Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category World War II Geography) for Thursday, December 16, 2021 (Season 38, Game 69):
Body-of-water battles included the Coral Sea, Philippine Sea & this one that allowed Japan to seize Jakarta
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Alisa Hove, a botany professor at Warren Wilson University in Asheville, North Carolina
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Ed Hashima, a history professor at American River College in Sacramento, California
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Sam Buttrey, an associate professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: Sam, Ed, and Alisa won Wednesday through Friday last week and Monday through Wednesday this week to find themselves in the finals. Sam and Ed have been equal on the signalling device (both at 42% through the semifinals), but losing (or finding) the buzzer timing can come at any time. Ed also holds a slight advantage in terms of finding Daily Doubles. That being said: the wagering on the whole this tournament has been pretty conservative; whoever prevails out of this two-day total-point affair may need to turn up the aggression if they have aspirations of doing well in the Tournament of Champions.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is the (Battle of the) Java Sea?
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.)
I wonder how many people are going to think that Guadalcanal is a body of water and not an island (Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, is situated in the northwest of Guadalcanal Island). In any case, the Battle of the Java Sea was a disastrous defeat for the Allies in early 1942 that allowed the Japanese forces to take over the entirety of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), including its de facto capital at Batavia—renamed Jakarta upon its occupation.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Sam $23,200
Ed $9,800
Alisa $6,400
Tonight’s results:
Alisa $6,400 – $2,600 = $3,800 (What is the South China Sea?)
Ed $9,800 – $5,200 = $4,600 (What is the Sea South China Sea?)
Sam $23,200 – $3,200 = $20,000 (What is Indonesian Sea?)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Sam $7,200
Ed $4,600
Alisa $1,400
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) GEOGRAPHIC NICKNAMES $800 (clue #4)
Ed 600 +800 (Sam 600 Alisa 0)
2) MIRROR IMAGE WORDS $1600 (clue #15)
Sam 12400 +2400 (Ed 9800 Alisa 1000)
3) PLANTS & ANIMALS & FUNGI, OH MY! $1600 (clue #21, $13600 left on board)
Alisa 2600 +2600 (Sam 18400 Ed 10600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 199
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 11 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Sam $22,400 Coryat, 27 correct, 1 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Ed $9,800 Coryat, 14 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Alisa $5,400 Coryat, 8 correct, 3 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,600
Lach Trash: $11,600 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,800
Sam Buttrey, career statistics:
78 correct, 3 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
43.27% in first on buzzer (74/171)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,400)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,267
Ed Hashima, career statistics:
68 correct, 11 incorrect
9/10 on rebound attempts (on 17 rebound opportunities)
35.67% in first on buzzer (61/171)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,400)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,467
Alisa Hove, career statistics:
38 correct, 8 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 13 rebound opportunities)
22.02% in first on buzzer (37/168)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $8,600)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,600
Today’s interviews:
Alisa has researched ginseng and the effect of climate change on it.
Ed has an academic passion of the human experience of migration.
Sam enjoys cryptic crossword puzzles.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Sam has an effective lead of $7,700 over Ed and $8,100 over Alisa.
- What is an “effective lead”? It is an extension of the principle that if all 3 players get Final Jeopardy! tomorrow correct and bet everything, the leader going into the round is the leader coming out of the round. Thus, because today’s scores are locked in and tomorrow’s can be theoretically doubled, any lead today is effectively cut in half.
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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This should be good. These three have been fun to watch. Each impressive in their breadth of knowledge, imo.
I missed yesterday’s FJ and although I remembered The Battle of Java Sea, it took me a while… I don’t think I would have made it in 30 seconds 🙁
$15,400 looks like it might be enough to carry Sam through in this tournament.
Java sea was my thought as well but still watching these three compete for 100K is good since they have broadened their knowledge. Sam seems like he could overtake his opponents tomorrow but hopefully we can get a triple solve to close out this tournament.
I’d like to see Jeopardy slide more Daily Doubles in these Day-1-of-2 games into the top couple rows to see if it induces players to bet more. Would have been nice to see Sam double up on DD2, but I don’t blame anyone who isn’t willing to do so.
No comment today on Mayim not reminding contestant they can bet up to $1000 on jeopardy round daily double?
Is there any chance those reminders have just been edited out for time? Even if the bets have indicated that they weren’t reminded, they may have just been conservative betters. Some could possibly even feel that they would be embarrassed to lose a large amount if it turns out they don’t know the correct response.
Brad (not Rutter) | December 16, 2021 at 5:08 pm | Reply
No comment today on Mayim not reminding contestant they can bet up to $1000 on jeopardy round daily double?
Lisa | December 16, 2021 at 6:47 pm | Reply
Is there any chance those reminders have just been edited out for time? Even if the bets have indicated that they weren’t reminded, they may have just been conservative betters. Some could possibly even feel that they would be embarrassed to lose a large amount if it turns out they don’t know the correct response.
Mayim also missed reminding everyone before making wagers for final Jeopardy that
– this is a two day competition, and today’s score will be….
What was the question whose answer was “what is you know your onions?” please.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW $1000: To have knowledge in a particular field is to know these veggies, though some say the word is a reference to a lexicographer