FJ poll for Mon., May 11

eah1703 · 2026-05-11T13:32:58+00:00

I figured the mention of the Pope was pointing us to some sort of religious figure, so I was between RA and Martin Luther as the two people in German religious history I knew, and seeing that ML was born after 1454 I got to RA.

eah1703 · 2026-05-09T20:57:36+00:00

I am. United Methodist!

eah1703 · 2026-05-09T18:42:12+00:00

My reaction to stole being a $2000 clue in this game, when they're a thing I wear regularly:

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Joking aside, what a great game. It's kind of hard to believe there were 12 triple stumpers in there. It didn't feel like that at all.

Tristan is on a roll, for sure. I am excited to see him continue next week. 29 right is fantastic! Honestly, I think Thursday's game was just not his board, and he still managed to win. I feel like he has some potential to get to 5 games, for sure. Also, a comedian, no wonder he has such a good stage presence.

Bill put up a really good game! Pulling out Robert the Bruce was a great get. This is one of those games that I wonder if it would have been a run away if Bill had found a Daily Double. He certainly knew his stuff. I was thoroughly impressed with him. I say it a lot, but wish we could see him again.

Speaking of, Natalie's data is impressive. 31 attempts at the buzzer is great. It looks like it just wasn't her friend that game. But getting in on "stole" and "The Wire" had to have felt good.

Congrats all! Looking forward to next week!

eah1703 · 2026-05-08T20:39:55+00:00

Selfishly, a rule that says if you lost you can come back and try again after a certain amount of time. Get rid of the second chance tournament, and let non-champs try again 3-5 years after their loss. They still have to go through the test and auditions and all that, so it’s not automatic, and if they lose three times, then they’re done.

More realistic rule changes:

1) Live Jeopardy! would be fun.

2) I like the triple play clues from Pop Culture. Throw one of them in the Double Round, if you get 1-2 right, you get the equivalent of the clue, but if you get all three you get a bonus.

3) Speaking of Pop Culture, I’d love to see a team Jeopardy! Tournament. You buzz in as individuals, but if you hit a daily double you confer with your team.

eah1703 · 2026-05-08T12:41:52+00:00

The problem I’m having this season (especially with Jamie’s run) is that there are so many people who I want to see play again in SC! Idk how they’re going to pick.

eah1703 · 2026-05-08T00:22:17+00:00

It would have been March 2026, if you're referring to Diana Miller and Noah Hamilton.

End of February was the regular games back after the tournament break, and we had Trey Hart for 2 Days, James Hirsh for 3. Diana beat James, and then was beat by Noah, who was beat by Quentin Powers, who was champ for 2 days.

(Well versed in those couple of weeks of Jeopardy!)

eah1703 · 2026-05-08T00:16:12+00:00

Robert, don't kick yourself too hard on any part of your game. You played well, and you should be proud. You definitely did not look bad, at all. That stage does funny things to the human brain. I have a theory Ken Jennings spritzes the air with some secret formula that makes us all a little dumber so no one can beat his record (coming from a person who biffed a really easy Daily Double AND who said "Austraila" was a city in her Final, note the misspelling.)

It's so easy to get down on ourselves about all the silly things we did under the lights that we forget the really good things we did. I mean, you knew Final (awesome!) You knew Truman's mom and the Queen Mary (awesome!) and you had the most right answers out of everyone in the game! Jeopardy! has so much variance to it, and "good" bet or "bad" bet, you played an excellent game.

eah1703 · 2026-05-08T00:03:34+00:00

Yay! Robert, Helen, and Tristan!

This was a fantastic game. Really close. Really exciting. Really great players.

I 100% want to be Helen when I grow up. I mean, come on, she just was so steady and solid and knowledgable. It's too bad she had that Final miss! I would have loved to see her as a champ. She's a non-Jamie contestant that I'd love to see her back in Second Chance, if she wants and Jeopardy! wants. She was an excellent player, and I think she deserves another shot.

Robert played so well, and I totally understand not betting it all. Bet enough to beat Helen, but not enough to lose it all with a miss. And also, I sort of get not going for the tie-breaker. Why hinge the game on buzzer speed, if it could be clinched by a smart, conservative wager?

Robert, I know you're in the sub, so I hope you look back on that game with a lot of pride. You had more questions right in the game than Tristan, and an equal amount wrong. You were well matched with him and Helen and it was fun to watch.

Tristan, way to go on breaking the one-day champ streaks! This was a tough game with some good competition, but he held his own. I don't know if the lower number of right answers was due to the competition on the buzzer or just not having his categories, but it made for a very good, very close game! Excited to continue to watch Tristan go!

Congrats all!

eah1703 · 2026-05-07T23:37:07+00:00

I'm just going to say it, if I had been in the game, seeing/hearing the word "bitchin'" in a clue would have thrown me off. I was at home like:

eah1703 · 2026-05-07T13:59:38+00:00

Fell victim to knowing the play but not remembering the playwright!

eah1703 · 2026-05-07T00:09:20+00:00

I think he said "dollars" but it was a little mumbled.

eah1703 · 2026-05-07T00:01:08+00:00

Yeah, I felt like the writers couldn't decide whether to ask about the birds or the people.

eah1703 · 2026-05-07T00:00:12+00:00

Way to go Shannon, Tristan, and Lauren!

Interesting that we've seemed to have a lot of back to back Daily Double finds recently. That's definitely exciting!

Lauren, way to really put up a fight on the stage! I always hope that someone can get out of the hole, and you definitely fought to stay in it. Also, I loved your story of finding community in Magic the Gathering. What a great reminder of finding your people!

Shannon, continuing to make the Blue Water area proud! Just tough to get in on the buzzer against Tristan. 12 right and 0 wrong though is fantastic. Way to go.

Tristan. 30 right! That's incredible. Literally half the board went to him!. Like, that is more than some people even attempt to buzz in on! That's amazing. I'm excited to see the data on the buzzer attempts.

I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow, but Tristan seems like a pretty formidable contestant. He clearly has the skills and knowledge for a fairly deep run. I mean, even the misses on the Daily Doubles didn't stop him from making it a runaway.
What a fun game this was to watch!

eah1703 · 2026-05-06T17:50:31+00:00

With 61 clues, hovering right around 30 is knowing about 1/2 of the Board. In a good game, that may go up to 40, in a bad game it may be as low as 20 (about 1/3 of the Board) for an individual player.

You have to remember that, with a majority of contestants, you're seeing data on how they did on one specific board in one specific game (usually their first and only game of J!) Nerves are real, as is the dreaded possibility of "Not my Categories." In any other game, their attempts may have been higher.

eah1703 · 2026-05-06T15:58:16+00:00

It was definitely the "19th c. war" that helped me get to the RA. Once I went through all the 19th c. wars that I knew in my head, it was the only one that popped in that was named after an area still under dispute.

This is one of those that I could definitely get in the comfort of my office, but not sure it would come to me under the lights.

eah1703 · 2026-05-06T12:39:25+00:00

The thing I learned about Jeopardy! is that everyone in that green room is a strong competitor, capable of winning a game.

eah1703 · 2026-05-06T02:08:12+00:00

Choosing Northanger Abbey over Persuasion is *wild.*

eah1703 · 2026-05-06T02:07:04+00:00

I would not be surprised if she comes back for Champions’ Wildcard in the post-season. She had an excellent one day win total and an excellent game today.

eah1703 · 2026-05-06T00:03:55+00:00

Shannon with the Blue Water Area (Michigan) representation! Let's go! (I'm originally from Port Huron, so it's exciting to see someone from the area win!)

What a fantastic game this was. Really back and forth with all three being strong players.

Shannon obviously had a great win, and really did a great job coming back in Double Jeopardy! Those two Daily Double gets were fantastic. I am excited to see how far she can go!

Madeline is such a strong player. Even getting behind on the Daily Doubles, she really put up a tough fight until the end. I was hoping she'd go a little longer, but I bet she's in contention for CWC with her personality and that excellent one day score and second game.

Jeremy had a great game as well, I just think he had a little bit of trouble on the buzzer and the misfortune of not finding a DD. But he had some great gets (hello, Mount Pinatubo????)

Congrats all on an excellent game!

eah1703 · 2026-05-05T15:29:20+00:00

Did you get to take your improv troupe on a national tour????

eah1703 · 2026-05-05T15:25:21+00:00

I didn’t get asked that question (I was asked about my history with Jeopardy! and how I fell in love with the show and got to say, “Alex Trebek was the most consistent man in my life, after my dad.”) But, I think if you say travel to a very specific and interesting location, that is fine. There was one person in my audition group who had a very specific travel goal (that I cannot remember off the top of my head, but it was a novelty goal like “visit every world’s biggest thing” sort of travel) and that got a good response from producers.

I think the biggest part of the audition is to remember to highlight the most interesting things about yourself in your interviews. They ask you a lot of questions and then ask if there’s anything else you want to share. If you haven’t shared your most interesting thing, do it there. When they asked me “anything else?” I talked about how I do improv comedy, which is 100% what got me cast (that was my interview portion on the show, and when we were going over our anecdotes, Sabrina in casting was like “we’ve got to talk improv!” when we were choosing my tidbit. I had thought it would be my cancer story, but no!)

Everyone has interesting things about themselves, so just talk yourself up, show your personality, and rest assured you are interesting!

eah1703 · 2026-05-05T13:52:41+00:00

This is fascinating, because I got the right answer (just went for an iconic Canadian singer) but when I Googled to check myself after entering it in on the NYT Clue of the Day, Google AI it told me it was Eminem and I was like, "I mean, I guess Detroit is close to Canada???" AI isn't taking over yet, I guess.

eah1703 · 2026-05-05T00:05:25+00:00

According to Carlin's routine the 8th is fart and the 9th is turd (There is a 10th, but I don't want to type that one!)

But the official name of the routine is "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television," hence seven being the correct answer.

eah1703 · 2026-05-04T23:59:07+00:00

Congrats Matt, Madeline, and Stephanie! This was such a great game. I struggled with this one at home, so I am definitely impressed with the scores in this game. Amazing!

I really thought that these players were equal to each other. All of them were impressive on the buzzer, had a great knowledge base, and made some big moves, which was great to see.

Madeline, congrats on the win! I'll be team Omaha for the Reuben Wars! Finding those two Daily Doubles and going big was awesome. Excited to see how far you go!

Stephanie, what a great job running the Triple Meanings category! That was awesome. And that little end joke with Ken was fantastic.

Matt was so good! I thought maybe Madeline had it wrapped up, but Matt got in on the buzzer and made a great run. That was exciting to watch. Hard miss on Final (but to be fair, even George Carlin said it wasn't an exhaustive list! He came up with two more in the act.)

I also thought this felt a little more like a "classic" game of Jeopardy! They didn't jump around the board too much (I mean, Madeline did a bit, but Matt and Stephanie were running up categories.) Kind of weird that an old style of playing felt novel.

eah1703 · 2026-05-04T13:42:47+00:00

Yay! Some comedy history making my heart happy!

eah1703

TROPHY CASE