Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 17, 2022 game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Famous Animals) for Monday, October 17, 2022 (Season 39, Game 26):
In September 1964 the New York Times announced the passing of this pet, a gift, “used as a symbol of honesty in 1952”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Jessica Stephens, a statistical research specialist from Nashville, Tennessee Jessica’s previous game: Monday, October 11, 2021 |
Aaron Gulyas, a community college history instructor from Grand Blanc, Michigan Aaron’s previous game: Friday, May 27, 2022 |
Cindy Zhang, a user experience designer from New York, New York Cindy’s previous game: Thursday, November 4, 2021 |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Welcome to the 2022 Jeopardy! “post-season”; this year, this will consist of the first-ever Second Chance Tournament and the 30th Tournament of Champions! With the Second Chance Tournament, 18 players have been invited back—nine players each week—to compete for the final two slots in the tournament! Our first three players are Cindy Zhang, Aaron Gulyas, and Jessica Stephens! Considering how close each of these three players came to winning the first time out, I’m expecting a very closely contested and exciting game today!
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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 Checkers?
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 September 1952, six weeks before that year’s presidential election, Richard Nixon was in danger of being dropped as Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate after being accused of improprieties regarding a fund created to reimburse Nixon for political expenses. As part of that fund, a supporter had given a black-and-white cocker spaniel, named Checkers by Nixon’s children. In order to defend himself, Nixon delivered a joint radio and television address from the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. In the speech, Nixon said, “you know the kids love the dog, and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re going to keep it.” The speech greatly boosted Nixon’s popularity, he was retained on the ticket, and the Republicans won that 1952 election in a landslide.
Checkers passed away in September 1964 at the age of 12; the obituary is still available at the New York Times website.
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: Literary First Lines; An Impressive Vocabulary; World Facts; Common Bonds; Lyrically Yours; Skin Care From A To Z With Michael Strahan)
Cindy got out to the best start, but fell back to $0 after missing a True Daily Double on clue #8; she did nearly pull back into the lead before clue #15, though! After the break, though, Jessica had the best time of things, jumping out to a big lead.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Jessica 3 correct 0 incorrect
Cindy 7 correct 1 incorrect
Aaron 3 correct 1 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jessica 9 correct 1 incorrect
Aaron 8 correct 2 incorrect
Cindy 9 correct 2 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Actors Get Their Roles Mixed Up; “If” At First…; Anagrams; Here’s Your Science Prize; Trying To Get Some Works Done; But I Have This Historic Meeting)
Jessica’s good fortune continued when she picked up the second Daily Double, improving her score by $2,500. Aaron had a shot midway through the round to claw back, but he also got a Daily Double incorrect. As it turns out, Jessica pulled out a runaway game by the end of things at $17,100; Cindy had $6,800 and Aaron $2,800.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Jessica 18 correct 2 incorrect
Cindy 14 correct 3 incorrect
Aaron 15 correct 6 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
In Final Jeopardy! today, both Jessica and Aaron were correct; we’ll see Jessica again on Thursday and Friday in the final!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, October 17, 2022 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Jessica $17,100
Cindy $6,800
Aaron $2,800
Tonight’s results:
Aaron $2,800 + $2,800 = $5,600 (Who is is Checkers?)
Cindy $6,800 – $0 = $6,800 (Who Thanks for having me!)
Jessica $17,100 + $3,000 = $20,100 (Who is Checkers?) (Finalist)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jessica $5,400
Aaron $3,000
Cindy $2,000
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) WORLD FACTS $1000 (clue #8)
Cindy 2800 -2800 (Aaron 1800 Jessica 0)
2) “IF” AT FIRST… $1600 (clue #3)
Jessica 6200 +2500 (Cindy 1200 Aaron 1000)
3) TRYING TO GET SOME WORKS DONE $1200 (clue #17, $16000 left on board)
Aaron 4200 -3000 (Cindy 4400 Jessica 12300)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -131
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.31 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Jessica $16,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Cindy $9,600 Coryat, 14 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Aaron $5,800 Coryat, 15 correct, 6 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,600
Lach Trash: $11,800 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $10,600
Cindy Zhang, career statistics:
36 correct, 6 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
32.74% in first on buzzer (37/113)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $200)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,600
Aaron Gulyas, career statistics:
40 correct, 11 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
37.72% in first on buzzer (43/114)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,400
Jessica Stephens, career statistics:
34 correct, 2 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
25.44% in first on buzzer (29/114)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,500)
2/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,300
Today’s interviews:
Jessica called her initial game her “space camp experience”.
Aaron got a lot of texts from friends who knew he dislikes sports.
Cindy was asked about fashion and her handwriting before Second Chance.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Second place in these games are getting $2,000; third place $1,000. This does affect betting slightly in games such as today’s.
- Today’s game definitely showed how important the Daily Doubles are—all three players got to play one, but only the winner got theirs correct.
- I was shocked not to see a preview of tomorrow’s game at the end of the show.
- Today’s box score:October 17, 2022 Box Score .
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jessica $17,100 Cindy $6,800 Aaron $2,800)
Cindy: Bet between $0 and $1,199 and take the extra $1,000 for second. (Actual bet: $0)
Aaron: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $2,800)
Jessica: Bet between $0 and $3,499 and enjoy your victory! (Actual bet: $3,000)
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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I loved to start the postseason on a positive note and a get. I am not a pet person, but a political junkie, and the twain often meet in the US.
I truly had NO idea, and went with a random “pet” in hopes to maybe land in the ballpark. Guessing Punxsutawney Phil was not my brightest moment…
Your guess made me LOL!
Picked up the rebound from the Burning Man miss yesterday😅
I have a vague memory of watching the “Checkers” speech, maybe for my US Government class.
So a Matt-Jonathan-Jessica rematch is not out of the cards after all!
It’s great seeing competitive second chance games but man once we get to week 4 of tournament play this is going to drag on a bit. Also it seems overly excessive to make people play 3 extra games to get into the tournament. Winning 5 games in a row to get to the finals seems a bit much when the super champs only need to win 1. I hope someone can beat the odds though!!! 🙂
It seems fairly reasonable to me since the people already in the Tournament of Champions had to have won at least 4 games and they didn’t have to be given a second chance.
BTW, I “got” ‘Checkers’ today — did not remember the dates (especially the death year) but I was just trying to think of famous pets around about then and after I thought of ‘Checkers’, the “honesty” part convinced me I was probably right.
I mostly agree but still don’t like the giving them a bye into the semi finals. I’d like a regular 2 week tournament but this is fine too.
they only times when I feel that Jeopardy “drags on” are games where the returning champ dominates Single Jeopardy, building a big lead and the 2 challengers never have a chance. And especially when there is a strong “superchamp” who frequently has such games. (those are the times when I don’t bother watching the show at all)
Given that all the contestants in both these tournaments have previous experience and some degree of success (yes, the SCT peeps lost, but they build up big scores going into FJ), I doubt I’ll get that feeling much for this next month. And even if there is a runaway game (like today), I can look forward to a new trio of competitors the next day (with the exception of the two-day finals in each week of the SCT)
so in summary, I highly doubt I’ll share your feeling of these tournaments “dragging on”
I feel those are the most exciting games. When James was pulling out incredible records and dominant performances I was super invested like I am with Cris. I may be in the minority with that but hey we all like something different.
James’s games at least had the interesting aspect of record-setting scores.
Cris’s scores barely match James’s lowest scores.
Ha you are correct. James is one of a kind in what he did. I’m always a fan of a streaker though. Loved the ken Jennings saga and I just like thinking illogically and the “what if this guy breaks the 74 game win streak”
Agreed. I also liked James’s odd-numbered “meaningful” bets. But he won for so long he even ran out of meaningful numbers and kept betting the same ones over and over, dampening the fun of that.
I immediately knew it was Richard Nixon’s dog, but I did not remember “Checkers.” Would the judges have accepted “Who is Richard Nixon’s dog?”
Doubtful—he did have more than one in his lifetime, and those types of responses have been rules incorrect by the judges in the past.
It would be like saying, “Who is a dog who has never been in my kitchen.” LOL That type of response has been ruled incorrect before, too.
Not surprising that Jessica won here as she outplayed and beat Matt in her previous game and Jonathan Fisher had only $200 more than her going into final. Both got the final jeopardy answer right. A little bit more money and she would have won the game. She was the first person I thought of when they announced the tournament.
Agreed. Jessica was my odds on favorite going in as she nearly defeated not just one but two super champs in Matt and Jonathan. Would be happy to see her make it to the ToC.
for the clue “A hand-held optical instrument lends its name to this adjective referring to a mix of shifting colors”
I wonder if they would have accepted “prismatic”
I’d consider a prism to be a “hand-held optical instrument”, and “prismatic” does refer to something colorful, but I’m not sure it really carries the “SHIFTING colors” connotation.
Man, Amodio really got a rough draw in his 39th game.
There’s frequently clues where the response is “What is the Hanseatic League”. I wish they’d mix it up a bit and require contestants to respond with something about the Hanseatic League and not just identify it.
Jessica was just as impressive as in her first appearance. One thing that struck me, though, is that after she found the first DD in DJ, she followed it with two more selections in that category, then Aaron chose the final clue in the category. I just don’t recall the super champions doing that very often. They go looking for the other DD, which won’t be in that category.
I have much greater respect for contestants that honor the writing and game flow by sticking with a category than I do for those that jump around.
Hey there, quick question about tournament play: I was at a backgammon tournament in late May of this year and ran into Gerry Tansey (J! Teen Tournament semi-finalist 1994). I said something friendly along the lines of “Hey, how’s the Jeopardy champ doing in this tournament?” and he responded with something like “Uhhhh, I’m not sure I have that title, but I just got knocked out.” I said something along the lines of “You won your game and didn’t advance through a wild-card spot, right? I’d say you have that title.” He did win his quarterfinal game.
This got me thinking… “Are the folks that win a game in a tournament officially bestowed that title?” I figured they were, but I noticed today that Ken seemed careful to not use that phrasing when Jess won (Gerry’s trepidation immediately came to mind).
I think they totally should be!
Ian:
I would also say that they should be bestowed that title. On #JeopardyLivePanel many years ago, I interviewed a contestant from a mid-2000s College tournament (Amanda Walker) who said that one of her few regrets about her experience was that she did not win her quarter-final (only advancing as a wild card) because she could not therefore say she was a Jeopardy! champion.
I watched my first Sunday Amateur Jeopardy! Hour game last night (Andy deleted my comment, as he is wont to do). I had a hard time missing any of the questions, but, as you kids say, “It is what it is.” It’s frustrating for me to have a bad night of “regular” Jeopardy!, but at least it’s more challenging——so I thought. Tonight I had five Triple Stumpers, two of the Daily Doubles, and got the Final . . .
This second chance tournament is awesome! The format is perfect. Here I am researching all the players trying to remember them. I was hoping for this one lady who went toe to toe with Amy and fell short. She kind of blinked a lot and was in the right hand podium on the screen. It seems she is not in. For some reason, I still think Andrew He can win this whole thing.
This was a Final Jeopardy that if you knew something about history from that era, or, something of Nixon’s history the answer/clue lead you to the correct response.
I know a little of both, guessed Checkers, and, was right.