like this other person I know (and like), so if I wasn't really paying attention to the TV screen, I didn't mind him as much.

I bet he was kicking himself after the anaphylactic shock DD, though.

I wonder if "anaphylaxis" would have warranted a "BMS"?

Edited January 23, 2016 by secnarf

[CarpeDiem54]

I liked Fred's grin, but he was so sloooow. I have a feeling he'll be a one and done. I was actively rooting against Demi. Kyle's giraffe photobomb story was cute.

I was cooking dinner so didn't write down the TS I got. I didn't understand that Scwa category.

Why did Kyle write down a volcano when they obviously wanted a battle name, which I couldn't pull out of my pea sized brain.

[secnarf]

I liked Fred's grin, but he was so sloooow. I have a feeling he'll be a one and done. I was actively rooting against Demi. Kyle's giraffe photobomb story was cute.

I was cooking dinner so didn't write down the TS I got. I didn't understand that Scwa category.

Why did Kyle write down a volcano when they obviously wanted a battle name, which I couldn't pull out of my pea sized brain.

I had to google "schwa", and even then it took me nearly until the end of the category to understand what they were going for!

 

I didn't think the clue implied that it "obviously" was a battle name. If they didn't specify "Greeks", I would have guessed Pompeii, which was caused by Mt Vesuvius. I thought Kyle's answer made no sense simply because Vesuvius is in Italy and not Greece, but I might have put down the same, just to put something down but knowing full well it was wrong.

I was a bit thrown by the wording - "the only Greeks to survive" to me meant that literally no other Greeks anywhere in the world survived this event (in retrospect I realize that this interpretation makes absolutely no sense logically), which is why I was thinking of more "apocalyptic" things such as a volcano destroying an entire population. I don't know anything about Greek history though, so maybe if I was familiar with the event in question it would have made more sense. It seems like something one should know if they're on Jeopardy, anyways, and there is a reason I only play from my couch!

[Mondrianyone]

I missed the first five minutes because I didn't know the regular station was showing a hockey game and they'd switched the broadcast to a sister station.  So even though we're dodging the snowstorm, they still managed to find a reason to screw up Jeopardy!

 

I didn't think the clue implied that it "obviously" was a battle name.

 

Part of the clue mentioned one of the two survivors being sent to recruit more troops, so I think it was fairly clear that the event in question was probably a battle.

 

I hope Dr. Ben Carson finds his inner gas pedal tomorrow.  He didn't even seem to be able to describe his own work without dozing off between words.  He seems like a nice man, but . . .

[GreekGeek]

I admit my mind went to the Vesuvius eruption in FJ. There were plenty of Greeks in South Italy, so it's not inconceivable that there could have been some in Pompeii. Then I thought, "Duh...300...Thermopylae!" 

 

I hope Dr. Ben Carson finds his inner gas pedal tomorrow.  He didn't even seem to be able to describe his own work without dozing off between words.  He seems like a nice man, but . . .

 

I thought "extremely nervous" rather than "dozing off." I don't think he'll be around very long, but his game did improve a lot as the show went along.

 

I mean no disrespect to the children's hospital--I know they do very important work--but that doctor's voice was awful! I don't think Alex has to worry about her taking his job.

[The Wild Sow]

 

Demi spelled 'Thermopylae' wrong -- she switched the 'a' and the 'y', yet was still given credit.  WTF ?  It also changed the pronunciation.

Nah, it's "Ther-MOP-ə-lee" (with a schwa in the middle!)  Mixing them up didn't really matter.  And sadly, I missed it (never did see 300)!

Funny, it says right in the middle of the "Spoilt" T-shirt (https://cdn-shop.threadless.com/subs/big/115500.gif ) that "299 die!"  So, I should have gotten it.

 

I thought "extremely nervous" rather than "dozing off." I don't think he'll be around very long, but his game did improve a lot as the show went along.

I just think he has a bit of a stammer.

 

 

I mean no disrespect to the children's hospital--I know they do very important work--but that doctor's voice was awful!

Well, Jen is only 3'2" tall -- she's not going to be exactly a baritone!  Jen used to be my neighbor, very cool lady -- it was great to see her on TV (since I can't stand reality shows, I've never seen The Little Couple although I knew she and Bill were doing the show.)  The first time I met her we were riding the elevator to the parking garage at Pittsburgh Childrens Hospital, and all I could think was oh my goodness, how does she drive?!  (Answer:  a nice adapted Jeep with pedal extenders.)  

Edited January 23, 2016 by The Wild Sow

[ottoDbusdriver]

I had to google "schwa", and even then it took me nearly until the end of the category to understand what they were going for!

 

That makes two of us -- I really had no idea either.  And even then the definition seems seems vague and depends on how it's pronounced, I guess -- I'll have to go back and look at the clues in that category again.

Edited January 23, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[GreekGeek]

Nah, it's "Ther-MOP-ə-lee" (with a schwa in the middle!)  Mixing them up didn't really matter.  And sadly, I missed it (never did see 300)!

Funny, it says right in the middle of the "Spoilt" T-shirt (https://cdn-shop.threadless.com/subs/big/115500.gif ) that "299 die!"  So, I should have gotten it.

I just think he has a bit of a stammer.

 

Well, Jen is only 3'2" tall -- she's not going to be exactly a baritone!  Jen used to be my neighbor, very cool lady -- it was great to see her on TV (since I can't stand reality shows, I've never seen The Little Couple although I knew she and Bill were doing the show.)  The first time I met her we were riding the elevator to the parking garage at Pittsburgh Childrens Hospital, and all I could think was oh my goodness, how does she drive?!  (Answer:  a nice adapted Jeep with pedal extenders.)  

I never watched The Little Couple either, so I had no idea who she was. I thought watching her tonight, "Is she a little person?" Good to know she's a cool lady. 

[peeayebee]

Although I understood the schwa category pretty quickly, that was a silly category.

 

I did not get FJ. Maybe if I'd seen '300' I would have gotten it. 

 

Fred guessing "The Wasteland" made me scratch my head. Admittedly, I was tired and didn't hear the first part of the clue with the minister or whoever, otherwise I would have said "Elmer Gantry" instead of guessing "Main Street."

 

William Tell and Lady Chatterly's Lover both seemed obvious to me. And although I'd never heard of the book, I took an educated guess and said "Helen" (of Troy).

[dcalley]

I learned the schwa in elementary school, but I was into the dictionary. Anyway, not that I'm that old, but I wonder if they still teach it.

 

We were surprised by Fred's old-school movie knowledge.

[peeayebee]

I'm not sure in what grade I learned about the schwa, but like haboob, it's a word I like, so it's a word I remember.

[NorthstarATL]

 

William Tell and Lady Chatterly's Lover both seemed obvious to me. And although I'd never heard of the book, I took an educated guess and said "Helen" (of Troy).

Same here! J took me a minute, but I'd luckily just been reading something by Miller.  I knew "Elmer Gantry" as well. I thought the new champ seemed nervous, even during his interview, so maybe he'll be better on Monday?

 I know it's terrible, but at first glance when Alex introduced the Children's Hospital doctor, I thought "The DOCTORS are children?", and then I realized.

[ClareWalks]

I studied linguistics and know enough about schwas, but I still had trouble with the category because it's odd to try to identify an answer by its least-consequential vowel sound ;)