Friday, October 30, 2015

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We have a special guest host tonight!

Please welcome Cyril Figgis from FX’s Archer! We have some numbers to work with tonight, so good thing he happens to be a kick-ass accountant.

All three players had fun, despite the multitude of triple stumpers. (Trust me, I know how terrible that feeling is when no one can get anything going.)

Nikki took the lead on the penultimate clue.

Nikki Grillos	Katie Walker	Justin Morales
6,200	6,000	1,800

Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

Let’s do some math!

First-order calculations

Nikki needs to go almost all-in to cover Katie, but Katie can remain small to stay above Justin. This is Shore’s Conjecture – Strong Form.

Nikki		Katie		Justin
6,200		6,000		1,800
FIRST-ORDER		SECOND-ORDER		COVER ZERO
min	max	min	max	min	max
5,800			2,400		1,400
			5,600

Second-order calculations

Nikki could cap her wager at 2,200 to cover Katie’s maximum Shoretegic wager, but Katie could then reduce her own wager.

Nikki		Katie		Justin
6,200		6,000		1,800
FIRST-ORDER		SECOND-ORDER		COVER ZERO
min	max	min	max	min	max
5,800			2,000		1,400
2,200			2,400
			5,600

Zero wagers

Score differences:
Nikki and Katie: 200
Nikki and Justin: 4,400
Katie and Justin: 4,200

Nikki		Katie		Justin
6,200		6,000		1,800
FIRST-ORDER		SECOND-ORDER		COVER ZERO
min	max	min	max	min	max
5,800		400	2,000		1,400
2,200	4,400		2,400
	200		5,600

Then we add a dollar to the minimum wagers, and subtract a dollar from the maximum wagers.

What actually happened

Nikki		Katie		Justin
6,200		6,000		1,800
5,801		1,000		1,698
399		5,000		102
min	max	min	max	min	max
5,801		401	1,999		1,399
2,201	4,399		2,399
	199		5,599

As it turns out, getting that last clue ended up dooming Nikki.

The leader wins 75% of the time – this was one of those times it didn’t work out.

Happy Halloween!

The Final Jeopardy! clue

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES

FOUNDED IN 1873, IT WAS ENDOWED BY & NAMED FOR THE RICHEST MAN IN AMERICA

[spoiler]What is Vanderbilt University?[/spoiler]

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