Summer Camp Early Report
1 day ago
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
This One's For Liz
Because Liz is one of the only people who will appreciate the awesomeness of this.
Several years back, Danielle introduced me to a game she and her family would play while watching Jeopardy! After the Final Jeopardy! category was revealed, they would make a preliminary guess before the clue came up. It's the kind of thing that's silly and fun and almost guaranteed to never result in a win, but is painless and effortless enough to continue attempting whenever the show's on.
One time, the stars aligned themselves and I was able to guess correctly...but there was a bit of an asterisk surrounding it. The category in question was "1950s Fiction," which is not exactly a broad, wide-reaching category. Plus, my favorite novel ever -- and my candidate for Greatest Novel Ever Written -- happened to be written in the 1950s.
1955, to be precise. Little book called Lolita. And sure enough, though I can't remember the clue verbatim, "What is Lolita?" was the correct response. I received back pats, but only half-hearted ones, since the category was so specific.
Tonight, I found myself watching Jeopardy! and chatting online with Danielle. Our exchange went as follows:
Me (7:19): the head still hurts
Me (7:19): i ate, i took Advil, i took the contacts out, i'm resting
Me (7:20): dunno what else i'm supposed to do
Me (7:20): Who is Eliza Doolittle?
Danielle (7:21): category?
Me (7:21): Characters in Plays
Me (7:22): thus, Who is Eliza Doolittle
Danielle (7:22): who is nathan detroit
Note the timestamps there. My guess came at 7:20pm. Then, at 7:23pm, came the clue:
"This woman wished to be taken to 'Bucknam Pellis...don't you know where it is? In the Green Park, where the King lives'"
HOLY FUCK, I GOT IT RIGHT.
And since "Characters in Plays" is such a radically wide-ranging category, this officially legitimates my previous success! And who cares if it's a completely frivolous little game? I'm still a champ!
(Yes, in case you were wondering, this has been the highlight of my day. How'd you guess?)
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4 comments:
This is really funny. I just watched this episode on the west coast. My girlfriend was just talking about how she was watching Jeopardy one time, and the final clue was artists. She guessed Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec before seeing the answer/clue, and she was correct.
So when I heard that the category was, "characters in plays," I guessed Stanley Kowalski. I was wrong, but I googled the clue that they gave, and this blog came up. Crazy coincidence.
All sorts of "props" and the like to you. But for a minute can we stop and think what Pygmalion would be like with Nathan Detroit in the role of Eliza Doolittle. That night be worth seeing.
Woo! This one's for me!
People on the official Jeopardy message boards say they play this game too. Alas, I've never been correct with it. However, if I get a correct response on FJ tomorrow, I'll have my first 5-for-5 week in regular play since 2005. I'm excited.
It occurred to me much later that the first clue I correctly wrote down in my crossword puzzle that morning was "Pygmalion playwright," so perhaps that was subconsciously how I came up with it. But still...of ALL the characters in ALL the plays ever written, I come up with Eliza Doolittle? Too weird!
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