Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 15, 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 Action Movies) for Thursday, December 15, 2022 (Season 39, Game 69):
Its last line is “If this is their idea of Christmas, I gotta be here for New Year’s”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Ray Lalonde, a scenic artist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Allie Kallman Wegner, a researcher from Broomfield, Colorado
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Sean McShane, a non-profit membership associate originally from West Islip, New York (3-day total: $80,401)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
While he passed his cousin Dan’s winnings total with his victory yesterday (at least when one doesn’t adjust for inflation), Sean McShane looks to tie his cousin in wins with a victory today. However, Allie Kallman Wegner and Ray Lalonde are absolutely looking to stop Sean from reaching that 4-game mark.
On a sitewide front: Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be expanding the Statistics part of the website as I’ve been doing a lot of historical research recently. Additionally, there will be a few “Jeopardy! Then and Now” features where I look at how the show has changed between the 1980s and the 2020s.
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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: What is Die Hard?
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.)
Die Hard is certainly one reason why would be why Box Office Mojo has separate genres for “Christmas Theme” and “Christmas”. Die Hard is notorious online for spurring on incredibly lively debates as to whether or not the film is a Christmas movie or not—I would say that Jeopardy! has deliberately chosen its wording of today’s Final as a way of weighing in on that debate.
The well-known action film stars Bruce Willis as John McClane after a group of terrorists seized Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles during a Christmas party. Harking back to my “Jeopardy! Then and Now” preview above, I get the sense that the Jeopardy! producers of the late-’80s/early ’90s—George Vosburgh and Merv Griffin—would not have enjoyed seeing this sort of clue as a Final. As Harry Eisenberg said numerous times in his book of the mid-’90s, Vosburgh definitely preferred the more “meat and potatoes”, more academic clues, especially in Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy!
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: Droning On Across America; Brief Lives; Dutch Treat; New Musical Supergroups; Giving You Some T-L-C; Tables, Ladders & Chairs)
Ray and Sean had the best time of things in the opening round, with Ray picking up the Daily Double! However, Sean charged back to lead after 30 clues.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ray 8 correct 0 incorrect
Allie 5 correct 0 incorrect
Sean 2 correct 0 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Sean 11 correct 0 incorrect
Ray 12 correct 1 incorrect
Allie 5 correct 0 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Here’S The Play Of The Day!; A Short Category; History In Art; Another Name For That Condition; Asian Americans; The Name As A Past Tense Verb)
The two challengers kept the Daily Double away from the champion today—Ray picking up $4,000 on his, while Allie made a valiant attempt to get back into the game with a $7,000 bet. (Unfortunately, she did not get her Daily Double correct). Scores going into the Final were Ray at $22,600, Sean at $16,600, and Allie at $4,800.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ray 24 correct 1 incorrect
Sean 21 correct 1 incorrect
Allie 11 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 12 (0 today).
The final today was a triple get—Ray won despite his not making a cover bet! He’ll return tomorrow to defend his title!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, December 15, 2022 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Ray $22,600
Sean $16,600
Allie $4,800
Tonight’s results:
Allie $4,800 + $0 = $4,800 (What is Die Hard?)
Sean $16,600 + $10,000 = $26,600 (What is Die Hard?)
Ray $22,600 + $10,000 = $32,600 (What is Die Hard?) (1-day total: $32,600)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Sean $7,800
Ray $6,600
Allie $2,600
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) BRIEF LIVES $600 (clue #10)
Ray 1600 +1600 (Sean 600 Allie 2000)
2) HERE’S THE PLAY OF THE DAY! $1600 (clue #10)
Ray 11400 +4000 (Sean 12200 Allie 3000)
3) ANOTHER NAME FOR THAT CONDITION $1600 (clue #22, $9200 left on board)
Allie 8200 -7000 (Sean 14600 Ray 19000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 50
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Sean 1 2 1
Allie 3 4 5 2
Ray 1 2 3*
DJ! Round:
Sean 2 3 4 1 4 5 4
Allie 1 2 2 3 4*
Ray 1 5 5 4* 3† 2† 1† 3 3 5
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ray 2.92
Sean 2.70
Allie 2.89
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 12 (0.17 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Ray $19,200 Coryat, 24 correct, 1 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Sean $16,600 Coryat, 21 correct, 1 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Allie $11,800 Coryat, 11 correct, 1 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $47,600
Lach Trash: $2,200 (on 3 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,200
Sean McShane, career statistics:
110 correct, 9 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
46.93% in first on buzzer (107/228)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,000)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,700
Allie Kallman Wegner, career statistics:
12 correct, 1 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$7,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,800
Ray Lalonde, career statistics:
25 correct, 1 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,600)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,200
Ray Lalonde, to win:
2 games: 70.418%
3: 49.588%
4: 34.919%
5: 24.589%
6: 17.315%
Avg. streak: 3.380 games.
Today’s interviews:
Ray makes set pieces out of plywood and styrofoam.
Allie bought a wedding dress and met Sen. Bernie Sanders on the same day.
Sean has played the sitar.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: December 15, 2022 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ray $22,600 Sean $16,600 Allie $4,800)
Sean: If Ray covers you and is incorrect, he falls to $11,999. Limit your bet to $4,599. (Actual bet: $10,000)
Allie: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $0)
Ray: Standard cover bet over Sean is $10,601. (Actual bet: $10,000)
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I guessed Die Hard just because it’s the only action movie I know generally associated with Christmas.
Ditto. (I feel that could easily have been true for any or all of the contestants.)
I didn’t remember which one specifically (and I still can’t recall the line from the movie), but I figured it had to be one of Die Hard or Die Hard 2, so I just went with the first one🤷
It was McClain limo driver who gave the quote as he was about to drive them away to Happily-ever-after.
Should be a all get. Easy.
Depends. If there is someone who is not familiar with the movie, it’s not one that you can ‘work out’. But yeah, if they’ve seen or even familiar with the movie, they probably will get it.
One of my favorite movies, and therefore an easy get for me.
The world is divided into two categories of people – those who think Die Hard is a Christmas movie, and those who are wrong 🙂
Meanwhile, I note this comment from a couple of years ago on the Twitter:
“Actually, Die Hard — a story about a desperate insurgency against a vastly superior invading force, requiring the near-miraculous marshalling of limited resources — is a Hanukkah movie.”
Happy Holidays whatever you celebrate.
Thanks for the Chanukah reference. My favorite Chanukah hero is Judith. She’s very underrated. Though if you google Judith and Holofernes, you’ll see she is well represented in the art world.
Hahahaha – Agree 🤣
Hanukkah has nothing to do with the Christmas story. In fact it’s a story from the Old Testament.
Ah, those who know that Die Hard is not a christmas movie and those who are wrong.
Bruce Willis is firmly in the “No” camp. He told the Hollywood Reporter: “Die Hard is not a Christmas movie! It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie!”
This one was an easy get for me. I loved Bruce Willis in the die hard series. Happy to see everyone getting the final right. Sean might have a shot at the toc next year. This might be on my bucket list to watch for the christmas time
You don’t seem old enough to have a bucket list that includes an item to do within the next couple of weeks. Are you sure you know the difference between a To-Do List and a Bucket List (which is things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”)?
The film’s director, John McTiernan, said it is a Christmas movie. I’ve always seen it that way.
An excellent game, with strong performances by both Ray and Sean. But I don’t understand why Ray made a FJ wager that was a mere $601 less than the amount needed to cover Sean. It was lucky for him that Sean didn’t go all in.
I see all this debate about the category of the movie, when Dave you are the first I see here with the real story!! What the heck was my fellow Canadian thinking???? Did he do the arithmetic and blunder? Ray seems like the kind of player we will come to know and love! His general knowledge seems off the charts. Good luck Ray!
My blind guess when I saw the category Action Movies was “Die Hard” was laughingly confirmed when I saw the clue.
Ray really lucked out when Sean didn’t force him to cover in Final Jeopardy. I wonder if Ray somehow made a math error in his wager. Not going all-in on the final cost Sean his fourth victory and a tie with his cousin. I don’t see him making it to the ToC with only three wins. He would have had to knock off a super champion (like Emma) in order to make it with only three wins instead of four or more.
Great game today from all three. It’s really a bummer that Allie drew a blank on the last DD. All could have had $15,000+ going into FJ, and that would have been awesome.
I thought Allie’s DD could have used some better wording…..did they want the disease? Did they want the name of the convention? Allie was clearly a strong enough player to win a game of Jeopardy! and she seemed (seems) to be a genuine wonderful person.
“A form of pneumonia … got this name”.
Seems clear they were asking for the name of the disease.
Well, the category was ANOTHER NAME FOR THAT CONDITION, so a “condition” is a disease, not the name of a convention — though they COULD have been the same had those who named it chosen to go that route instead of simplifying ‘American Legion’ to Legionnaires’s. [I had gotten it right, but I had to think a few seconds after what first came to mind was “Veteran’s”.]
After today’s FJ aired, I did a title search on my cable box to see if some station was going to be airing “Die Hard”, and sure enough it was scheduled to start on Starz 14 minutes after the Jeopardy episode ended (J! airs in the 4-4:30 slot in my area, and Die Hard started at 4:44).
So of course we watched it
A little disappointed in the math by both Sean and Ray. Unlike Daily Doubles, you get plenty of time for Final wagering, plus pen and paper.
you’re not the boss of them. Contestants aren’t required to follow any particular strategy.
Yeah, both of them made bets that could have screwed them over. If Sean had gone all in, which was certainly a viable strategy for him, Ray loses for failing to make a cover bet. If both get it wrong, which is possible in a category like this (even though it ended up being an incredibly easy clue), Sean could have won by betting $4,599.
And Jay, this is a show for intellectuals, so the discussion is about optimal strategy. Neither of them used the smartest moves, though Sean had two options.
Because it was the only “action movie” I could think of that was set at Christmastime,when I read the clue,I said Die Hard.Per Andy’s explanation of this game’s Final Jeopardy,I presume that Box Office Mojo classified it as a “Christmas” movie, something set around that time, but not a part of the central theme.
most of “Christmas” these days has very little to do with the central theme, and much of it runs quite contradictory to it.