Jeopardy watch....

[Indoor66]

I thought the phone number was PEnnsylvania 6-5000.

Yeah, and we called from the Chattanooga Choo-Choo.

[brevity]

Friday's Final Jeopardy was interesting. The category was 1970s Top 40 Hits and the clue was Seeing a poster for a production of “Cyrano de Bergerac” in a seedy Paris hotel & ladies of the evening nearby inspired this hit

I put together a pretty good response that fit the clue well, only to see that the correct response fit the clue slightly better. But it's like finding a second anagram from a string of letters -- once you see one, it's hard to think of another.

Without clicking the link, can you think of both songs?

Thanks for sharing - that's a fun one. The first song that came to mind for me was Lady Marmalade (the original version that was released in the 70s) though on second thought there is an early reference to New Orleans in the song. But the theme and timing otherwise fits the bill.

I clicked the link and I would have thought the correct answer was released in the very early 80s, so it wouldn't have come to mind, but apparently it was 1978. The Cyrano reference is key to the clue and I am not really familiar with the play.

I also said "Lady Marmalade" and thought I was right until I saw "Roxanne". Neither 1970s song is explicitly set in Paris, though the 2001 remake of "Lady Marmalade" is.

My eyes landed on "seedy Paris hotel" and then "poster" and "ladies of the evening". I thought about those vintage French posters in general, rather than specifically about Cyrano, and I pictured something like this:

moulinrouge.jpg

With all that in mind, it doesn't take much to get to Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)? and land on "Lady Marmalade". Had I not fixated on "poster" I might have spent the time thinking about Cyrano de Bergerac, and the name of its female character. Maybe.

They also didn't know what I meant when driving in Arizona, and we saw a highway sign for Winslow, and I asked if we could go to Winslow so I could stand on the corner. That was a Jeopardy clue a few years ago.

Take it easy, they're just kids.

The Jeopardy! archive has a searchable feature, with four clues that wanna own me.

2001 -- RAISING ARIZONA $400: "Well I'm a standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona" in this 1972 Eagles hit
2003 -- HALLS OF FAME $1000: Instead of just "standing on a corner in" this Arizona city, drop by an Astronaut Hall of Fame
2017 -- STREET MUSIC $4,000 (Daily Double): The statue here is a tribute to Glenn Frey in this Arizona city where he sang of standing on a corner
2019 -- THE WESTERN U.S. $600: If you're "standin' on a corner in" this city in Arizona, head 20 miles west to see a 550'-deep meteor crater

There's also a similar 2012 clue about the meteor crater that mentions Winslow but does not refer to the song.

[OldPhiKap]

I thought the phone number was PEnnsylvania 6-5000.

Collect call from Mr. Miller?

[75Crazie]

Collect call from Mr. Miller?

At least it wasn't from Mrs. Miller.

[OldPhiKap]

At least it wasn't from Mrs. Miller.

Barney would disapprove.

But he’d have a jamming bass line.

[rsvman]

Weak game tonight, with a lot of easy missed clues, imo. I would've had a pretty good chance of winning this one. Got all but one of the clues that nobody got.
Jonathan finally got his. Missed a dead simple daily double in the first round.
The eventual winner really cracked me up, guessing that the Bible says there were 300 people on Noah's ark. Lol.

[Skydog]

Weak game tonight, with a lot of easy missed clues, imo. I would've had a pretty good chance of winning this one. Got all but one of the clues that nobody got.
Jonathan finally got his. Missed a dead simple daily double in the first round.
The eventual winner really cracked me up, guessing that the Bible says there were 300 people on Noah's ark. Lol.

Yep, pretty weak across the board. And the winner didn’t seem very excited about his/her achievement.

[tommy]

Weak game tonight, with a lot of easy missed clues, imo. I would've had a pretty good chance of winning this one. Got all but one of the clues that nobody got.
Jonathan finally got his. Missed a dead simple daily double in the first round.
The eventual winner really cracked me up, guessing that the Bible says there were 300 people on Noah's ark. Lol.

Animals are people too.

Seriously Jonathan was very ordinary tonight. Did not look like an 11 time champion. Had his opponents bet smarter (prior to FJ) he would’ve lost by more.

[aimo]

Yep, pretty weak across the board. And the winner didn’t seem very excited about his/her achievement.

I think she was probably more stunned than anything.

And, yeah, that Noah's Ark question should be very embarrassing for her for years to come.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I thought the phone number was PEnnsylvania 6-5000.

That's actually the phone number for the Hotel Pennsylvania in NYC, right across the street from Madison Square Garden. I stayed there a couple of times for Duke bball games at the Garden because it was both relatively inexpensive on sites like Expedia and so convenient. Huge hotel, very very small rooms, and 15 years ago they were in dire need of renovation. Probably still are...

[aimo]

That's actually the phone number for the Hotel Pennsylvania in NYC, right across the street from Madison Square Garden. I stayed there a couple of times for Duke bball games at the Garden because it was both relatively inexpensive on sites like Expedia and so convenient. Huge hotel, very very small rooms, and 15 years ago they were in dire need of renovation. Probably still are...

Stayed there on a high school trip in 1988 and it was nice. Stayed there in 2005 and it was pretty bad. I actually had a huge room on the corner that was supposed to be on a smoke-free floor, and there was cigarette smoke practically spewing from the rooms all around me. Dirty, pretty bad. And I did not feel particularly safe.

[DU82]

That's actually the phone number for the Hotel Pennsylvania in NYC, right across the street from Madison Square Garden. I stayed there a couple of times for Duke bball games at the Garden because it was both relatively inexpensive on sites like Expedia and so convenient. Huge hotel, very very small rooms, and 15 years ago they were in dire need of renovation. Probably still are...

It’s about to be demoed and a huge development is going up in its place. I don’t recall the details of the new place, though.

[brevity]

The eventual winner really cracked me up, guessing that the Bible says there were 300 people on Noah's ark. Lol.

Yep, pretty weak across the board. And the winner didn’t seem very excited about his/her achievement.

I think she was probably more stunned than anything.

And, yeah, that Noah's Ark question should be very embarrassing for her for years to come.

Not that embarrassing. There's Noah, Noah's wife, Noah's son Leonidas, so it's going to be 300. "This... is... Arka!"

Actually, what should be embarrassing is what Nancy did today, in her second appearance. There's a few clues left in the second round, and she's in second place with $10,000 while one of the opponents leads with $12,600. She finds the final Daily Double and wagers $4,000. She gets it wrong, taking her score down to $6,000. No one gets the remaining two clues, officially gifting her opponent a runaway victory.

[Skydog]

Not that embarrassing. There's Noah, Noah's wife, Noah's son Leonidas, so it's going to be 300. "This... is... Arka!"

Actually, what should be embarrassing is what Nancy did today, in her second appearance. There's a few clues left in the second round, and she's in second place with $10,000 while one of the opponents leads with $12,600. She finds the final Daily Double and wagers $4,000. She gets it wrong, taking her score down to $6,000. No one gets the remaining two clues, officially gifting her opponent a runaway victory.

I'm not sure her bet size was bad. She is down 2600 and there were about 3 or 4k worth of clues left on the board. If she gets DD correct she has a $1400 lead over 2nd place and becomes a favorite to win the game.

I can see an argument for her betting more - if she bets say 8k and gets it right she guarantees she will be in lead going into FJ.

Betting less? If she bets say 2k she pretty much assures game won't be a runaway but is still in 2nd place even if she gets it right. She could bet $2700 - this would put her in temporary lead if correct. If she misses she still has 7300 and leader would have to increase his total by $2001 to reach runaway status.

So I don’t see a clearcut optimal bet size. I think if she is comfortable with the category she will be 60-80% get DD right and betting big would be her best chance of winning the whole shebang. If she doesnt like category then I would recommend $2700-$3000 bet.

[brevity]

I'm not sure her bet size was bad. She is down 2600 and there were about 3 or 4k worth of clues left on the board. If she gets DD correct she has a $1400 lead over 2nd place and becomes a favorite to win the game.

I can see an argument for her betting more - if she bets say 8k and gets it right she guarantees she will be in lead going into FJ.

Betting less? If she bets say 2k she pretty much assures game won't be a runaway but is still in 2nd place even if she gets it right. She could bet $2700 - this would put her in temporary lead if correct. If she misses she still has 7300 and leader would have to increase his total by $2001 to reach runaway status.

So I don’t see a clearcut optimal bet size. I think if she is comfortable with the category she will be 60-80% get DD right and betting big would be her best chance of winning the whole shebang. If she doesnt like category then I would recommend $2700-$3000 bet.

The bolded part makes me think you saw the episode too, but in case you hadn't, the last three clues in today's episode were in the category of International Disputes. Here are all five clues:

$400 Argentina still asserts a claim to these islands, though it renounced the use of force to recover them in the 1990s
$800 Greece & Turkey bicker over numerous boundaries in this sea
$1,200 (Daily Double) Though usually friends, China & this country dispute ownership of islands in the Yalu River
$1,600 For decades, Singapore has complained about the price it pays to get fresh water from this country
$2,000 Denmark & 3 other countries squabble over the size of the continental shelf of these islands midway between Norway & Iceland

The top two clues had already been revealed; the bottom three clues were the last on the board. In my opinion (and in Nancy's defense), the category gets a lot harder between $800 and $1,200. But even if she thought she'd get the Daily Double right, I don't see why she'd wager enough to take herself out of play with a wrong response. A wager of, say, $3,000 gives her the lead if right but keeps her in play if wrong. If she goes down to $7,000, the leader can still create a runaway, but now he has to earn it.

To be honest, her inability to even attempt a response for the last two clues (no one buzzed in) makes me wonder if she understood her tactical mistake at all. As it turned out, all three contestants were incorrect in Final Jeopardy, so she could have won with a strategic bid had she not put herself out of reach. Now I'm just not sure she was capable of making a strategic bid.

[Skydog]

The bolded part makes me think you saw the episode too, but in case you hadn't, the last three clues in today's episode were in the category of International Disputes. Here are all five clues:

$400 Argentina still asserts a claim to these islands, though it renounced the use of force to recover them in the 1990s
$800 Greece & Turkey bicker over numerous boundaries in this sea
$1,200 (Daily Double) Though usually friends, China & this country dispute ownership of islands in the Yalu River
$1,600 For decades, Singapore has complained about the price it pays to get fresh water from this country
$2,000 Denmark & 3 other countries squabble over the size of the continental shelf of these islands midway between Norway & Iceland

The top two clues had already been revealed; the bottom three clues were the last on the board. In my opinion (and in Nancy's defense), the category gets a lot harder between $800 and $1,200. But even if she thought she'd get the Daily Double right, I don't see why she'd wager enough to take herself out of play with a wrong response. A wager of, say, $3,000 gives her the lead if right but keeps her in play if wrong. If she goes down to $7,000, the leader can still create a runaway, but now he has to earn it.

To be honest, her inability to even attempt a response for the last two clues (no one buzzed in) makes me wonder if she understood her tactical mistake at all. As it turned out, all three contestants were incorrect in Final Jeopardy, so she could have won with a strategic bid had she not put herself out of reach. Now I'm just not sure she was capable of making a strategic bid.

We actually agreed - I said 2700-3000 would be her ideal small bet size. So after thinking it through while writing my post I ended up agreeing her 4k bet was a bad choice, just forgot to say it explicitly.
But while I think ~3k is a good bet size I still think it is her 2nd best choice. If she bets 7k and gets it correct she guarantees 1st place at FJ and that makes her a big favorite to win it all.
Of course it wouldn’t have worked in this case but that is hindsight. As you pointed out she had no reason to expect the1200 DD clue to be that hard.

PS - Agree she wasn’t good at betting strategy and may have blown her FJ bet size. Someone like that should probably just go all in on every DD, hope for the best, and if things go well it will simplify their FJ betting decisions.

[rsvman]

Very surprised that all three contestants missed tonight's FJ, which I thought was pretty easy.

[brevity]

Very surprised that all three contestants missed tonight's FJ, which I thought was pretty easy.

The returning champ got tonight's Final Jeopardy (World Cities) correct. Did you mean yesterday (Literary Movie Roles)?

Literary Movie Roles: Among the actresses who have portrayed her are Greta Garbo twice, Vivien Leigh, Tatiana Samoilova & Keira Knightley

World Cities: From Sydney, Australia go 7,000 miles east & less than 1/2 degree of latitude north to this capital also near the Pacific

For yesterday, I was on the Lizzie Bennet train, but the inclusion of a comparatively obscure Russian actress bothered me and I wondered if Keira Knightley had ever played

Spoiler!

Anna Karenina.

(Narrator: She had.)

For today, I guessed the correct answer but wasn't really sure if Australia and South America lined up like that. I found the wrong responses of Wellington (not 7000 miles from Sydney) and Queensland (not a city at all) to be baffling.

[aimo]

For today, I guessed the correct answer but wasn't really sure if Australia and South America lined up like that. I found the wrong responses of Wellington (not 7000 miles from Sydney) and Queensland (not a city at all) to be baffling.

The 7,000 miles threw me. I am horrible with distances.

[rsvman]

The returning champ got tonight's Final Jeopardy (World Cities) correct. Did you mean yesterday (Literary Movie Roles)?

Literary Movie Roles: Among the actresses who have portrayed her are Greta Garbo twice, Vivien Leigh, Tatiana Samoilova & Keira Knightley

World Cities: From Sydney, Australia go 7,000 miles east & less than 1/2 degree of latitude north to this capital also near the Pacific

For yesterday, I was on the Lizzie Bennet train, but the inclusion of a comparatively obscure Russian actress bothered me and I wondered if Keira Knightley had ever played

Spoiler!

Anna Karenina.

(Narrator: She had.)

For today, I guessed the correct answer but wasn't really sure if Australia and South America lined up like that. I found the wrong responses of Wellington (not 7000 miles from Sydney) and Queensland (not a city at all) to be baffling.

Sorry. Yes, I meant the one about literary roles. Ot took me about fiN seconds to come up with Anna Karenina.

I thought the world cities final was much more difficult but agree that the missed answers were surprisingly bad. It's approximately 25K miles around the entire globe, so they should have known they had to go about a third of the way to find the city they wanted.