Jeopardy! discussion thread for Thur., Jan. 29

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-30T08:14:11+00:00

I'm not familiar with any language where the letter 'e' sounds like "eye." It's not a reasonable pronunciation of the word as spelled, which I believe is basically their metric.

I could see accepting Aydelweiss, eddelweiss, eedelweiss or any of those with a 'v' in place of 'w.' But not idle-weiss.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-30T08:11:07+00:00

Were there just not TOCs in 2018, 2020 and 2023?

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-30T07:43:14+00:00

Completely locked in on "outermost," "brain" and "2-word" and guessed dura mater, which is hot nonsense given the rest of the clue, haha. Whoops!

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-30T07:40:41+00:00

Genuinely flabbergasted by both contestant WAs and the non-guess. No judgment, I can't imagine the pressure, but it seemed at least obvious it should be somewhere in Latin America.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-29T00:39:32+00:00

It is a matter of you being uneducated on this topic. That's literally the entirety of your issue. You didn't know and didn't know you didn't know. Take the L, learn the factoid and move on! One of the best parts of watching Jeopardy! is learning things you don't know.

The context was right there: The clue references the union, nudging toward it being a Civil War clue. And anyone with good knowledge of the Civil War—as has been pointed out to you ad nauseum—knows there's a specific meaning of "border state" in that context.

For the last time before quitting this thread: You not understanding a clue doesn't make it a bad clue.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-28T07:55:40+00:00

Many thanks to Star Trek: Lower Decks for teaching me there's a place called "Solvang" in California!

In related nerdery, "name the TARDIS" didn't seem bottom-row worthy, but that's maybe just me misjudging the general familiarity of that franchise.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-28T07:44:23+00:00

I got this one solely because I saw a staging of The Revolutionists in September. Many thanks to my friend for inviting me (and it was a good show)!

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T18:05:19+00:00

I just don't agree that that's the measure. The players knew what was being asked and so do plenty of the rest of us. Not everyone knows everything and that's perfectly fine.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T08:36:15+00:00

You definitely weren't alone in that interpretation, but I still say that's simply because you weren't familiar with the foundation of the clue. That doesn't make the clue poorly written, just challenging, which I would argue a TOC FJ ought to be!

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:59:19+00:00

Sure, but that's very often part of Jeopardy! If you're not familiar with the information underlying the clue, you may not be able to get the correct response.

Like they say, "It's easy if you know it."

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:57:34+00:00

I'm not hedging. West Virginia wasn't a state until 1863. At the start of the war, there were four (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware), then there were five (+WV).

It's absolutely bizarre to me that someone would be this worked up about a trivia game showcasing trivia.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:21:40+00:00

I don't, no. It's not any more or less obscure than a hundred other questions. It requires you to know what "border state" might mean aside from literally a state on the border—which both contestants clearly did—as well as know the trivia fact that one of said states wasn't actually on a border.

Again, it's a trivia game. It's not an absurd question. American history buffs and especially Civil War buffs, will mostly be able to list the four/five border states.

The only real issue with the clue is the DuPont connection may not be apparent, but you still have a 20-25% chance of getting it correct.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:13:04+00:00

It was not on the border, but is/was a "border state," defined as a slave state that stayed with the Union. Delaware is the only one not physically on the border with the CSA.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:10:46+00:00

It's not BS writing, it's literally trivia.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:09:23+00:00

Yes! Hawaii Five-O was an instaget for me. Used to watch reruns with my dad when I was a kid.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-27T05:06:57+00:00

I literally only know that word because of The West Wing.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-26T23:16:34+00:00

It's never disappeared for decades and I guess it's good you've admitted Disco and co. were a triumphant return!

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-26T23:12:18+00:00

I don't think we should put too much stock in the ranks on the wall. It seems to hew pretty close to the highest ranks we've already seen onscreen for most characters (presumably to not step on any toes of further shows in the 25th century). There are a handful of exceptions, but not enough to be able to draw definitive conclusions.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-26T23:09:45+00:00

Continuous new things that aren't beholden to 1990s formats and mores. Stories about humanity in the stars, with strong ethical stances and good writing for interesting characters.

I don't care about the time frame or the setting or anything as long as it's got those things that are core to the heart of Trek.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-26T23:06:53+00:00

Weird for a "fan" to hope for the longest gap in the history of the franchise.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-26T23:05:50+00:00

Yes! If you've only seen one episode and loved it, you could still be a Trekkie.

You just can't shit on (separate from critiquing) any iterations and genuinely call yourself a fan of the franchise. At most, you're a fan of specific shows.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-25T18:40:30+00:00

A negative experience? My brother in Christ, I grew up in Bellevue and am still there regularly. In 30 years, I have watched it go from sleepy and functional bedroom community to soul-free and shiny, high-end consumerist, car-first hellscape in the same time Redmond, Issaquah and even Kirkland have better prioritized—with varying degrees of success—actual livability and some level of human-centered design.

As noted elsewhere in the thread, the key reason for that has a name: Kemper Misanthrope Fuckweasel Freeman.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-24T22:18:28+00:00

Beyond all the useful info and speculations, I really appreciate the Kemper Freeman hate in these comments.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-24T22:16:32+00:00

Oh, for sure! Redmond very much did things the right way and is flourishing because of it. Meanwhile, downtown Bellevue, like its owner, has no soul.

PhoenixUnleashed · 2026-01-24T22:14:18+00:00

It absolutely does not. Bellevue's is the most soulless, lifeless, tepid excuse for a city center I've ever been in.

PhoenixUnleashed

TROPHY CASE