Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 1972) for Wednesday, September 7, 2022 (Season 38, Game 197):
In June he said, “Don’t lie to them to the extent to say there is no involvement, but just say this is… a comedy of errors”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Megan Wachspress, an attorney from Berkeley, California
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Barry Margulies, a professor emeritus at Towson University from Lutherville, Maryland
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Eric Ahasic, a meteorologist from Minneapolis, Minnesota (6-day total: $160,601)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s game originally aired on June 14, 2022.
The final week of “Best of Season 38” continues as we see the match where Eric Ahasic was defeated by Megan Wachspress by just $2, as Megan’s improbable run to the Tournament of Champions began.
Today’s New York Times Clue of the Day was in the category Mammals. The clue was “the state marine mammal of Florida is a subspecies of the West Indian this”. The correct response: What is a manatee? This was one of the Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! Round.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is Richard Nixon?
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.)
In June 1972, the Committee to Re-Elect the President ordered a break-in of Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. In the aftermath, the press and FBI were coming very close to linking the burglary to the occupant of the White House—Richard Nixon. In a recorded conversation between Nixon and advisor H.R. Haldeman, Nixon instructed Haldeman to tell the FBI that the breaking was “sort of a comedy of errors, bizarre, without getting into it.” Nixon wished for the public to believe that the funds diverted to the burglars were part of a CIA plot regarding Cuba. When the tapes were released in 1974 as part of the Watergate investigation, they were considered a part of the “smoking gun” that proved Nixon’s obstruction of justice during the investigation. Nixon resigned as President in August 1974 as a result (and was immediately pardoned by his successor Gerald Ford).
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Game Recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Early 1800s; The Moral Of The Fable; Clever Crossword Clues; Sun Up; Well, It’s 5 For The Money; 3 For The Show)
Eric struggled a bit on the signaling device early on, and Barry took advantage to jump out to an early lead—once he recovered from a couple of early incorrect responses. However, Barry bet much too conservatively on the first Daily Double, though—it was a situation where Barry needed to take advantage. Needless to say, Eric recovered to hold a slim lead after the Jeopardy! Round. Megan was in a distant third.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Barry 4 correct 2 incorrect
Megan 4 correct 2 incorrect
Eric 2 correct 1 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Eric 8 correct 1 incorrect
Barry 8 correct 2 incorrect
Megan 7 correct 3 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Isles Of The British Isles; Partners In Rhyme; Mammals; Communications; Songs Of Innocence & Experience; 3 Letters, E In The Middle)
Barry got off to a strong start in Double Jeopardy, even though he dropped $2,000 on the second Daily Double of the game. Eric was very strong mid-round, running ISLES OF THE BRITISH ISLES, and Megan was in a very distant third with 12 clues to go in the game. However, Megan picked up 6 of the final 12 clues, including the last Daily Double, to prevent Eric from holding a runaway going into the Final. All three players were in contention, with Eric at $18,600, Megan at $10,000, and Barry at $9,000.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Eric 19 correct 1 incorrect
Megan 14 correct 4 incorrect
Barry 15 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 78 (0 today).
In the Final, Megan got the perfect result for her—a single-get Final where she was the only correct player, and while she didn’t cover Barry, she bet enough to win the game by just $2!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, September 7, 2022, Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Eric $18,600
Megan $10,000
Barry $9,000
Tonight’s results:
Barry $9,000 – $8,000 = $1,000 (Who is Haldeman?)
Megan $10,000 + $7,201 = $17,201 (Who is Richard Nixon?) (1-day total: $17,201)
Eric $18,600 – $1,401 = $17,199 (Who is John Dean?)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Eric $5,000
Barry $4,600
Megan $1,800
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) WELL, IT’S 5 FOR THE MONEY $1000 (clue #20)
Barry 3600 +1000 (Eric 1200 Megan 600)
2) MAMMALS $1200 (clue #2)
Barry 5000 -2000 (Eric 5000 Megan 1800)
3) PARTNERS IN RHYME $1200 (clue #22, $9600 left on board)
Megan 5800 +3000 (Eric 15000 Barry 9000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 40
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 78 (0.40 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Megan $8,200 Coryat, 14 correct, 4 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Eric $18,600 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Barry $11,000 Coryat, 15 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,800
Lach Trash: $10,200 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,000
Eric Ahasic, career statistics:
176 correct, 19 incorrect
13/14 on rebound attempts (on 33 rebound opportunities)
39.85% in first on buzzer (159/399)
13/15 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $47,600)
2/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,514
Barry Margulies, career statistics:
15 correct, 4 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,000
Megan Wachspress, career statistics:
15 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,200
Megan Wachspress, to win:
2 games: 34.934%
3: 12.204%
4: 4.263%
5: 1.489%
6: 0.520%
Avg. streak: 1.537 games.
Today’s interviews:
Megan volunteered for the Prison University Project.
Barry was questioned by the Secret Service in the 8th grade.
Eric went camping with the bison at Badlands National Park.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Link to the box score: June 14, 2022 Box Score
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Eric $18,600 Megan $10,000 Barry $9,000)
Eric: Standard cover bet over Megan is $1,401. (Actual bet: $1,401)
Barry: Because Eric will fall to $17,199 if he’s wrong, you need to bet at least $8,201. (Actual bet: $8,000)
Megan: Standard cover bet over Barry is $8,001. (Actual bet: $7,201)
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I remember this question the first time and said John Dean because I thought Nixon was too obvious.
I didn’t start paying attention to all the details until the hearings (like a lot of people, I guess). The ‘smoking gun’ tapes that this was part of were a huge deal then.
I find Megan’s bet to be AMAZING. Does she have ESP? Does she have a secret side-job with the FBI as a profiler? Given her bet, Barry could have gone all-in, gotten it right and won, but Megan bet only a little more than enough to top him (at what he did bet) even if he had gotten it right. Given her bet, Eric could have bet nothing and beat her whether he got it right or not. However, Eric bet just enough to beat Megan if she had gone all-in and they both got it right, so it is probably pretty reasonable for her to have guessed he would do that and so bet just enough to top him if she was correct and he was wrong, which turned out to be the case. It is just that the optics of how it turned out (including Barry’s bet) made her look prescient when actually she was just a little better at “reading” Eric’s likely betting strategy than he was at “reading” hers. But it is maybe one of the likelier scenarios resulting when #2 has a little more than half of #1 and #3 has just a little less than half of #1.
As for the correct response, I had (for the original airing) thought that sounded too clever for Nixon to have thought of, so guessed John Mitchell. So maybe he advised Nixon to tell Haldeman that. 😉