Duel - Thursday (Minor Spoiler)

[Rexer25]

Spoiler

So the telemarketer and the cabbie had an alliance?

[MarleysGh0st]

Spoiler

So the telemarketer and the cabbie had an alliance?

Spoiler

The telemarketer "had the cabbie's back", whatever that meant.

Maybe the telemarketer was prepared to tackle and crush anyone who threatened to duel the cabbie with swords?

[tanstaafl2]

Sounded rather like the telemarketer had been helping the cabbie, who appear to have some physical limitations, get around during the long shoots.

Spoiler

A lot of questions I could have answered quickly with a single coin and a press this evening. But I would have gotten burned by Judge Judy. Had no idea she made that much!

Was another one that would have gotten me as well if I had played aggressively but I forget which one it was.

[Rexer25]

Sounded rather like the telemarketer had been helping the cabbie, who appear to have some physical limitations, get around during the long shoots.

Spoiler

A lot of questions I could have answered quickly with a single coin and a press this evening. But I would have gotten burned by Judge Judy. Had no idea she made that much!

Was another one that would have gotten me as well if I had played aggressively but I forget which one it was.

Spoiler

Was it the band that reportedly was offered a billion dollars to reunite? That wudda got me.

[MarleysGh0st]

Did the cabbie look familiar to anyone else? I kept thinking that he might have been a contestant on WWTBAM or some other game show before. (I had second thoughts about that after I saw his game play.)

Maybe I'm just remembering him as another SyndieBAM auditioner.

How did people like the umpire? I thought his attempts to psych out the other player crossed the line into obnoxiousness.

And as for his secret qualification:

Spoiler

If he's bragging about his perfect SAT score (in the math section) I want to know what his verbal score was.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Sounded rather like the telemarketer had been helping the cabbie, who appear to have some physical limitations, get around during the long shoots.

Spoiler

A lot of questions I could have answered quickly with a single coin and a press this evening. But I would have gotten burned by Judge Judy. Had no idea she made that much!

Was another one that would have gotten me as well if I had played aggressively but I forget which one it was.

Spoiler

Was it the band that reportedly was offered a billion dollars to reunite? That wudda got me.

Spoiler

I was really surprised by the answer to this question. I wonder who would offer up that much money to this particular band.

[gsabc]

Sounded rather like the telemarketer had been helping the cabbie, who appear to have some physical limitations, get around during the long shoots.

Spoiler

A lot of questions I could have answered quickly with a single coin and a press this evening. But I would have gotten burned by Judge Judy. Had no idea she made that much!

Was another one that would have gotten me as well if I had played aggressively but I forget which one it was.

Spoiler

Was it the band that reportedly was offered a billion dollars to reunite? That wudda got me.

Spoiler

I was really surprised by the answer to this question. I wonder who would offer up that much money to this particular band.

Spoiler

SarcaFrank's evil twin.

[Rexer25]

I'm wondering if there's anything in the rules about being able to promise another player you'll pick them to come on stage if they promise to pick you. You could make that promise to 4 or 5 people, and just hope that 2 of them don't show up as potential opponents at the same time if you get on stage.

[christie1111]

Spoiler

SarcaFrank's evil twin.

Exactly the way I was thinking!

[MarleysGh0st]

I'm wondering if there's anything in the rules about being able to promise another player you'll pick them to come on stage if they promise to pick you. You could make that promise to 4 or 5 people, and just hope that 2 of them don't show up as potential opponents at the same time if you get on stage.

Good question. Producers are always worried about collaboration between contestants and giving one the power to choose another is a pretty big opportunity for that. (Even though, in this case, it means one or the other contestant goes home.)

I'm still mad that the rules mean that everyone is going to snub the software engineer the whole week.

So when will Penn have the chance to reveal his secret identity?

[silverscreenselect]

I'm still mad that the rules mean that everyone is going to snub the software engineer the whole week.

I don't understand this at all. How would a software engineer "automatically" know who the second richest woman on TV was (that would have sent me home). Or which celeb never married a top selling singer?

Or even necessarily the geography questions (of which there seem to be a lot of)? People assuming that someone who has an advanced degree will automatically know all the questions is a bit ridiculous. So many of the questions on this show are pop culture or even the trivialest of trivia. Plus, they have been going to lengths to try to hide some of the educational qualifications of some of the seemingly "dumb" contestants.

What do you think the odds are of asking a single question during this entire week that deals with subjects a computer programmer is likely to have studied in depth? This guy may be very well rounded and well read and well versed in pop culture. He may just as easily have spent the vast bulk of his time dealing with his specialty.

[mrkelley23]

SSS, I had come to a similar conclusion. But I think Marley's point is still valid -- he looks like a trivia geek, therefore he's not going to be chosen as a contestant, because human nature is what it is.

Now that I've seen a little of this show, I think I'd be picking as close to "me" as possible -- people of similar background, age, etc., on the theory that I believe I could beat someone like that in a test of trivia knowledge. But the way questions are going on this show, I might very well wind up getting a question about which rapper was shot to death in 2005, and if I've picked out some young person who looks like they don't know much, I'd be out of luck, I think.

My strategy would have been much different if I was playing the very first night the show aired, I can tell you that.

[Bob Juch]

I'm wondering if there's anything in the rules about being able to promise another player you'll pick them to come on stage if they promise to pick you. You could make that promise to 4 or 5 people, and just hope that 2 of them don't show up as potential opponents at the same time if you get on stage.

Good question. Producers are always worried about collaboration between contestants and giving one the power to choose another is a pretty big opportunity for that. (Even though, in this case, it means one or the other contestant goes home.)

I'm still mad that the rules mean that everyone is going to snub the software engineer the whole week.

So when will Penn have the chance to reveal his secret identity?

I know a couple of software engineers that are good at trivia , but most I know sure aren't.

[MarleysGh0st]

I'm still mad that the rules mean that everyone is going to snub the software engineer the whole week.

I don't understand this at all. How would a software engineer "automatically" know who the second richest woman on TV was (that would have sent me home). Or which celeb never married a top selling singer?

I'm not making any claims about what he knows or doesn't know or how that might align with the questions they might ask. I'm simply complaining about the rule that lets the winner choose which of three random challengers to play. Yes, TPTB have made this game be partly about preconceptions about people and each of these contestants have some "secret smarts" that they don't disclose in the initial introduction. But the general strategy is still to pick the challenger that appears weaker. (Except for the women who deliberately chose another woman because "I think a woman should win.")

And the general preconceptions we've seen so far just happen to coincide with TPTB's image of the boring game show contestant: The MAWGish professionals are the ones to avoid.

It may well be that one of the other contestants is a stronger player. A brackets tournament or some other less subjective pairing system might reveal that. This won't.

The end.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I'm still mad that the rules mean that everyone is going to snub the software engineer the whole week.

I don't understand this at all. How would a software engineer "automatically" know who the second richest woman on TV was (that would have sent me home). Or which celeb never married a top selling singer?

He's being snubbed because he named his kids Maximilian and Leonardo.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I'm still mad that the rules mean that everyone is going to snub the software engineer the whole week.

I don't understand this at all. How would a software engineer "automatically" know who the second richest woman on TV was (that would have sent me home). Or which celeb never married a top selling singer?

I'm not making any claims about what he knows or doesn't know or how that might align with the questions they might ask. I'm simply complaining about the rule that lets the winner choose which of three random challengers to play. Yes, TPTB have made this game be partly about preconceptions about people and each of these contestants have some "secret smarts" that they don't disclose in the initial introduction. But the general strategy is still to pick the challenger that appears weaker. (Except for the women who deliberately chose another woman because "I think a woman should win.")

And the general preconceptions we've seen so far just happen to coincide with TPTB's image of the boring game show contestant: The MAWGish professionals are the ones to avoid.

It may well be that one of the other contestants is a stronger player. A brackets tournament or some other less subjective pairing system might reveal that. This won't.

The end.

For all anyone knows, the software engineer could have had a stroke and doesn't remember things any more.

(Lately, I feel like I have been having a mini-stroke every day. It's the holiday season...)

[MarleysGh0st]

He's being snubbed because he named his kids Maximilian and Leonardo.

Yes, that was a strategically unfortunate revelation that further enhanced the image he already had.

[Appa23]

He's being snubbed because he named his kids Maximilian and Leonardo.

Yes, that was a strategically unfortunate revelation that further enhanced the image he already had.

It is one of the reasons that I would select him.

People who give their kids pretentious names would be more apt to be overly confident in a wrong answer.

I am guessing that I am like nearly everyone else on this Board. I feel secure that I could beat any of the contestnats on the show.

(Quiet self-confidence is good.)

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

He's being snubbed because he named his kids Maximilian and Leonardo.

Yes, that was a strategically unfortunate revelation that further enhanced the image he already had.

It is one of the reasons that I would select him.

People who give their kids pretentious names would be more apt to be overly confident in a wrong answer.

I am guessing that I am like nearly everyone else on this Board. I feel secure that I could beat any of the contestnats on the show.

(Quiet self-confidence is good.)

So when you are you going to be quiet.

[andrewjackson]

I have to say that I am trending toward using one chip per question or all four.

I think I could beat many of these players because they don't seem to know the basic trivia stuff but I would really worry about getting caught by one of these random information questions.

[peacock2121]

I killed off the ump as soon as he 'kissed' the nurse. What a creep.

I rejoiced when she smushed him like a bug.

I kinda like that the telemarketer gave his friend a shot.

[peacock2121]

I think I could beat many of these players because they don't seem to know the basic trivia stuff .....

aj said it better than I did yesterday.

[gsabc]

And the general preconceptions we've seen so far just happen to coincide with TPTB's image of the boring game show contestant: The MAWGish professionals are the ones to avoid.

PTBAM is partly to blame for this. Many of the players in TOPG days were professionals of one sort or another, a good number of whom were MAWGs or approaching that status. That was the nature of the callbacks. Many in the working public, pre-cheap cell phones, could not be available for one- or two-time only calls in the middle of the day. Many professionals were, either in their offices or through mobile phones supplied by their businesses. Hence, their disproportionate appearance in the hot seat. Whether they were boring or not is a matter of opinion.

KJ is another source for the preconception, the quintessential software nerd with the brain full of information. KJ may not be a MAWG yet, but I'll bet his J! performance has scared off some Duelists from choosing this particular software engineer.

[tanstaafl2]

Sounded rather like the telemarketer had been helping the cabbie, who appear to have some physical limitations, get around during the long shoots.

Spoiler

A lot of questions I could have answered quickly with a single coin and a press this evening. But I would have gotten burned by Judge Judy. Had no idea she made that much!

Was another one that would have gotten me as well if I had played aggressively but I forget which one it was.

Spoiler

Was it the band that reportedly was offered a billion dollars to reunite? That wudda got me.

Spoiler

Yes, that might have been the other one. I thought it might be the Beatles except that it was the obvious answer. So not sure if I would have been bold enough to go with one chip. But I did not suspect the correct answer at all and might have left it uncovered.

[Appa23]

Sounded rather like the telemarketer had been helping the cabbie, who appear to have some physical limitations, get around during the long shoots.

Spoiler

A lot of questions I could have answered quickly with a single coin and a press this evening. But I would have gotten burned by Judge Judy. Had no idea she made that much!

Was another one that would have gotten me as well if I had played aggressively but I forget which one it was.

Spoiler

Was it the band that reportedly was offered a billion dollars to reunite? That wudda got me.

Spoiler

Yes, that might have been the other one. I thought it might be the Beatles except that it was the obvious answer. So not sure if I would have been bold enough to go with one chip. But I did not suspect the correct answer at all and might have left it uncovered.

I missed this part of the show. (Darn baby!)

Spoiler

Was it ABBA? It is a major inside joke on Mike Greenberg's morning show on ESPN radio and ESPN2.