Did anyone else think it was odd that they had a clue about a car with a six-cylinder engine, but wouldn’t accept “what are pistons” as a valid response? Each cylinder has just one piston.
Yes, I was sure when they came back from commercial they were going to credit her with the answer.
Absolutely. I also expected a score adjustment.
mmm
I thought so too, at first, but here’s the text of the clue:
Looking at a Hudson Super Six, named for its six of these, feel the presence of the Joads who converted one into a truck & piled in
I think the judges would have said that, although it might have had six pistons, or six piston rods, or six frammistans, it was named for the six cylinders.
Considering that one of Jeopardy’s regular sponsors is fake brain pill manufacturer Prevagen, I don’t think there’s a lot of room to complain about Mayim’s shilling for Neuriva.
She’s not known for her attractiveness, or her Oscar caliber acting chops. But she makes up for all that by being so famously smart. So, if she says her brain pills work who’s to argue? She is (or was?) personally vouching for this shit.
Was it, though? I might say that my car has a 6-cylinder engine, but that’s just for convenience. Anyone who knows cars knows that it must also have 6 pistons, 6 connecting rods, etc.
Is there any definitive source from Hudson that they named the car after its cylinders, and not the other mechanical pieces within the cylinders?
There was another dumb one a couple of weeks ago. The clue was something about a place that people in Finland spend that’s 210 degrees and he guessed igloos, rather than saunas, as was the correct answer.
Yeah. I would have accepted that.
Haha, when I was a kid and my dad first explained the rudiments of a car engine to me, I immediately thought it made no sense that we refer to engines by the number of cylinders rather than the number of pistons. A cylinder is just an empty space, I thought; the piston is what does the work! We should talk about 4, 6, or 8-piston engines, not cylinders. Of course I’m accustomed to cylinders being the convention, but yeah, if I were the Jeopardy judges, I’d have given it to her.
Yes, it’s the piston that does the work.
There is a reason they don’t call that basketball team the Detroit Cylinders.
mmm
That answer could work on a couple of levels: 210 degrees Kelvin (yes, I know this is a non-standard usage), or an igloo that was just over half-completed. I wonder if they phrased the question (answer) to exclude those possibilities?
While it is certainly true that the number of cylinders in an engine is equal to the number of pistons (and other components, for that matter), if this question is asked:
What does the ‘8’ refer to in ‘V-8 engine’?
Some number of respondents greater than 99% will answer ‘cylinders’.
Maybe MPG?
I agree, I’m just saying I would have given it to her.
Looking back at Jeopardy Archive, I’m even more surprised than I am that she didn’t get credit for “pistons,” that it was a triple stumper. Neither of the other 2 contestants could think of cylinders?
Have you seen the Detroit Pistons play? Instead of going up and down, they kind of just roll around like Pringles cans. Maybe the Cylinders is a better name? 
There was a terrible Final Jeopardy question recently. It was worded so badly. A giant run-on sentence about Giotto and a certain comet from 680 years ago interpreted as a possible Star of Bethlehem. I knew the answer but the wording was so confusing I hesitated.
A craft that visited it was named for Giotto, based on the story that 680 years earlier, the painter depicted it as the Star of Bethlehem
Even though I also got it, I agree that it is not the clearest of clues.
I didn’t know the answer, but I wasted all the time just trying to understand the question.
That happens about once per game for me. I turn to my wife and say, “I don’t even know what their asking.” It’s rare for Final Jeopardy though.
All I can usually manage is to rate how big or small the number of possible “Clues” is. For example, State Capitals has a maximum of somewhat above 50, due to changes. On the other hand, Literature approaches infinity.