“Pop” goes the Jeopardy round

Posted By: jeanie July 16, 2010

     Today’s Jeopardy round was a fun theme board, beginning with the category Pop Music and including such categories as Jonah’s Druthers and All-American Rejects.  Did you guys know these triple-stumpers in the round?:
“Foo” Fighters: “Old-timey 10-letter term for the silly behavior exhibited by Mr. Brokaw, perhaps.”*
Pop Music: “At the 2009 Grammys, her ‘Still Unforgettable’ won the award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.”*
Pop Music: “Their 1979 album ‘Breakfast in America’ featured a feast of hits like ‘Take the Long Way Home.'”*
     Van Lane was back for his third game today, against two challengers with intimidating-sounding job titles: chemist (Bryn Reinecke) and professor of law (Neal Eggeson).  Van’s proved his savvy the last two days, and he did today as well.  At the first break, he had 2600 more than his nearest opponent, Bryn.  He had 700 more than Bryn both at the end of the Jeopardy round and just before he swept Canadian Provinces in the Double Jeopardy round.
     I would’ve swept Oscars in Their Film Debuts, if it weren’t for this last clue of the category, that no one else got right on the show: “Best Supporting Actress for ‘On the Waterfront.'”*  Were you amazed when Neal missed this one in that category, even though he answered with that actress’ name on the previous clue?: “Best Actress for ‘Children of a Lesser God.'”*  Poor Neal went back down to 0 on this clue in Measure This, Trebek, and just before Mr. Trebek said there was less than a minute left in the round: “Sailors can use a basic sextant to measure this at local noon, then check navigation tables to calculate latitude.”*  Unfortunately, Neal did not ring in again and could not be present for Final Jeopardy.  Van, however, got a Daily Double again in that “less-than-a-minute” remaining, and put the game out of reach for Bryn, by just 100 when all was said and done.  Here was the Final Jeopardy clue, in Famous Texts: “Tradition says the author of this work was the sage Vatsayayana; surprisingly, he was celibate.”*
     Here are my scores using my Jeopardy Challenger for Tuesday and Wednesday.  (By the way, here is Saad’s account of his experience on the show.):

Van Lane      Anne Anglim      Saad Hasan      Me
   22500               16600              17200       28800
Chris Dungan    Victoria Rduch    Van Lane    Me

   10200                 18000              22511      3200

     Today I kept track of my scores with tally marks, like I did during Kids’ Week.  It occurs to me that when I keep track with tally marks (and not with the Challenger), there is no penalty for an incorrect guess, like there would be on the show. I like doing it, but I’m thinking I should stop because it’s not what someone should do if they’re actually on the show.
     I asked on the Jeopardy! message boards how people have been keeping track of their scores at home.  In the interest of becoming a better player and learning from like-minded fans of the show, I have (rather timidly) done some poking around there.  I am nervous because I have a lot of questions, but it feels difficult to break in with questions that have surely been answered in this already-established discussion. (The answers would be impossible to find, of course!) I asked my questions thinking that it might benefit another newcomer, too, and someone did, in fact, suggest reading more before asking what I had deemed a “lame” question.  I have to admit it shook me up, even though the person was not mean at all.  I even thought I would not be back.  But I am now, and I haven’t had any more problems.
     At any rate, “BigDaddyJ” (Josh Horstman of Indianapolis, Indiana) kindly responded with a chart that he created for the purpose of keeping track of scores at home, as well as a link to an explanation of “Coryat” scoring.  (I know the article is long, but I think it will be worthwhile for people who want to be on the show.)  One advantage I can immediately see is that it will be easier to see when I’ve swept a category.  I’m going to keep a tally of my correct questions one more time tomorrow, and try the new way beginning next week.  If you guys try his chart, I’d love to hear what you think of it.  Thank you again to Josh!

 
*tomfoolery, Natalie Cole, Supertramp, Eva Marie Saint, Marlee Matlin, altitude, the Kama Sutra

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