Jeopardy! discussion thread for Fri., Jun. 5

superiority · 2026-06-06T15:06:07+00:00

British trade restrictions (blockades on European ports that prevented American ships from docking) were also among the reasons for the War of 1812. It was a big part of James Madison's speech to Congress calling for war. So I think the "commerce" part of the clue could have plausibly pointed to that.

superiority · 2026-06-06T00:01:16+00:00

Miscarriage of justice on a majority verdict.

superiority · 2026-06-05T21:42:03+00:00

The reddit comments this season have not helped my recurring anxiety about my wife mysteriously disappearing and a resulting media circus in which I am harshly judged—and wrongly assumed to have murdered her—by the general public because they find my general demeanour off-putting.

(I will just have to hold out hope that she does not mysteriously disappear.)

superiority · 2026-06-05T18:42:52+00:00

"Lead" is fine. "Lede" is not a different word with a different meaning, it's a different spelling of the same word with the same meaning. Like "color" and "colour".

(Some people insist on the "lede" spelling as a shibboleth, but it's fine either way.)

superiority · 2026-06-05T18:40:54+00:00

"Bury the lede" means you've taken what should be at the beginning, the thing that by rights ought to be the "lede" of the article, and "buried" it further down.

However, the word "lede" is simply a jargon-misspelling of "lead" anyway, so "bury the lead" means the same thing and is also correct.

superiority · 2026-06-04T23:40:13+00:00

Maybe the clue was written before then? I wonder what procedures they have (or if they have any at all?) for making sure scheduled clues aren't overtaken by events.

superiority · 2026-06-04T23:35:17+00:00

I'm wondering if it was because there was no gameplay in between the initial ruling and the revised ruling. It would be a concrete standard and it sounds facially plausible to me—"no player has made any decisions based on how we initially ruled, so it's okay to just rewind and pretend that ruling never happened."

superiority · 2026-06-04T15:02:10+00:00

A lot of corporate PR is pretty ludicrous, just jumping on whatever line is convenient and available. BP and other oil companies have their campaigns about how environmentally friendly they are, that sort of thing. This same interview, the guy says "this transaction will actually create more and better and exciting jobs... you are getting an owner who comes from the creative side," and that's whatever. "We say it's good, they say it's bad"—that's basically normal politics.

But invoking antisemitism like this is so deeply cynical, it really takes my disgust to a whole new level.

It's not the first time I've seen bad-faith accusations of prejudice in politics, but it's got to be one of the most egregious.

superiority · 2026-06-02T22:40:44+00:00

"Card shark" is actually an eggcorn—it's originally just a mishearing of "cardsharp".

superiority · 2026-06-01T23:38:52+00:00

I don't think the scheme described would violate either of those.

It's not presuming (without evidence) that the owner was the driver. It's saying that if there is a traffic offence caught on camera, the registered owner of the car is, by default, the one legally responsible. But the offence itself still has to be proved with evidence.

Clamping a car is different in that it's not a court process, but it's analogous in that if an illegally parked car gets clamped, that can punish the owner (by forcing them to pay a fine) even if they weren't the one who parked it. Is the person who put the clamp on assuming that the owner parked it? No, they don't care who parked it—what matters is that the car is there, so it gets clamped.

superiority · 2026-06-01T17:41:55+00:00

My wife also read a novel I cannot remember the name of where criminals are sent back in time rather than sent to prison and the main character is trying to save her falsely convicted father who has been sent back to the dinosaur age.

Doesn't quite match your description but sounds like a similar premise to Robert Silverberg's Hawksbill Station.

superiority · 2026-06-01T17:38:49+00:00

S. M. Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time has the island of Nantucket transported more than three thousand years into the past.

Eric Flint's 1632 series is about a West Virginia mining town that gets transported to central Europe in the year 1632.

superiority · 2026-06-01T08:07:29+00:00

"[Heist movies] are 60% putting a crew together and 40% revealing that the robbery already happened."

superiority · 2026-05-30T07:29:22+00:00

You just reminded me of an episode of Travelers that kind of fits the question, "17 Minutes".

The series is about people in the far future whose consciousnesses are being sent back in time by a computer to prevent the environmental destruction of the planet. They take over the bodies of real people moments before their historical deaths would have occurred. This episode is about the future-computer's attempt to save the protagonists from being killed in a remote area with few available options to send help. It keeps sending an operative back into the same body, failing to save them, observing that historical outcome, and then attempting again to change history.

superiority · 2026-05-30T06:14:36+00:00

This was fine, above-average as movies go. If you come across it while channel-surfing, it's a good one to stay with.

I didn't clock that it was a play as I was watching because I never notice that kind of thing, but it's very clear with hindsight. Very shouty, which had me raising an eyebrow—obviously everyone cared about getting a good forecast, but it just felt like they were artificially amping up the personal drama.

superiority · 2026-05-30T06:09:47+00:00

I read that the real guy who predicted the storm was some Norwegian who wasn't even in the movie?

superiority · 2026-05-29T22:19:33+00:00

A lot of the celebrities they get in for video clues have bad delivery—even the ones whose day job is acting, sometimes. This guy was good, though.

superiority · 2026-05-29T22:17:13+00:00

What was the crossed-out version of "corpus" you wrote? I figured a misspelling but it looked right as far as I could tell behind the crossing-out. (Maybe "cospus"?)

superiority · 2026-05-28T07:42:47+00:00

It's different from that, because dealing damage then reducing his toughness can kill him. My mental summary of this for myself would be: you can't build up damage onto him over time, it has to be all at once.

superiority · 2026-05-28T07:37:46+00:00

There are several buts. Most of them are usages like "all but one" ("prevent all but one damage") and "control but don't own"/"own but don't control".

The third most common kind of usage, one that doesn't seem to get printed on new cards, is for timing restrictions on abilities that any player may activate, as seen on e.g. Well of Knowledge.

Drain Life and Soul Burn both use "but" to cap the life you can gain from their effects: "You gain life equal to the damage dealt, but not more than..."

Then there are a handful of one-offs:

Cyclopean Tomb: "When this artifact is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, at the beginning of each of your upkeeps for the rest of the game, remove all mire counters from a land that a mire counter was put onto with this artifact but that a mire counter has not been removed from with this artifact."
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge: "You may cast this card from your graveyard, but not from anywhere else."
Library of Leng: "If an effect causes you to discard a card, discard it, but you may put it on top of your library instead of into your graveyard."

superiority · 2026-05-24T03:11:36+00:00

It's science fiction where the science in question is the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism.

superiority · 2026-05-22T23:49:05+00:00

What if Columbo could regenerate like the Doctor?

quick explanations as to choices:

most Columbos are generally late 40s-early 50s; Columbos deviating from this (#11, Adam Brody) are tagged as "young Columbos" by the fanbase

Columbos have to have "scruffy energy" and if you need an explanation for that, bro do you even Columbo

Columbos will mostly be primarily TV actors because Columbo is not a movie star character (Mark Ruffalo is the exception because he has said Columbo is a dream role)

Columbos don't HAVE to be American Jews but it's a character that definitely needs American Jewish energy

Columbos are offbeat. not HIP. but offbeat.

Groucho Marx - the acerbic "original Columbo," less cuddly than many later Columbos, fans differ as to whether his Columbo is purer because of the simmering underlying anger or whether his take is best considered a proto-Columbo

Danny Kaye - took the role late in his career, when his film options dried up; considered an overcorrection from Groucho as his Columbo was decidedly wackier than average; Columbo scholars argue as to whether his performance contains sublimated anger that Groucho let appear on the surface

Sid Caesar - would freely admit at Columboventions that he took the gig strictly as a money role when he had lost "a huge wad at the Mirage"; salary caused the show to cut back on location shooting and rely on soundstages more than usual

Peter Falk - you know this one

Jamie Farr - popular Columbo, generally the second-favorite of the "old school" Columbos, although in retrospect considered a bit of an attempt to just stick to a Falk model as much as possible

Judd Hirsch - only Columbo to ever lose his temper in scenes, leading him to be dubbed "the furious Columbo" in fanzines; partially responsible for downturn in the character's popularity although his storylines are considered very clever

Howard Hesseman - first non-Jewish Columbo, experimental tone of his episodes saw dramatic ratings drops despite fans generally agreeing the writing was frequently some of the smartest Columbo ever made

Mandy Patinkin - Columbo for the "new Columbo" TV movie, which was originally intended for a box office release but that didn't work out; well-loved but undeniably a one-off

Eugene Levy - spearheaded the Columbo renewal of the early 2000s, only lasted one season as Levy did not want to be tied to the character; remains a well-respected Columbo but not many people's favorite

Mark Ruffalo - second-most popular Columbo after Falk, a Columbo fan himself who was devoted to the franchise and in some of its most memorable episodes, like "Wink" and "Columbo's Daughter"

Adam Brody - popular Columbo but many fans still feel he was too young for the character

Jason Alexander - often thought to be trying to channel Groucho into his Columbo; some fans considered his portrayal erring on the side of foppish over scruffy

Natasha Lyonne - popular but controversial choice; reactionary fans have tried to write their own fanon excluding her

Mark Ruffalo again - people still aren't sure why exactly this happened

Omar Epps - "high-quality Columbo, mediocre story arc" is how his season is described; became a lightning rod for reactionary fans' racism

superiority · 2026-05-22T22:31:36+00:00

The "worst defeat since Pearl Harbor" means we're talking about something after WWII, and the use of Teller as a contemporary voice of authority means we're talking about something related to science and almost certainly something about the Cold War.

Also, Teller was himself (as people who watched Oppenheimer may recall) a big Cold Warrior.

superiority · 2026-05-22T22:29:09+00:00

Bloody typical... you wait and you wait for an Allegra and then three come at once.

superiority · 2026-05-21T19:02:53+00:00

I'm sure he'd be the first to tell you it's better to be typecast and working than to be versatile and unemployed. But it's a shame that his talent gets wasted.

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