Friday, October 21, 2005 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Robert K S]

Game Recap for Show #4855, 2005-10-21

CONTESTANTS
Amanda Traphagan, a law student from Austin, Texas
Paulette Beete, a writer from Tacoma Park, Maryland
Steve O'Connor, a communications consultant from Naperville, Illinois (whose 2-day cash winnings total $33,401)

OPENING REMARKS
Alex: Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. Looks like Amanda's ready to hook horns with Steve. What about you, Paulette? Are you ready for this?

Paulette: I'm ready.

Alex: All right, let's put all three of you to work in the Jeopardy! Round, shall we? Hope you like the categories. Here they are...

JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
NAME THAT AUTOCRAT (3/5)
BEATLYRICS (2/5)
PRESIDENTIAL DAUGHTERS (3/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
MULTIPLE CHOICE (4/5)
BRING YOUR "A" GAME (4/5)
THE BOYS IN BLUE (4/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Amanda: 9 R (including 1 rebound), 3 W (including 1 DD)
Paulette: 6 R, 1 W
Steve: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W

Clues revealed: 30
Triple Stumpers: 9
Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $7,400

Amanda came out strong this round, but faultered on a Daily Double; Paulette and Steve were not far behind. It was a competitive game!

SCORES AT THE FIRST BREAK
Amanda: $2,200
Paulette: $400
Steve: $0

CONTESTANT INTERVIEWS

TWISTER SISTER

Alex: A law student and karaoke stylist who can't sing a note. Amanda Traphagan from Austin, Texas. You have a twin sister.

Amanda: Yes, that's true.

Alex: You guys didn't go to the same school.

Amanda: No. She went to Texas A&M, which is our biggest rival.

Alex: I know that. How did that happen?

Amanda: Well, she's a meteorologist, and that was the only school in Texas that had the major, because clearly, otherwise, she would have gone to UT.

Alex: And what's your major?

Amanda: Journalism and government.

Alex: Good for you. Nice to have you here.


BUT SINCE WHEN IS WILLIAMS A LYRICIST?

Alex: Paulette Beete from Takoma Park, Maryland. A woman who has her own theme song.

Paulette: I do. A few years ago, after a lifetime of not even knowing how to sew on a button, I learned to sew pillows and curtains and cook great meals. So I decided I was a single housewife, and I needed my own theme song, you know, in case I got my own show someday.

Alex: And who created your theme?

Paulette: Oh, I wrote it myself. I'm still working on the lyrics. Have a few calls in to John Williams, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

Alex: Okay. You have a good sense of humor. I love that.


NEXT ON FOX: WHEN SNACKS ATTACK!

Alex: Steve O'Connor is our champion. Steve was going to pick up some fast food, was in the lane in his car and what happened?

Steve: I accidentally wound up rear-ending a Chicago Police cruiser.

Alex: Well, I'm sure it was accidental--

Steve: It was accidental.

Alex: --'cause I don't think you would do something like that deliberately.

Steve: I sure didn't, no.

Alex: Serious damage? Not much damage?

Steve: Not much damage, but I had an officer step out with an ice cream cone stuck right to her bulletproof vest, and she wasn't too happy about it, as you may imagine.

Alex: You're lucky it was a woman! One of the guys would have come out with the ice cream cone and a baton, I'm telling you.

Steve: Coulda been.

JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Amanda found the Daily Double on the 27th clue. Steve had $2,000, Paulette had $1,800, and Amanda was at $1,800. Amanda wagered $1,000.

PRESIDENTIAL DAUGHTERS $400: They were kids when she met her future husband at Ike's inauguration
(Amanda: Who are the Kennedys?)

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
BRING YOUR "A" GAME $800: This mid-Atlantic island group was uninhabited when discovered by Diego de Senil of Portugal around 1427
(Steve: What are the Antilles?)

BEATLYRICS $400: "I saw a film today, oh boy,
The English Army had just won the war"

BEATLYRICS $800: "Let me tell you how it will be,
There's one for you, 19 for me,
'Cos I'm" this guy,
"Yeah I'm" this guy

BEATLYRICS $1000: "Expert texpert choking smokers
Don't you think the joker laughs at you?"
(Amanda: What is "Come Together"?)
...
(Alex:[*] ...well, I used to be.)

NAME THAT AUTOCRAT $600: Norway
1942-1945
(Alex: That was the great traitor,[*].)

NAME THAT AUTOCRAT $800: Nicaragua
1967-1972 & 1974-1979

MULTIPLE CHOICE $1000: Of Leonardo, Michelangelo or Tintoretto, the artist who was not in Florence in 1504

THE BOYS IN BLUE $1000: The bulletproof shields used by police depts. are called this type of shield, from the Greek for "to throw"

PRESIDENTIAL DAUGHTERS $1000: Known as "Princess Alice", she married a congressman who became Speaker of the House in the 1920s
(Alex: And that would be Teddy Roosevelt's daughter,[*].)

SCORES AT THE END OF THE JEOPARDY! ROUND
Paulette: $2,400
Steve: $2,000
Amanda: $1,600

[Robert K S]

DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND CATEGORIES
HISTORIC AMERICAN DOCUMENTS (4/5, including 1 missed Daily Double)
SPORTS U.S.A. (3/4)
DISEASES (5/5, including 1 correct Daily Double)
OTHER STARS & STRIPES (4/5)
"POO" POURRI (4/5)
THE BOYS ARE BLUE (2/5)

THE RIGHTS & THE WRONGS
Amanda: 10 R (including 1 DD), 3 W
Steve: 7 R (including 1 rebound), 1 W (including 1 DD)
Paulette: 5 R (including 1 rebound), 0 W

Clues revealed: 29
Triple Stumpers: 6
Double Jeopardy! Round Potential Lach Trash: $8,400

Amanda continue going strong this round, working her way back up from a few wrongs that put her behind to use a Daily Double to vault her into the lead. Steve, on the other hand, was reset back to zero by an unfortunatel TDD. All while Paulette slowly and steadily accumulated points to end in second place.

FIRST DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
Steve snagged the next Daily Double on the 9th clue. Steve had $3,200, Paulette had $6,400, and Amanda was at $2,800. Steve made it a True Daily Double, wagering $3,200.

HISTORIC AMERICAN DOCUMENTS $1200: 1918:
"No. 2: Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters"
(Steve: What is the... Oh, I...)
(Alex: Say something. No?)
(Steve: No.)

SECOND DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND DAILY DOUBLE
It was Amanda who snatched up the last Daily Double of the game on the 23rd clue. Steve had $4,000, Paulette had $7,200, and Amanda was at $5,600. Amanda wagered $1,700.

DISEASES $1200: The first outbreak of this serious form of pneumonia occurred in Southeastern China in November 2002

TRIPLE STUMPERS IN THE DOUBLE JEOPARDY! ROUND
"POO" POURRI $1200: Unjust or dishonest conduct, it sounds like a contaminated backyard swimming hole

THE BOYS ARE BLUE $800: About his blues he wrote, "I traveled to the moon, but the most significant voyage... began when I returned"
(Amanda: Who is Neil Armstrong?)
...
(Alex: It was his buddy,[*].)

THE BOYS ARE BLUE $1200: This "Adonais" poet suffered from depression after several family tragedies
(Alex: And that poet was[*]. Paulette--you knew that, Steve?)
(Steve: I knew that.)
(Alex: Yeah, too bad you didn't ring in.)

OTHER STARS & STRIPES $2000: The tricolor was adopted when it was part of Gran Colombia; the stars are its seven original provinces

THE BOYS ARE BLUE $2000: He wrote a 1779 coronation mass though depressed over his mother's deaht, his failed relationship & unfulfilled goals

SPORTS U.S.A. $1200: (Jon of the Clue Crew sports Boston ball club paraphernalia.) I'm a proud citizen of this, a phrase popularized and used in a book subtitle by sportswriter Dan Shaughnessy

SCORES ENTERING FINAL JEOPARDY!
Amanda: $9,300
Paulette: $8,800
Steve: $6,400

FINAL JEOPARDY! CATEGORY
19th CENTURY LITERARY CHARACTERS

VENUSIAN MONOLOGUES/MARTIAN CHRONICLES
Four-fifths for first place.
Amanda: Wager $8,301 to cover Paulette.
Paulette: You need to wager $4,001 to cover Steve's doubled score, but no more than $7,800 if you want to top Amanda on a Triple Stumper.
Steve: Consider risking between $2,401 and $5,399. This will top a $0 wager by Paulette while still beating Amanda on the Triple Stumper (should Amanda wager to cover Paulette's doubled score).

PREFINAL REMARKS
(Before the Final Jeopardy! clue is given, Sarah Whitcomb, Cheryl Farrell, and Kelly Miyahara of the Clue Crew present a Footnote/public service message for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.)
Sarah: For more than 20 years, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month has been educating women about breast cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment.

Kelly: In the U.S., One in seven women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, but early detection saves lives.

[url="http://www.j-archive.com/media/2005-10-21_Footnote3.jpg"]Cheryl: There are more than two million breast cancer survivors in the United States, thanks in large part to annual mammography screenings for women over 40.

All: So get screened today.

FINAL JEOPARDY! CLUE
Hanged in an 1837 novel, he so angered some Londoners that his creator toned him down in future additions

FINAL SCORES
Steve: $6,400 - $6,400 = $0 (Who is Darnay?) (3rd place: $1,000)
Paulette: $8,800 - $5,000 = $3,800 (Who is Captain Kidd) (2nd place: $2,000)
Amanda: $9,300 - $4,000 = $5,300 (Who is Tom Jones) (New champion: $5,300)
(Alex: The novel was by Charles Dickens.)
...
(Alex: [To Steve] Charles Darnay is incorrect. It will cost you $6400.)
...
(Alex: Oliver Twist.[*].)

Total Potential Lach Trash: $15,800

THE BETTOR'S COURT
Amanda: Your cautious wager won you the game--lucky you, your risk (or lack thereof) paid off!
Steve: The recommended wager range would not have won you the game, due to Amanda's venusianity. So don't kick yourself for not wagering $0. On the other hand, your actual martian wager was outside of the recommended range as well.

GAME DYNAMICS


CORYAT SCORES
Amanda: $9,800, 19 R (including 1 DD), 6 W (including 1 DD)
Steve: $9,600, 12 R, 2 W (including 1 DD)
Paulette: $8,800, 11 R, 1 W
Combined Coryat: $28,200

BATTING AVERAGES
Amanda: 19/60 = .317
Steve: 12/59 = .203
Paulette: 11/58 = .190
Team: 42/63 = .667

MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTING CLUES
BRING YOUR "A" GAME $400: The city of Hopewell in estern Virginia is bounded by the James & this "Court House" river
(Paulette: What is the Aleghanny?)

NAME THAT AUTOCRAT $1000: The Soviet Union
1964-1982
(Paulette: Who is Khrushchev?)
...
(Alex:[*], who came after Khrushchev.)

OTHER STARS & STRIPES $400: The stripes are for the 11 signers of its declaration of independence; the star means it's a Western-style African state

OTHER STARS & STRIPES $800: The stripes are the Union Jack; the stars form the Southern Cross
(Amanda: What is Australia?)
...
(Alex: Yes, Austrailia has two additional stars.)

THE BOYS ARE BLUE $1600: This artist's 1909 U. of Oslo murals were done after receiving electroshock & contain no scenes of personal anguish
(Amanda: Uh... who is Goya?)
...
(Alex: Yes, indeed. He painted The Scream. Goya, of course, was Spanish.)

OTHER STARS & STRIPES $1200: The red stripes and star still symbolize its commitment to communism; the blue is peace; the white is purity

OTHER STARS & STRIPES $1600: The star is a guide; the blue is sky; the red is the blood of patriots; the white is the Andean snow

DISEASES $800: (Cheryl of the Clue Crew holds up a small needle.) By dispensing just enough vaccine, the bifurcated needle is the only medical instrument to eradicate a disease, this one, eliminated in 1979

CORRECT RESPONSES
Julie Nixon (Eisenhower)
the Azores
"A Day In The Life"
"the Taxman"
"I Am The Walrus"
Vidkun Quisling
Somoza
Tintoretto
ballistic
Alice Roosevelt
Wilson's 14 Points
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)
dirty pool
Buzz Aldrin
Percy Shelley
Venezuela
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
the Red Sox Nation
Fagan
the Appomattox
Brezhnev
Liberia
New Zealand
(Edvard) Munch
North Korea
Chile
smallpox

[heelsrule1988]

Nice effort, Steve. You definitely earn cool points from me for that true Daily Double try. I went nuts when you said you were going for it! I love to see risks like that. Congrats on a solid run.

After slowly going downward every day this week, I exploded in the Double Jeopardy round tonight. That allowed me to pass the colossal $10K mark and finish with $10,200. I just wish that $2,000 clue in Sports U.S.A. had been revealed.

[Budphrey]

Echo the sentiment regarding the true Daily Double. Steve, I hope you never have to survive playing poker, because the gleam in your eye got blinding the moment Alex pointed out your total was exactly half of Paulette's -- it just had to have been too much to pass up. And I was glad to see that you still came back to within solid striking distance, which is about as good a position as any, given how tough the FJs have been this week.

Excellent match, all of you, and congrats to Amanda for pulling ahead at the end.

Steve, you must be Buda, because we found you midway between Kyle and Austin. Let's see, what other Illinois-Texas matchups are going on about now ...?

[mbclev]

Originally Posted by heelsrule1988

Nice effort, Steve. You definitely earn cool points from me for that true Daily Double try. (

Unfortunately, it's not so nice that when you add the turnaround from that wager, he would have had $6400 and thus won the game.

[SteveO]

Thanks to Heels and Bud for the kind words. Yeah, I had to go for it on the DD as I was pretty far behind, and I felt very confident in "Historic American Documents". I suppose the game could have turned out very differently had I known the correct response to this one clue...but I guess that's why they call it Jeopardy!.

Congratulations to Amanda! She was soooo quick on the buzzer - she had me locked out all through the Jeopardy! round.

[OntarioQuizzer]

Steve:

Don't dwell on the TDD. MB likes to make a point out of these things, even when it comes at a point where it's the most strategically sound thing for a player to do -- like it was in your case.

I definitely enjoyed the way you played the frontgame over your 3-day run, and while your wagering left a little to be desired at times, that's the case with a lot of players -- and you definitely have my admiration and respect as someone that not only could make it onto the show, but also win a couple of games and thousands of dollars while you were at it.

Congratulations!

[SteveO]

Thanks, Andy.
I don't regret the TDD at all - I still think it was the right move, I was just unlucky to get a clue I couldn't answer.

[mojoquix]

i was so surprised to win in that game. both steve and paulette were very intimidating players -- especially steve, since i'd just watched him lay the smack down for two games. we were evenly matched, though, which made the game very exciting. i was glad it was like that since that's the kind of jeopardy! i really love to watch.

-amanda

[Stijl Council]

Originally Posted by Budphrey

Echo the sentiment regarding the true Daily Double. Steve, I hope you never have to survive playing poker, because the gleam in your eye got blinding the moment Alex pointed out your total was exactly half of Paulette's -- it just had to have been too much to pass up. And I was glad to see that you still came back to within solid striking distance, which is about as good a position as any, given how tough the FJs have been this week.

This is why God invented online poker

I know I would always feel better knowing that I'd maximized my chances of getting first place with an aggressive move, even if it didn't pan out. Seems from your comments, Steve, that you feel about the same about the TDD wager not panning, and that's great. I think you should be proud of and pleased with your excellent play this week. You were a lot of fun to watch.

And best of retroactive luck to you next week, Amanda!!!

[slam]

Can someone explain Amanda's wager to me? Betting for the TS?

>>> Added in later: OK, I see some of her logic. She's betting (with a little to spare) for Paulette to bet to cover Steve minimally. Sort of a topsy-turvy variant of Shore's conjecture. If Paulette bets that way, Amanda wins with a get on FJ or on the TS (which happened). Interestingly, Paulette chose this moment to bet more than the minimum cover of Steve, so the strategy almost didn't work.

They had one of my favorite categories today, Beatlyrics. On my Coryat scoresheet, I wrote down $3000 before a clue was revealed (and was fortunately proven right).

Steve: I admire the TDD. That seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

[mojoquix]

Originally Posted by slam

Can someone explain Amanda's wager to me? Betting for the TS?

>>> Added in later: OK, I see some of her logic. She's betting (with a little to spare) for Paulette to bet to cover Steve minimally. Sort of a topsy-turvy variant of Shore's conjecture. If Paulette bets that way, Amanda wins with a get on FJ or on the TS (which happened). Interestingly, Paulette chose this moment to bet more than the minimum cover of Steve, so the strategy almost didn't work.

you're basically right about my logic. when i saw the category, i pretty much knew i wasn't going to get it right. i had a gut feeling it would be dickens, and i'm terrible with dickens. i sensed a similar feeling of apprehension from steve and paulette, so i decided to bet for the ts and/or conservative wagers, but also leave things a little open in case my feeling was wrong, so i bet the difference between my score and third place with some change.

-amanda

[Robert K S]

A game with three boardies!

Everybody's talking about Steve's TDD but I'm not sure how much it would have helped him in the end. If he bet everything as the trailer in Final, he probably would have bet to cover as the leader, so his success or failure on the TDD turned out to be immaterial to the game's outcome.

Well done with your wager, Amanda--you proved that sometimes Boyd's Rule was made to be broken. Looking forward to seeing many more wins from you (your Hometown Howdy already lookin' prophetic).

Did The Powers That Be grumble any about you and Paulette meeting up on the message board in advance of your game? Or do they not monitor such things?

[RobertHutchinson]

"Who is the bad guy in Oliver Twist?"

"Oooh, sorry . . ."

Stupid brain.

[mojoquix]

Originally Posted by Robert K S

Did The Powers That Be grumble any about you and Paulette meeting up on the message board in advance of your game? Or do they not monitor such things?

nobody said anything. in fact, aisha was involved in the conversation in which i realized that i'd spoken to paulette on the board (when we were talking during lunch), and just seemed to think it was cool.

-amanda

[Rex Kramer]

Originally Posted by RobertHutchinson

"Who is the bad guy in Oliver Twist?"

"Oooh, sorry . . ."

Stupid brain.

Yeah, I guessed "Bill Sykes", thinking the hanging was a huge clue. D'oh!

Rex

[gargle]

Originally Posted by Rex Kramer

Yeah, I guessed "Bill Sykes", thinking the hanging was a huge clue. D'oh!

I also went with Sykes, but felt mildly stupid afterward. Since he ranks no higher than fourth among famous Oliver Twist characters and is not even the most famous bad guy, he's rather an unlikely FJ answer.

[ej!fan]

I never read the book Oliver Twist, but I have seen the movie, Oliver. In it, not only does Fagin not get hanged. I think he lives happily ever after thievin' with the Artful Dodger. I guess that's what they meant by "toning it down."

[MarkBarrett]

The regular Friday FJs so far this season:

Frances Perkins
13 folds for the flag
1914
In The Beginning
Fagin

Player success?
3 out of 15

For Steve's DD I said Fourteen Points. Would that alone be good enough or at least enough for a prompt?

Playing along with the game on the archive, I see I missed a competitive game.

3 hours 50 minutes-ish for a college football game without overtime is insanity.

[RobertHutchinson]

Originally Posted by MarkBarrett

The regular Friday FJs so far this season:

Frances Perkins
13 folds for the flag
1914
In The Beginning
Fagin

One of these things, is not like the others . . .