Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Popes & History) for Friday, February 5, 2021 (Season 37, Game 95):
Late 16th Century Pope Sixtus V regarded this invasion force as a crusade & promised indulgences to all who participated
(correct response beneath the contestants)
In case you missed it: Jeopardy! announced four more guest hosts this week. Three of those picks are a good idea. The fourth is a nearly unanimously unpopular pick with fans and former contestants alike.
Today’s contestants:
Leah Wiegand, a stay-at-home mom originally from Asheville, North Carolina
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Rob Kim, an attorney from Portland, Oregon
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Stuart Crane, a product line manager from Kalispell, Montana (1-day total: $21,800)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Stuart picked up two dozen correct responses yesterday in victory; his weak point seems to be betting in Final Jeopardy!, though; a wager that Keith Williams would have rated incredibly poorly let an otherwise locked-out third-place player back into the game. Stuart may need to tighten up that part of his game in order to keep his streak going.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is the Spanish Armada?
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.)
The Spanish Armada was a fleet of ships organized in 1588 in order to attempt to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth I; because the reasons for the invasions included wishing to re-establish Catholicism in England, the Pope offered indulgences (reduction in punishment for past sins) to those who took part. The invasion was quite unsuccessful due to many factors, including unfavorable weather and the fact that its commander, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, had zero naval experience (in fact, the Duke got seasick shortly after leaving port). One possibly apocryphal story often recounted in the world of English sport is that Sir Francis Drake, leader of the English forces against the Armada, elected to take the time to finish his game of bowls before heading out to meet the Armada at Plymouth.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Leah $17,000
Rob $14,800
Stuart $6,600
Tonight’s results:
Stuart $6,600 – $0 = $6,600 (What ?)
Rob $14,800 – $2,201 = $12,599 (What are the Ottomans?)
Leah $17,000 – $0 = $17,000 (What are the Knights Templar?) (1-day total: $17,000)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Rob $3,000
Stuart $3,000
Leah $1,800
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) PLAY CHARACTERS $1000 (clue #30)
Stuart 4400 -1400 (Rob 3000 Leah 1800)
2) CORPORATE NAMES $1600 (clue #18)
Rob 8200 +3000 (Stuart 4600 Leah 9000)
3) DOCTOR HOW $2000 (clue #30, $0 left on board)
Leah 13000 +4000 (Stuart 6600 Rob 14800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 36
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 152 (1.60 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Leah $15,000 Coryat, 14 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Rob $13,400 Coryat, 23 correct, 5 incorrect, 47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Stuart $8,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 4 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,400
Lach Trash: $8,600 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,000
Stuart Crane, career statistics:
38 correct, 9 incorrect
2/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
34.21% in first on buzzer (39/114)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$400)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,300
Rob Kim, career statistics:
23 correct, 6 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400
Leah Wiegand, career statistics:
14 correct, 2 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,000
Leah Wiegand, to win:
2 games: 52.036%
3: 27.078%
4: 14.090%
5: 7.332%
6: 3.815%
Avg. streak: 2.085 games.
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The big clue for me was “late 16th Century”. So 1580s, 1590s. Which led to 1588 and the Armada. Then the (then) fairly recent rift between Henry VIII and the Papacy and the founding of the Church of England cemented it for me.
Third time this week the winner bet zero in final jeopardy
Leah was lucky. She anticipated a triple stumper and got it.
It’s clear Leah had a strategy and that strategy worked for her.
That’s not luck.
Once again, this shows that it is always not a good idea to bet large with a small or fairly small lead. You miss it and you might even lose to the third place player. Many fans say how awful it is to be caught from behind but losing to a second or third place player when you both miss the final is also awful. Leah may also have thought this was not a strong category for her. With a zero bet there was no way for third place to catch her.
Technically, she was only betting that Rob would get it wrong and made it impossible for Stuart to catch her.
Interesting that the last clue in both rounds was a DD. Kudos to Leah for excelling in crunch time. Getting the DD on the last clue of DJ, in a $2,000 cell, is like coming to bat in the bottom of the 9th with two outs. She hit a home run.
It’s refreshing that all three made thoughtful bets in FJ. How often do we see contestants just bet it all and hope for the best, when a more strategic bet would have given them the win. It also shows how important it is that the category title in FJ be relevant to the correct response. Leah was apparently uncomfortable with the category title, prompting her $0 bet. Had the category been more to her liking, she likely would have bet enough to cover Rob doubling his score.
My theory continues to hold true. Every time history (or geography) comes up on Final Jeopardy the contestants go into panic mode and come up with wild, implausible answers. The panic is such that it induces someone who had just wagered $4,000 on a Daily Double to chicken out and wager $0 on the Final and pray for the second-place contestant to miss (which happened only because he, too, went into panic mode). There is no other possible explanation for all three contestants missing that Final.
As Al pointed out in his comment, late 16th century suggests 1580’s or 1590’s. By far the most famous event in that time frame is the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. I am pretty sure that all three contestants have heard of the Spanish Armada.
Are there any categories that you would feel less confident with?
Of course there are! But my point is that no matter the category on Final Jeopardy there is never any need to panic. Most of these Fj’s do not require the contestants to know the subject in depth, just simple basic knowledge and the ability to think logically. You do not need to be an expert on children’s literature to come up with Dr. Seuss, nor do you need to be a history buff to know about the Spanish Armada or Custer’s last stand. There is not a good chance that “phlogiston” will ever be a FJ response.
Notice that even though the category says “Popes & History” it does require the contestant to know anything about any pope, simply what key event happened in the late 16th century.
Some people would rather put a wild implausible answer than leave it blank when they can’t come up with an answer in 30 seconds – there’s always the chance that your wild implausible answer is somehow correct as opposed to a blank that will never be.