Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Early U.S. History) for Friday, February 26, 2021 (Season 37, Game 110):
Elbridge Gerry, Charles Pinckney & John Marshall were the diplomats in this 1797 incident that led to a quasi-war with France
(correct response beneath the contestants)
The Jeopardy! community is mourning the loss of Brayden Smith, who passed away on February 5. The Brayden Smith Memorial Fund has been established, dedicated to furthering the educational aspirations of Southern Nevada students.
Today’s contestants:
Ollie Savage, an English & film studies teacher from Burbank, California
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Syed Ahamed, an operations manager originally from New York, New York
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Michael Colton, a screenwriter originally from Newton, Massachusetts (1-day total: $9,201)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Michael survived a Triple Stumper Final Jeopardy! to pick up victory; he struggled a little bit on the signaling device yesterday, though. He’ll probably need to do better on the buzzer in order to pick up win #2 today.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is the XYZ Affair?
More information about Final Jeopardy: (The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2021 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
In the 1790s, France had gone to war with the rest of Europe. Washington declared neutrality, in spite of the assistance that France had given to the Americans in the Revolutionary War. France and England began seizing neutral ships that were trading with the other side. France was further angered by the Jay Treaty (1795) that saw England and the Americans reach an agreement. Due to the deteriorating relations, an American diplomatic commission was sent to France in 1797 to attempt to negotiate a solution. However, French foreign minister Talleyrand demanded bribes and a loan before initiating negotiations. The Americans, despite Talleyrand’s actions being well-known in the diplomatic community, were offended and left France without negotiating. The breakdown in relations led to the Quasi-War which took place in the Caribbean between 1798 and 1800; the war made Talleyrand realize that he had miscalculated with the Americans, leading to an end of hostilities.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Ollie $18,400
Syed $14,200
Michael $13,800
Tonight’s results:
Michael $13,800 – $5,398 = $8,402 (What is the ??) (2-day total: $17,603)
Syed $14,200 – $13,500 = $700 (What is the Affair?)
Ollie $18,400 – $10,001 = $8,399 (What is the Rum Barrel Fiasco?)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Michael $9,000
Syed $3,200
Ollie $2,600
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) ROAD TRIP TO THE SAME-NAMED PLACE $1000 (clue #21)
Michael 6000 +2000 (Syed -600 Ollie 1800)
2) OPERA SONGS $1200 (clue #10)
Ollie 7400 +5000 (Michael 10200 Syed 4400)
3) COLORFUL LANGUAGE $2000 (clue #26, $4800 left on board)
Syed 11200 +3000 (Michael 13400 Ollie 15600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 128
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 154 (1.40 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Michael $12,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Ollie $14,600 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Syed $13,200 Coryat, 13 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,600
Lach Trash: $7,200 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,200
Michael Colton, career statistics:
31 correct, 7 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (30/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,600)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,700
Syed Ahamed, career statistics:
13 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,200
Ollie Savage, career statistics:
22 correct, 3 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,600
Michael Colton, to win:
3 games: 37.179%
4: 13.823%
5: 5.139%
6: 1.911%
7: 0.710%
Avg. streak: 2.592 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I wish more players would play their Daily Doubles more aggressively. If I was in Syed’s position, I would have bet at least $5,000 on the final Daily Double.
- Kudos to Michael for his Final Jeopardy! bet; clearly, it won him the game.
- Mike Richards misspoke when he spoke of the XYZ Affair; the French didn’t offer a bribe—they demanded one.
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Another triple stumper! One of the players should have wagered $0 in FJ, in a relatively low scoring game all the way thru.
I don’t consider it a low scoring game when all the players are in 5 figures 🙂 and not sure any of the players’ best strategy would have been a zero bet.
This was just not a good week for the leaders. Hopefully, next week will be better for them.
I remembered the XYZ Affair from high school history class, but I couldn’t remember the details. So I would have gotten this right, even though I wouldn’t have deserved it.
Mike Richards is great. His prior game show experience really shows.
I totally agree about Mike Richards- he keeps the pace up right where it needs to be – and his great respect for Alex is most evident.
This was a rare case of the extra time helping me, since I would not have been able to get a regular clue about the XYZ affair in time, but I was able to search deep in my archives for the answer from high school history class, with just enough time to scribble at least XYZ.
Interrupted a College Bowl question with this correct answer during UF Intramural Championship many decades ago. My fraternity team lost to independents, but I got named to the UF team as an alternate.
I have loved the new guest host but thought for the first time he was somewhat demeaning when revealing the final answer on xyz. Up to know I think he has been amazing. Also though Ken Jennings did a great job knowing what it’s like to be a contestant. thought?
Glad I’m not the only one in the “I remembered the XYZ affair from high school but only knew it had something to do with France” boat.
It strikes me there are three types of Final Jeopardy! clues:
The ones that you can sort of reason out, i.e. Wednesday’s clue. Even if you don’t know anything about cosmetic companies (I didn’t really), you go with playwrights starting with the most obvious: Shakespeare. He’s from Stratford-upon-Avon. Boom.
The ones you can take an educated guess at (yesterday). Even if you don’t know your landlocked countries (I happened to) you can rattle off large African countries: Nigeria, DRC, Egypt…oh, Ethiopia!
The ones you pretty much have to know. If you’re not familiar with the XYZ Affair…well, you’re screwed.
Just an observation.
I will not comment on this website anymore, nor even visit it perhaps, but I think I’ve made my point.
I just saw the preview for Michael’s new show,
https://www.thewrap.com/jeopardy-fortunes-continue-for-michael-colton-co-creator-of-abc-comedy-home-economics/