Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 20th Century Nonfiction) for Friday, January 7, 2022 (Season 38, Game 85):
“Norwegian Independence Day” & “A Vast Blue Sea” are mentioned in Chapter 1 of a 1948 book by this man
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Sean Sweeney, a speech-language pathologist from Dorchester, Massachusetts
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Patsy Lester, a social studies teacher from Patchogue, New York
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Amy Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California (27-day total: $977,400)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: A popular topic in the Jeopardy! media as of late has been “What’s up with all of the streaks?” I honestly just believe that this season has just been a “perfect storm” as a result of COVID; a number of people have used their extra pandemic time to study more trivia and study for Jeopardy!; moreover, a number of those same people are players who got originally Called in March 2020 but rescheduled to 2021; these players, knowing they were going to get onto the show, made the most of their extra time. But as Buzzy Cohen also said yesterday, it’s the “aggressive preparation era”, and I believe that era dates back to Season 27, Roger Craig, and Watson. Both Roger Craig and Watson were well-known for their aggressive preparation, and this has filtered down over the past few years, with more and more champions having taken that route. To wit, the average streak length between Season 22 and 26 fluctuated between 1.69 and 1.81 games; since then, the lowest season average has been Season 34’s 1.83, with many seasons over 2 games.
I’ll very likely expound on this data further; I’ve just had the worst timing over the past 36 hours, I’ve been passing a kidney stone and my own health is definitely not 100%. Today, I feel better than I did yesterday, though. I’d also like to thank so many of you for your support over the past few weeks. I really appreciate that.
Now, onto today’s game: Amy Schneider will very likely surpass the $1 million mark with a win today. Her scoring average has dropped slightly this week. One thing that I would like to point out, though: Jeopardy! games are taped well in advance; this week’s games were taped in early November. Thus, the stories regarding Amy’s recently having been robbed will not affect her gameplay.
PSA: The best way to keep COVID-19 at bay (and keep Jeopardy! producing new episodes) is for everybody to get their vaccinations as soon as they are able to, including any boosters as recommended. When wearing a mask, please ensure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my new Betting Strategy 101 page!
(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is Thor Heyerdahl?
More information about Final Jeopardy: (The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2022 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Thor Heyerdahl, in 1947, became a household name in the late 1940s after rafting from the South American to the Polynesian islands, on his raft Kon-Tiki; the 1948 book detailed his experiences. Believing that such a voyage was possible with pre-Columbian technology, he set to prove it—and did, sailing on a balsa tree raft.
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Amy $32,400
Sean $2,790
Patsy $1,000
Tonight’s results:
Patsy $1,000 – $500 = $500 (Who is Winston Churchill?)
Sean $2,790 – $2,500 = $290 (Who is Hemingway?)
Amy $32,400 + $9,800 = $42,200 (Who is Heyerdahl?) (28-day total: $1,019,600)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Amy $14,800
Patsy $1,400
Sean $1,000
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) DOUBLE TIME $600 (clue #13)
Amy 4200 +2000 (Patsy 200 Sean 800)
2) POP CULTURE MONIKERS $1200 (clue #1)
Sean 1000 -2000 (Amy 14800 Patsy 1400)
3) HIS WIDOW LIVED ON $800 (clue #7, $28000 left on board)
Sean 600 +590 (Amy 19200 Patsy 1400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -23
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: WORDS THAT START WITH 2 VOWELS $400 $800
Total Left On Board: $1,200
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 13 (0.15 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Amy $31,000 Coryat, 37 correct, 0 incorrect, 60.00% in first on buzzer (33/55), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Patsy $1,000 Coryat, 7 correct, 5 incorrect, 21.82% in first on buzzer (12/55), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
Sean $5,000 Coryat, 6 correct, 1 incorrect, 9.09% in first on buzzer (5/55), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,000
Lach Trash: $10,200 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,600
Amy Schneider, career statistics:
895 correct, 50 incorrect
43/48 on rebound attempts (on 98 rebound opportunities)
51.57% in first on buzzer (820/1590)
42/49 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $131,600)
23/28 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $25,871
Patsy Lester, career statistics:
7 correct, 6 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
21.82% in first on buzzer (12/55)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,000
Sean Sweeney, career statistics:
6 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
9.09% in first on buzzer (5/55)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,410)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $5,000
Amy Schneider, to win:
29 games: 92.838%
30: 79.748%
31: 70.125%
32: 62.913%
33: 57.275%
Avg. streak: 35.747 games.
Today’s interviews:
Sean does karaoke in his car during the pandemic.
Patsy was part of a family that bought a boat that originally was owned by the Kennedys
Amy was misled by the pronunciation of the word “misled”.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today was the first regular-play game with any unrevealed clues since November 23.
- Both the $31,000 Coryat and $42,200 final score make it onto my top Coryats list and my top one-day totals list.
- Count me as someone who doesn’t like what the show’s done with the Chryon; I would much prefer “28-day $1,019,600” on the same caption, without flipping. I hope the show reverts this change.
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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Ugh. Total brain freeze on his name. My brain was screaming “kon tiki”, “ra”, “easter island” but his name wouldn’t come.
Sorry you’re under the weather, Andy. I’ve passed a kidney stone myself, and it was terribly painful. I hope you’re feeling better very soon.
One of the best feelings in the world is when a kidney stone has passed. Get well soon. Doctor told me to drink as much beer as possible. Worked for me.
I have a feeling that someone must’ve spoiled when Amy was going to lose, thus why the “x-day” graphic did not show with the total.
Also, I want to add that she and Matt Amodio have tied the amount of games they took to get to the $1,000,000 mark.
So, what the show did essentially was an electronic Trilon, they put 28-day champion on one bar and then flipped it to give her total.
We’ll see about that.
I’d say, for tonight only, with the milestone, the one-time change would work.
I’m betting the Chryon change is to help the editors later if Amy’s exit is spoiled a la Jennings. By separating the two, they can more easily leave the totals and remove the days to hide when she (eventually) loses.
dang :p After getting four-in-a-row in FJ, I was stumped on this one. I always forget about Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki expedition being in 1947 and just remember the Ra expedition from when I was in school.
Amy had a terribly strong performance today with her correct response ratio and first-in%. Looking forward to seeing her next week!
Get well soon Andy. My mom had kidney stones previously and it was surgically removed. But still though I thought of Kon tiki expedition and got to thor. The hint of easter island got me to the right response. Glad to see Amy getting the million dollar mark.
Contestants like Amy are the reason I do NOT go on Jeopardy! I never heard of the author who was the correct response to today’s clue. I’m not dumb. I have a college degree but Amy has a variety of knowledge that average people don’t have access to.
Tbere is no way to know how many potential champions lost in disgrace because they were up against a Jeopardy legend.
Amy won her first game from SECOND place going into FJ. If her first opponent had gotten that FJ right, Amy would’ve missed out on over a million dollars. Since then, she has always been in first place going into FJ. She has actually had more non-runaway games than Matt Amodio and James Holzhauer but her wide variety of knowledge means she is still likely to win.
To me, Thor Heyerdahl is someone that I’ve known of since high school. Not sure where/why I first learned about him, but it’s been in my own brain for a long time.
Alan, I’m curious: How exactly, in your mind, does Amy have “knowledge that average people don’t have access to”?
Matt Amodio writing of how much knowledge he picked up from Wikipedia is a good example of how information is as accessible as ever now.
Amy’s FJ wager was very strategic – had she missed, would still be a millionaire, finishing with exactly $1,000,000
I’d say two did yesterday, but not in disgrace.
Keep going Amy. You are so much fun and awe to watch.
Dear Amy- Queen of a million hearts!!
My whole family gathers every week night to cheer you on!
If caring about you could make you well, you would feel great all ready!!
ALOHA PLENTY
(we think you would make a great mayor of Oakland!)
Amy pitched a “perfect game” today. 37 correct, 0 incorrect. 3/3 on rebounds. Quite impressive!
I was surprised in regular Jeopardy today that they ruled Amy correct when she simply identified Zayn by his first name. She was clearly struggling with remembering his last name.
Considering he’s known mononymously, it would have been a grave mistake by the judges not to accept it.