# The Jeopardy thread \[was James Holzhauer\]\[contains spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [April 17, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696 "2019-04-17T21:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 171
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3407 "2021-11-21T03:00:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My guess is that all of those were essentially wilderness at that time. Governors Island was a military base during the revolutionary war. Now it’s not the right answer, of course, but if you don’t know the relevant facts, I think it’s a good answer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3408 "2021-11-21T03:07:38Z")
_If_ you know that Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury, and _if_ you know he’s buried at Trinity Church, and _if_ you know that Trinity Church is located in the heart of NYC (at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, no less), then you _automatically_ know the island in the clue is _Manhattan_. It was just icing on the cake as far as I was concerned ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3409 "2021-11-21T03:22:36Z")
Huh. I knew Governors Island was a military post well past the Revolution, but not up to 1996! The things you can learn randomly… ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3410 "2021-11-21T03:54:16Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Governors Island was a military base during the revolutionary war. > > Now it’s not the right answer, of course, but if you don’t know the relevant facts, I think it’s a good answer. That was my (obviously wrong) guess. Close enough to the city to easily transport a corpse, place of prominence, etc. Again, wrong, but not like I guessed Honolulu. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3411 "2021-11-21T04:11:28Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _If_ you know that Alexander Hamilton was Secretary of the Treasury, and _if_ you know he’s buried at Trinity Church, and _if_ you know that Trinity Church is located in the heart of NYC (at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street, no less), then you _automatically_ know the island in the clue is _Manhattan_ . Well, gee, _if_ you know the answer, then you _know_ the answer. Ipso facto QED. But if you don’t, you have to logic it out, and make an educated guess. Manhattan seems too obvious. A LOT of people are buried on Manhattan Island. Nothing remarkable about that. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3412 "2021-11-21T04:48:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I knew about New Caledonia by the time I was in fourth grade, just from watching _ **McHale’s Navy** _ . Haha! That is exactly how I too know about New Caledonia. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3413 "2021-11-21T04:48:55Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Again, wrong, but not like I guessed Honolulu. Which would also be wrong for not even being an island. Honolulu, my home, is a city on the island of Oahu. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3414 "2021-11-21T05:35:17Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Well, gee, _if_ you know the answer, then you _know_ the answer. Ipso facto QED. > > But if you don’t, you have to logic it out, and make an educated guess. > > Manhattan seems too obvious. A LOT of people are buried on Manhattan Island. Nothing remarkable about that. I suppose in retrospect one way you could logic it out–and this may have been part of what the writers were going for–would be “Treasury secretary → finance → Wall Street → Manhattan.” I admit, however, to being thrown by “this island,” as my mind then started going to places known by the name “X Island” like, well, Governors or Rikers or Staten or Long, or places more separated from their mainland, like Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. I’ve noticed before that it’s one of the Jeopardy writers’ pet topics/quirks that Manhattan is technically an island, but this fact slipped my mind. On the topic of all of us having our strong categories vs. weak ones, Lord knows I’m practically yelling at my TV when there’s a nice pristine “‘A’ in Physics” or “Classical Composers” or “Before & After” category just ripe to be selected, and the contestants keep going for “Contemporary TV Shows,” or, well “Monarchs,” or one of those annoying categories where Oprah Winfrey reads clues about her book club selections or something. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3415 "2021-11-21T05:47:41Z")
I used to live in Manhattan, for 20 years. I knew Hamilton was the first, I thought of Long Island and Ellis Island, rejected them right away, settled on Governor’s. Manhattan never occured to me. Anyone who knows anything knows Manhattan is an island, but who ever says, for example, "I am going on vacation, I am going to Manhattan Island? No one, that is who. And BTW, why is “island” spelled with an “s”? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3416 "2021-11-21T06:33:53Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The current champ should skip any intermediate steps, and just become a grandma. When Amy Schneider first appeared, I commented to my husband, “Her voice is so low, if you close your eyes, you’d think a man is speaking.” He replied, “You realize she’s trans, don’t you? And out.” ---
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3417 "2021-11-21T08:14:45Z")
Seriously? People are questioning why Manhattan is considered an island? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3418 "2021-11-21T08:22:04Z")
I once spent an entire afternoon lying on the floor with an atlas, trying to find Taratupa. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3419 "2021-11-21T08:30:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Well, gee, _if_ you know the answer, then you _know_ the answer. Ipso facto QED. That is correct, Watson. Well done! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3420 "2021-11-21T15:30:56Z")
> **[Transgender Awareness Week](https://www.glaad.org/transweek)** > > Each year between November 13 – 19, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face. The week before... Coincidence or… .something else? ---
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3421 "2021-11-21T15:35:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Seriously? People are questioning why Manhattan is considered an island? I have no trouble with Manhattan being an island, as long as Long ISLAND is also considered an island, which it isn’t. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3422 "2021-11-21T15:54:49Z")
That is a misunderstanding of the the SC ruling. It determined that is was connected enough to be a judicial bay for maritime state boundary purposes. > **[Long Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}40°48′N 73°18′W / 40.8°N 73.3°W / 40.8; -73.3 > > > Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropo... Second paragraph geography section. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3423 "2021-11-21T16:26:54Z")
There are a number of facts about the history of our nation that every American _should_ know. “Where is Alexander Hamilton buried?” is not one of them. Kudos to those who got it, but this was definitely not a gimme clue. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3424 "2021-11-21T17:47:25Z")
15 years ago I would have agreed with you, but after the raging success of _Hamilton_ on Broadway and it’s dissemination to the masses via Disney+, I really think it’s much more common knowledge - there’s specific mention of Hamilton’s burial spot (“She’s buried in Trinity Church near you.” - after a big deal is made about the Hamilton’s “moving uptown” in Manhattan). ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3425 "2021-11-21T21:39:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Seriously? People are questioning why Manhattan is considered an island? I wasn’t, but since you bring it up, it’s kind of always bothered me that certain pieces of land that are just barely separated from the immediately adjacent mainland by a tiny little narrow strip of water are called “islands.” I feel the same way about Mt. Desert “Island” in Maine. The first time I went there, I said “wait a minute, how is this an island? I don’t remember crossing a body of water to get here.” Turns out the road there does at one point go over a bridge over a roughly 50 foot stretch of water. I think referring to Manhattan in a clue as “this island” kind of makes it a trick question. If someone says “name an island,” I start thinking Australia, Greenland, Bermuda, Hawaii, Saint Helena, etc. > [@Wheelz](#): > > There are a number of facts about the history of our nation that every American _should_ know. “Where is Alexander Hamilton buried?” is not one of them. Kudos to those who got it, but this was definitely not a gimme clue. Yeah, I mean, when there’s a triple stumper that I know, and the contestants are standing there dumbfounded, not ringing in, I sometimes find myself exclaiming, “come on, I can’t believe none of you know this!” Just to take one example from [the most recent game](https://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=7196), the clue about where Sofia Vergara is from. But I’m not going to come on here and post “OMG, can you believe those contestants blew that clue? I mean, come on, “her native country” is a dead giveaway! _If_ you know that Sofia Vergara is from Colombia, it’s a piece of cake! Where else could it be?” > [@Zakalwe](#): > > 15 years ago I would have agreed with you, but after the raging success of _Hamilton_ on Broadway and it’s dissemination to the masses via Disney+, I really think it’s much more common knowledge - there’s specific mention of Hamilton’s burial spot (“She’s buried in Trinity Church near you.” - after a big deal is made about the Hamilton’s “moving uptown” in Manhattan). I’ve never seen _Hamilton_, but now that I know this, I would say this is probably the reason the writers would think that this is something people would know or could think of–the popularity of _Hamilton._ ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/3426 "2021-11-21T22:44:50Z")
Yeah, there are a lot of clues that I get, which many people don’t. But usually I recognize that the clue is in a somewhat niche area, and I only know it because I happen to be interested in that area. For example, I’m a big fan of the Universal horror movies of the 30s and 40s. For that reason, I would easily recognize someone like [Lionel Atwill.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Atwill) But I realize that most people would have no idea who he was, and I wouldn’t scorn anyone who didn’t recognize him. There are some things that every educated person should know. There are other things that are only known by specialists in a particular field. In between there is a broad swath of things that you might or might not know, depending on your interests. It can sometimes be challenging to remember that the stuff you know isn’t necessarily stuff that _everyone_ knows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=170) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=172)