Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Animals) for Tuesday, August 31, 2021 (Season 37, Game 167):
German settlers in Texas called this animal “panzerschwein”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Steve Moulds, a playwright from Louisville, Kentucky
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Nibir Sarma, a junior at the University of Minnesota from Eden Prairie, Minnesota
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Karen Farrell, a political consultant from Chesapeake, Virginia
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Season 38 begins September 13 with the return of 18-day champion Matt Amodio; in the interim, Jeopardy! is running four weeks of reruns. The first two weeks were the 10 “Alex Around the World” episodes that ran in his memory in late December; the 2021 Tournament of Champions, hosted by Buzzy Cohen, will air from August 30 through September 10. Today’s episode was the second quarterfinal of the 2021 Tournament of Champions that originally aired on May 18, 2021.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is the (nine-banded) armadillo?
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.)
“Panzerschwein” literally transates to “armored pig”, referring to the famed nine-banded armadillo currently found mainly in the Southeastern United States and in Central and South America. The mammals, which were named the state mammal of Texas in the mid-1990s, first entered Texas from Mexico in the 19th century.
One thing I found interesting, from Claire McNear’s tournament preview: Cohen also learned perhaps a bit more about his own speech patterns than he would have liked. “There was one thing where I say ‘animals,’” Cohen, who grew up in the Northeast and now lives in Los Angeles, says of a clue. “Sarah was like, ‘You say animals with an accent.’ I asked her how she says it. ‘Animals.’ So then I go into the writers’ room and I’m like, ‘Apparently I say “animals” weird.’ And Michele [Loud, the show’s co–head writer] just looks at me dead in the eye and says, ‘You say the word “and” weird as well.’” I’m guessing that this Final Jeopardy! was the cause for that exchange.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Karen $14,200
Nibir $13,200
Steve $2,400
Tonight’s results:
Steve $2,400 + $2,400 = $4,800 (What is an armadillo?)
Nibir $13,200 – $1,001 = $12,199 (What is a coyote?)
Karen $14,200 + $2,000 = $16,200 (What is an armadillo?) (Semi-Finalist)
Wild card standings:
Monday: Ryan Bilger, $32,405
Tuesday: Karen Farrell, $16,200
1. Jason Zuffranieri, $18,800 (99.950% to advance)
2. Nibir Sarma, $12,199 (75.809% to advance)
3. Steve Moulds, $4,800 (1.812% to advance)
4. Sarah Jett Rayburn, $0 (0.020% to advance)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Nibir $5,400
Karen $5,400
Steve $1,200
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) IN THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S HALL OF FAME $800 (clue #13)
Steve 400 -1000 (Karen 3400 Nibir 4200)
2) “A” MATERIAL $1600 (clue #7)
Nibir 7400 +2000 (Karen 9400 Steve 1200)
3) THE DAILY QUINTUPLE $1600 (clue #13, $15200 left on board)
Nibir 8600 +1000 (Karen 10600 Steve -800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -61
Game Stats:
Karen $14,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Nibir $13,400 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Steve $3,400 Coryat, 11 correct, 5 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,000
Lach Trash: $14,600 (on 14 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,400
Karen Farrell, career statistics:
227 correct, 25 incorrect
15/19 on rebound attempts (on 49 rebound opportunities)
39.11% in first on buzzer (210/537)
8/13 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,900)
8/10 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,000
Nibir Sarma, career statistics:
113 correct, 20 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
40.93% in first on buzzer (115/281)
7/10 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $24,895)
2/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,760
Steve Moulds, career statistics:
99 correct, 14 incorrect
6/7 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
32.98% in first on buzzer (94/285)
4/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,600)
4/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Evidence of how strong yesterday’s game was: there were only 5 Triple Stumpers in the entire game yesterday; there were 5 in just the Jeopardy! round today.
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The first armadillo they saw had probably been run over by a wagon wheel. Why did the chicken cross the road? In Texas it was to show the armadillo it can be done.
Hear me out; Steve’s ideal bet was $400. Let me explain.
Karen and Nibir are arguably two of the strongest players in the tournament, and we all know what happens when two strong players come together; the resulting game is EXTREMELY tight. Luckily for Steve, he was able to garner just enough cash to stay ahead of double the difference in Karen and Nibir’s score.
One of the most important parts of wagering in Final Jeopardy in the quarterfinals (in my opinion) is positioning. In semifinal games, the three players chosen for that game appear left to right in order of how much they accumulated post-Final. The left spot is by far the most important spot, since that spot gets to make the first pick in the first round.
For these calculations, let’s assume Nibir bets everything and Karen bets to cover Nibir, since there is a possibility of it happening.
Nibir: 13,200 + 13,200 = 26,400
By that logic, Karen would want to wager $12,201.
Karen: 14,200 + 12,201 = 26,401
But let’s assume what happens if they get it wrong!
Nibir: 13,200 – 13,200 = 0
Karen: 14,200 – 12,201 = 1,999
Back to Steve. I mentioned the 400 bet earlier in this post, and here’s why. 400 added to 2,400 only brings him up to 2,800. Likewise, 400 subtracted from 2,400 leaves only 2,000. But now let’s see how that fares on a Triple Stumper!
Nibir: 13,200 – 13,200 = 0 (Third Place)
Karen: 14,200 – 12,201 = 1,999 (Second Place)
Steve: 2,400 – 400 = 2,000 (Semifinalist)
As the math shows, a bet of $400 or less is SUBSTANTIAL in making sure Steve has the possibility of carrying out a victory. If he bet any more, he would doom himself as it would either put him through a tiebreaker (which Karen has the possibility to pull off an upset) or bring himself down below Karen’s score, subsequently eliminating him from the Tournament.
Buzzy Cohen for permanent Jeopardy host!!
Nibir would be a great guest host.