$100,000 Pyramid Question

[arrowood20]

Going through some old "Pyramid" shows last night, I came across one with Melody Thomas-Scott & Stuart Damon. Melody was in the Winner's Circle, and the category "Things You Have For Lunch" came up. Her clue was "a sandwich with a pickle and some chips". I would have figured that was a descriptive clue, and been buzzed. However, they let it go. She even seemed like she was nervous about using that clue right after she said it. Is that one of those times that the judges missed a buzz, or is that actually a legal clue?

Ryan

[BrandonFG]

It sounds like a lot, but I don't see where she's necessarily giving away the answer. I say "ding".

[pyramid100]

I'd buzz it, it's a prepositional phrase

[clemon79]

It screams "buzz!" to me at first glance, but then, when you think about it, it is in fact "a list of items that describe the category," right?

I don't think they let it slide because it was too descriptive. I think they let it slide because it was in fact three clues.

[Robert Hutchinson]

I always got the impression that the judge held off on the buzzer a lot of the time when it appeared that the clue-giver had A) interpreted the category as allowing for "broader" clues and B) was not obviously wrong.

That said, I have a hard time interpreting this particular category as allowing for that.

[Kevin Prather]

"A sandwich, a pickle, some chips" would be okay without question, so the question is if the difference is trivial enough to let it go. I say sure.

[joker316]

Since many sandwich shops sell the three as one combo platter, I say "ding"

[Chief-O]

I agree with Kevin on the listing of each item being legal. Otherwise, as stated, it sounds too descriptive to me. I'd buzz it.

[parliboy]

[quote name=\'arrowood20\' post=\'202378\' date=\'Nov 25 2008, 06:04 PM\'] Going through some old "Pyramid" shows last night, I came across one with Melody Thomas-Scott & Stuart Damon. Melody was in the Winner's Circle, and the category "Things You Have For Lunch" came up. Her clue was "a sandwich with a pickle and some chips". I would have figured that was a descriptive clue, and been buzzed. However, they let it go. She even seemed like she was nervous about using that clue right after she said it. Is that one of those times that the judges missed a buzz, or is that actually a legal clue?

Ryan [/quote]

Let's narrow this down a bit.

"And some chips" is extraneous to the argument.   "And" indicates a separator for a list, and the rules say to give a list of things that fit the subject.  I have had all three of the items on the list for lunch at times.

Personally, I'm stuck on "with".  But I guess the reason this got away is because the clue didn't explicitly describe the sandwich via the prepositional phrase.  So "A sandwich with turkey" would be a problem.  For that matter, "A sandwich with pickles" might be bad, since the pickles are in the sandwich.  But since it's "a pickle", and people don't generally put a whole pickle on a sandwich (though I have put a pickle spear on a Chicago hot dog before), it's okay.  It basically turns "with" into a conjunction for purposes of the clue.

I know it sounds like a lot to reason through -- but judging during this era of the show was often that reasoned.