Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Opera) for Tuesday, July 19, 2022 (Season 38, Game 222):
An aria from this opera says, “Put on your costume & apply make-up to your face. The people pay & they want to laugh”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Catherine Belling, a medical humanities professor from Chicago, Illinois
|
Matt Mierswa, an attorney from River Edge, New Jersey
|
William Chou, a research fellow from Austin, Texas (1-day total: $15,601)
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
William Chou returns as champion after a dramatic finale yesterday in which he prevailed following only the fifth regular-play tiebreaker since the tiebreaker rule was introduced into regular play in November 2014. Today, your challengers are Matt Mierswa and Catherine Belling.
One thing I noticed last night on social media: Jeopardy! fans, whether deliberately or accidentally, are holding Mayim Bialik to a higher standard than Ken Jennings. This is unacceptable. Both hosts need to be treated fairly, and this is not happening. Unfortunately, this toxicity from the fandom is also giving the tabloids cover to treat Mayim Bialik unfairly in comparison, and is going to ultimately lead to a worse show overall.
On a more personal note: For the past two and a half years, I have often raised money for the MS Society of Canada through their “Gamers vs. MS” program. This July, Gamers vs. MS is running a month-long fundraising campaign called “Boss Battles.” In an attempt to raise $25,000, the Gamers vs. MS team has designed a “fundraising adventure” to defeat eight evil bosses. (Much like a Mario game might have eight bosses to defeat.) You can get more information about the program at https://www.gamersvsms.ca/bossbattles, and if you’d like to donate, you can do so via Tiltify!.
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 can, 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: What is Pagliacci?
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.)
Pagliacci is an 1892 novel by Ruggero Leoncavallo; the literal translation of its title is “Clowns”. “Vesti la giubba” (“Put on the costume”) is the title of the aria quoted in tonight’s clue and is one of the most famous arias known to modern audiences—Enrico Caruso’s recordings of it are among the top-selling opera recordings of all time.
One thing I’m going to be interested in seeing: How will the Final Jeopardy! betting be affected by any potential operaphobia among contestants?
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Proceeds from the sale of the “Doctor Oz’s Fast-Acting Snake Oil Elixir” T-shirt are being donated to The Trevor Project:
Game Recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: San Diego: News Clues; Cartoon Theme Song Lyrics; 20th Century America; Hybrid Animal Parents; “Lock”; Key)
Matt and William definitely had the strongest performances in Single Jeopardy; Catherine’s struggles on the signaling device were very noticeable. A late incorrect response in the KEY category kept Matt from being in five figures.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Matt 9 correct 0 incorrect
William 5 correct 0 incorrect
Catherine 0 correct 1 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Matt 15 correct 1 incorrect
William 10 correct 0 incorrect
Catherine 2 correct 2 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: International National Parks; The Movie’s Director; Let’s Build A House; Possessive Lit; Under Quarantine; Word Origins)
Matt dominated in Double Jeopardy, with the exception of the two Daily Doubles. Matt got them both incorrect to keep the game very close! From there, William battled back to tie the game with 5 clues left; Matt got two of them correct to hold a slim lead going into Final. Scores going into Final were Matt at $16,600, William at $14,600, and Catherine getting to play Final at $400.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Matt 26 correct 3 incorrect
William 18 correct 0 incorrect
Catherine 5 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 83 (0 today).
Matt and Catherine both got the Final correct today; Matt becomes a 1-day champion and gets to come back tomorrow! Hopefully, he’ll do better on the Daily Doubles!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, July 19, 2022, Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Matt $16,600
William $14,600
Catherine $400
Tonight’s results:
Catherine $400 + $400 = $800 (What is Pagliacci?)
William $14,600 – $14,600 = $0 (What Rigoletto)
Matt $16,600 + $12,601 = $29,201 (What is Pagliacci?) (1-day total: $29,201)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Matt $9,400
William $4,200
Catherine -$400
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) 20th CENTURY AMERICA $600 (clue #3)
Matt 600 +1000 (William 0 Catherine 0)
2) POSSESSIVE LIT $2000 (clue #4)
Matt 11800 -3200 (William 4200 Catherine 800)
3) WORD ORIGINS $1600 (clue #14, $20000 left on board)
Matt 11800 -1200 (William 7000 Catherine -400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 63
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 83 (0.37 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Matt $20,600 Coryat, 26 correct, 3 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Catherine $400 Coryat, 5 correct, 3 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
William $14,600 Coryat, 18 correct, 0 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,600
Lach Trash: $11,000 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,400
William Chou, career statistics:
32 correct, 4 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
27.83% in first on buzzer (32/115)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,400)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,300
Matt Mierswa, career statistics:
27 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,600
Catherine Belling, career statistics:
6 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $400
Matt Mierswa, to win:
2 games: 54.242%
3: 29.422%
4: 15.959%
5: 8.657%
6: 4.696%
Avg. streak: 2.185 games.
Today’s interviews:
Catherine didn’t have a TV for the first 10 years of her life.
Matt has vivid memories of missing the bus to make sure he taped Ken Jennings’ games in 2004.
William was on a trivia team in grad school at Ohio State.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Link to the box score: July 19, 2022 Box Score
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Matt $16,600 William $14,600 Catherine $400)
William: If Matt bets to cover you and is incorrect, he falls to $3,999. Thus, I would bet anywhere from $4,001 (thus covering any part of his low range) to $10,599. (Actual bet: $14,600)
Matt: Standard cover bet over William is $12,601. (Actual bet: $12,601)
Catherine: Unless William and Matt both overbet considerably, you don’t have a chance at winning today. Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $400)
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.
If it’s an opera about clowns, what else am I going to guess? 🤷
🤡
Current FJ streak: 4W
I’m just looking forward to the variations there might be on the spelling, lol. Although, perhaps any contestant knowing the right answer would also have the spelling down.
Ditto! Hope they all know how to spell Pagliacci1
typo. . .PAGLIACCI!
I have Seinfeld to thank for knowing this.
I did not get it, but your cross reference here reminds me of the great episode.
My thoughts exactly! 🙂
Since “Art & Theater” is not one of my strong points, and “Opera” is a subset of that, I’m not having a good week. 🙄
I’m not an Opera buff, but I got this, thanks to a Rice Krispies commercial in the late 1960’s. When the father of the house comes to breakfast to find they’d run out of his favorite cereal, he breaks into a full-on operatic lament parodying Pagliacci, “No more Rice Krispies, We’ve run out of Rice Krispies.” One of the great tv ads of all time, you can easily find through Google.
Wow, thanks for the reminder and the reminiscences. I remember seeing and hearing this as a youngster in the 60’s or so on our black and white TV. “Great moments at breakfast,” the announcer intoned. “My tears will not stop…until I hear Snap, Crackle, Pop,” cried the father. Oh, memories.
Oh, and Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown” mentions Pagliacci also.
After reading the clue, there was no alternative for me, it had to be “Pagliacci” or I was sunk. Even most non-opera aficionados could get this one as it is very much in pop culture as well, e.g., Seinfeld, commercials, rock and roll, etc. as mentioned in other comments.
Tears of a cliwn mentioned pagliacci as well. I love opera and this was my favorite clue. It makes me want to listen to it again. Congrats to Matt winning and to Cathy getting final right.
Unless Ken was trying to indicate that he somehow helped Matt with the clue, he wanted “lo hiciste” not “lo hicimos”.
I’m pretty sure he meant “you did it.” Can’t recall the clue though. Can you remind me?
The Dora The Explorer question.
At the end of each show, Dora sings a song called “We Did It”, which also uses the Spanish equivalent, “lo hicimos”. That’s why Ken said it.
Have you ever noticed what excellent spellers, generally speaking, Jeopardy! contestant are? I left out the “g,” but I’m second-rate. Yeah, must’ve guessed it from watching “Seinfeld” . . .
Have you ever noticed what excellent spellers, generally speaking, Jeopardy! contestants are? I left out the “g,” but I’m second-rate. Yeah, must’ve guessed it from watching “Seinfeld” . . .
A comment so nice I was allowed to post it twice. Left off an “s.” . . .
So, does that make you third-rate? 😉 No, really, since the word is pronounced with a silent ‘g’, wouldn’t your spelling have been accepted?
Hahaha, “third-rate.” Nice one, Lisa! This site needs more humor. Everyone’s so serious all the time. I try, I fail. Just like in my real life, no one gets my sarcastic sense of humor. If your Jeopardy! Fan gig don’t work out, you can always find a spot on the social media comedy circuit. Leaving out the “g” wouldn’t have changed the pronunciation. Sure, they would’ve given it to me . . .