Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, May 28, 2021

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category European Borders) for Friday, May 28, 2021 (Season 37, Game 175):

It’s still there, but none of the countries that bordered this country at the beginning of 1990 exist anymore

One note about today’s game: Due to the NBA playoffs, the airing of this episode has been moved to after the basketball in many markets on the West Coast. Please check your local listings.

(correct response beneath the contestants)

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Today’s contestants:

Sam Kavanaugh, a substitute teacher originally from Carlton, Minnesota (yesterday’s total: $38,000)

Jennifer Quail, a wine tasting consultant from Dowagiac, Michigan (yesterday’s total: $14,500)

Veronica Vichit-Vadakan, a librarian from Portland, Oregon (yesterday’s total: $6,400)

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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: A big wager in Final Jeopardy! yesterday paid off handsomely for Sam, and he’s got a commanding lead going into today’s game. In fact, Jennifer needs at least $11,800 before Final Jeopardy! today to even have a possibility of catching Sam, and that number may be even higher depending on how well Sam does. That being said, comebacks are possible and have happened in the past—this tournament is far from over.

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Correct response: What is Poland?

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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.)

On January 1, 1990, Poland bordered East Germany (which reunified with West Germany in October of that year), Czechoslovakia (which split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993), and the Soviet Union (which dissolved December 26, 1991). Unlike yesterday’s clue, I thought that this was an excellent clue. A+ to the writers on this one; it is very fitting for a tournament final.

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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!

Scores going into Final:
Sam $20,400
Jennifer $19,000
Veronica $9,200

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Tonight’s results:
Veronica $9,200 – $0 = $9,200 + $6,400 = $15,600 ($50,000) (What is Albania?)
Jennifer $19,000 + $8,500 = $27,500 + $14,500 = $42,000 ($100,000) (What is Poland?)
Sam $20,400 – $12 = $20,388 + $38,000 = $58,388 ($250,000) (What is Hungary?)

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Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Sam $6,600
Jennifer $6,400
Veronica $3,200

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Opening break taken after: 15 clues

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Daily Double locations:
1) GEOGRAPHY $600 (clue #10)
Sam 2000 +2000 (Veronica 1000 Jennifer 2600)
2) THE 18th CENTURY $2000 (clue #5)
Jennifer 10400 +2200 (Veronica 3200 Sam 6600)
3) MATH CHAMPS $1200 (clue #13, $16000 left on board)
Sam 7800 +7800 (Veronica 5600 Jennifer 13800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 221

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Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 188 (1.07 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles

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Game Stats:
Jennifer $18,800 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Sam $12,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 0 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Veronica $9,200 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,400
Lach Trash: $9,600 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,000

Veronica Vichit-Vadakan, career statistics:
162 correct, 18 incorrect
10/14 on rebound attempts (on 42 rebound opportunities)
29.76% in first on buzzer (150/504)
5/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $8,200)
5/9 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,533

Jennifer Quail, career statistics:
340 correct, 37 incorrect
19/25 on rebound attempts (on 52 rebound opportunities)
43.66% in first on buzzer (320/733)
18/19 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $35,700)
12/13 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,646

Sam Kavanaugh, career statistics:
202 correct, 17 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 31 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (188/564)
15/16 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $84,000)
7/10 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,580

Andy’s Thoughts:

• I was disappointed that there were no BEFORE, DURING & AFTER or INITIALS TO ROMAN NUMERALS TO NUMBERS categories in this tournament.
• Sam is a very deserving champion of this tournament; he has cemented his reputation as one of the top Daily Double players in the history of the show.

Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com

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