Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Science & the Bible) for Friday, July 8, 2022 (Season 38, Game 215):
A 2021 study suggested that an asteroid that struck the Jordan Valley c. 1650 B.C. gave rise to the story of this city in Genesis 19
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Leigh Jahnig, an attorney from Chicago, Illinois
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Robert Won, a math professor from Washington, DC
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Brian Ahern, a user support associate from Daly City, California (1-day total: $26,800)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Brian Ahern took down a strong 3-day champion in Yungsheng Wang in yesterday’s game after strong play on the Daily Doubles and a sole get in Final Jeopardy. Today, in his title defense, he faces Robert Won and Leigh Jahnig.
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!.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is Sodom?
More Information About Final Jeopardy:
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I don’t really like this clue. While the articles itself in 2021 only referred to Sodom, is there really anything other than “the 2021 articles” to pin this to Sodom and not Gomorrah? According to Genesis 19, both Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God for their wickedness. According to the meteor theories floated in 2021, a meteor struck and destroyed the city of Tall el-Hammam, which some scholars believe to have been the Biblical city of Sodom.
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Game Recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Scandinavia; Weather Words; Danger! Danger!; Role Call; Historic Structures; One Letter Changes Everything)
Brian got off to the best start today, running WEATHER WORDS, including a Daily Double! He held the lead at the first break. Robert took advantage of a $1,000 neg at the end of the round for Brian to take the lead at the end of the Jeopardy! round.
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Cold War Era; Gone Extinct; Crossword Clues “C”; The Jacksons, 5; What is Love…; Baby, Don’t Hurt Me)
Double Jeopardy! belonged to our two challengers today—Brian only got in 3 times on the signaling device! Our challengers split the Daily Doubles in this round as well; Leigh for $3,000 and Robert for $2,500. Robert got 15 correct this round to have a strong position going into Final. Scores going into Final were Robert at $23,700, Leigh at $16,000, and Brian at $6,200.
Robert and Leigh were correct in Final today; Robert gets to be champion over the weekend and will be back on Monday to defend!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, July 8, 2022 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Robert $23,700
Leigh $16,000
Brian $6,200
Tonight’s results:
Brian $6,200 – $6,200 = $0 (What is Babel?)
Leigh $16,000 + $16,000 = $32,000 (What is The Great Flood? Sodom?)
Robert $23,700 + $8,301 = $32,001 (What is Sodom?) (1-day total: $32,001)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Robert $6,400
Brian $6,200
Leigh $3,000
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) WEATHER WORDS $600 (clue #3)
Brian 600 +1000 (Robert 0 Leigh 0)
2) THE COLD WAR ERA $800 (clue #2)
Leigh 3400 +3000 (Brian 6200 Robert 6400)
3) GONE EXTINCT $2000 (clue #10, $24000 left on board)
Robert 12000 +2500 (Brian 6200 Leigh 9600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 209
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 83 (0.39 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Robert $23,200 Coryat, 26 correct, 0 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Leigh $13,800 Coryat, 15 correct, 0 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Brian $5,800 Coryat, 13 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,800
Lach Trash: $8,600 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $2,600
Brian Ahern, career statistics:
30 correct, 5 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (30/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,500
Robert Won, career statistics:
27 correct, 0 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,500)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $23,200
Leigh Jahnig, career statistics:
16 correct, 0 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,800
Robert Won, to win:
2 games: 72.791%
3: 52.986%
4: 38.569%
5: 28.075%
6: 20.436%
Avg. streak: 3.675 games.
Today’s interviews:
Leigh was “accidentally” in a chocolate advertisement in Poland.
Robert had a crossword accepted by the New York Times.
Brian met his wife online, but had met her before.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- It is abundantly clear to me that Brian was swallowing his phrasing on multiple and it wasn’t entirely picked up by the microphone. This also means that comments regarding it will be considered out of order today.
- The judges can see responses as they are being written. It is abundantly clear that Leigh wrote “Sodom”.
- I’m sure that two things will happen: Busybodies will tweet about both of the above things, and the tabloids will then put out articles based on the tweets incorrectly blaming Mayim for both of them, because the tabloids are either sexist, anti-Semitic, or both.
- Link to the box score: July 8, 2022 Box Score
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Robert $23,700 Leigh $16,000 Brian $6,200)
Brian: You can’t win today unless someone really overbets. The chances of you finishing higher are greater, though, the more money you finish with. (Actual bet: $6,200)
Robert: Standard cover bet over Leigh is $8,301. (Actual bet: $8,301)
Leigh: If Robert is incorrect, he’ll fall to $15,399. Thus, you should bet no more than $599. (Actual bet: $16,000)
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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As Andy mentioned, one familiar with the old testament but not the study could just as easily guess Gomorrah. But given it’s singular (so only one of the two), and Sodom is shorter and easier to spell, I’m guessing a contestant is more likely to guess Sodom, though I would not be surprised if someone said Jericho (which is not mentioned in book of Genesis) thinking of the walls come tumbling down.
Yes, and as the pair are usually referenced in S and G order, I’d guess that people would usually think of the first if asked to pick one of the two. That’s how I guessed it anyway 🙂
Current FJ streak: 5W
In the allotted time, I never got past trying to decide between the two . . . 🙄
Yeah, I went with Jericho, thinking the singular “city” eliminated Sodom and Gomorrah. Didn’t occur to me they’d be looking for one of the two.
I also do not like this clue – for those who are interested – here is the link to the paper in Nature.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97778-3
I am not sure if it is open for all or if I am getting access as I am logged in through my University portal.
yes, it is open to all. thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the article reference
I also figured Sodom but wondered why the clue did not say “cities” and include Gomorrah. /shrug
Makes too much sense . . .
I guessed Jericho and my walls came tumbling down.
Ending the week on a “winning note” after several bad Final experiences – phew! 🙂
Ending this week on a high note. I read the old testament pretty much on my days off and I knew Sodom which is short for sodomizing. Good for Robert and Leigh today getting strong scores.
The connection you mention (though I thought you said it rather backwards as the latter is named for the former) was the reason I guessed Jericho. ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ had been my immediate response, but I assumed Jeopardy! wouldn’t even “remotely” reference sodomy (along with the difficulty in having to decide between Sodom and Gomorrah). I believe I did cycle through these three responses enough within the allotted time that I could have written down my choice — not that it makes much difference if I am wrong, anyway. Actually, if one were wrong, it might be preferable to NOT get it written in time 😌.
Andy, thank you for calling out the anti-Mayim deluge of rubbish being served up in recent months. It’s quite unsettling, imo.
I’m no biblical scholar, but I read through Gen 19 (in whatever modernized version showed up via google) after watching today’s show, and Sodom was the primary city mentioned numerous times, with Gommorah only being mentioned once (saying that it was also destroyed along with Sodom).
I also found it really disturbing that Lot though it was fine to try and pimp out his daughters to the town, but anyway….
If someone HAD responded with Gommorah, and the judges ruled it wrong, I would have been disappointed, but I guess we’ll never know whether or not they would have accepted it as a correct response.
PS: I had guessed Jericho too (since, as I said, I’m not biblical scholar)
Two impressive challengers. They both were 100% correct in their responses, including DDs and FJ!
By my count, 41 unique champions in 205 regular play games this season, or one for every 5 games. Must be a record by a mile!
https://www.j-archive.com/showseason.php?season=38
In my opinion, it would be difficult to rule against Gomorrah, because the biblical text does not differentiate between how they were destroyed, and archaeology has not definitively identified either city so in principle, the findings regarding the meteor could apply to either city.
I took my chances with Sodom because it’s more prominently mentioned in the biblical text, but I hope to see clearer clues from the writers in the future. I am also glad this did not affect the final result of the game, as the leading player answered it correctly.