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Jeopardy! Season 34 (2017-2018)


Athena
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21 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

What are your nightmare categories???  Mine would be:  history (any country, any period), mythology, geography, football, anything to do with politics/civics of any country, anything where you have to do the math on the spot.

Fine arts in general; apparently I'm terrible at classical architecture as well. I'm not great at dog/cat breeds either. Mythology is tough for me, although I did get the Antigone one right. I feel like there are too many freaking names in mythology. I like the stories, but I can't ever remember all the names. I'm very good at pro sports, but I'm not so good at college sports.

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21 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Yesterday's FJ was the first I'd ever heard of Antigone

Well, I've heard of her, but I don't really think of her as a "mythological woman". She's the daughter of Oedipus. As I recall, her two brothers died fighting her uncle (Creon?) and the uncle was so pissed he ordered that they not be buried. Antigone buried them anyway, so I think Creon ordered her buried alive. Actually, I only read Oedipus Rex in a class thirty years ago, but the instructor told us about the second play in the trilogy ("Antigone").

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7 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I got Billy Idol

You mean Biffy Idol

58 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

What are your nightmare categories???  Mine would be:  history (any country, any period), mythology, geography, football, anything to do with politics/civics of any country, anything where you have to do the math on the spot.

Geography, alcoholic beverages, opera (even though my father loved it), and I'll agree on math (I can do it, but probably not quickly under pressure)

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(edited)

Mythology used to be one of my best categories--Greek & Roman, at least--but lately it feels like the writers learned an entirely different set of stories than I did. There was a clue about "Pandora's daughter" last year (?) and I still exclaim WTF when I think about it. In my head. Because it would be weird otherwise. Anyway...I didn't get Antigone because I think of her as a character in a play rather than subject of a myth, so I thought"Artemis...Athena...not Hera because childbirth was one of her goddess-y territories...nope, drawing a blank". And then I thought "Wait, do they mean the poems addressed someone who did not have a Greek name?" Because lately it also feels like the writers put extra effort into making the clues unparseable within the time limits.

Edited by ABay
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13 hours ago, Toothbrush said:

I also prefer when contestants answers sound like they end with a period rather than a question mark, regardless of the what/who/where is phrasing.

You guys would friggin love me because I often actually ask questions with a period. It takes some people a couple of beats to realize I'm asking them something.

I got Antigone based on "anti" but was completely unsure because I didn't know if she counted as "mythology." 

A nightmare category for me would be anything where you would have to spell the answer. I have a lot of trouble doing that out loud. I can write it down no problem but it would take me an agonizing amount of time to try and spell it correctly out loud..

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16 hours ago, secnarf said:

I was disappointed that nobody got snapdragons. They are my favourite flower.

I said "not false snapdragon". How would the judges rule on that? I had some false snapdragon in my pollinator garden and always thought it was odd that it was "false." When the picture came up, my brain was: "Yeah, that's not the stuff you had in the garden." Instead of "Hey, it's *true* snapdragon." 

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(edited)
19 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Thank goodness Garan didn't win.  And good on Laura for going back to the tops of categories that he (and Maryann!) kept starting in the middle.

Seems like there were lots of TS tonight.  I managed catamaran, snapdragons, Krugerrand, Ruhr, Billy Idol, Billy Ocean, and Wounded Knee.

FJ didn't come to me immediately, but I think I got it just in time to write it down.  Mythology is not one of my stronger suits -- I tend to get confused as to who was Roman and who was Greek. 

But answers are meant to be in the form of a question, so it doesn't bother me.  It does bother me if they do that when choosing the next clue.

I got all those.  The "against" in the clue gave me Antigone, although I still wasn't sure about it.

18 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I got catamaran, Ruhr Valley, snapdragons (actually ran that category) the Billy’s, Wounded Knee and Laramie. I didn’t get Runnymede where Alex said the Magna Carta was. I thought that was in Salisbury. 

I didn't get Laramie, and you'd think I might've guessed it since I'd been watching episodes of the old tv show.  Nor, to my everlasting shame, did I get Runnymede.  Which is about 20 miles west of London, in Surrey.

18 hours ago, teebax said:

Ha! I guessed Illinois based on its history of corruption. It was a safe bet, without even knowing George Ryan. 

My other gets were Dewey, Runnymede, Idol, Ocean, Leona Lewis, Wounded Knee, and Laramie. I teach Antigone to my sophomore English classes, so that was an instaget. 

I'd never heard of George Ryan, so I had no idea.  I did get Thomas Dewey - he prosecuted Dutch Schultz among others.  The March Madness category was a bad one for me, although I did get Indiana, UCLA, and wasn't Notre Dame one of the answers?  If so, I got that one too.

Edited by proserpina65
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34 minutes ago, PaulaO said:

I will add sci fi/fantasy( books/games/movies/tv shows) to my nightmare list.

Only if I can add them to my dream list.  Although I do lean more to fantasy than straight-up sci fi.

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3 hours ago, teebax said:

I like to say salsa, because people like to say salsa. I never order it in any other voice. But sometimes I accidentally get seltzer.

That reminds me -- For some reason I like to say salsa like "sauce-saaaaaaa," very quickly, which is why the L sorta disappears. I believe this was from a movie or TV show were the characters were going on about the joys or salsa or something. I wish I could remember where I got this from.

 

2 hours ago, illdoc said:

Well, I've heard of her, but I don't really think of her as a "mythological woman". 

Me neither, but that's just because I think of Greek mythology as being about gods and goddesses, but it also includes heroes.

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(edited)

Look up George Ryan on Wikipedia, because the whole bribes-for-licenses scandal was really nasty, especially because it only came to light after six children were killed.

As soon as I log off my work laptop I get to watch today’s ep. Here’s hoping we get the entire show this time!

Edited by Sharpie66
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1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

That reminds me -- For some reason I like to say salsa like "sauce-saaaaaaa," very quickly, which is why the L sorta disappears. I believe this was from a movie or TV show were the characters were going on about the joys or salsa or something. I wish I could remember where I got this from.

Are you sure it's not Seinfeld, which @teebax was referencing?

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(edited)

Today’s ep info below:

Spoiler

 

When did they start doing tiebreakers? 

Did anyone else get a Popeye’s commercial in the first break? Nice timing. 

Only got Barbra, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and FJ, which a pure guess based only on the location of the islands. I thought they were part of the UK, so I was not happy with my answer only to find out I was right.

 

Edited by Athena
added spoiler tag
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It's past 7 PM ET.

Yeah, so a tie-breaker.  I knew those were possible but have never seen one before.  Interesting.

But...yet another game where the second place contestant (Sarah) made a dumb wager in FJ.  Why is this so hard?  Just follow this rule: if you are in second place and have more than twice what the third place contestant has, BET NOTHING.  Nothing.    $0.  It makes me sad to see Sarah throw away a victory.

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(edited)

I was the one who posted early. Sorry about that, but I thought the rule was no spoilers needed after the first US broadcast, which in Chicago is 3:30 Central time. 

Anyway, I didn’t know about the tiebreaker, so that surprised me! They must have changed that recently. 

I got Barbra, the Scarlet Pimpernel DD, and the Channel Islands FJ. I always thought they were part of the UK, so the guess was just based on the location and the name the Norman Islands, since they are between Normandy and England—I was convinced I was wrong, but happy to hear I was right!

Edited by Sharpie66
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Wait! Tie breaker? Buzz in? I thought if they were tied both contestants came back? I could have sworn there were 3 way ties (possibly all with $0), and they all came back. 

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I am glad Laura won again!  The guy would have been okay but for his wave during the intros, but Sarah pissed me off starting at the second clue.  I really don't understand that, particularly if the DD has already been found.  I get the strategy of starting with the third clue -- higher dollar value -- but starting with the second makes no sense.  Also, if she'd started at the top of the Erin category, they wouldn't have whiffed the Erin Moran clue so badly.  Well, I know, the guy got it, but only after the women gave such goofy guesses.

I got Nina, Barbra, mucous membrane, and stomach.  And I figured FJ referred to islands in the English Channel, but damn if I couldn't come up with Channel Islands.  Major mental flatulence there on my part.

Is this the first tiebreaker we've had since they started?  I don't remember any others, but I've been wondering exactly how they'd work. 

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It was jarring, so it would have been nice if Alex had explained. Especially since middle-guy (Scott?) was standing there but obviously could not ring in for the tiebreaker. Awkward, rushed, confusing. I know we've seen it before, but not recently, so a reminder seemed in order. 

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(edited)

The non-tournament tiebreaker finally happened, and I got spoiled. Boo hiss.*

This site has way more info than you could possibly want about Jeopardy airtimes (updated in October), showing that some markets air the show in the morning hours. But most people see it later, so the 7:00 PM ET rule here is a good one IMO. 

Because I knew the tiebreaker was coming at the end, I spotted some things earlier that seemed abrupt/cut for time, such as Alex's usual "you can bet up to $1,000" missing from the first DD.

* This is not me literally booing anyone, just to be clear! Alex says "boo hiss" a lot and we tend to make fun of him for it.

Edited by dcalley
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6 hours ago, illdoc said:

Well, I've heard of her, but I don't really think of her as a "mythological woman". She's the daughter of Oedipus. As I recall, her two brothers died fighting her uncle (Creon?) and the uncle was so pissed he ordered that they not be buried. Antigone buried them anyway, so I think Creon ordered her buried alive. Actually, I only read Oedipus Rex in a class thirty years ago, but the instructor told us about the second play in the trilogy ("Antigone").

It was one brother that wasn't to be buried, but your memory of it is very good! 

I am happy Laura won again although I do wish she picked faster. 

My gets were Nina DD, Barbra, mucous, electrical current, pharynx, and thr Channel Islands FJ in a completely wild guess. 

Was that our first tiebreaker? I don't like it and wish they'd go back to the old way. 

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10 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I am glad Laura won again!  The guy would have been okay but for his wave during the intros, but Sarah pissed me off starting at the second clue.  I really don't understand that, particularly if the DD has already been found.  I get the strategy of starting with the third clue -- higher dollar value -- but starting with the second makes no sense.  Also, if she'd started at the top of the Erin category, they wouldn't have whiffed the Erin Moran clue so badly. 

I blame the writers for writing clues in such a way that choosing a clue out of order puts the player at a disadvantage.  If I remember right, the second clue in the Erin category was about a "twitching nose" and the answer was Bewitched.  The third clue also mentioned a twitching nose (that there was no twitching) and the answer was Happy Days.  So picking the third clue before the second, and seeing the words "twitching nose" -- the mind quickly goes to Bewitched -- which wouldn't have happened if the clues had been picked in order.

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8 minutes ago, dcalley said:

The non-tournament tiebreaker finally happened, and I got spoiled. Boo hiss.

This site has way more info than you could possibly want about Jeopardy airtimes (updated in October), showing that some markets air the show in the morning hours. But most people see it later, so the 7:00 PM ET rule here is a good one IMO. 

Because I knew the tiebreaker was coming at the end, I spotted some things earlier that seemed abrupt/cut for time, such as Alex's usual "you can bet up to $1,000" missing from the first DD.

I didn't get spoiled and thought it was cut oddly as I was watching it. I wondered what was going on. 

I like the airtime rule too, but because it isn't a site wide rule I understand how Sharpie made that mistake. Don't feel bad, Sharpie! Now you know. 

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10 hours ago, GalvDuck said:

I love snapdragons too!  I remember my mom asking me if I knew why they were called snapdragons and then lightly pinching their "faces" so show me how they "bite."

Yeah, I loved the March Madness questions!  I'm so surprised that no one got UK, but then dude knew UCLA.  They're both fierce b-ball powerhouses.  Then again, I used to work at UK med center and both my parents graduated from UK.  If I was up there and didn't get it right off the bat, I'd never live it down from my friends in the Big Blue Nation.

wow!  i worked at uk med center also, not saying how long ago.  couldn't stand how everything revolved around uk ball.

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Every time I have seen a tiebreaker (I can recall at least two other times), it has been very abrupt with no warning or explanation. The first time I saw it, I remember thinking I would be too bewildered to ring in.

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3 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

Look up George Ryan on Wikipedia, because the whole bribes-for-licenses scandal was really nasty, especially because it only came to light after six children were killed.

Illinois Congressman Dennis Hastert was Speaker of the United States House of Representatives before he got busted as a serial child molester. He paid millions in hush money to the boys he abused when he was a wrestling coach and teacher. He was sent to prison too, alongside all those Illinois governors. (I met him once at a press event and he was a jackass.) Yeah, Illinois is a swell state ... if you're a crook.

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Yay, I'm glad Laura won the tie-breaker.  One of the reasons she's slow is she's polite and waits for Alex to finish making his asinine comments after every answer instead of steamrolling over him.  I'm glad the other two lost because they didn't start at the top.  Also, Sarah was a buzzer masher.

The only TS I got was mucus.

For FJ, I saw "Norman" and figured they must be in the English Channel, hence Channel Islands (which I apparently mistakenly always thought were part of the U.K.).

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I had to read The Scarlet Pimpernel as a kid, and disliked it. There was a big mystery about who the SP was, but there was much too much attention on one seemingly unimportant character. It felt like a giant neon arrow pointing at him.

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I've never seen a tiebreaker before so that was a real shocker. I'm glad Laura won, I like her. But I wondered who chooses the tiebreaker category. It could be aimed toward one contestant and not the other. Like if one is an opera singer and the category is Famous Operas. Or one is an Army officer and the category is Military Academies. If they don't like some contestant, they just give the opponent his or her favorite category. I'm guessing contestant resumés would help with that.

I thought Sarah, the tiebreaker loser, looked like the librarian champ Laura beat. If someone posted their photos side by side, of course I would be wrong. But in my mind, it was her doppelganger. So Laura got to beat her twice.

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22 hours ago, Bastet said:

Good gods, the contestants sucked at Native American history.  Given the way it’s (not) taught, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised – except for Wounded Knee.  I knew all three of them that they got to, but that’s the one I really would have expected at least one contestant to come up.

What I can't believe is that someone guessed Little Big Horn.  It's famous as the battle the US military LOST, and the clue clearly referenced that the US military was winning.

7 hours ago, teebax said:

 I feel like there are too many freaking names in mythology. I like the stories, but I can't ever remember all the names. I'm very good at pro sports, but I'm not so good at college sports.

I on the other hand don't understand how anyone can keep track of all the names in sports, which change constantly.

7 hours ago, illdoc said:

Well, I've heard of her, but I don't really think of her as a "mythological woman". She's the daughter of Oedipus. As I recall, her two brothers died fighting her uncle (Creon?) and the uncle was so pissed he ordered that they not be buried. Antigone buried them anyway, so I think Creon ordered her buried alive. Actually, I only read Oedipus Rex in a class thirty years ago, but the instructor told us about the second play in the trilogy ("Antigone").

That wasn't a terrible summary.  One brother fought for each side in the war, and the brother on the losing side wasn't allowed to be buried.  Antigone is my favorite classical play, so this was a happy get for me, but I wasn't sure her name translated to "against birth,"

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1 hour ago, AuntiePam said:

I blame the writers for writing clues in such a way that choosing a clue out of order puts the player at a disadvantage.  If I remember right, the second clue in the Erin category was about a "twitching nose" and the answer was Bewitched.  The third clue also mentioned a twitching nose (that there was no twitching) and the answer was Happy Days.  So picking the third clue before the second, and seeing the words "twitching nose" -- the mind quickly goes to Bewitched -- which wouldn't have happened if the clues had been picked in order.

Erin Moran or Joanie, described as the non-nose twitching daughter, was the $400 clue and revealed first. Erin Murphy who was Tabitha on Bewitched was the $200 clue and revealed last. I knew it was "Happy Days" but my brain stopped as I wondered who twitched their nose on that show? If you refer to someone has the non-nose twitching daughter, then it's heavily implied her sister twitches her nose. 

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30 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

But I wondered who chooses the tiebreaker category. It could be aimed toward one contestant and not the other. Like if one is an opera singer and the category is Famous Operas. Or one is an Army officer and the category is Military Academies. If they don't like some contestant, they just give the opponent his or her favorite category. I'm guessing contestant resumés would help with that.

I trust that the show is very much on the up-and-up and complies with the laws against game show rigging. I believe all the clues (including tiebreaker) are picked before the players are, so any coincidence (like a chemist getting a chemistry category) is just a coincidence. Luck of the draw.

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4 hours ago, dcalley said:

Are you sure it's not Seinfeld, which @teebax was referencing?

Ahhhh. Thanks. See, I just can't remember stuff. 

 

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Also, if she'd started at the top of the Erin category, they wouldn't have whiffed the Erin Moran clue so badly. 

Yes. I was so confused about that clue. I rewound and then wrote it down so I could look it up, like maybe she was related to the actress who played Tabitha. 

Really, the only TS I got was Barbra. I thought Sabra for some reason, but didn't hold onto it for a guess. Same with The Scarlet Pimpernel.

For FJ I guessed the Virgin Islands.

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I laughed pretty hard when, because they didn't go in order, they got confused by the "non-nose-twitching" part of the Joanie clue (something they'd have probably quickly nailed otherwise, because, hello, daughter Joanie = Happy Days), because they hadn't already seen the Tabitha clue.  Take that, board jumpers!  (Even though I actually have no problem with board jumping as a strategy; it's just, as an anal-retentive viewer who likes symmetry and order, I laughed.)

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20 hours ago, Mystery Author said:

I swear on a stack of Stephen Kings I wasn't old enough to see OTT on Broadway. I've only seen the movie with Gene Kelly, who had the best butt, hands down (pun intended), in moviedom!

I knew there was more than one reason I thought Gene Kelley was better than Fred Astaire!

1 hour ago, Ailianna said:

What I can't believe is that someone guessed Little Big Horn.  It's famous as the battle the US military LOST, and the clue clearly referenced that the US military was winning.

I on the other hand don't understand how anyone can keep track of all the names in sports, which change constantly.

That wasn't a terrible summary.  One brother fought for each side in the war, and the brother on the losing side wasn't allowed to be buried.  Antigone is my favorite classical play, so this was a happy get for me, but I wasn't sure her name translated to "against birth,"

I got Antigone. I almost didn't, because I don't think of her as a character in mythology, but in a play. I'd long forgotten the specifics, even though I played her in college.

57 minutes ago, Conotocarious said:

Never saw a tiebreaker before.It happened so fast it was a bit jarring. 

The minute I saw the famous trios category I knew Julius Caesar would be an answer. 

I had a quibble - they shouldn't have accepted Caesar, as there were a number who held the name/title Caesar.

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3 hours ago, M. Darcy said:

A tie! 

They seek him here, they seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? That damned elusive Pimpernel. 

The Pimpernel was proving damned elusive to me until just before time was up because the blasted Pumpernickel kept getting in the way.  Possibly because I was eating a bagel.

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9 hours ago, illdoc said:

Well, I've heard of her, but I don't really think of her as a "mythological woman". She's the daughter of Oedipus.

She is also the sister of Oedipus, which adds an unusual element to the character. Further, her mother is also her grandmother, which makes her the granddaughter of Oedipus as well, by marriage.

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I would have been happy with any of the 3 winning (except maybe Scott), but am glad Laura pulled it off & in a tie-breaker no less. It was a really simple clue; I wonder if they are all like that in order to avoid a DS or TS & the need for more than 1 tie-breaker. Although the "101 Dalmatians for $2,000" & "name the American National Anthem from Christina Aguilera singing it" writers probably thought it was appropriately difficult.

TS I got were Scott's missed DDs of Nina & stomach, Barbra, mucous membrane, Scarlet Pimpernel. FJ was an instaget. I agree that Caesar needed a BMS. And the Joanie Cunningham clue is why we start at the top of categories, contestants. 

23 hours ago, Mystery Author said:

I've only seen the movie with Gene Kelly, who had the best butt, hands down (pun intended), in moviedom!

I watched his fine ass in "An American In Paris" on TCM this evening. It is especially impressive in the cream colored pants in the dance sequence at the end. One of the mini Toothbrushes was obsessed with "Singing in the Rain" when she was 6 or 7, and that endeared me to GK, who I've always liked, even more. 

5 hours ago, CarpeDiem54 said:

Yay, I'm glad Laura won the tie-breaker.  One of the reasons she's slow is she's polite and waits for Alex to finish making his asinine comments after every answer instead of steamrolling over him. 

You are so right about that. She literally pauses, and even gives him a smile. Her parents must be proud, but we all know it's OK to steamroll over Alex's inane comments. 

5 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I thought Sarah, the tiebreaker loser, looked like the librarian champ Laura beat. If someone posted their photos side by side, of course I would be wrong. But in my mind, it was her doppelganger. So Laura got to beat her twice.

Other than long dark hair I really don't see a resemblance. I loved Sarah's dimples. 

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6 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

I knew there was more than one reason I thought Gene Kelley was better than Fred Astaire!

I got Antigone. I almost didn't, because I don't think of her as a character in mythology, but in a play. I'd long forgotten the specifics, even though I played her in college.

I had a quibble - they shouldn't have accepted Caesar, as there were a number who held the name/title Caesar.

Absolutely correct. They are so inconsistent with that rule! 

I wish they had it be a harder clue with Pompey as the answer or something. But then again I’m on an Ancient Rome kick right now and I wouldn’t mind a whole category on it. 

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(Conotocarious, have you read Mike Duncan’s The Storm Before the Storm yet? It’s a really good history of the end of the Roman Republic. He is the podcaster of The History of Rome and Revolutions, both of which I love.)

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3 hours ago, tvaddict44 said:

I may be missing something here, but is there another reason for doing the tiebreaker question besides not wanting to pay the two winners the full money?  I used to enjoy the "2 returning champions" idea and it also seemed fairer.  Couldn't Jeopardy afford to put out the money for these people who pay their own way there and the way home, plus double taxes on their winnings?

If I remember correctly, they wanted to discourage contestants from trying for a tie, which supposedly would make wagering more competitive. I loved ties, especially the few times we had three-way ties. 

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1 hour ago, Sharpie66 said:

(Conotocarious, have you read Mike Duncan’s The Storm Before the Storm yet? It’s a really good history of the end of the Roman Republic. He is the podcaster of The History of Rome and Revolutions, both of which I love.)

No, I will check it out! I just finished Mary Beard’s SPQR. 

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10 hours ago, dcalley said:

I trust that the show is very much on the up-and-up and complies with the laws against game show rigging. I believe all the clues (including tiebreaker) are picked before the players are, so any coincidence (like a chemist getting a chemistry category) is just a coincidence. Luck of the draw.

And we often see someone who is a chemist/English teacher/of a certain nationality not get to the buzzer fast enough to answer a question that would have been an instaget for them.

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(edited)
9 hours ago, Conotocarious said:

Absolutely correct. They are so inconsistent with that rule! 

I wish they had it be a harder clue with Pompey as the answer or something. But then again I’m on an Ancient Rome kick right now and I wouldn’t mind a whole category on it. 

I'm more a pop culture person - I loved Rome, the series. I use its theme song as my ringtone.

Edited by Clanstarling
stupid use of apostrophe
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