Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 18, 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 Landmarks of Science) for Tuesday, October 18, 2022 (Season 39, Game 27):
Clones of an original one of these grow outside the math faculty at Cambridge University & in the President’s garden at M.I.T.
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Molly Karol, a CPA from Austin, Texas Molly’s previous game: Monday, November 15, 2021 |
Tracy Pitzel, an accountant from Ellensburg, Washington Tracy’s previous game: Monday, September 20, 2021 |
Erica Weiner-Amachi, an elementary teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Erica’s previous game: Monday, July 18, 2022 |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Day 2 of the 2022 Jeopardy! postseason continues with Erica Weiner-Amachi, Tracy Pitzel, and Molly Karol. All three of these players had very similar correct-response statistics and signaling device statistics in their initial game; I’m hoping for a very close match today! (To be honest, I was also hoping for a close match yesterday, and Jessica Stephens turned it into a runaway.) Regardless, the winner gets to meet Jessica in Thursday’s game! Interestingly, Erica was elevated from “alternate” status after Isaac Applebaum could not participate.
One further comment regarding yesterday’s game: sponsored categories or clues have been happening on Jeopardy! for over 20 years. This is not a new phenomenon; one famous example was a Seinfeld category on November 30, 2004, specifically to promote the DVD release of the show. It is not my problem, or the show’s problem, for people to start getting upset at a feature that’s been happening for twenty years. (Plus, the bills need to be paid somehow.)
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 an apple tree?
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.)
Both Cambridge and M.I.T. are locations of clones of the immensely famous apple tree that Isaac Newton sat under in the summer of 1666 when, as the story goes, an apple fell from a tree. From that observation, Newton first thought of his system of gravitation. Interestingly, Newton was in the 17th-century version of “work from home” when that occurred; the Great Plague of London and resulting pandemic sent all of the students home to slow the spread of that pandemic.
The tree at M.I.T. was a gift given by Ed Vetter, a former undersecretary at the U.S. Commerce Department, Vetter was given the gift by the National Bureau of Standards in 1977.
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: 5-Letter Places; Celebrities; Americana; ____ & ____; Astronomy; Left, “Right” Or “Center”)
Molly got off to the best start, but Erica got the Daily Double, and Tracy had the lead after 15 and 30 clues!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Tracy 5 correct 0 incorrect
Molly 5 correct 1 incorrect
Erica 2 correct 0 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Tracy 12 correct 2 incorrect
Molly 8 correct 1 incorrect
Erica 6 correct 1 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: National Geographic Treasures Of Egypt; Broadway; Presidential Speeches; French Literature; Measuring Up; Phrases Of Hello & Goodbye)
Molly was in a distant third place, but pulled herself back into contention by finding both Daily Doubles! Meanwhile, Erica had the best time of things, mainly by avoiding incorrect responses! Erica led going into Final with $12,800, to Molly’s $11,400 and Tracy’s $6,600.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Erica 14 correct 2 incorrect
Molly 16 correct 4 incorrect
Tracy 18 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Final Jeopardy! was a Triple Stumper; Molly made a great bet and ended up with the victory! She’ll be moving on to the final!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, October 18, 2022 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Erica $12,800
Molly $11,400
Tracy $6,600
Tonight’s results:
Tracy $6,600 – $6,600 = $0 (What is a pea plant?)
Molly $11,400 – $1,801 = $9,599 (What are ros roses?) (Finalist)
Erica $12,800 – $11,000 = $1,800 (What is an oak tree?)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Tracy $5,400
Molly $4,600
Erica $2,800
Opening break taken after: clues
Daily Double locations:
1) AMERICANA $800 (clue #8)
Erica 1000 +800 (Tracy 800 Molly 2400)
2) PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHES $1600 (clue #9)
Molly 3400 +3000 (Erica 6000 Tracy 7000)
3) FRENCH LITERATURE $1200 (clue #18, $12400 left on board)
Molly 4800 +3000 (Erica 10400 Tracy 6600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 231
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.30 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Molly $8,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 4 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Erica $12,800 Coryat, 14 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
Tracy $6,600 Coryat, 18 correct, 5 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $27,600
Lach Trash: $15,000 (on 12 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $11,400
Erica Weiner-Amachi, career statistics:
34 correct, 8 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
28.70% in first on buzzer (33/115)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,400)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,200
Tracy Pitzel, career statistics:
38 correct, 9 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (40/114)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,000)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,300
Molly Karol, career statistics:
37 correct, 10 incorrect
6/7 on rebound attempts (on 13 rebound opportunities)
30.70% in first on buzzer (35/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $13,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,000
Today’s interviews:
Molly getting the Second Chance call was something to look forward to after her mother passed away.
Tracy made a quick music video to celebrate her return.
Erica got “newer, woker” glasses for Second Chance.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- It really disappoints me when contestants recount negative things said about them on the show; us fans really need to be better.
- Today’s box score: October 18, 2022 Box Score
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Erica $12,800 Molly $11,400 Tracy $6,600)
Erica: Standard cover bet over Molly is $10,001. (Actual bet: $11,000)
Tracy: Bet between $3,000 (thereby passing Molly’s cover bet over you) and $3,799 (thereby staying ahead of Erica on a Triple Stumper). (Actual bet: $6,600)
Molly: Standard cover bet over Tracy is $1,801. (Actual bet: $1,801)
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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I figured out the answer instantly.
I didn’t instantly, but maybe 10 seconds, though I would have written “Newton’s apple tree”, not “an apple tree” as Jeopardy said. I think the more correct response would have been “Newton’s apple tree” but maybe they had decided that they would accept just “an apple tree” (maybe partly because of the time to write the whole thing), so why not say that was the correct response and accept the longer version if given.
that’s what I would have written, too, but with my luck I would’ve run out of time at “Newton’s Apple Tr”.
tsk I misdirected myself🙁 I saw “Clones” and started thinking of cloned animals smh
My old enemy, Hasty Generalization😠 😅
Current FJ streak – 1L
I did, too, for about a second, but the clue said they “grow in the garden” and I didn’t think they would word it that way about any animal. All three contestants realized it would be a plant even though none came up with the right plant. I think Tracy had the best wrong answer as peas are connected to the discovery of genetics, though they are annuals and a clone wouldn’t last but a year (but “an original ONE of THESE” would have fit better to the multiple pea plants used in those experiments rather than the one apple tree of Newton’s).
Maybe this is more logical to everybody else than it is to me, but I find the clue awkwardly worded. “Clones of an original one of these” seems to say there are many originals, and the correct response involves clones of one of them. In this case, I guess “these” refers to apple trees in general. But the clones referenced in the clue emanate from the one and only apple tree made famous by Newton. I think the clue would be clearer if it said “clones of the original one grow…” People would likely then put Newton’s apple tree, which should be acceptable.
I agree, though I am thinking maybe they got themselves into that awkward phrasing because a tree can be cloned from a clone of an original tree and since they were mentioning two locations, they may have been trying to emphasize each was a clone of the original.
I think the clue would have been better to have said “Clones of this original one”.
But something else that struck me as weird was them saying “grow outside the math faculty at Cambridge”. I thought ‘faculty’ is a group of people, not a building. I would have expected them to say ‘math facility’, ‘math faculty building’ or maybe even ‘math department’. Is ‘faculty’ as a reference to their building a British term like ‘lift’ for ‘elevator’? Regardless, I think the choice of wording led to extra seconds of interpretation before the contestants could even try to think of the right response
do you know for a fact that Newton only had one single apple tree?
and I really don’t think that Newton had the ORIGINAL apple tree (or even a clone)
Anyhow, I’m thinking that this clue had to be an intentional nod from the writers to the contestant who earned a spot in this tournament but couldn’t participate:
Isaac Applebaum
Actually, I did think about that, even in choosing my original response. I thought he probably had an orchard and it was known to be one of those trees, but not which one — thus the “original one of THESE” from the clue, but my comments are often wordy enough, so I didn’t add that.
Were you being literal or funny about whether Newton had THE ORIGINAL apple tree or not. Of course it wasn’t. The reference was to HIS original apple tree, not just some apple tree grown somewhere in his honor or a hybrid named for him or something. I have found that it WAS in an orchard but is close to the house and was the one that Newton told his biographers about. It is by now a “legend” but is not a “myth” — the “myth” part is about the apple falling on his head, the falsity of which may make some people remember the actual story as myth.
As for Isaac Applebaum, excellent observation! It could just be a coincidence, but I would not be at all surprised if you are correct.
Agree that is was poorly worded. I think this results from an attempt to refer to Newton’s apple trees without making it explicit that they were referring to plants belong to someone in particular, thereby making the clue much easier. Maybe there’s a way to pull that off, but they sure didn’t find it.
This one was easy because I read about it a couple of months ago. I never thought I would see it on Jeopardy!, though.
I had never heard about it, I just reasoned out what I thought to be a likely possibility and I turned out to be right.
Didn’t get it. 0-for-2 is not exactly the best way to start off the Tournament, but I think I can get at least one by the end of the week. (I hope.)
About the game, Daily Doubles is exactly why I considered Molly the favorite to win today, so I’m happy to see my prediction be correct!
I’m in the same boat with correct responses so far.
But the daily doubles were not the winning factor. It was the fact that they all got FJ! wrong, along with correct betting there by Molly. Otherwise, Erica looked like she was in a good position to win.
Anyone know off hand how much the winner of the tournament of champion this year gets? I’m assuming 500,000 but wouldn’t be shocked if it was a million either.
ToC winners since 2003 have won $250K
I don’t think they’ve officially announced how much this year’s winner will get
I just figured it had to be at least 500k. With the second chance tournament alone they are saving $200,000 if you figure the winning average is 20,000 a game which they don’t have to pay out for those 2 weeks. It will feel less special if they are doing all this extra stuff with the second chance and the finals if just the normal 250k
The apple tree was something that reminded me of Sir Issac Newton as he was always sitting under that tree until the apple fell on his head. He discovered gravity. It certainly brought back the days of me studying physics and learning about gravity Still the clone of an apple would have been a better hint for the players in FJ.
I do not understand what you mean by “The apple tree was something that reminded me”. There was nothing in the clue about apple trees. That was in the correct response/question, then Andy’s write-up explained the Newton connection.
“The clone of an apple” as part of the clue would have been too “on the nose”. None of the contestants got it, but at least David Gong and I figured it out without already having heard about it. If the clue had included that it was apple-related [trees can be cloned but apples themselves cannot] it would have been a triple get.
I’m outraged that Jeopardy is shamelessly peddling a National Geographic book about Egypt!!!
(of course I’m joking. And I’m guessing none of the people that whined about the Strahan skincare category will say a peep about the NatGeo category)
Also, I’m confused at how exactly glasses can be “woke”.
I was thinking she may have just meant was “aware” that her former ones were out-of-fashion (not that I recall whether they were or not), but I am guessing that the multi-colors of her new glasses may be reference to the rainbow flag.
Her previous glasses were also a reference to the rainbow flag.
I had a problem with yesterday’s Micheal Strahan’s hair care category. To me, it seemed more like an ad for Strahan’s new product line.
Andy’s point about past “sponsored” categories was well taken. Reading that, I remembered categories based on tours Alex Trebec hosted, licensed under the Nationl Geographic banner. (though those seemed to be more like “regular” Jeopardy categories in my memory.) Still, the Jeopardy “critics” at certain American, and, British tabloids may have a field day over the Strahan category.
“Ed Vetter, a former undersecretary at the U.S. Commerce Department”
who went on to be frontman in the Seattle band, Pearl Jam…
Good one, hahaha! I really admire the stylistic series of dots at the end of your post (-:
I would’ve figured that Final out about the same time the Earth implodes, blasts into the Universe, and becomes star stuff. Some people have entirely too much time on their hands . . .
Styx shout out 🙂