Warning: This page contains spoilers for the November 2, 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 Phrases in American History) for Wednesday, November 2, 2022 (Season 39, Game 38):
Andrew Johnson vetoed a bill that gave reparations to formerly enslaved people, hence this phrase for an unfulfilled promise
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Margaret Shelton, a homemaker from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
|
Tyler Rhode, a director at a start-up from New York, New York
|
Brian Chang, an attorney from Chicago, Illinois
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
We’re two quarterfinals into the 30th Tournament of Champions. Two super-champions have already been defeated. (One of them I would call an upset—Maureen O’Neil defeating Ryan Long—however, I do still believe that Andrew He is, overall, a better player than Jonathan Fisher.) I’ve received feedback over the last few days regarding my predictions and how people feel I have underrated their favorite player. To this, I say: yes, your favorite player is smart and very good at Jeopardy—but so is everybody else in this field.
When it comes to today’s game: my prediction model consistently puts all three players between a 31 and 35 percent chance of winning this game: it is the definition of “too close to call”. Today’s game is going to come down to “who does the board fit better” and “who plays better on the day”. Tyler has been slightly better at higher-valued clues, while Margaret was slightly more aggressive on Daily Doubles in her run. Meanwhile, Brian’s got the best balance between everything. I’d certainly be very hard-pressed to call any result here “an upset”.
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!
---Advertisement---
(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is “40 acres and a mule”?
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 1865, as the Civil War was winding to a close, General Sherman emerged from a meeting between Union leaders and a group of Black ministers in Savannah, GA, with Special Field Order 15. That order stated that “each family shall have a plot of not more than forty acres of tillable ground.” That later got the signature phrase “40 acres and a mule”. And then, shortly following the end of the Civil War, Lincoln was assassinated, replaced with the notoriously racist Andrew Johnson. Johnson then proceeded to renege on this, with the land being taken away from the formerly enslaved Americans.
Famed film director Spike Lee named his production company “40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks” after the event.
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: Historic Names; Team Of The MLB Hall Of Famers; You Left Me; 5, 5; Baroque; The Law)
Brian struggled with incorrect responses early on, and wasn’t helped by missing the Daily Double. Meanwhile, Tyler and Margaret started quite a battle and were tied at the end of 30 clues!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Margaret 6 correct 0 incorrect
Tyler 5 correct 0 incorrect
Brian 2 correct 3 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Margaret 8 correct 1 incorrect
Tyler 10 correct 1 incorrect
Brian 5 correct 4 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: National Geographic 100 Cities, 5,000 Ideas; Health & Medicine; Simon Says; Child Actors; Novel Nurses; Anagrams Of Each Other)
Brian really liked the anagram category and went straight there—picking up the Daily Double and another pair of correct responses! Meanwhile, the hunt commenced for the last one, and it was finally found by Tyler, who pulled himself back into a tie for the lead with Margaret with an incorrect response! Tyler and Margaret played evenly over the final six clues, which meant a tie going into clue #61! Margaret and Tyler both had $17,400 to Brian’s $4,200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Tyler 19 correct 2 incorrect
Margaret 20 correct 4 incorrect
Brian 11 correct 6 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Tyler and Margaret both got Final Jeopardy! correct. It came down to the wagering today; unfortunately for Margaret, she did not go all in and Tyler did, which means that Tyler Rhode is your latest semifinalist!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, November 2, 2022 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Margaret $17,400
Tyler $17,400
Brian $4,200
Tonight’s results:
Brian $4,200 – $0 = $4,200 (What is ??)
Tyler $17,400 + $17,400 = $34,800 (What is forty acres and a mule?) (1-day total: $34,800)
Margaret $17,400 + $7,000 = $24,400 (What is “forty acres and a mule”?)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Margaret $5,400
Tyler $5,400
Brian -$1,000
---Advertisement---
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) BAROQUE $800 (clue #13)
Brian 0 -1000 (Tyler 3400 Margaret 3400)
2) ANAGRAMS OF EACH OTHER $2000 (clue #1)
Brian -1000 +2000 (Tyler 5400 Margaret 5400)
3) NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 100 CITIES, 5,000 IDEAS $800 (clue #24, $3200 left on board)
Tyler 12600 +4000 (Brian 3000 Margaret 16600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 32
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.21 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Tyler $14,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 4/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Margaret $17,400 Coryat, 20 correct, 4 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Brian $5,200 Coryat, 11 correct, 6 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,800
Lach Trash: $7,800 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,400
Brian Chang, career statistics:
195 correct, 28 incorrect
5/7 on rebound attempts (on 35 rebound opportunities)
38.24% in first on buzzer (195/510)
9/12 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $15,500)
5/9 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,511
Tyler Rhode, career statistics:
151 correct, 15 incorrect
11/12 on rebound attempts (on 26 rebound opportunities)
36.18% in first on buzzer (144/398)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $11,000)
5/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,543
Margaret Shelton, career statistics:
121 correct, 18 incorrect
14/14 on rebound attempts (on 36 rebound opportunities)
34.44% in first on buzzer (114/331)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $12,100)
4/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,500
Remaining players’ Tournament of Champions win chances (after 100,000 simulations):
Amy Schneider: 18.562%
Matt Amodio: 28.736%
Mattea Roach: 10.813%
Maureen O’Neil: 0.701%
Andrew He: 14.555%
Tyler Rhode: 3.974%
Courtney Shah: 0.355%
Rowan Ward: 4.722%
John Focht: 2.618%
Eric Ahasic: 6.663%
Jaskaran Singh: 1.715%
Jackie Kelly: 2.909%
Zach Newkirk: 1.002%
Jessica Stephens: 0.471%
Sam Buttrey: 2.204%
Today’s interviews:
Margaret grew up in Mississippi and wants to reiterate that her y’all is authentic.
Tyler is going to use his winnings on his upcoming wedding.
Brian started a wind ensemble with his winnings.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I was disappointed not to have this game settled with a tiebreaker.
- Please remember to be kind to contestants. Just because you would have played the game a certain way doesn’t give you the right to insist that a contestant on TV play the game the same way.
- With regards to the HEALTH & MEDICINE $1600 clue, after a cursory Google, I am led to conclude that there is nothing that disqualifies Margaret’s response in the clue. Unless you are a subject matter expert, with credentials, further discussion on that clue is out-of-bounds in the comments.
- Today’s box score: November 2, 2022 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Tyler $17,400 Margaret $17,400 Brian $4,200)
Brian: As long as you don’t go all in, you’re good. (Actual bet: $0)
Tyler: Bet on yourself. Go all in. (Actual bet: $17,400)
Margaret: Bet on yourself. Go all in. (Actual bet: $7,000)
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.
A get for me after a miss yesterday.
This phrase is commonly used in discussions on the impact of slavery on American society. What differences such land ownership would have made to the course of development is the subject of many academic analyses – quantitative and qualitative.
Same here, though I wasn’t 100% certain that the clue didn’t refer to something else that I totally didn’t know. I knew “forty acres and a mule” as a broken promise dating from that time and general circumstances, but did not know the specific origin story (not even being sure it had not just been a rumor, perhaps based on a campaign promise by some candidate that then lost their election).
Dang 🙁 I have a very vague recollection of that phrase (with no association to the historical context). I would never have remembered it :/
Current FJ streak: 2L
Same here. Sometimes the details in the clues are so obscure . . .
Oh come on, they’ve GOT to get this one today. 40 acres and a mule!! I need just one ToC player to get a Final Jeopardy in this tournament now!
To be fair, the players did go 2/3 on Monday.
You’re right. Looks like I’ve got a short memory span this week.
Andy, many thanks for the article on Andrew Johnson. I’m no presidential historian, but many thanks for informing me (us) on this racist monster. I never knew about this– or him at all!!
I concur. This is a great read.
Why would you not go all in with this being a tournament format? I might be wrong but I feel a wager like that only adds more possibilities of losing.
I’d be curious to see if Keith Williams chooses to analyze this one.
I can also make a case for keeping Brian locked out. Though, I did frame my advice as “Bet on yourself.”
I guess I just see it as you made it to this point for a reason. If this was regular play or wild cards were involved I would fully understand the wager. Then again I’m not one to talk as I’d never be at the level of any of these competitors.
Brian was well positioned to take advantage of a double miss, so maybe it was trying to box him out. I’m not sure if the players were sequestered to let the prior games influence then, but the TOC level material has been on the tough side this week.
I guess factoring all that did her no favors as the outcome of the game proved.
I got this one as this has something to do with slavery that has been going on in the united States years ago. Happy to see Marge and Tyler getting the final right but I was hoping for a tiebreaker today
Margaret! That one hurts. Will say that I was surprised to see Brian such a non-factor.
I surprised myself with a correct Final response. It’s always good to go with your gut, especially when you only have 30 seconds.
I had read on social media someone (that had attended the tapings) hyping this as an exciting finish, so given the scores going into FJ, I thought maybe either it would end up in a tiebreaker, or both the leaders would have wiped themselves out and the win go to the distant 3rd place (going into final) contestant.
But it turned out differently
Have they announced what the grand prize is for the winner of this ToC (other than the championship belt that Sam K. has confirmed the winner was given, to maintain the new tradition)?
Thanks to some excellent U.S. History teachers in public school in Baltimore City, this one was easy for me. A big “Thank You” to all my public school teachers for a wonderful education.
Andy commented, “I was disappointed not to have this game settled with a tiebreaker.” I felt the same way until I realized that FJ was actually the tiebreaker. Two contestants were tied and FJ broke the tie. Not sure why anyone would not go all-in at that point as it was win or go home but people make different judgements. Congratulations to Tyler for moving on. Condolences to Margaret but she can feel good about having played a great game and making it an exciting finish.
Like many above, I had no idea about this. If I ever heard this phrase, it was over 15 years ago, and nothing in the clue helped jog my memory. Ah well. Two out of three ain’t bad.
Shocked Margaret didn’t bet it all. Brian and Tyler both knew what to do in their shoes; I recall that one game with the triple stumper FJ where there was a tie for first and the person in third inexplicably went all in, thus leaving the game with no winner. I was hoping for a tiebreaker too! I am curious what her thought process was, since I can’t piece that together…
Robert, what school did you attend in Baltimore? Was it City College by any chance?
Yep, I went to Baltimore City College, class of ’67. Went across the street and got a job at the old Baltimore Memorial Stadium in 1966, the year the Orioles won the World Series by sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. 🙂
p.s. For those not familiar, Baltimore City College was an all boys high school at the time and is the third oldest high school in the country (founded in 1839).
Shouldn’t “Mouse” on the $400 5, 5 clue been ruled incorrect right off the bat? Is that not SOP for responses that don’t fit a format specified by the category?
I’d consider that a “no harm, no foul” in this case.
Eric I am totally with you! If I ever said, “man did I jump when I saw that mouse”, what other kind of mouse could there be? So in the end the right person won because he should have been awarded that. If Eric is totally wrong, someone fill us in please!
I’m sorry, but in a category where you were explicitly asked to respond with two five-letter words, you should never get credit for a response that contains just one five-letter word.
I didn’t like the use of the word “Biblical” in the Holoferenes clue. The wording seems to be based on a set of assumptions about the canonicity of the Apocrypha that a lot of Bible users and scholars (like, for instance, most of the Protestant world) would take issue with.
I admire Margaret for taking a gamble. She wagered in such a way that the only way she loses is if Tyler wagers it all and gets it right, which is what happened. She wagered to lock Brian out if she’s wrong and he bet it all. Her wager gave her some clearance over Brian in case Tyler wagered just enough to cover Brian if he was wrong ($8,999). She looked at all the scenarios and took a risk.
I live in rural Minnesota. We do not have house mice! They are all just mice (mouse)!
Bad clue
Possible rationale for Margaret’s bet…I was thinking that I would rather the person I was tied with beat me than have a TOC spot go to someone so far behind. So disappointing for this not to end in a tie-breaker but I might be more upset if Margaret and Tyler got Final wrong. Nothing against Brian, just don’t think he deserved the TOC spot after his performance. A very good game!