# 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:** 28
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/541 "2022-04-29T06:21:03Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > unlike, say, that FJ about Thor Heyerdahl a few months ago, which left me going “who the heck is that and why was I supposed to have heard of him?” That’s what is funny about jeopardy. I knew Heyerdahl immediately, it was like “that’s too easy” but I’d never even _heard of_ Song of Solomon. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/542 "2022-04-29T06:43:05Z")
I’d heard of Song of Solomon, I just thought it was from the 1980s. I knew it wasn’t Roots but couldn’t come up with anything better. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/543 "2022-04-29T07:47:49Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I’d heard of Song of Solomon Isn’t that the Disney flick with Uncle Remus? … …I’ll see myself out. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2022, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/544 "2022-04-29T11:27:00Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Still, I once read in GAMES magazine questions are supposed to get harder with dollar value - so if uncover a DD on highly places squares “bet the bank”. However, I have bot found this observation to be true. There’s no objective scale for difficulty, and based on the category, one person’s simple may be another’s hard, but in general, the clues do get tougher and more obscure as you move down the board. So yes, betting bigger on a clue towards the top of the board makes sense, all other things being equal. > [@Arcite](#): > > I’ve complained before how the change in approach ruins these “gimmick” categories in which the top clue functions as a sort of tutorial by being an easy example of how the clues/responses in that category work. It’s really frustrating when a contestant goes straight for the $1000/$2000 clue in such a category, and then it’s a triple stumper with dead silence as all of them stand there dumbfounded, not ringing in, with no idea how to even process the clue. I haven’t noticed them doing such “gimmick” categories very much in recent years. (Perhaps that’s _because_ players don’t run top to bottom as often these days.) Can you remember any recent examples? ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/545 "2022-04-30T20:07:35Z")
To the members mathematically analyzing the optimal betting strategy for DD or FJ, I would politely suggest that players also must consider their comfort level with the category. If you are strong in that subject, then it is reasonable to bet aggressively. However, if you are weak in that subject, then it is prudent to bet more conservatively. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/546 "2022-04-30T20:08:21Z")
On the same day with the FJ about the Irish poet (4/27), there was a category in the first Round titled “Finish the Old Proverb.” I was astonished that I had never heard of any of them, but was proud that I was able to figure out most of them from context. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/547 "2022-04-30T21:39:42Z")
I had heard all of them. And the Final Jeopardy question was easy. If you did not know, the number of good guesses is still small. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/548 "2022-04-30T21:40:50Z")
There’s also the player’s own personality and how risk-averse they are in general. Mattea is only 23 years old and has probably never had a great deal of money of her own before. Remember after her first or second win, she was excited that she would be able to pay off her student loans. I can well understand her not wanting to risk any more of this sudden windfall than she absolutely has to, even if doing so might be theoretically “smarter.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/549 "2022-04-30T21:45:27Z")
I agree. That does not mean betting a dollar was always the best move. But she bets modestly on DDs and in general. Although my strategy would differ, her results speak. How many of the games were even close? ---
**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:** [April 30, 2022, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/550 "2022-04-30T22:11:46Z")
This can definitely be a factor in DD but not in FJ. In FJ, you’re either going to beat your opponent or not, and you’ll get either the amount you wager or $2,000 or $1,000 if you come in 2nd or 3rd. Regardless of your comfort level with the category, you have a choice of winning $1 more than the next player’s total or $10,000 more. Which is better? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/551 "2022-05-01T21:17:14Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Is bigamy legal in Thailand, and if so, is the permission of the existing wife/wives required? It’s been illegal for just over a century now, but that’s only a minor detail. Rare is the Thai corporate titan without a second wife. It’s even common among the rabble, as I’ve known men who can barely scratch together $500 a month, if that, with two wives/households, and never have I figured out how they manage that. My own father-in-law – not a corporate titan but still an upper executive in a small shipping firm – had at least one other wife and family, all of whom attended the wedding of my wife and myself. (I say “at least,” because evidence of a third wife squirreled away somewhere was found after his death, but that was never determined for sure.) And no, the main wife’s permission is not required, although they say many main wives encourage it as a means of taking some of the pressure off themselves, especially if it was an arranged marriage. Still, I’ve been told that at one point my father-in-law proposed combining his two families into one big household, and my mother-in-law raised so much hell about it that the idea was quickly dropped. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/552 "2022-05-01T21:18:56Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I hate to break it to you, but [she’s not into guys](https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2022/4/21/lesbian-jeopardy-champ-mattea-roach-just-keeps-winning) Ah well. C’est la vie. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/553 "2022-05-02T17:53:16Z")
I was glad they taped that guy saying the alphabet backwards. No way was I going to take his word for it! ---
**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:** [May 6, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/554 "2022-05-06T02:11:20Z")
Shocker in FJ. Cinema is not my strong point, but I thought it was easy. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/555 "2022-05-06T02:20:49Z")
Before FJ I told my wife that Matteo might lose, and that the other player was pretty good. When the clue showed up, I thought it was pretty easy, so I said to my wife that if the possible new champion didn’t know it, she didn’t deserve to win. And that is exactly what happened: “I’ve never seen Citizen Kane?” Really??!? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/556 "2022-05-06T02:29:37Z")
It’s hard to imagine someone passing the audition test and not knowing that Final Jeopardy answer. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/557 "2022-05-06T02:31:10Z")
Really? I mean, _REALLY?_ ---
**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:** [May 6, 2022, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/558 "2022-05-06T02:31:38Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Shocker in FJ. Cinema is not my strong point, but I thought it was easy. Heck, I blurted it out even before Ken had finished reading the clue. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/559 "2022-05-06T02:45:57Z")
Never seen? How can you not know the basics of it even if you’ve never seen it? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207/560 "2022-05-06T02:50:30Z")
Watching FJ, it was painfully obvious that she didn’t know the answer, and that Mattea did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-discussion/957207.md?page=29)