Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, January 20, 2023


Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 20, 2023, 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 The New York Times Clue of the Day (in the category Television) for Friday, January 20, 2023 (Season 39, Game 95):

Mike Post combined the sound of a slamming jail door, an anvil & 100 men stomping on a floor for this series that debuted in 1990

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Mark Fabros, a strategy consultant from New York, New York
Mark Fabros on Jeopardy!
Eric Kerr-Heraly, a teacher & school administrator from Houston, Texas
Eric Kerr-Heraly on Jeopardy!
Troy Meyer, a music executive from Tampa, Florida (1-day total: $27,600)
Troy Meyer on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Yesterday, Troy Meyer became the fourth Jeopardy! champion in four episodes after barely eking out a runaway over Erin Portman and Hillary Kotler. Today, he faces Eric Kerr-Heraly of Houston and Mark Fabros of New York.

You may have wondered why I will initially publish this article with “The New York Times Clue of the Day” instead of “Today’s Final Jeopardy”. It’s because the show has seen fit to make edits to Final Jeopardy on two separate occasions this week; what was taped and aired did not match what appeared in the Times. To me, this is emblematic of a greater problem; it seems as though the show’s writers are somehow getting careless; mistakes that would have been caught in the Harry Friedman–Alex Trebek era are not being caught today. These are mistakes that likely result in contestants being returned to the show in the past; the show definitely needs to improve on this front.


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Correct response: What is Law & Order?


You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 15 players, including Matt Amodio, Jonathan Fisher, Amy Schneider, Mattea Roach, Ryan Long, and Cris Pannullo, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!


More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2023 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Mike Post created both the famous theme song from Law & Order—which was actually used on a celebrity version of Jeopardy! on May 1, 1997, when Sam Waterston, Carey Lowell, and Benjamin Bratt all competed against each other—as well as the famous sound effect that played between scenes on the show. It was that famous sound effect that contained the slamming jail door, the anvil, and 100 men stomping on a wood floor.

Law & Order was rebooted in 2022—with the same sound effect.


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Game Recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Moonstruck; Whirled Events; Repetitive Music; “D” Adjectives; Safe; Sound)

Things were pretty close between Troy and Mark—and then Mark went all-in on the Daily Double on clue 19 to jump out to a lead! Troy clawed some of that back, but Mark led after 30 clues.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Troy 5 correct 0 incorrect
Mark 6 correct 1 incorrect
Eric 2 correct 0 incorrect

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Mark 11 correct 1 incorrect
Troy 12 correct 0 incorrect
Eric 5 correct 1 incorrect

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: American Lit; This Piece Of Paper Will Tell You What To Do; 2-Word Science Terms; Street Smarts; Jason; As The French Say)

This round belonged to Troy. Troy picked up 19 correct in Double Jeopardy, both Daily Doubles, and had a commanding lead at the round’s conclusion. Scores going into Final were Troy at $33,400, Mark at $10,400, and Eric at $7,600.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Troy 31 correct 1 incorrect
Mark 14 correct 3 incorrect
Eric 12 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 14 (0 today).

Troy and Mark got Final today; Troy goes into the weekend as a 2-day champion! He’ll go for win #3 on Monday!

Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, January 20, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:

Scores going into Final:

Troy $33,400
Mark $10,400
Eric $7,600

Tonight’s results:

Eric $7,600 – $2,000 = $5,600 (What is Home Improvement?)
Mark $10,400 + $4,801 = $15,201 (What is Law and Order?)
Troy $33,400 + $1,600 = $35,000 (What is Law and Order?) (2-day total: $62,600)


Troy Meyer, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the January 20, 2023 game.)


Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Mark $10,000
Troy $7,400
Eric $2,000


Opening break taken after: 15 clues

Daily Double locations:

1) SAFE $600 (clue #19)
Mark 4600 +4600 (Troy 5400 Eric 2000)
2) AMERICAN LIT $2000 (clue #3)
Troy 10200 +5000 (Eric 2000 Mark 10000)
3) AS THE FRENCH SAY $2000 (clue #19, $6800 left on board)
Troy 29600 +1000 (Eric 4800 Mark 9600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 152

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Troy 4 5 4 5 4 3 2 3 3
Eric 5 2 3
Mark 4 4 4 5 5 5 3*

DJ! Round:
Troy 4 5* 4 5 3 3 4 5 5 2 5 3 5*
Eric 3 2† 3
Mark 4 4 4

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Troy 3.91
Mark 4.20
Eric 3.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 14 (0.15 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Troy $31,400 Coryat, 31 correct, 1 incorrect, 49.12% in first on buzzer (28/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Mark $6,400 Coryat, 14 correct, 3 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Eric $7,600 Coryat, 12 correct, 1 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $45,400
Lach Trash: $2,800 (on 3 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,800

Troy Meyer, career statistics:

58 correct, 4 incorrect
3/4 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
46.49% in first on buzzer (53/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $13,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $27,000

Eric Kerr-Heraly, career statistics:

12 correct, 2 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,600

Mark Fabros, career statistics:

15 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,600)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,400

Troy Meyer, to win:

3 games: 88.936%
4: 79.096%
5: 70.344%
6: 62.561%
7: 55.640%
Avg. streak: 10.038 games.

Today’s interviews:

Mark filmed himself playing Jeopardy! against himself as part of a grad school application.
Eric has a daughter who was born in England.
Troy was told by Lady Gaga that he had great style.

Andy’s Thoughts:

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Troy $33,400 Mark $10,400 Eric $7,600)

Troy: Bet between $0 and $12,599 and enjoy win #2! (Actual bet: $1,600)

Eric: If Mark makes the cover bet and is incorrect, he falls to $5,599. Limit your bet to $1,999, just in case. (Actual bet: $2,000)

Mark: Standard cover bet over Eric is $4,801. (Actual bet: $4,801)


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3 Comments on "Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, January 20, 2023"

  1. Bill Vollmer | January 21, 2023 at 11:56 am |

    When I read/heard this game’s Final Jeopardy clue, I thought of Law & Order. But rejected it, because the description of the componets of the sound didn’t fit the “dun dun” scene opener as I hear it. (yes, I’m a L & O fan, especially with the late Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe.)

    • 👍 (which is why I switched to ‘OZ’ even though I had never seen it or heard any sounds from it)

  2. Huge Dave Matthews Band fan here… the clue with them in it, would have been shamed not to know, but not really!

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