Tag: Statistics

Blog Posts

Fact Check: The Number of Times Amy Dickinson Has Beaten Luke Burbank

 , , , ,

At the Live Wire! Radio taping this past Saturday, Amy Dickinson was one of a number of guests on the show. When Luke Burbank, the host of Live Wire!, introduced Amy on to the stage, he stated that Amy had beaten Luke 14 times on Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!. While I understand that the quip was done in jest and in a self-deprecating manner, my Wait Wait Stats portion of my brain went into overdrive and I started to wonder how many times Amy actually beat Luke. Before I go into the actual numbers, as taping of the second show started, I tweeted out a screenshot of both Luke’s and Amy’s current stats on the show: In case you were curious on how @AskingAmy fares against @lukeburbank on @waitwait. Both on @LiveWireRadio tonight. pic.twitter.com/tHbq5vMT1P — Linh Pham (@questionlp) May 31, 2015 In case …

Blog Posts

Interactive Wait Wait Stats Infographic

 , , ,

A couple of months ago, Erin Flachsbart sent me a message asking if I would be interested in helping out a project that she would like to start up. The project was to create an interactive infographic that was based on the Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me! panelist and show stats that I have been collecting (and continuing to collect) over the years. Over the course of the project, I provided Erin with database schema and database backups that she can go through and play with the data. I also provided some insights, and apologies for not having a lot of back data on panelist bluffs and show location information. With the project completed, Erin posted the awesome interactive infographic on her site at: mataglap.com/waitwait. I’m humbled to be able to assist in providing data and insights for the project. Thanks Erin!

Blog Posts

Wait Wait Stats Page Version 3.1 is Now Live

 , , ,

I have been working on a couple of changes and new features for the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Stats Page over the past weeks and decided to publish the changes the weekend that Carl Kasell’s farewell show airs. Now that that day has arrived, I have finished making last minute changes and pushed out the new version. The first change to the Stats Page now includes Carl Kasell’s new title, SE for Scorekeeper Emeritus, included after his name on the Stats Page. Once an official announcement has been made on the long-term replacement for Carl, I will make the necessary code changes to reflect that. The new feature that I have added to the Stats Page is the addition of a new graph for each of the panelists. The existing graph displays a scoring breakdown for each panelist (if the panelist has any scoring …

Blog Posts

Minor Updates to Wait Wait Stats Page

 , ,

While listening to the last Thursday’s edition of Too Beautiful To Live, Luke Burbank made a snarky remark that he hasn’t won on Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! for something like 35 shows. Even though that comment was not intended to be a factual statement, it did make a light bulb flicker in my head. The panelist statistics box includes the last time that he or she last won or was tied for first place and it would take a bit of time to go through the full appearances list to count the number of shows since the panelist has won or tied for first. That afternoon, I started playing around with a couple of SQL queries to pull that information and filter out things like Best Of and repeat show appearances and got something that gave me a proper result. That night, I …

Blog Posts

When was the last time a panelist won?

 , ,

Ever wonder when was the last time that a panelist came in first place or tied for first after the Lightning Fill-in-the-Blank on Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!? Right now, the current version of the Stats Page does not include that information in the “Panelists Statistics” section of the page; but, it is something that I am planning on adding to the next version of the page. Until then, you can use this page to view that information, which will be updated periodically. Last Time Each Panelist Has Finished the Lightning Fill-in-the-Blank Round in First Place Panelist Show Adam Felber 2014-01-11 Alison Stewart 2009-01-31 Alonzo Bodden 2013-09-07 Amy Dickinson 2013-04-27 Brian Babylon 2012-03-10 Charlie Pierce 2013-11-23 Claudia Perry 2000-02-12 Evan Smith 2001-11-10 Faith Salie 2013-12-14 Jessi Klein 2013-10-12 Karen Grigsby Bates 2004-03-27 Kyrie O’Connor 2013-12-07 Luke Burbank 2012-11-03 Maz Jobrani 2011-12-17 Mo Rocca 2013-11-16 …

Blog Posts

21 Jul 2012: Paula Poundstone’s winning streak hits five games

 , ,

Although Paula mistakenly noted right before her turn in this week’s Lightning Fill-in-the-Blank round that she had won the last three times that she has been on. In fact, Paula had won the last four games that she was on: 2012-03-31 with 15 points 2012-04-28 with 18 points 2012-05-26 with 17 points 2012-06-23 with 16 points Right before she took her turn, she was attempting to do some humble-bragging. After answering five questions correct, Paula had won that round; thus, extending her winning streak to five games. Now, for a little bit of additional trivia about Paula’s five game winning streak: When put in numerical order, Paula’s winning scores is a series of five consecutive numbers: 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Paula has now beaten Brian Babylon three times (2012-03-31, 2012-06-23 and 2012-07-19). Paula has now beaten Luke Burbank twice (2012-05-16 and 2012-06-23). …