Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 20th Century Authors) for Thursday, January 28, 2021 (Season 37, Game 89):
In a 1959 article he wrote, “People began to call themselves beatniks, beats…bugniks &…I was called the ‘avatar’ of all this”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
As I said in my recent editorial, 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:
Jill Tucker, a development director from Mulino, Oregon
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Zach Newkirk, an attorney from Alexandria, Virginia (4-day total: $85,669)
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Brian Chang, an attorney from Chicago, Illinois (7-day total: $163,904)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: A number of Jeopardy! fans have been waiting for today since June. Today sees Zach Newkirk, Season 36’s final champion, finally get a chance to defend his title. Unfortunately, he’s trying for his 5th win against a 7-day champion in Brian Chang. Will Brian or Zach win the “battle of the quarter-zips”, as some have called it? (Both Brian and Zach have worn quarter-zip shirts on the show.) Or, as has often happened in these sorts of matchups, will dark-horse Jill take the spoils? (I can’t help but think back to near the end of Season 34, where Burt Westermeier took victory in a highly-hyped matchup between Dave Mattingly and Ron Freshour.)
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is Jack Kerouac?
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.)
Jack Kerouac achieved widespread fame in the late 1950s with the success of his second novel, On the Road, in 1957. Some time earlier, he had coined the phrase “beat generation” to refer to the underground and nonconforming youth in New York City of the era; this group served as an inspiration to Kerouac and other contemporaries (such as Allen Ginsberg.)
The article containing the quote in today’s Final Jeopardy! clue, “The Origins of the Beat Generation”, was published in Playboy in 1959.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Zach $23,600
Brian $12,600
Jill $10,600
Tonight’s results:
Jill $10,600 + $10,500 = $21,100 (Who is Jack Kerouac)
Brian $12,600 + $11,001 = $23,601 (Who is Kerouac?)
Zach $23,600 + $1,601 = $25,201 (Who is Kerouac?) (5-day total: $110,870)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Brian $7,400
Zach $5,000
Jill $3,800
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) LITERATURE $800 (clue #9)
Jill 2000 +2000 (Brian 2000 Zach 2000)
2) BIOGRAPHIES $1600 (clue #4)
Zach 5800 +4000 (Brian 7400 Jill 5400)
3) THAT’S SO GORGE! $1200 (clue #13, $21600 left on board)
Zach 15000 +5000 (Brian 9000 Jill 7800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 202
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 150 (1.69 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Zach $17,400 Coryat, 20 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Brian $12,600 Coryat, 20 correct, 3 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Jill $9,400 Coryat, 13 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $39,400
Lach Trash: $8,200 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,400
Brian Chang, career statistics:
184 correct, 21 incorrect
5/6 on rebound attempts (on 29 rebound opportunities)
39.82% in first on buzzer (180/452)
8/10 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $14,500)
5/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,800
Zach Newkirk, career statistics:
97 correct, 12 incorrect
10/13 on rebound attempts (on 25 rebound opportunities)
29.67% in first on buzzer (81/273)
6/10 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $13,000)
4/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,520
Jill Tucker, career statistics:
14 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,400
Zach Newkirk, to win:
6 games: 58.090%
7: 33.744%
8: 19.602%
9: 11.387%
10: 6.614%
Avg. streak: 6.386 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Ken announced most of this on-air, but I can confirm: Jeopardy! has decided to place its Tournament of Champions cutoff as of Alex’s death. Brian and Zach appear to be eligible for the 30th Tournament of Champions.
- In terms of “does Ken know the Triple Stumpers?” I’m pretty sure he did know the Katzenjammer Kids, as that was the subject of a major turning-point clue early in his run; Matt Ottinger was giving him a good run in Ken’s 14th game before a clue about them showed up.
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To remove a tiny bit of ambiguity in the “thought” above — based on the show’s own ToC tracker, “cutoff as of Alex’s death” refers to January 8, 2021, Alex’s last episode as host (vice November 6, 2020, the last game aired before his passing).
With Ken making reference to “this season’s Tournament of Champions”… so, a May airing likely?
Wow…big ups to Zach. I would have given Brian the edge since he was “on a roll” and I didn’t remember Zach’s wins being particularly dominant, but Zach proved his mettle in beating a great champion like Brian. Hope he goes on a long streak.
Thr final 5 time champion under Alex Trebek was Braydon Smith. So apparently the cut off date is with him for the ToC. Their are 15 players for the tournament ending with four time champ Veronica from Portland, OR. So we’ve waited nearly two years to see Jason Zuffranieri in this upcoming tournament.
I’m also reminded of when Ryan Fenster returned with a 4 game streak to face a 3 time champion.
Actually, if you get both parts of Ryan Fenster’s run combined, he actually won 7 games.
Jill was the perfect addition to the two champions – quite the lively show!
The DDs certainly worked for Zach – unfortunately, not for Brian.
There can only be one winner and it will be fun to see the smiling Zach win a few more games. It’ll be a pleasure to see both Zach AND Brian in the ToC.
Well said Howard. I was pulling for Brian, Zack won, and Jill impressed.
This game reminded me of when Roger Craig reached the finals of the Battle of the Decades only to face Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Jill had to feel a little that way. She and Roger both finished third, but they were competitive and not at all intimidated by the competition.
I love watching players’ strategy late in the game. Not every contestant is as good at late game strategy as the three today were. Obviously Brian and Jill were playing catch up so they went to the higher value clues, and abbreviated the category titles. Then Zach, with a big lead, was happy to say all of “Responses In the Form of a Question,” and go to the $400 clues. You never know if time will run out before the board is cleared. If two clues had been left in the DJ round, Zach would have had a runaway.
Excuse me? “Mulino Muhlieno, Oregon?” What happened there? Mulino is a CDP in Oregon. That second non-word, what? Please fix this!!! Pedants look at your site!
Well, congrats to Zach on his win! I hope he can expand his winning streak!
What an exceptional game, well played by all three contestants. I was so torn because I loved Zach from last season, yet was equally impressed by Brian’s successful current winning streak; Jill was no slouch, either and a strong contender. Many kudos to Brian on his great games and I look forward to (hopefully) many more games with Zach, who is such a charming person. And it had to be a bit emotional for Zach coming back to a stage without Alex standing behind the podium.