The essence of the answer?

[Adam Nedeff]

After hearing Dick Clark say it over and over again while burning DVDs last night, I really am curious....Does anybody hear have a good example of what Dick means by "Conveying the essence of the answer" for the front game?

[AH3RD]

It means when one accidentally slips in a meaning of the word, thus giving it away.

[Matt Ottinger]

I remember a specific example Dick used to give when he was first using that phrase.  He said that if the answer was "Mother-In-Law" and you accidentally said the word "in" in your clue, they weren't going to give you the cuckoo because that small word, out of context, did not reveal "the essence of the answer" even though it was technically part of the answer.

[Michael Brandenburg]

Another example would be a "homophone," a word that would sound the same as the one in the answer, but would be spelled differently.  For example, if the word to be guessed was "Grate," you'd "get the bird" for the clue "A great big metal thing in the sidewalk," since the word "great" in the clue would sound exactly like the answer.


Michael Brandenburg
(On the other hand, since "we deal in sounds" according to Dick Clark, getting the contestant to say "Great" in this example using an acceptable clue would result in a score.)

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'Michael Brandenburg\' date=\'Jun 7 2004, 05:52 PM\'] Another example would be a "homophone," a word that would sound the same as the one in the answer, but would be spelled differently.  For example, if the word to be guessed was "Grate," you'd "get the bird" for the clue "A great big metal thing in the sidewalk," since the word "great" in the clue would sound exactly like the answer. [/quote]
I remember one WC where the $100 box was "Things Charlie Brown Would Say".  The first clue was "Charles Schultz created me..." and was quickly buzzed.  The judge's rationale was, "Charles" was too close to "Charlie", and there were lots of other legitimate clues, like "I have a beagle named Snoopy".

"I didn't care for Chuck Wagon's work."
-- Michael Burger, after a contestant failed to match "Chuck ___" on MG98

[mystery7]

A lot of front games were lost over abbreviations. FBI is a good example. If someone gave the clue, "The part of the government that investigates things," they'd get cukooed since the word "investigation" is the I in FBI, and therefore conveyed the essence of the answer.

- Mystery7, whose linguistic skills were actually honed to some extent with Pyramid

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Jun 7 2004, 08:44 PM\'] [quote name=\'Michael Brandenburg\' date=\'Jun 7 2004, 05:52 PM\'] Another example would be a "homophone," a word that would sound the same as the one in the answer, but would be spelled differently.  For example, if the word to be guessed was "Grate," you'd "get the bird" for the clue "A great big metal thing in the sidewalk," since the word "great" in the clue would sound exactly like the answer. [/quote]
I remember one WC where the $100 box was "Things Charlie Brown Would Say".  The first clue was "Charles Schultz created me..." and was quickly buzzed.  The judge's rationale was, "Charles" was too close to "Charlie", and there were lots of other legitimate clues, like "I have a beagle named Snoopy".

"I didn't care for Chuck Wagon's work."
-- Michael Burger, after a contestant failed to match "Chuck ___" on MG98 [/quote]
 Interesting. I remember one early $25K ep. (early CBS run), where the WC clue was "Things on a crossword puzzle," and LeVar Burton said "26 Across." He was buzzed, but after the commercial, the judges went back on the word and gave the team credit for the clue, thus winning his partner $10,000.

I guess it all depends on the mood of the judges, since this seems to give away more than your Charlie Brown scenario.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Jun 7 2004, 09:44 PM\'] I remember one WC where the $100 box was "Things Charlie Brown Would Say".  The first clue was "Charles Schultz created me..." and was quickly buzzed.  The judge's rationale was, "Charles" was too close to "Charlie", and there were lots of other legitimate clues, like "I have a beagle named Snoopy".
 [/quote]
 I can't help wondering if "Now look here!" was one of the clues given....

[byrd62]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Jun 8 2004, 01:55 AM\']Interesting. I remember one early $25K ep. (early CBS run), where the WC clue was "Things on a crossword puzzle," and LeVar Burton said "26 Across." He was buzzed, but after the commercial, the judges went back on the word and gave the team credit for the clue, thus winning his partner $10,000.

I guess it all depends on the mood of the judges, since this seems to give away more than your Charlie Brown scenario.[/quote]
I might have read where the same category ["Things on a crossword puzzle"]  popped up on the syndicated $100K Pyramid later in the 1980's, and again with LeVar Burton giving more or less the same clue and getting buzzed, but this time, there was no reversal from the officials, so I don't think it's a matter so much of the officials' moods as it is whether Bob Stewart was trying to control his budget.

Speaking of buzzers, this leads to one of the great "mysteries" of the Pyramid.  Why, during the Winners' Circle round, they buzz [instead of cuckoo] for an illegal clue for example, on the 5th category with 10 seconds left, then they hit the same buzzer when time is up and they're on the last category?

And what about those times when they hit the buzzer repeatedly to reverse a win because of an illegal clue or other detail?  [Cases in point:  Didi Conn ("Famous Losers" on the NY version); Jackée, Stuart Pankin (both on illegal clues)]  Yeah, I know, as hard as it was, they had to make the right call in those cases.

[Kevin Prather]

I've always hated when an illegal clue slips under the radar, and the team wins the $10,000, but then the officials check the tape, then take back the win.

This is just me, but what I'd do would be to let the team keep the $10,000, but have their score be what it would have been otherwise. This way, it's fair for the other player.

And before you start talking about the budget, remember that Super Password has done this before. If the judges didn't catch it the first time, it was fair game.

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'byrd62\' date=\'Jun 8 2004, 03:10 PM\'] Speaking of buzzers, this leads to one of the great "mysteries" of the Pyramid.  Why, during the Winners' Circle round, they buzz [instead of cuckoo] for an illegal clue for example, on the 5th category with 10 seconds left, then they hit the same buzzer when time is up and they're on the last category? [/quote]
 What I've always thought was the main game is of lesser importance than the WC. IE there is less at stake. So the cuckoo sort of represents "Ah, you screwed up. Whatever, move on." whereas the buzzer represents "Oh, you blew it!".

If that made any sense to anyone, you're better than me.

[ChuckNet]

Speaking of buzzers, this leads to one of the great "mysteries" of the Pyramid. Why, during the Winners' Circle round, they buzz [instead of cuckoo] for an illegal clue for example, on the 5th category with 10 seconds left, then they hit the same buzzer when time is up and they're on the last category?

They attempted to remedy this during the Davidson era by switching to two short buzzes for an illegal clue...however, it was so brief that the celebs ended up not hearing it most of the time, and you couldn't count on Davidson to say "Next!" the way Clark used to do...it was asking too much of him. :-)

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'whoserman\' date=\'Jun 8 2004, 05:37 PM\'] [quote name=\'byrd62\' date=\'Jun 8 2004, 03:10 PM\'] Speaking of buzzers, this leads to one of the great "mysteries" of the Pyramid.  Why, during the Winners' Circle round, they buzz [instead of cuckoo] for an illegal clue for example, on the 5th category with 10 seconds left, then they hit the same buzzer when time is up and they're on the last category? [/quote]
What I've always thought was the main game is of lesser importance than the WC. IE there is less at stake. So the cuckoo sort of represents "Ah, you screwed up. Whatever, move on." whereas the buzzer represents "Oh, you blew it!".

If that made any sense to anyone, you're better than me. [/quote]
 That actually does make a little sense. I always that the illegal clue buzzer was a little more harsh than the cuckoo, which seems a little more "light-hearted." And when $10,000 is on the line, a harsher reminder should be used if you foul up.

It's much better than using the "burble" for both front game and Winner's Circle.

[ChuckNet]

I can't help wondering if "Now look here!" was one of the clues given....

Maybe if the category were "Things Said to Charlie Brown By Lucy, According to Leonard Nimoy". :-)

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[Fedya]

I'd guess that part of the reason for using the buzzer in the WC goes back to the $10K and $20K days, when once you lost one front game, you were gone.  Since somebody who scaled the Pyramid in those days was retired as a champion, the buzzer meant the game was effectively over (although they did let you go on and pick up some spare change -- but that spare change didn't make a difference in who returned the next day).