# The Big Bang Theory, October 3, 2013 -- "The Scavenger Vortex" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300 "2013-10-03T21:47:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/21 "2013-10-04T15:03:45Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > MIT & Harvard absolutely mock each other. Being a 20 minute walk away helps though. Yeah, but I have a hard time picturing Sheldon at a school that dedicates so many funds to the \*social \*sciences. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/22 "2013-10-04T15:30:47Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Amy knows where Sheldon went to school. If it had been Harvard, she would have said “we” or asked if Sheldon did that when he was there. She presumably wouldn’t ask Sheldon here and now if she’d asked him about it some other time – and so long as his answer wasn’t likewise about always getting stuck on the _trying-to-find-someone-to-be-on-a-team-with-me_ stage, she’d of course say “I” when relaying that comment; saying “we” would make no sense. [QUOTE=Amy Farrah Fowler] Scavenger hunts at Harvard were really tough. I always got stuck on the first challenge: trying to find someone to be on a team with me. {Starts to chuckle, trails off.} I guess that story’s more “sad” than “funny”. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/23 "2013-10-04T16:13:48Z")
I had a hard time believing they could put a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle together in just a few minutes. I did like Amy and Howard though. “To the Neil Mobile!!” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/24 "2013-10-04T17:04:16Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I had a hard time believing they could put a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle together in just a few minutes. I did like Amy and Howard though. “To the Neil Mobile!!” Did they say it was 1000 pieces? Those little boxes are typically smaller puzzles, like 250. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/25 "2013-10-04T17:12:04Z")
AFF said something like “I loved puzzles when I was growing up. My mother said it’s like having a thousand little friends.” But nothing about the size of the puzzle they were doing at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/26 "2013-10-04T17:19:53Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Did they say it was 1000 pieces? Those little boxes are typically smaller puzzles, like 250. Nah, I was just guestimating. I could be way off. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/27 "2013-10-04T18:52:45Z")
Competitive Bernie was a mean hoot. Paraphrased because I don’t have an edemic memory: “You don’t have to break for birds. They fly, you know!” “Are you gonna cry? Because I have tissues in my purse. If you don’t have any in yours.” “You big . . . willow tree.” ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/28 "2013-10-04T19:13:40Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Competitive Bernie was a mean hoot. Paraphrased because I don’t have an edemic memory: > > “You don’t have to break for birds. They fly, you know!” > “Are you gonna cry? Because I have tissues in my purse. If you don’t have any in yours.” > “You big . . . willow tree.” Yeah, hilarious! ---
**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:** [October 4, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/29 "2013-10-04T19:57:34Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > MIT & Harvard absolutely mock each other. Being a 20 minute walk away helps though. Harvard is, arguably, the second finest college in the whole of Cambridge. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/30 "2013-10-04T19:59:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > At least this episode settled some of the questions we had as to what universities everybody attended - Princeton came in for some mocking. Which tells us that Sheldon must have attended someplace like Berlin Polytechnic (Captain Tuttle’s old school!), because a doctorate from UT wouldn’t give him mocking rights. He also didn’t make fun of Harvard (Amy’s school), so we can likely rule out there and Yale for him. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Why does that rule out Harvard? It would make perfect sense for a Harvard grad to mock Princeton while of course not mocking Harvard. Except that it was _Howard_ who mocked Princeton, not Sheldon. Sheldon merely explained the insult to the group. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/31 "2013-10-04T22:49:58Z")
I followed Sheldon’s explanation of how the rhyming clue led him to the geology lab perfectly… but I didn’t get how Penny figured out the final piece of the puzzle until my wife explained it to me. I guess my musical education was deficient; I don’t recognize a Rolling Stones poster when I see one. BTW, is Stuart’s comic book shop just named “The Comic Book Store?” That’s what everyone calls it. Most of the shops I know put a little more creativity into their names, or at least include the owner’s name in the store’s. But maybe that’s a comment on Stuart’s level of imagination. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/32 "2013-10-05T00:25:24Z")
The coordinates to the bowling alley (34.1516, -118.0767) really do point to a Pasadena bowling alley. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/33 "2013-10-05T00:41:28Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > BTW, is Stuart’s comic book shop just named “The Comic Book Store?” That’s what everyone calls it. Most of the shops I know put a little more creativity into their names, or at least include the owner’s name in the store’s. But maybe that’s a comment on Stuart’s level of imagination. Funny you should mention that. Last night was the first time I noticed that Stuart’s counter has a sign on the front edge with a URL to the store’s web site: [www.thecomiccenter.com](http://www.thecomiccenter.com). The site says the store is called The Comic Center of Pasadena, and the online store is closed ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/34 "2013-10-05T00:42:14Z")
Decent episode. I didn’t like bitchy Bernadette. I like her as a character. This wasn’t part of what I like. I’ve organized something kinda like that hunt before - I enjoyed that part of it. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/35 "2013-10-05T00:58:12Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Competitive Bernie was a mean hoot. Paraphrased because I don’t have an edemic memory: > > “You don’t have to break for birds. They fly, you know!” > “Are you gonna cry? Because I have tissues in my purse. If you don’t have any in yours.” > “You big . . . willow tree.” \Sheldon “It’s ‘eidetic’ . . . you haven’t got an _eidetic_ memory.” /Sheldon I thought the wolverine in a steel cage persona was well and fully realized, LOL! " . . . because you were just about to quit like a big SHELDON COVER YOUR EARS!!!" ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/36 "2013-10-05T02:18:34Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Except that it was _Howard_ who mocked Princeton, not Sheldon. Sheldon merely explained the insult to the group. 🙂 Smiley-face aside, Sheldon in fact endorses the sentiment. _“That’s amusing; I was going to say that about MIT, but it works for Princeton too.”_ ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/37 "2013-10-05T02:40:03Z")
Bitchiness aside, Bernadette looked better than usual in this episode imo. This season in general. ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/38 "2013-10-05T03:06:01Z")
Sheldon is from Texas. Maybe he went to their famed Institute of Technology (and had no clue why his mother wouldn’t let him wear his t-shirt with it’s initials on it). I wished they had put crazy Bernadette with Sheldon, and every time he did his Sheldon thing she would have given him a swift kick in the gazongas. At the end of the show he would be crawling on hands and knees into the apartment. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/39 "2013-10-05T03:13:59Z")
Princeton did have both Einstein and Godel at their Institute for Advanced Study. But of course Leonard is not a theorist. We’ve seen this side of Bernadette before. Howard married a true Mrs. Wolowitz. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300/40 "2013-10-05T04:25:30Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > We’ve seen this side of Bernadette before. Howard married a true Mrs. Wolowitz. I’m reminded of Penny bitching about not getting to be Cinderella when the three girls had Disney makeovers. I believe Bernie’s exact words were “Come at me. See what happens.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-bang-theory-october-3-2013-the-scavenger-vortex/670300.md?page=3)