# Jeopardy discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [January 4, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207 "2022-01-04T18:16:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/361 "2022-03-30T18:13:39Z")
I’ll say this for Mayim- at least we can make snide comments about her non-existent fashion sense. Last night she looked like she was on her way to a costume party as a 6th grader. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/362 "2022-03-30T20:43:29Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Later in the game, the contestant answered “Newfoundland” instead of “Newfoundland and Labrador.” The contestant’s answer was not wrong, just incomplete, so I don’t think they should have immediately been ruled incorrect. They should have been asked for more information. I have noticed that there is a little more leniency shown in the first Jeopardy block and maybe a little prompting if incomplete, less so in Double J. Maybe that’s not deliberate, maybe it is. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/363 "2022-03-30T21:00:10Z")
I believe that in the Jeopardy round, the host will prompt the contestant (or at least wait for them to correct themselves) if they fail to answer in the form of a question, but not so in Double Jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/364 "2022-03-30T21:29:54Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Mayim either hesitated or asked for more info (can’t remember), and the contestant then said “hare.” This was clearly wrong, so the contestant was properly ruled incorrect. I had thought Mayim had at least started to weigh in and say “no” when he followed up with “what is a hare,” but I just re-watched it, and you’re right, all we hear her do after he says “rabbit” is take a breath. Still, I can’t help but wonder if Alex, with his years of familiarity with hosting, might have more quickly said “be more specific” while Mayim is looking at the judges or waiting for them to say something in her earpiece or whatever. > [@gregorio](#): > > I thought Mayim was abrupt as well, but the answer was wrong. The clue clearly stated an island (Newfoundland) and a chunk of the mainland (Labrador). I think to some degree this could be a matter of opinion, but what makes me want to be lenient is the wording of the clue: “A package deal of mainland turf & an island, this Canadian province uses the postal abbreviation NL.” The clue mentions that the province consists of an island and a chunk of the mainland, but it’s phrased such that it’s asking “what is the name of the province?” He gave the first half of the name. I’m not saying “Newfoundland” should be accepted as a correct response; I say give him a chance by prompting “we need more.” Sure, if his response to _that_ is “what is, uh, the Province of Newfoundland?” then rule him incorrect. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I believe that in the Jeopardy round, the host will prompt the contestant (or at least wait for them to correct themselves) if they fail to answer in the form of a question, but not so in Double Jeopardy. I would be willing to bet anything that this is a figment of your imagination. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/365 "2022-03-30T21:48:26Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > > I believe that in the Jeopardy round, the host will prompt the contestant (or at least wait for them to correct themselves) if they fail to answer in the form of a question, but not so in Double Jeopardy. > > I would be willing to bet anything that this is a figment of your imagination. [You lose](https://www.jeopardy.com/jbuzz/behind-scenes/5-jeopardy-rules-every-contestant-should-know). > 1. If a contestant gives a response to a non-Daily Double clue in the Jeopardy! round that is not in the form of a question, the host will give them a reminder. However, if a contestant forgets their phrasing in the Double Jeopardy! round, during Final Jeopardy! or for any Daily Double clue, they will be ruled incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/366 "2022-03-30T22:11:42Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > If a contestant gives a response to a non-Daily Double clue in the Jeopardy! round that is not in the form of a question, the host will give them a reminder. However, if a contestant forgets their phrasing in the Double Jeopardy! round, during Final Jeopardy! or for any Daily Double clue, they will be ruled incorrect. Wow, has it always been that way? I could have sworn when I was a kid, if someone forgot to respond in the form of a question, Alex would flat-out rule them incorrect, and that I never saw him let it slide or remind them until a few years ago. The first time I saw him do it, I wondered where that was coming from; it made it seem as though they’d grown more lenient. I still think there is no difference in leniency with “be more specific” between rounds. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/367 "2022-03-30T22:18:52Z")
I don’t know how long this has been their practice, but it could be that you noticed the different treatment but didn’t notice the connection to which round each happened in. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/368 "2022-03-30T22:27:35Z")
Possibly, but before a few years ago I didn’t think I had _ever_ seen Alex prompt or remind someone to phrase their response as a question; I thought that in the 80s and 90s _every_ time someone forgot he just said “no.” I could be misremembering things, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/369 "2022-03-30T23:22:31Z")
It’s been this way since at least the late 1980s when I used to watch religiously. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/370 "2022-03-31T00:05:12Z")
They sure missed a chance for some [lucrative product placement](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9TpRsLdKVAg) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/371 "2022-03-31T09:42:03Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I think to some degree this could be a matter of opinion, but what makes me want to be lenient is the wording of the clue: “A package deal of mainland turf & an island, this Canadian province uses the postal abbreviation NL.” The clue mentions that the province consists of an island and a chunk of the mainland, but it’s phrased such that it’s asking “what is the name of the province?” He gave the first half of the name. I’m not saying “Newfoundland” should be accepted as a correct response; I say give him a chance by prompting “we need more.” Sure, if his response to _that_ is “what is, uh, the Province of Newfoundland?” then rule him incorrect. The problem with Newfoundland is that that is how most Canadians (including Newfoundlanders) refer to the province that is properly styled “Newfoundland and Labrador.” Nowadays, anyway, because it wasn’t always so. When I was a child, studying Canadian geography in middle school, the question arose: “What is Labrador? Is it a province or a territory?” And the answer, from the teacher, was always, “It’s a part of the province of Newfoundland.” The island of Newfoundland and the mainland area of Labrador have been joined since 1949, when Newfoundland was admitted into the Canadian Confederation. And that’s what we were taught: that the island of Newfoundland and the mainland area of Labrador constituted the province of Newfoundland. Indeed, its postal abbreviation reflected that: NF, and you could address a postcard to somebody in “Labrador City, NF,” and it would get to where it needed to go. Now, the abbreviation is NL, for “Newfoundland and Labrador,” which has become the official name of the province. That’s a fairly recent change, probably within the last twenty years, if not shorter. I’m not surprised that it stumped the American contestants–it certainly stumped Canadian me, who studied Canadian geography and who replied, “What is Newfoundland?” Only to be wrong. I think that the judges are wrong on this one. To most every Canadian (except possibly the 27,000 Labradorians), “Newfoundland and Labrador” can be correctly referred to as simply, “Newfoundland.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2022, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/372 "2022-03-31T10:03:44Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I think that the judges are wrong on this one. To most every Canadian (except possibly the 27,000 Labradorians), “Newfoundland and Labrador” can be correctly referred to as simply, “Newfoundland.” Has Jeopardy allowed such relatively recently outdated names for geographical regions (counties or states/provinces) before? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/373 "2022-04-01T02:05:02Z")
Is it considered bad form to laugh at other contestant’s ridiculous answers? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/374 "2022-04-01T12:48:05Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The island of Newfoundland and the mainland area of Labrador have been joined since 1949,… Kinda like Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/375 "2022-04-01T15:48:44Z")
Can we agree “albatross” is pronounced with an exclamation mark, like the show itself? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/376 "2022-04-01T16:25:00Z")
also, great name for a child… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/377 "2022-04-01T19:36:23Z")
No, no it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/378 "2022-04-01T22:01:48Z")
Is Nell a Deschanel sister I am unaware of? She not only looks like Zooey, but her voice and mannerisms seemed close to me. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/379 "2022-04-01T23:58:51Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Is Nell a Deschanel sister I am unaware of? She not only looks like Zooey, but her voice and mannerisms seemed close to me. - I had the same thought. And of course Zooey is back on television now (in AT&T ads), so she comes to mind more readily. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/380 "2022-04-02T17:22:57Z")
I was happy to see Nell win, but hoo-boy it was painful to watch the mismanagement of DD’s at the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207.md?page=20)