Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Famous Animals) for Tuesday, January 12, 2021 (Season 37, Game 77):
When she first came to the world’s attention in 1957, she was dubbed “Muttnik” by U.S. journalists
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s episode is guest-hosted by Ken Jennings; it is his second show. As I said in my editorial yesterday, if you’re going to express an opinion about one host or another, I ask that you make thoughtful, reasoned arguments. A lot of your opinions on one host over another are going to be a matter of personal taste. Please also remember that a permanent host will not be named until the start of Season 38.
Today’s contestants:
Lucy Ricketts, an illustrator originally from Atlanta, Georgia
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Dusty Smith, a former movie executive from Corvallis, Oregon
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Tanay Kothari, a business operations associate from Oakland, California (1-day total: $26,800)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Tanay had a really strong debut yesterday, picking up nearly half of the correct responses on the board. Tanay seems to have picked up Ken’s faster cadence. That being said, he wasn’t perfect on the Daily Doubles, and the prediction model gives him a 74.8% chance of winning today.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is Laika?
More information about Final Jeopardy: (The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2020 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Very good doggo Laika, a Moscow stray, was sent into space aboard Sputnik 2 in November 1957, a hastily-planned flight by the Soviet Union to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Laika (Russian for “barker”) was the first animal sent into space; the terrified Laika—her heartrate was three times normal rate and breath rate four times normal rate during the flight—was believed to have died five to seven hours into the flight, as the thermal control system failed, raising the cabin temperature to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Many Westerners vehemently opposed the launch on animal cruelty grounds, as the Soviet Union knew that it lacked the technology to return Laika safely to Earth and deliberately sent her up to die. Even Oleg Gazenko, one of the scientists responsible for the mission, later said, “we did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death” of Laika.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Lucy $25,200
Tanay $16,400
Dusty $6,400
Tonight’s results:
Dusty $6,400 – $6,398 = $2 (Who is that Russian dog?)
Tanay $16,400 – $3,599 = $12,801 (Who is Checkers?)
Lucy $25,200 + $7,900 = $33,100 (Who is Laika?) (1-day total: $33,100)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Tanay $10,000
Lucy $6,600
Dusty $1,600
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) AMERICAN CITIES $800 (clue #8)
Tanay 2000 +2000 (Dusty -200 Lucy 2200)
2) NOTABLE WOMEN $2000 (clue #10)
Lucy 9000 +9000 (Tanay 11200 Dusty 5200)
3) HEAVY MEDALS $1200 (clue #21, $9600 left on board)
Lucy 22000 +2000 (Tanay 12800 Dusty 6000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 209
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 142 (1.84 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Lucy $17,400 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Tanay $15,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Dusty $6,400 Coryat, 14 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $39,000
Lach Trash: $8,000 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,000
Tanay Kothari, career statistics:
46 correct, 5 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (42/114)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,900
Dusty Smith, career statistics:
14 correct, 4 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,400
Lucy Ricketts, career statistics:
23 correct, 2 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $11,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,400
Lucy Ricketts, to win:
2 games: 71.672%
3: 51.368%
4: 36.817%
5: 26.387%
6: 18.912%
Avg. streak: 3.530 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- It felt to me that Ken’s delivery seemed more stilted today than he did on yesterday’s episode.
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I wonder who the guest host will be after Katie Couric.
Took several years too long, but they finally put up a statue to commemorate Laika. Hopefully her death up there was quick and merciful.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/laika-monument
So I bet “the dog that went up to space with Sputnik” would not be acceptable??!! Was the name pronounced “LAY-KA” or “LA-EE-KA?” Anyone know?
I always pronounced it “lie-ka”, like the end of “balalaika”.
Ah, yes, forgot that possibility for sound production! Thanks
When written out in Russian, there is no question on the spelling. Лайка. I always say, pronounced like the camera brand.
For those of us unfamiliar with the camera brand, that doesn’t help. 🙂
I wonder if Tanay can put a string together. Hopefully, but a superb one time performance is not enough to predict the next few games….
How long of a string will he need before he gets offered a guest host stint? 😉 (Kidding!)
quod erat demonstrandum…
Fun fact: even though Brad (Rutter) has won the most money on Jeopardy! specifically, Ken has won the most money of any contestant in game show history. Over the shows he’s been on, I think he racked up around $5.7 million.
Follow up: made a mistake in my calculations, he actually won 5.2 million. Still puts him in first, though
I like the job Ken is doing, but Brad Rutter is my choice as permanent host. He’s got the low-key calm demeanor that was Alex’s trademark. Considering he hasn’t been in the public eye the way Ken, Katie Couric, and Aaron Rodgers have been, it would be easier to keep the contestants as the star.
Checkers was the right era – came to the world’s attention in 1952 when Nixon was running for vice president.
Ken’s voice does not have the same tone or timbre as Alex did. But Alex was a professional announcer with many game shows before he came to Jeopardy.
I like Ken but I miss Alex’s broadcaster type voice.
True daily double at 9k! Hats off to Lucy.
Another very good performance from Ken. His style is very warm with a little more humor than Alex, but not so much that it’s a distraction. While I miss Alex, I’m really enjoying what Ken brings to the table.
Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers QB, has stated that he will do a guest stint as the Jeopardy! host when the NFL playoffs are over.
Link: https://nypost.com/2021/01/12/aaron-rodgers-will-guest-host-jeopardy-after-playoffs-end/
Jasper
Did Ken sign off with a “Thank-you, Alex,” again today like he did yesterday? (I got distracted.)
Yes
Lucy did great! But Dusty made me laugh with the ICP comment!