Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category The Music Biz) for Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (Season 36, Game 2):
In 2019, at a 60th anniversary event in Detroit, this producer announced his retirement saying he had “come full circle”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
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Today’s contestants:
Betsy Reisz, a test prep tutor from Sherman Oaks, California
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Ted Fruchtman, a supply chain manager from Los Angeles, California
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Cory Barger, an orchestra musician from Riverside, California (1-day total: $23,800)
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is Berry Gordy?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
Berry Gordy is best known for founding the Motown record label. Gordy invested his profits from being a successful late-’50s songwriter into the label after discovering Smokey Robinson’s band, the Miracles. Motown’s best-known acts include the Jackson 5, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Temptations, the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, and Boyz II Men.
Tonight’s game features Ken Jennings’ first category: KEN JENNINGS ON WINNING STREAKS. I’m personally curious to know what you thought of the category? Leave a comment!
Has your local pub quiz gone dark over COVID-19? Many companies are now live-streaming their games online! Check out our calendar of live-streamed trivia events and get your fix!
Since Alex Trebek’s diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, many community members have been raising money. The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store is as well! All proceeds from any “Keep The Faith And We’ll Win” shirt sold will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. To date, nearly $500 has been raised.)
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Cory $13,600
Ted $6,400
Betsy $2,000
Tonight’s results:
Betsy $2,000 – $800 = $1,200 (Who is Barry Gordy?)
Ted $6,400 – $0 = $6,400 (Who is ???)
Cory $13,600 – $0 = $13,600 (Who is no idea :() (2-day total: $37,400)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Cory $8,400
Ted $4,000
Betsy $400
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) KNOW YOUR RIGHTS $600 (clue #28)
Cory 6400 +2000 (Ted 4000 Betsy -400)
2) THE SULTANS $1600 (clue #19)
Ted 7600 -3600 (Cory 12400 Betsy 2000)
3) HELLO & GOODBYE $1200 (clue #23)
Ted 6800 -4000 (Cory 12400 Betsy 2400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -75
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS $1000
DJ! Round: OF STING $800
Total Left On Board: $1,800
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 4 (2.00 per episode average)
Game Stats:
Cory $12,200 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 30.91% in first on buzzer (17/55), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Ted $14,000 Coryat, 19 correct, 5 incorrect, 36.36% in first on buzzer (20/55), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Betsy $2,000 Coryat, 11 correct, 4 incorrect, 27.27% in first on buzzer (15/55), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $28,200
Lach Trash: $11,600 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,400
Cory Barger, career statistics:
34 correct, 7 incorrect
2/4 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
30.00% in first on buzzer (33/110)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,500)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,800
Ted Fruchtman, career statistics:
19 correct, 6 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
36.36% in first on buzzer (20/55)
0/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$7,600)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,000
Betsy Reisz, career statistics:
11 correct, 5 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
27.27% in first on buzzer (15/55)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,000
Cory Barger, to win:
3 games: 40.506%
4: 16.407%
5: 6.646%
6: 2.692%
7: 1.090%
Avg. streak: 2.681 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- In my opinion, this was easily the worst ruling that the judges have made on the show in a great many seasons. To my ear, there is such an insignificant difference between “Barry” and “Berry” that the judges deserve to receive every single last complaint the show gets tonight on social media. Thankfully, this was immaterial to the outcome of the game and she won’t be returned, but still. Betsy should have received credit and this was 100% a terrible ruling by the judges.
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This may be late to the discussion, but for those of you who merge the pronunciations and who don’t understand how us non-mergers pronounce them, I would pronounce “Barry” with the a as in “back,” and “Berry” with the e as in “beck.” If you pronounced “back” equal to “beck,” then I don’t have an example for you. I’m a Southerner (North Carolinian), by the way, not Northeasterner. So non-merger is still widespread.
Thanks! Very good example. I also wonder how people hear the words, if mergers like Andy and others heard Alex pronounce Barry and Berry alike (which I and probably you did not). If any mergers still have the show on DVR, I’d love it if you’d play it back and report on what you hear. Fascinating stuff!
Those pronunciations are real ‘tongue twisters’!
Interesting. I know four people named “Barry”, and they all pronounce it identically to berry/bury. A couple of them would be insulted if you pronounced it any other way—they’d assume you were mocking them.
I do hear a difference and I believe when the correct response is a person’s name it should be spelled correctly.
BTW, on Monday’s show I would have responded Parthenon. Would I have been deemed correct?
Obviously not.
Where’s a theoretical linguist when we need one? John MacWhorter, are you a fan of this website? If so, please chime in on the Barry/Berry question. John would elucidate us on the Barry/Berry/bury/beriberi and Mary/merry/marry debate as well as other similar vowel migrating patterns. John may not (or may) know the Jeopardy rules but there’s no better an academic to explain how all this stuff evolves.
Given the subject in question (and that I knew John many many years ago), I have to point out that he’s “McWhorter,” not Mac. (And he is excellent in his field.)
I stand, or sit, corrected. 🙂
Not to belabor this, but if a hypothetical answer has been “he is the host of Jeopardy”, and if the contestant had replied “who is Alix Trebek” would that have been accepted as correct? I certainly think it would. This was a horrible judges’ ruling and anyone on this forum who argues otherwise, just likes to be contrary and hear themselves argue.
I think that is a great comparison and I agree that it should be ruled as correct. I also think Alex Tribek should be accepted.
As a former linguistics student, I can hear the difference in some people’s speech, but I say them the say way. Another word example is pin/pen. I say them both the same.
I think what bothers me the most is that if it was a verbal answer, she would have been ruled correct. Because of that fact, this is clearly a ruling about the spelling.
Except that “Alix Trebek” isn’t the host of Jeopardy! Neither was “Abraham Linkin” the President shot in Ford’s Theater, nor “Geezus” who turned water into wine, and “Jon Wain” wasn’t an actor famous for portraying cowboys.
Those are extreme examples, but they also illustrate that Final Jeopardy should not be a ‘get it close’ contest but require accuracy and demonstration of exact knowledge on the part of the contestants.
That’s a very classist viewpoint.
How about if the reply in my hypothetical case had been written “Alex Trebeck”?
I’m unsure how my comment could be considered classist.
Prescribing that English grammar and spelling has exactly one proper form, and shaming or penalizing those who do not follow that convention, is inherently classist, as the rules were historically prescribed by the upper class, and those in the working classes were more likely to deviate from these norms.
(It is also my belief that Jeopardy! needs to take a more descriptive viewpoint and be less prescriptive in their rulings, for the same reason. Yes, there should be a “close enough” line.)
If we care about spelling so much, then Mackenzie wouldn’t have been a champion for so long.
The rules state that the answer must be phonetically the same. If she says berry and Barry the same, then they would be.
The judges need to watch again “The Alphabet Conspiracy,” one of the Bell System Science Series.
It tells us that west of the Allegheny Mountains the words Mary, merry and marry are pronounced the same. The same would apply to Barry and Berry. Many, if not most Americans pronounce them the same.
Is your name pronounced Tarry?
Depends on how they say it, but when I speak Terry, tare, and tear (like paper) are all the same.
A final Jeopardy answer should be held to a higher standard than any other answer. If only answering “Gordy” would be correct, a question shouldn’t come down to regional dialect disqualifying a contestant response. My 2 cents.
What If Betsy had answered simply “Gordie”? Misspelling the last name
Andy, Thanks for all your hard work!
I, too, am dumbfounded with the fact that they ruled against “Barry” for the final Jeopardy question. Barry is a guy’s name. It is pronounced “Berry.” Supposedly they don’t count against spelling, but did the rules change? And it was so weird how Alex ruled against her immediately, without hesitation. I really wonder if there will be any backlash against this. I think it’s unfounded and really strange.
Another point. “Barry” is the common spelling of the name. Does Jeopardy expect their contestants to know how to spell every person in history’s name correctly? What is the response had to do with Katharine Hepburn? Would they penalize someone for spelling it Katherine?
Excellent analogy—especially when you consider that some people pronounce Katherine and Katharine differently, while most people don’t.
I may be in the minority, but I agree with the judges’ decision to deem “Barry” unacceptable for “Berry”. There is enough of a difference in pronunciation between the “a” and the “e” in those names. The former uses the “æ” symbol while the latter is a short “e”.
I’m surprised no one here’s brought up the Hairy/Harry ruling from Password Plus. Reminded me of that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Rlrx-AQbQ
Just because you might pronounce them differently doesn’t mean everyone does. Please do some reading into the Mary-marry-merry merger.
You’ll notice that although they diagrammed Harry as pronounced differently, they never gave the alleged pronunciation.