Happy Anniversary?

Andy here with the recap of the September 28th game! I realized when looking at the site that the 28th is a six-month anniversary of something here at the blog!

Brendan DuBois and Stephanie Kelleher are your two challengers tonight for Erica Mines, a 1-day champion with $18,000 in winnings. She was quite impressive yesterday. Will she make it two wins?

J! round categories: NORTH DAKOTA, 2-WORD RESPONSES, RUSSIAN FIRST NAME'S THE SAME, BEAUTY & MAKEUP, "B"4, AFTRA

The first 15 clues seemed to be mostly Erica's; I really feel as if she has the buzzer timing down quite nicely! Brendan seemed to do well on the tougher clues, though, our scores at the first break were:

Stephanie $400
Brendan $2,200
Erica $3,200

I have a feeling that Alex went "off-the-card" on Stephanie's interview; he only mentioned in passing that Stephanie's getting married tomorrow, if only to focus on couch-surfing! In any case, congratulations to Stephanie!

It was Brendan who got to the Daily Double reasonably late in the J! round, at the bottom of NORTH DAKOTA. Scores:

Erica $5,800
Brendan $4,000
Stephanie $1,800

Brendan bet $1,500. His clue: This largest city of North Dakota was named for a pioneer in the shipment of goods by express. Brendan was able to reason it out and his score went to $5,500.

Stephanie got some mojo together in RUSSIAN FIRST NAME'S THE SAME, so at the end of 30 we had scores of:
Erica $5,800
Brendan $4,500
Stephanie $3,800

DJ! round categories: FILL IN THE BLANK CANVAS, BAND NAME ORIGINS, GARDENS, NONFICTION, BRITISH KINGS NAMED EDWARD, LAST "DANCE"

I'm not at all embarrased I got the $2,000 Lach Trash in BAND NAME ORIGINS: This "Like A G6 pop-rap outfit wanted its name to reflect the members' Asian backgrounds; but I am shocked I was able to run FILL IN THE BLANK CANVAS, including $2,000 more in Lach Trash here: Jacques-Louis David went stoic: "The Oath of the ____"

The first of the two Daily Doubles was found late by Brendan, at BRITISH KINGS NAMED EDWARD $1600. Scores:

Stephanie $11,400
Brendan $11,300
Erica $8,600

Brendan bet only $1,200 and saw the following: King Edward IV, a participant in the Wars of the Roses, was the son of Richard, duke of this side in the wars. I thought it was great to put the 50/50 as the Daily Double -- and Alex played it out for all he could. He said that Brendan had a choice of two, and picked the right one! Brendan's score went to $12,500.

Not sure why he went to finish the category (as opposed to trying to take out the final Daily Double), but that's where he went next. That said, he nearly got caught out by mis-phrasing a couple of times...

It was Erica who got to the game's final Daily Double on the penultimate clue (NONFICTION $1,600). The "minute to go signal had been given a few clues earlier, and your scores were:

Brendan $14,500
Stephanie $11,400
Erica $10,600

What do you do here if you're Erica? I personally like a bet of exactly $4,400 here. When you're in a situation such as this one, you should look for a bet that improves your situation on both a correct and incorrect answer. Obviously, the lead is yours if you're correct. If you're incorrect, a score of $6,200 gives you a wagering situation in Final where a tie is within the realm of possibilities!

However, Erica didn't think that way. She shook her head and bet just $600 (If I'm Brendan, this overjoys me. If I'm Gregg Easterbook, I'm writing "game over" in my notebook.)

Her clue: It's John Krakauer's epic personal account of disaster on Mount Everest in 1996. Unable to come up with anything, her score fell to $10,000 as the end-of-round signal sounded.

Scores going into FJ!:
Brendan $14,500
Stephanie $11,400
Erica $10,000

FJ! category: TOYS & GAMES

FJ! clue: When Milton Bradley released this home game in 1966, competitors accused it of selling "sex in a box"

Erica 10000 + 10000 = 20000
Stephanie 11400 + 5199 = 16599
Brendan 14500 + 8500 = 23000

Brendan's today's champion and will be back on Monday!

Stuck in Stratton's Dilemma, Stephanie decided to bet small. Unfortunately, it cost her $1,000 in this case.

This Final is a clue I would consider easy enough to put in Round 1 of one of my quizzes. In fact, I did use this exact fact in a question on the 12th of September! Needless to say, I got this Final right away. I also saw one or two people on Twitter bragging that they got this Final.

See you next week!

Vamos, Vamsi!

     I'm excited about this one: a Q & A with Vamsi Adusumilli! He played on the first and second days of this new season.

Q: You were introduced as being from Columbia, MO. Are you a Mizzou fan? Why did you move to Los Angeles? 
A: I am a Mizzou fan. I grew up in Columbia. But I left Missouri for college (Stanford), then wandered my way down to L.A. afterwards.  I love L.A. and don't see myself leaving anytime soon, but I had to give my hometown a shout-out!
Q: I am a Husker fan, but it's okay because Nebraska's no longer in the same conference as Mizzou! ;-) 
A: I've been to plenty of those Mizzou-Nebraska games, we were on the bad side of that rivalry for a very long time!
Q: You're a regular at O'Brien's pub quiz. How long have you been going? How did you find out about it? Were any of your pub friends in the audience that day?
A: I've been going to O'Brien's for almost two years.  I found out about it quite randomly. It's near one of my friend's houses, and we decided to drop by one day.  It was by far the toughest quiz I've ever been to, but the mix-it-up style of forming teams (instead of just showing up with 6 people with redundant knowledge) means you have a fighting chance every time.  I stuck it out and I'm glad I did.  I had 3 or 4 regulars from O'Brien's among my 15 guests at Jeopardy! (you're allowed 6, but Indians are really bad at keeping their populations low - I did have some help from J! legend Jerome Vered!)
Q: Can I ask who all  was in the audience from O'Brien's the day you taped? And you had 15 people there?! Wow! 
A: Let's see, my audience was Jerome Vered, Mark May, and Brian Fodera from O'Brien's, my sister, mom, niece, and aunt, another 8 friends that fit into the miscellaneous category of [close friends from LA or Stanford and some of their significant others].  Couple of people came down from SF, and my family was already here visiting, so it worked out quite well...
Q: Did you go to O'Brien's the week your episodes aired?
A: I did, to a hero's entrance :)
Q: I've been wondering: How does the winning team split up the prize ($75 bar credit) if the teams are different each week? Are you there every week? Do you ever host?
A: You just split it on the spot,  just take a chunk out of (or entirely cover) that night's tab, then the winning team makes sure they tip well.  I'm a regular there, pretty much every week unless I'm out of town.  I do host regularly. There's about 12-15 hosts on a 3 month cycle.  My next date is October 31, so between Halloween-related questions and election questions I should have some good material.
Q: What day did your episodes tape? Did you stay for the rest of the day's episodes?
A: I taped on July 24. I didn't stick around afterwards, though a few of my friends did.  Everyone on the show is ridiculously smart (or good at trivia, which I realize isn't exactly the same thing), so it's tough to win a single game, but we also all have our egos, and mine was bruised.  I had sat through the five games when I was a local alternate in February (end of last season), so I was Jeopardy'd out, for the moment at least.
Q: I was lost in Your Best Texas Hold 'Em Call. Do you play?
A: I wish I had gotten to the Texas Hold 'Em category sooner! I do play, or at least I used to, so that category was a cinch for me.
Q: Do you wish you'd gotten a Daily Double? Did you study wagering? How many times did you try out for the show?
A: I only tried out the one time, at my aunt's badgering.  I reviewed wagering techniques with Jerome, but never really had to use it much.  Really, I never (even in the first game) had my timing down, which was unfortunate.  I was constantly locking myself out by buzzing too quickly.  The main difference was that in the first game I managed to capitalize by getting the high value questions that neither other contestant did.
Q: I'd love to listen to Jerome talk about wagering! I got to meet him this year at the unofficial Jeopardy! reunion in Washington, D.C.

     I found out that you are part of the Learned League. How long have you been in it, and how did you get involved? 

A:  Jerome is super helpful, and quite a character!  He's the one who introduced me to Learned League, I started about a year ago (just finished my third season).  I've since brought a few of my friends into it, it is a lot of fun.

Q: I never would've gotten Final Jeopardy right on either of your episodes, actually.
A: In retrospect I think I could have gotten the Final Jeopardy question right on the second day, but I spent the first twenty seconds trying to come up with a funny answer that fit, then the last 10 seconds hastily scribbling something down.  About 10 seconds after that I realized I should have written: "Martin. Aston Martin."
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to say?
A: I wanted to shoot myself when I missed the math question.  I was a math minor!  My 9-year-old niece is still giving me grief for that one.  Just a massive brain fart.
All in all it was a great experience, really fortunate to have had it!  Everyone on the show was wonderful.

     Thank you, Vamsi!

The Bids Are All...Right?

     Yes, Andy did say yesterday he was here all week. That was the plan! But I was called off work this evening and offered to pick it up, and here I am.
     Two recent Coryats to report:
originally 1-5-09: 24000 (28200 without negs)
originally 1-6-09: 27400 (30400 without negs)
     Today's contestants:

David Schuman of Ardsley NY (Whoa whoa whoa, how tall is this guy?)

Erin Zwiener of Abiquiu NM

Sophie Hill of Coronado CA (She looks a little like Julianne Moore.)

     Mr. Trebek kicked off today's show by describing yesterday's as "so exciting." Would today's be just as much so?
     My pleasure from the unexpected chance to blog turned to pain as the clues rolled in. I negged on the first two and clammed on the third, all in It's All Greek Letters to Me. I wound up going up 0/5 in the category, but didn't neg again in it. Andy must've appreciated this one in that category: "This Greek letter seen here sure marks the spot for Scrabble players."

     I don't know about you but I don't know what this means.
     At the first break, Erin had gotten 6 right and 2 wrong, and had 800. Sophie had gotten 3 right and had 2600. David had gotten 4 right and had 2000. This illustrates so beautifully how critical is to avoid negging where possible. David and Sophie each had their first neg though, right after their interviews. How tough was that Composers' Country of Birth category? Four were triple-stumpers! I too was 1/5. Erin was 1000 in the hole at the end of it. She went to a 1000 clue next.
     I swept and Billboard's Top Money Makers of 2011 before the round was over, which means I got these two triple-stumpers in the latter: "No. 9 with $13 million, he made the country charts his 'kinda party.'" And "We like 'The Sweetest Taboo' too, but were still surprised to see this 1-named singer at no. 6."
     David found the Daily Double of the round in Tax-onomy. He had 3200, having gotten 3 right and 1 wrong since the break. Sophie had 2200. She'd gotten 2 right and 2 wrong. Erin's total was -1800. She'd gotten 3 wrong. David wagered 1300 on this clue: "If you've owned property for more than a year & sell it for a profit, you'll owe the long-term type of this tax." I said what David did, which was wrong. That was a correct response a few clues later though: "Death duty is another name for this type of tax."
     Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning after David's Daily Double, with 5 clues left. Sophie got three of those right, David got one of them, and the last one stayed hidden. Erin was in the hole 1800 then at the end of the round, while David had 2300 and Sophie had 4200.
     Sophie found the first Daily Double of the Jeopardy round, in Phoenix. She'd gotten 2 right and 2 wrong since the break, and had 5000. Erin had gotten 2 wrong and 1 right, and was in the hole 2600! She'd been as low as -4600. David had gotten 6 right, 4 in These Puns Are Offal, and 2 wrong. He had 6700. Sophie wagered 2500 on this clue: "A gallery in Phoenix' Heard Museum is named for this Supreme Court justice who worked in Phoenix in the 1970s." She and I got it right.
     I swept the easy Daytime Soaps for Short, including this triple-stumper at the last second: "In the 1960s Agnes Nixon was its head writer: GL." Erin got 3 right, and managed to get out of the hole at long-last!
     When there were 6 clues left, Mr. Trebek said after a correct response from David, "Not too many clues left up there, David," almost as a reminder that there was a Daily Double still there! David went for a 400 clue though. Like the last round, there were 5 clues left on the board when the less-than-a-minute warning was given. The next clue was the Daily Double, which Sophie found in The Admirals Club. She'd gotten 3 right since the last Daily Double and had 10300. Erin had gotten 4 right and had 3400. David had gotten 2 right and 1 wrong, and had 6700. What would you have wagered? If Sophie wagered 3100, she'd have more than twice what David does if right and still more than he did if wrong. She'd also have more than twice what Erin did. Sophie wagered 3000 on this clue: "This admiral was nicknamed the 'Hero of Manila.'" She did not have a response.
     There was one clue left on the board when the round ended. David had gotten one clue right and one wrong since Sophie's Daily Double, and had 6300. Sophie had gotten one right and had 8100. Erin still had 3400. Now how would you wager? I might've wagered 4501 if I were Sophie, and 2700 if I were David. I might've wagered just 200 if I were Erin.
     The Final Jeopardy category was The Bible, which reminded me of this fiasco a few months back. Would this one go any better? Not for me: "This term for a final resting place got its name because clay was dug up there for craftsmen." Upon revelation, pardon the offal pun, of the correct response, I didn't feel as bad - I'd never have gotten this. None of the contestants did either. Erin and David each lost 2000. Sophie lost 4000. I don't know why she chose that wager. Anyway David did the math quickly: You could see his hand turn palm up next to Sophie just after her wager was revealed. He is our new champ, then.
     My Coryat today was 21400; 26800 without negs.

Hungry Like The Wolf

...as in "I'm on the hunt, I'm after you". For The Daily Doubles, of course!

Andy back today with the start of the 2nd week of 46 of the 29th season of Jeopardy!

This week's contestants:

Sheri Boysen - Houston, TX
Katie Clair - Broad Brook, CT
Brendan DuBois - Exeter, NH
Sophie Hill - Coronado, CA
Stephanie Kelleher - North Hollywood, CA
Mike Malaier - Tacoma, WA
Erica Mines - Washington, DC
David Schuman - Ardsley, NY
Deb Teitelbaum - Sylva, NC
Matt Tobin - Glastonbury, CT
Erin Zwiener - Abiquiu, NM (our returning champion!)

I don't have OneNote to take screenshots on this computer here, so I got the pictures of this week's contestants from the Hometown Howdies part of the Jeopardy! site.

Today's challengers for Erin Zwiener (2-time champion with winnings of $32,199) are Deb Teitelbaum and Matt Tobin!

Apparently, in Alex's eyes, Deb looks like Jamie Lee Curtis and Matt looks like Ashton Kutcher! I guess there's a resemblance there...

J! round categories: COUNTRIES OF THE CARIBBEAN, SPIN-OFFS, RHYME HELL, NUTRITION FROM COOKING LIGHT, LARRY, MO- & CURLY, THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

RHYME HELL for $400 might strike a chord with a few people around here: Swiss archer who saved his son by slicing an apple. I think I'm glad that I'm the one blogging this game!

And, of course, the Daily Double is in the entirely video category. (THE METROPOLITAN OPERA $600 for those keeping score at home) It was Matt that selected it, with the scores as follows:

Erin $2,800
Matt $1,400
Deb $200

I expected Matt to make it a true Daily Double, and that he did. His clue: In 1955, the Met made history with the debuts of its first African-American singers; the first man was Bobby McFerrin's father Robert, and the first woman was this great contralto of the day

I'd heard her name before, but there was no way I could remember it. Matt did, though, and he tied the score with Erin!

At the end of 15, we had scores of:
Erin $2,200
Matt $2,000
Deb $200

Deb told a story about how once, as a high school English teacher, spellcheck mangled a student's essay about "The Catheter In The Rye"; one wonders if it led to the rye in the catheter, myself! (Sorry, here all week, folks. Literally!)

It sounds as if Erin's going to take some time off to become a writer; I'd certainly want to read her book!

I did pretty well for myself in the NUTRITION category; I guess that's a byproduct of being able to lose 75 pounds, being that I definitely followed tips like those (as well as many others) during the last few years!

A surprising Triple Stumper in SPIN-OFFS $600: "Torchwood" is an anagram & a spin-off of this BBC show

Meanwhile, it was Deb who was able to get much of the momentum in the second half of the round, leading to a very close game at the end of the opening round! Your scores:

Deb $4,400
Erin $3,800
Matt $3,600

DJ! round categories: THEY ALSO WROTE CHILDREN'S BOOKS, TECH STUFF, YOU NEED TO CLEAR THAT UP, MARSHALL LAW, IT'S A MYTH, KISS ME KATE WINSLET

It should come as no surprise that Erin went Daily Double hunting, and it should also come as no surprise that she hit! The 5th clue of the round was IT'S A MYTH $2000 and the betting clue was behind it! Scores were at:

Deb $5,600
Erin $4,200
Matt $3,200

Erin certainly shocked this blogger by making it a True Daily Double. Her clue: One of the epithets that followed her name was Epistrophia, "She who turns men to love". Erin backed up her confidence in the category by responding correctly and doubling her score!

The game's final Daily Double was found in MARSHALL LAW (a good category about cases decided by the John Marshall Supreme Court) at the $1600 level. Matt faced the clue on his own with scores as follows:

Erin $10,000
Matt $8,800
Deb $6,400

Matt bet only $2,000 and saw the following clue: In 1807 Marshall wrote the opinion for U.S. v. this politician, making standards of evidence for treason. While I hadn't heard of the case, I was able to figure out that I guess that shooting Alexander Hamilton in a duel might possibly be considered treasonous, so I went for the other party in that famous duel. Sadly, Matt's answer was incorrect and he fell to $6,800.

Erin was able to gain advantage for most of the rest of the Double Jeopardy! round, but she wasn't quite able to make it a runaway today!

Scores going into Final Jeopardy!

Erin $19,200
Matt $10,400
Deb $9,600

FJ! category: STATE CAPITALS

FJ! clue: Seen here is the seal of this New England city that got its current name in 1637

Deb 9600 + 9597 = 19,197
Matt 10400 + 10400 = 20,800
Erin 19200 + 2000 = 21,200

Erin got lucky, at the last minute she changed her answer from the capital of Maine to the correct one, but she's a 3-time champion now with winnings of $53,399.

I really want to see Erin get a 4th (or possibly more!) win tomorrow, to hopefully get her into the ToC! Even though it means that Beau is relegated out of the Tournament of Champions standings on my co-blogger...

I don't know if it's been all the trivia writing or the LearnedLeague questions, but I really feel as if stuff is starting to stick in my brain! My Coryat today was $35,800 with 42 right and 1 wrong. These are numbers I could only dream of when I started trying out for the show 7 years ago!

Tournament of Champions update:

1. Monica Thieu $100,000 (College Champion)
2. Patrick Quinn $100,000 (Teacher's Champion)
3. Jason Keller $213,900 (9 wins)
4. Joel Pool $116,800 (6 wins)
5. Dave Leach $98,054 (6 wins)
6. David Menchaca $115,503 (5 wins)
7. David Gard $84,700 (4 wins)
8. Dan McShane $62,001 (4 wins)
9. Patrick Morrison $80,701 (3 wins)
10. Francis Lansangan $78,401 (3 wins)
11. Matt Samberg $61,402 (3 wins)
12. Andy Baggarly $60,402 (3 wins)
13. Stephanie Fontaine $54,500 (3 wins)
14. Joey Falco $53,999 (3 wins)
15. Erin Zweiner $53,399 (3 wins)
---
16. Beau Henson $51,203 (3 wins)
17. Margaret Swanson $48,000 (3 wins)
18. Claudia Gray $45,202 (3 wins)
19. Dan Adkison $37,400 (3 wins)
20. Jacob Silverman $35,998 (3 wins)
21. Jessamine Price $26,803 (3 wins)

See you all tomorrow as Erin goes for win #4!

It Takes Two, Baby

     Two recent Coryats from GSN reruns:
originally 1-1-09: 20800 (22600 without negs)
originally 1-2-09: 24400 (27800 without negs)
     So my friend Robert tells me that reruns from March 2012 are airing, beginning this weekend. He's gonna keep me posted as to whether my own episode will rerun. Enough said, for now.
     Now for a Summer Hiatus Challenge update: Actually no one I'm following has made the SHC Tournament of Champions, but reader Neville Fogarty has, in the rookie slot. Neville's had a red-letter day - he constructed a crossword puzzle that appears in Friday's L.A. Times. Go Neville!
     After today's recap, a Q & A with Alison Parakh! Soon, a Q & A with Vamsi Adusumilli.
     Today's contestants:

Erin Zwiener of Abiquiu NM

Natalie Knowles of Raleigh NC

Peter Hansen of New York NY

     Now, Erin's been a member of the message boards since she was asking about what to wear at an audition. It doesn't seem like that long ago. It's so nice to see that she made it, she won, and she's making good choices of clothing. Actually all three contestants looked nice today.
     You know how Mr. Trebek said he thought Johnny mispronounced "Albuquerque" yesterday? Well I thought when I saw Erin's Hometown Howdy that "Abiquiu" was just some kind of nickname for "Albuquerque."
     Peter found the first Daily Double only 4 clues in. He, Erin, and Natalie had each gotten one clue right. Peter and Erin each had 200 and Natalie had 1000. Peter wagered 1000 on this clue in Official Languages: "In the republic of Cyprus: these 2 languages." Peter wasted no time answering correctly! I could tell I'd better hurry, and I got it wrong.
      I did get this triple-stumper in The Constitutional Convention: "Elbridge Gerry from this state refused to sign the Constitution because in it 'liberties...were not secured.'" I have to admit I wasn't sure and sighed with relief a little when Erin's and Natalie's guesses were wrong.
     Am I weird not to know who "The Father of the Constitution" was, or the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention (and at 200)? I put those on the first poll of the new season. By the way, I put a couple clues on there that I got right, too!
     I swept Singers "R" Us.
     Both Peter and Natalie needed prompting to finish responses today. Mr. Trebek said to Peter "...these 2 numbers..." when he just gave one response on this one in Now a Few Words: "According to Merriam-Webster, 'take' followed by either of these 2 numbers means to take a break." To be honest I'm still not sure what this title of this category was about. May kinda like "Potpourri"? This was the last clue before the break. Peter had gotten 7 right and 1 wrong since his Daily Double, and had 4400. Erin had gotten 2 right and 1 wrong and had 400. Natalie had gotten 1 right and 2 wrong and had 600.
     Peter drew a laugh when he said "animal husbandry" in response to this clue in Now a Few Words: "It means raising livestock or crops, though it sounds like the art of making your wife happy." You know, Peter probably should've been counted right because he said the correct response before Mr. Trebek said "no." But Erin picked it up. Maybe she was a little flustered then, but she started selecting the next clue with, "What is...". I'm not sure she even noticed. I'm glad I didn't do that. Then she didn't say the whole category, so I was a little flustered wondering what I was looking for in the clue. This was a trick I was going to use myself, actually, when I was on the show. I got it right today. ;-)
     I got this triple-stumper in, once again, Now a Few Words: "The use of these 2 letters joined together, as in alternate spellings of words like encyclopedia, is called an ash."
     Erin swept Whale Watching in Baja to close out the round, but no one clapped! Anyway she'd gotten 7 right since the break and had 5000. Peter had gotten 6 right and 1 wrong, and had 5600. Natalie had gotten 1 right and had 1600. So imagine if Peter had been counted right on the "husbandry" clue and Erin hadn't had a chance to pick it up.
     When Erin found the first Daily Double of Double Jeopardy in Prologues, she had 9000. She'd gotten 3 right and 1 wrong. Peter had 7200, having gotten 1 right ("The Fairly Oddparents"). Natalie had 2800 after getting 2 right. Erin wagered 3000 on this clue: "A prologue by this author says, 'I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe.'" I inserted a couple of extra letters in my response. :-( Erin got it right.
     I said what Peter did on this one in It's the Math or Science Law: "The second law of this 19th century botanist is the law of independent assortment." Silly Mr. Trebek teased Peter that he'd added extra letters, only to read this clue next in the same category: "Mendeleev's law is also called this law, a word found before 'table of elements.'"
     Natalie found the next Daily Double in State by Counties, after having been relatively quiet for a while. She had gotten 2 right since Erin's Daily Double, and had 6800. Peter had gotten 4 right and 2 wrong and had 9600. Erin had gotten 9 right but 3 wrong, and still had 19600. Natalie wagered 2000 on this clue, just after Mr. Trebek said there was a minute left to go in the round: "2 states, please: Franklin, Crockett, Knox." Like Peter before her, Natalie calmly gave one response, incorrect anyway, and looked at Mr. Trebek. He said, "I needed two states." She added another correct one but of course it wasn't enough.
     I loved how the contestants were racing to see the rest of the clues, but time ran out despite their efforts, with 3 clues left on the board. Erin had gotten 1 right since Natalie's Daily Double. Erin had 21200. Peter had gotten 4 right and had 13200. Natalie still had 4800.
     The Final Jeopardy category was The Oscars. This was the clue: "The only remake of a U.S. film to win Best Picture; the original was made in the 1920s, the Oscar-winning remake in the 1950s." When Mr. Trebek said the word "Biblical" before revealing contestant responses, I thought I might be right. I wasn't. I've gone 0/5 this week on Finals. All three contestants missed today's too. I'll be curious to see how this one polls. Natalie lost 4700. Peter said the same thing she did and lost 8001. Erin lost 5201, which is plenty to keep her around for Monday. My Coryat was 28000 (31000 without negs).
     Now, for Alison Parakh! Alison played on the last day of season 28 and the first day of season 29.

Q: What was the Stevie Wonder song that helped your finish your first marathon? Also, I was a little surprised that your first marathon was the New York City one!
A: The Stevie Wonder song was "I Wish." we lived in the Northeast at the time when the NYC marathon was still doing a lottery for some of the spots, and we entered on a whim.   Both my husband and I did the race - my first, his second marathon.
Q: A reader wants to know what things were like around the set on the first day of season 29. Also, he wants to know how Mr. Trebek was feeling after his heart attack?
A: Around the set - I didn't notice much different, just the usual good energy and excitement to be back.  Alex seemed to be in fine spirits.
Q: As for your second episode, do you remember why you chose to start with Giving a Pup Talk in Double Jeopardy?
A: I chose Pup Talk because I thought it might relate to dog breeds, much as I thought Net Flicks in my first show would be about basketball films.
Q: You appeared to say something when Mr. Trebek talked about your Final Jeopardy response. Do you remember what it was?
A: Can't recall what I said during FJ except I recall feeling that my mind blanked out - I knew Australia was wrong, but couldn't think of anything else.
Q: You said you read as much as you could in the weeks after your first win. What kinds of things did you read?
A: Reading-I try to read the newspaper daily, I also tried to look up some history websites, and believe it or not, did study an atlas, but in retrospect, would have been better off reading TV Guide (or watching more tv).
Q: Is there anything else you want to say?
A: All in all, it was a lot of fun (except for losing, of course), and I met some amazing folks during the 2 days I taped.

     Thank you, Alison!

Nice, Nice, Baby

Andy here today/tonight with the recap of the September 20 game! I apologize for these coming up the middle of the next afternoon; I appear to have issues working the post scheduler in Blogger and they always post at the wrong time! I'll figure this out eventually...

It feels good to have submitted answers for all 42 days in the Summer Hiatus Challenge; I finished buried in the pack somewhere, but I'm okay with that!

Our challengers today for 2-day champ Penny Citrola are Erin Zweiner and Jim Walke. Will I get to update the ToC standings after today's episode? We'll see in the next little while!

Alex seems disappointed at the back-to-back lock games Penny has had; if I'm a contestant, I want two locks, thank you very much!

J! round categories: THE WORLD ALMANAC NO. 1, BIBLICAL SPEAKERS BUREAU, BASEBALL STADIUMS, SEPTEMBER HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES, DUAL BIOGRAPHIES, and THAT'S IN CREDIBLE!

Penny went straight for BASEBALL STADIUMS to start with, but they went away from it after a Triple Stumper at $600 (From 1962 to 1965, 2 California MLB teams shared this facility). It was Erin (with the happy exclamation point after her name at the lectern) that had the lead after 15 clues. Your scores were:

Erin $4,200
Penny $1,200
Jim $600

Erin got to the Daily Double straight out of the commercial break, in the $600 slot in BIBLICAL SPEAKERS BUREAU. Her bet was $2,200, and her clue was as follows: "I am Esau thy first born". Her correct response brought her up to $6,400!

Penny, helped by the $1,000 clue in BASEBALL STADIUMS, did get some of the deficit back before the end of the opening round, but Erin still had a commanding lead after the opening round. If she keeps this up, she's going to have to start beating fanboys back with a stick! Scores at the end of 30:

Erin $9,800
Penny $4,200
Jim $2,000

DJ! round categories: ICE, ICE BABY; THE CRITICS SAY; WHAT THE "H"?; LET'S GET TOGETHER; HOW DOES SUNDAY MORNING SOUND?; WORKS FOR ME

Jim started his hunting expedition early, going straight to the $800 level in ICE. Apparently it's a video category; I really hope I don't have to transcribe any clues out of the category! That being said, Erin continued the hunt, and struck gold on her first crack at the board. The first Daily Double was under WHAT THE "H"? $1200. Scores:

Erin $10,600
Penny $4,200
Jim $2,000

Her bet: $3,000. Her clue: In OSHA. You could see the abject panic in her face when she realized it was an acronyms category and not a "words starting with H" category, but she pulled it together, gave a correct response, and brought her score to $13,600! That is one of the risks of hunting for a Daily Double, that you never really know what the category's going to contain until you see a clue or two in it!

Penny made a fatal mistake in switching out of HOW DOES SUNDAY MORNING SOUND? -- to the $400 clue in WHAT THE "H", to boot -- and once Erin got control back, she went where Penny probably should have gone to, and found the game's final Daily Double. Your scores:

Erin $17,200
Penny $5,400
Jim $2,800

Erin bet just $2,200 this time, with the clue: The Washington Ringing Society does its thing on the bells of this cathedral every Sunday. Sadly, Erin's response wasn't correct, so her score fell to $15,000. But Penny and Jim will have to catch up organically now!

Erin did a pretty good job of getting clues where she needed to, and playing some very sound strategy during the waning moments of the game; however, Penny kept control of the board, and nailed the $1600 clue in LET'S GET TOGETHER (Josh Kelley met this actress when she appeared in his video for "Only You"; she didn't wear "27 Dresses" at their wedding) to break the lock!

Scores going into FJ:

Erin $18,200
Penny $9,800
Jim $4,000

FJ! category: 8-LETTER WORDS

FJ! clue: This word that means "freedom from narrow restrictions" can also refer to one of a range of imaginary lines

I knew it as soon as Alex said to think geographically.

Jim 4000 - 3500 = 500
Penny 9800 - 9800 = 0
Erin 18200 - 2000 = 16200

I wonder if this makes Erin alphabetically last amongst all Jeopardy! champs in history...

Erin will come back tomorrow as the Jeopardy! champ; Jeanie will blog the week's final game. I'll be back next week! I'm looking forward to watching Erin's run, though -- I thought she carried herself very well and she looked like she was having a lot of fun up there!

My Coryat tonight: $26,800 (34 right, 2 wrong).

Penny's from Heaven

      First, recent Coryats:
originally 4-11-11: 21400 The first time I played, my score was 13600.
originally 12-25-08: 24600 (29200 without negs)
originally 12-26-08: 17800 (just 18800 without negs)
originally 12-29-08: 20000 (26800 without negs :-( )
originally 12-30-08: 33800! 35600 without negs.
originally 12-31-08: 17800 (20400 without negs)
     In case you were wondering, tomorrow's the last day to turn in responses for the Summer Hiatus Challenge. Here's a reminder of the rules. I'll post the final overall standings among people I'm watching, as soon as they're in. No one I'm following has made it into the SHC Tournament of Champions - yet.
     And now it's my pleasure to bring you my first recap of the new season.

                     

    Penny Citrola of East Meadow NY. My closed-captioning described her as an "English language Tudor."

Veronica Mance of Chevy Chase MD. This woman blinked so long I had to rewind 3, maybe 4 times to get her picture.

Dan Elg of Wheaton IL. This guy reminds me of Peter Gallagher.

     Penny was a one-time champion at the beginning of this episode. The show had something of a rocky start with this second clue in Talk Show-pourri: "Are you there, America? It's this female comedian & bestselling author with a late-night talk show on E!" Penny said Margaret Cho, Veronica said Joan Rivers (I did too), and Dan said Ellen DeGeneres. They were all negged, but at the first break Mr. Trebek accepted Joan Rivers and also gave Dan 400 back as if he'd never rung in. Then on this next clue, a triple-stumper, I said "Oprah": "On her talk show, this comedienne just might fulfill your dreams with her 'Swaggin' Wagon.'"
     At the first break, after the changes were made that I talk about in the previous paragraph, Penny and Dan had each gotten 5 right, and Penny had one neg. Veronica had gotten one right. Penny had 1400, Veronica had 400, and Dan had 3800. These were still the scores when Dan found the Daily Double of the round, in Singapore. The first clue after the break was a triple-stumper that got me too, about "Twilight." Dan wagered 1500 on this clue: "Named for the woman in whose garden it was discovered, the Vanda Miss Joachim, the first hybrid of this plant grown in Singapore, is the country's national flower."

     I would not have gotten this clue right had it not been for the picture. Dan missed it.
     I got this next clue, a triple-stumper in His 'Do: "Hair-wise, Steven Seagal is famous for this, which has its own Facebook page."
     Mr. Trebek gave the less-than-a-minute warning with 4 clues left, and we saw them all. Penny had gotten 7 right since the break and had 5000. Dan had gotten one right and one wrong and had 1500. Veronica had got 2 right and one wrong and had 1200.
     I got this first clue of Double Jeopardy right, a triple-stumper in "&" Magazines: "Harvard & Stanford tied for first in this magazine's ranking of best business schools for 2013."
     Then the round got a little sticky for me. I swept True Daily Doubles if you'll accept "Oliver North" for this clue: "November 3, 1986: Micronesia gets its independence from the U.S. & a magazine breaks the news of this scandal." For me to sweep I'd also need you to accept "Tet Offensive" for this clue: "March 29, 1971: A jury recommends death for Charles Manson & Lt. William Calley is convicted for his role in this event." I don't know; that might be stretchin' it.
     I managed to get 4/5 right in Indiana Jones even though I've never seen the movie. So that includes this triple-stumper: "In 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,' Indy finds that this country's Nazca lines offer answers to his quest."
     Dan found the first Daily Double of the round in Physicists. He had 5500, Veronica had 3200, and Penny had 11000. Dan had gotten 5 right since the break. Veronica had gotten 2 right, and she and Dan each negged once. Penny had gotten 5 right. Dan wagered 3500 on this clue: "In 1797 Henry Cavendish began a measurement of gravitation popularly known as an effort to weigh this." Dan and I got it wrong.
     Mr. Trebek gave the one-minute warning then with a whopping 14 clues left on the board. In other words, Veronica and Dan had better get a move on! I was happy to see Dan dive for the higher-value clues with time running short.
     This clue was just weird to me, as I had the right response in my head but ruled it out because I didn't think it fit! In An Antonym of...: "Insincere or evasive in speech, 5 letters; it's also a male first name." This was a triple-stumper, which wasted more time for Veronica and Dan. Veronica did get the next clue right, and it was the last one of the round. Like me, Veronica ended the Double Jeopardy round with 4400. Penny had 11000 and Dan had 3600.
     The Final Jeopardy category was Presidential Children, and this was the clue: "1 of his 5 sons was born in New Brunswick, Canada." I was sure - sure - I had this right before Mr. Trebek was done reading the clue. But no. Dan got it right and added 3597. Veronica missed it and lost 4300. Penny missed it too and lost 2000, but of course we'll see her tomorrow. How long will she last, do you suppose?
     My Coryat today was 20200, which I don't think is that bad considering 9 clues were left covered! For fun I adjusted my score as if all 30 clues were seen and I'd performed the same way, and my Coryat would've been 23800 when rounding to the nearest hundred dollars. I'd have gotten 39 instead of 33 right, rounding to the nearest whole number.

2 Down, 228 To Go

It's Andy back once again with Day 2 of the 29th season of Jeopardy! Vamsi's back to defend his title: Today's challengers are Penny Citrola and Paul Camp.



As with Alex, I also thought Vamsi looked quite fashionable in a bowtie today!

J! round categories: WHEELS OF FORTUNE; LAW & ORDER; FACE, THE NATION; STAR SEARCH; "EXTRA"; LONG-RUNNING TV

For the second straight day, we got to the Daily Double very early on in the opening round; today saw Clue #4 have the betting behind it! Paul got to it under LAW & ORDER $600 with the scores as follows:

Paul $600
Penny $200
Vamsi $0

His bet was only $600 and the clue: Punishable by fine or imprisonment of one year or less, they're 5 times more common than felonies in many states. His correct response brought Paul's score to $1,200.

Some amusement under the $600 and $800 clues in WHEELS OF FORTUNE. Vamsi's neg on the $600 clue (It's a very right and proper $300,000 for a 2012 ghost from this British carmaker) -- in accent to boot -- ended up being the correct answer to the $800 clue (James Bond would enjoy a one-77 from this 2-named company; it's yours for $1.9 million, but only 77 were made) To add insult to injury, Paul ended up with $1,400 to Vamsi's $-600 over the two clues!

Scores at the end of the first segment:

Paul $4,800
Vamsi $1,600
Penny $200

Amazingly, while she was introduced as being from New York State, Penny is actually currently in Astana, Kazakhstan!

Paul kept his buzzer mojo going for most of the round, though Vamsi was able to claw back a little bit! I enjoyed the LONG-RUNNING TV category, if only because I've probably asked about each of the shows a few times at my own entertainment trivia! At the end of 30, your scores had:

Paul $7,000
Vamsi $3,600
Penny $1,000

DJ! round categories: LITERARY WHITE PAPER, WORD & PHRASE ORIGINS, DUTCH COURAGE, MUSIC TERMS, AN A-PAUL-ING CATEGORY, MOVIE TAGLINES

Vamsi and Penny did pretty well for themselves in MOVIE TAGLINES and AN A-PAUL-ING category (ironically enough), but it was Paul who got to the Daily Double at the bottom of DUTCH COURAGE. Scores:

Paul $10,200
Penny $7,000
Vamsi $5,600

Paul bet $1,800. The clue: After tackling a bomb-wielding man on an airliner, Jasper Schuringa was nicknamed this, like a spectral ship. After much thought, Paul was unable to come up with the correct response, bringing his core back to $8,400.

Penny got on a huge roll in WORD AND PHRASE ORIGINS and took the lead shortly before finding the game's final Daily Double in the $1,600 slot there. Scores:

Penny $11,000
Paul $8,400
Vamsi $4,800

For the first time this season, we have a bet of more than the clue value! Penny bet $2,000. Her clue: This 4-word phrase meaning natural selection was coined by philosopher Herbert Spencer, not Darwin. Penny's correct response put her at $13,000. Fitting that the above clue showed up a day after the birthday of Wendy Northcutt (of Darwin Awards fame!)

After that, Penny just kept on motoring, with some excellent gets in the last category as well. Vamsi's correct response on the final clue sealed the fate of Paul on this day; your scores going into Final:

Penny $17,400
Paul $8,400
Vamsi $7,600

FJ! category: HISTORIC FIRSTS

FJ! clue: On July 31, 1971, Air Force Colonel David Scott became the first person to drive one of these

Vamsi 7600 - 2400 = 5200
Paul 8400 - 6800 = 1600
Penny 17400 + 400 = 17800

Can I get a judge's ruling on "moon buggy"? I put that down as a bit of a wild guess, but I think it might be right!

I just motored through this game, with a Coryat of $35,600 and 44 correct (3 negs). For some reason, I did really well in the Literature and Film categories, running them both, two subjects where if you saw my LearnedLeague scores, you'd wonder about that sort of thing!

Penny's back tomorrow! And Jeanie'll have her first blog entry of Season 29 tomorrow night!

Opening Day!

Andy here to open up the 29th season of Jeopardy! here at The Jeopardy! Fan! Opening Day is always fun, as we get back into our routine of watching the show every day! It's nice to have this back!

Before we get going, a few words from myself; I'll admit it's been a chore at times to get my Summer Hiatus Challenge answers in on time, but I'm pretty sure I've answered all of the questions thus far, and with only 2 days left to go there, I feel as if the finish line's in sight! It feels like a struggle because I know I don't have a chance of actually winning but it does feel like it's an accomplishment to make it to the finish!

LearnedLeague is going pretty well, though I'm going to need to bring my A game the next few days to ensure I finish strong! If all goes well this week there, I'll end up in a "C" Rundle next season -- a placement I think I'd be quite competitive in, judging by the number of correct answers people in the other Rundles are giving. I'm also looking forward to a few of the offseason MiniLeagues!

This week on the show, we've got the following players:

Vamsi Adusumilli
Paul Camp
Penny Citrola
Dan Elg
Peter Hansen
Natalie Knowles
Veronica Mance
Alison Parakh
Diane Samuelson
Jim Walke
Erin Zwiener

The 3 that will start off the season for us? Vamsi Adusumilli and Diane Samuelson challenging returning champion Alison Parakh!





Alex started off by mentioning the show's Peabody Award, its 30th Emmy, and by thanking everybody that sent well-wishes after his "little heart thing".

J! round categories: GREAT & OTHER LAKES, OSCAR WINNERS ON TV, MY SO. CAL. LIFE, "A" IN LITERATURE, LATIN PHRASES, YOUR BEST TEXAS HOLD 'EM CALL

After a couple of difficult OSCAR WINNERS ON TV questions, Alison found the season's first Daily Double on the game's third clue, in the $600 slot. Scores:

Vamsi $0
Diane $0
Alison $-200

She bet $1,000. Her clue: This Oscar-winning daughter of an Oscar-winning Director plays producer Eileen Rand on Smash. Unfortunately, Alison had difficulties on this one as well, and was unable to come up with a response, falling to $-1,200.

I'm quite glad that my favorite baseball broadcaster got another Jeopardy! clue (I checked the Archive, there was one about him in 1999), under MY SO. CAL. LIFE $400: In summer I listen to this great broadcaster, now in his 63rd year calling Dodger games. That man could read the telephone directory and make it interesting!

At the first break we had scores of:
Alison $1,200
Vamsi $1,200
Diane $-200

Vamsi tweets, by the way, you can find him @vamsi -- I'm pretty sure that my co-blogger here is still hoping for a follow back!

I think Alex's comments at the beginning of the show might have slowed things down a bit as we left 3 clues on the board, even as all 3 players hurried to try to get through 30! I liked the BEST TEXAS HOLD 'EM... category as I've been playing a good deal of poker as of late!

Scores after the J! round:
Diane $3,400
Vamsi $2,800
Alison $2,000

DJ! round categories: 1990s NO. 1 ALBUMS, NAME THAT WAR, WE MAKE FURNITURE, GIVING A PUP TALK, MATH WORDS, "SEP"-TEMBER

It was Diane that got to the first Daily Double in this round, early on as well! This one was under GIVING A PUP TALK $1200. Scores:

Diane $4,600
Vamsi $2,800
Alison $2,000

Her bet was a fearful $600. Her clue: This Shakespeare play includes the line "Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war". I bet she was regretting her wager when she came up with the right answer, only moving her score to $5,200!

I really liked how Vamsi tried to keep the game moving!

Those who have known me since high school will know that I appreciate the wording of the $1200 clue in MATH WORDS: Don't be dense; tell us this word for an angle of more than 90 but fewer than 180 degrees. I'm still bitter about angles and "Reach For The Top". (Don't ask.)

Vamsi got his mojo going early on the round, but it was Diane that got to the game's final Daily Double, under "SEP"-TEMBER $1600. Scores:

Diane $8,000
Vamsi $7,600
Alison $2,800

Once again, Diane went fearful, betting only $1,000. Clue: The part of a cross-shaped church that intersects the main aisle at right angles. Even though I had trouble hearing the final letter of Diane's response, she got it right, and her score moved to $9,000.

Alison did quite well for herself, getting 4 of the 5 in 1990s #1 ALBUMS to bring her back in the game before the Final. It wasn't quite enough, though! Scores going into FJ!:

Diane $11,400
Vamsi $8,800
Alison $6,000

FJ! category: ISLANDS

FJ! clue: Of the world's 5 largest islands by area, the 2 with territory of more than 1 country are Borneo & this one

Alison 6000 - 5500 = 500
Vamsi 8800 + 4000 = 12800
Diane 11400 - 7000 = 4400

I can't say that I would have wagered the same way from any of the three positions tonight. I think if I was Alison, I'd be betting $0, Vamsi - $3,201, and Diane $6,201.

I played Marktiple Choice between Vamsi's and Diane's answers and realized that I had seen that question somewhere before tonight's Final. I can't place it, but I fortunately went with the correct answer. My own Coryat: $26,000 (34 right, 2 wrong)

We'll be seeing Vamsi again tomorrow; judging by some of the tweets I saw tonight, I think he's trying to parlay his winning on the show into a date or two; you might want to try tweeting him if you want, ladies!

See you again tomorrow!