Oh sweet relief, the show is watchable again! Congrats to Patti for taking out Jake.
Yes, I actually pumped my fist in the air! Not unlike Jake, I suppose… 
Yes, he was a strange one. One-on-one he might be quirky but okay, but being on stage seemed to bring out the worst in him. I actually felt a little sorry for him. (but glad to see him go)
Well he made me laugh, especially his “boom goes the dynamite” move.
Sadly, Patti’s reign lasted just one day. A Grandma who dyes her hair purple because that’s her granddaughter’s favorite color is okay in my book.
I was wondering if it was dyed hair, or a reflection from the set.
Yes, she talked about it during the interview portion.
I seem to remember a while back we had a discussion about what response constitutes a question on Jeopardy.
Today that may have been answered, as the answer to a clue was the move title ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’.
The response was ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?’. Not “What is ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?’”
Ken ruled it as a correct response, because it was in the form of a question. Not sure I agree, but I can understand why it was ruled as a correct response.
They’ve always allowed responses like that. The rule is that the response has to be in the form of a question. If, like here, the full response is actually a question, you don’t have to surround it with another question.
Although in this case it seemed as if Matthew didn’t do that intentionally. It looked to me as though he was briefly stumped and when the answer came to him just in the nick of time, he just blurted it out without realizing it was a question in its own. When Ken confirmed it was acceptable, Matthew nodded as if acknowledging he had lucked out.
I often thought that it would be fun to answer with a statement, but make it appear as a question by using the vocal inflection that is typically used when we ask someone a question in everyday life (a rise in pitch at the end of the sentence).
Not that I think that would be allowed.
mmm
“The cockpit? What is it?”
That’s always been the rule. I seem to remember a category within the past few years where all the answers were questions and the category title was something like “Perfect Jeopardy Responses.”
I remember that! And yet the players were so conditioned that they still added the unnecessary “What is” to most of their responses. E.g., “What is ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’”
It’s not just them who were conditioned. I would answer in the form of a question when playing Trivial Pursuit.
Yes, and I’ve heard people on other broadcast game shows (e.g., Ask Me Another on NPR) doing it, too.
Are you allowed to answer in Yoda style?
There have been a couple of times over the past year or two that a contestant responded with the question “is it X?” and that has been accepted. Because yes, it’s in the form of a question.
There have also been a couple of times recently that the celebrities on Celebrity Jeopardy were so in the “what is” zone that the selected the next clue by saying e.g., “what is Potpourri for $200?”
I agree that rising pitch would not be ruled as acceptable. The Rule is “You must PHRASE your response in the form of a question.”
Usually contestants use the flat inflection even though saying something like “Who is Benjamin Franklin?”
Occasionally a contestant will use that rising inflection to indicate that they aren’t confident in their response.
Mattea did that Every. Damn. Time.
I was annoyed by it until, near the end of her run, I remembered that the responses are supposed to be questions, so I decided that rather than think of it as up-talking, which always bugs me, I would hear it as her actually saying it as though it were a question. That made me somewhat less annoyed.
Really, Yogesh? More valued by whom? Did he say what quizzing event he considers more valued than Jeopardy? I can’t imagine what that would be.
Trivia Night at some random bar? National Trivia Leagues™? World Tavern Trivia National Championships? Trivia Nationals? National Trivia Association?
I had never heard of any of these events before I searched today. Anyone else? Anyone? Bueller?
As others have pointed out here, contestants on other quiz shows often preface their answer with “What is” even though it is not required ANYWHERE ELSE.
It is hard to overstate the importance of Jeopardy! in “Quizzing” or even American culture in general. It is a nationally syndicated TV show seen by over 9 people on over 200 stations. The phrase “Jeopardy champion” is universally understood to mean “very smart.”
Has anyone else anywhere ever said anything remotely resembling Yogesh’s comment?