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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The fatigue factor for multi-game champions as a taping day went on has been mentioned and discussed on this site many times, but I suspect that Alex’s endurance and was one of his abilities that many of us overlooked. I doubt fatigue would have set in quite that quickly for Ken, but he probably had quite the adrenaline rush for the first game (despite his many appearances on the show as a contestant) that was starting to wear off for tonight’s episode.
As Andy has said, I hope everyone is patient enough to give all the hosts time to find their comfort level and for the permanent host to make the job their own.
I like how Ken Jennings speaks at a faster pace than did Alex. Notice that for the second day in a row there were no unplayed clues.
In the earlier shows, I noticed Alex spoke faster than he did in later years, even before he got sick. I guess we all slow down as we age. 🙂
Yes, Ken said “Thank you, Alex” at the end of the show.
It’ll be interesting to see how long that goes. Will he do it all week? For the entire duration of his guest host run? Might that become the standard sign-off for all Jeopardy hosts from now on, a la the Price Is Right “spay or neuter” sign-off? It would be a fitting tribute.
Just curious—I could easily have missed it—but have here been any announcements so far on plans for the various tournaments (teen, college, teachers, champions, etc.)? Will they still happen, and if so, on what schedule, and with whom as host?
There has not. That said, the recurrence of COVID in Southern California has made taping a tournament much more difficult.
I think Ken is doing an absolutely incredible job. I love watching him interview the guests and his quick wit shines through. My favorite line so far came after Dusty’s answer of ‘Who is the Russian space dog?’ in Final Jeopardy. Ken seamlessly quipped, “Nothing is wrong there, but we cannot give you full credit.”