Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category The Continents) for Tuesday, September 28, 2021 (Season 38, Game 12):
It’s the only continent with its mainland lying in all 4 hemispheres as defined by the equator & the prime meridian
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Important note for those in the New York City or Philadelphia broadcast area, or if you watch the show on WABC or WPVI: Tonight’s game will be airing overnight in both of these markets due to the New Jersey gubernatorial debate. Make sure to check your local listings as to when the episode will actually be airing.
Today’s contestants:
Lori Waters, a retired teacher from New Braunfels, Texas
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Stu Selonick, a TV writer from Los Angeles, California
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Matt Amodio, a Ph.D student from New Haven, Connecticut (29-day total: $1,037,001)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: As Matt nears James Holzhauer’s 32 wins for second on the all-time list, the talk online is moving to “when, if ever, will Matt lose?” I still believe that it is a matter of when, not if—Jeopardy!, by its design, has a lot of randomness baked into it. If Matt takes extra time to find buzzer timing, or the Daily Doubles/Final Jeopardy! break poorly for him, there will be an episode where Matt loses. Matt is absolutely one of the best players to ever play this game, but he will lose at some point. But he sure is fun to watch while the run is happening!
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is Africa?
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.)
As per Britannica, “Geographers…have divided the planet into two sets of two hemispheres. These are the Northern and Southern hemispheres and the Eastern and Western hemispheres.” Note “two sets of two” and not “four” here in this definition—that means that the land mass need not appear in “northwest”, “southwest”, “southeast” and “northeast”, just that its mainland appear in “north and south” and “east and west”. As only Asian islands are situated in the Southern Hemisphere, Africa is the only continent to fit this clue.
That being said: I have usually defended the writers when it comes to easier Final Jeopardy! clues—they are important in the grand scheme of things in order to keep the wagering strategy “honest”. If players knew an absolute softball (such as this one) would never happen, then you would see contestants (especially leaders) failing to bet to win the game in Final Jeopardy, and the endgame would be significantly less exciting as a whole. However, it seems to me that the only redeeming quality to this question is that it seems to be a trap set up to potentially make contestants look stupid.
Mike Richards was still Executive Producer for these episodes. It is abundantly clear to me that even now, after his dismissal as host and executive producer, that he never once figured out the ethos of Jeopardy. Deliberately trying to make smart people look stupid has never been the aim of this show. Considering that, by greenlighting this clue, he felt this was an appropriate subject for a Final Jeopardy! in any context, let alone an adult regular-play one, I am very glad that he has been shown the door and that he will not have his thumb on the scales for much longer.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Matt $48,400
Stu $12,000
Lori $3,800
Tonight’s results:
Lori $3,800 + $3,799 = $7,599 (What is Africa?)
Stu $12,000 + $4,000 = $16,000 (What is Africa?)
Matt $48,400 + $22,000 = $70,400 (What is Africa?) (30-day total: $1,107,401)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Matt $14,000
Stu $2,400
Lori $2,200
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) SIGNS & SYMBOLS $800 (clue #12)
Matt 5200 +5200 (Stu 1000 Lori 0)
2) FROM GRAY’S ANATOMY $1200 (clue #10)
Matt 24800 +6000 (Stu 4000 Lori 600)
3) HISTORIC SPEECHES $800 (clue #11, $20000 left on board)
Matt 30800 +10000 (Stu 4000 Lori 600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 157
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Matt $30,000 Coryat, 35 correct, 2 incorrect, 57.89% in first on buzzer (33/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Stu $12,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Lori $3,800 Coryat, 9 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $45,800
Lach Trash: $3,400 (on 3 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,800
Matt Amodio, career statistics:
966 correct, 96 incorrect
48/55 on rebound attempts (on 106 rebound opportunities)
53.66% in first on buzzer (910/1696)
57/66 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $227,200)
22/30 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $26,893
Stu Selonick, career statistics:
14 correct, 1 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,000
Lori Waters, career statistics:
10 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,800
Matt Amodio, to win:
31 games: 93.326%
32: 85.844%
33: 79.188%
34: 73.857%
35: 68.928%
Avg streak: 42.603 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- $70,400 is the 24th-highest one-day total of all time, and the 4th-highest that does not belong to James Holzhauer.
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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Andy, vis-à-vis your comment about the end of the Mike Richards era, can you tell us which game was his final one as executive producer?
I believe October 8 is his final episode as EP.
I read that Final Jeopardy as asking which continent’s mainland crosses both the Prime Meridian and the Equator–no more, no less. So I don’t think there’s really much of a trick there; it’s just remarkably easy.
That said, it’s still a remarkably awkward Final Jeopardy. Geography is such a rich topic, no need to write… this.
Has Alan Lin joined the writing team yet?
A cursory Google on the subject shows people arguing that there’s no correct answer here, so the clue could certainly be interpreted incorrectly by some.
While I was mostly certain it was Africa, the wording did make me waffle a bit to whether I would say Asia. Up to now I had assumed the Eastern/Western Hemisphere divide was over the Atlantic Ocean and not crossing any significant land mass.
For the Prime Meridian I always think of Greenwich, so I drew my line from there.
If you are not up on your geography, I suspect some contestants might confuse the prime meridian with the International Date Line, which would throw their thinking over to Asia/Australia, especially with the word “mainland” in the clue, it makes you think of a large mass, with numerous islands surrounding.
The EP greenlights the FJ clue? That seems like micromanaging. I assumed that the EP was primarily concerned with the sponsors, i.e. selling ads.
Not exactly the same, but I read that in the early years of Wheel, Merv Griffin would approve all the puzzles that aired. Of course, a handful of phrases, things, or places each day is different than up to 61 clues and responses.
As I see it, the answer can be only a continent on which the prime meridian and the equator intersect. And there’s only one: Africa. I’m not seeing the possibility of a misinterpretation.
Hey Al, the prime meridian and the equator actually intersect in the Atlantic Ocean. So that explanation doesn’t quite work, unfortunately.
You’re right. I checked the map after I left my note and realized that I was sunk.
The two lines don’t need to intersect in the continent.for it to be correct, just both pass thru the continent. Thought it was very straightforward that it was Africa.
I can slightly see why some people may argue that “Asia” would be a correct response. I completely understand that the only portion of Asia which is south of the equator are some of the Indonesian islands–but I can also understand some people’s argument that those are part of the Asian “mainland”. “Mainland” is simply too relative of a term. For example, what is (or isn’t) the U.S. “mainland”? I think the most commonly-held definition is that it’s the 48 contiguous states, and not Hawaii, Alaska, or any other U.S. territories. But this would mean that the Florida Keys, or all the various barrier islands along the Atlantic shore, are “mainland” U.S.–and if that’s the case, Indonesia could similarly be argued to be “mainland” Asia. Don’t get me wrong–I disagree with such a definition in this case. But I can understand why some might take such a position.
There is also the question of whether “prime meridian” in the clue also assumes that the prime antimeridian should also be used to define east vs. west hemispheres. While it seems logical that this was intended, the omission of “antimeridian” from the clue begs the question of why it was excluded.
All in all, a very poorly thought-out FJ…
Hello Andy,
When is the last time a contestant got all daily doubles right?
September 17.
The only continent that touches both the equator and the prime meridian is africa. No trick here but this was relatively easy final though. Simple geography question
Did Mike Richards’ young son write the FJ clue for today’s episode?
At any rate, another fine performance from Matt today.
Your comment made me laugh, Kara. The FJ clue was certainly super easy…barely an inconvenience.
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Get that hammer ready.
That is the easiest final jeopardy I have ever seen. In my book it would only be a $200 clue. Is there anyone who has ever seen a map of the world that could get this wrong?
What is wrong with Jeopardy?
I’m generally okay with easy clues, because it keeps the Final Jeopardy betting honest.
Do you have a few examples of other very simple FJs? I can’t remember ever seeing any before. Thanks