Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 31, 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 Final Jeopardy (in the category U.S. State Names) for Tuesday, January 31, 2023 (Season 39, Game 102):
5 U.S. states have 6-letter names; only these 2 west of the Mississippi River border each other
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Liz Mendoza, a teacher from Phoenix, Arizona
|
Soren Bliefnick, a business intelligence analyst from Los Angeles, California
|
Jake DeArruda, a delivery dispatcher originally from Ludlow, Vermont (2-day total: $47,994)
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Jake DeArruda is now a 2-game champion with nearly $50,000 in winnings; your challengers today are Soren Bliefnick and Liz Mendoza.
One thing that I’ve said before and I think bears repeating today: you as a fan are not going to like every single contestant that comes onto the show. You as a fan also are not obligated to post your thoughts on every single contestant, either. You are allowed to keep your opinions to yourself—or, keep your opinions to your couch and those who you physically watch the show with. You do not need to post your opinions about contestants on the Internet where a contestant’s friends, family, or even the contestant themselves, might read them. How would you feel if you had to read that stuff about yourself?
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 are Oregon & Nevada?
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.)
Interestingly, all five of the states with 6-letter names—Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, and Oregon—are situated west of the Mississippi. I still like the clue, though, as it keeps you from heading down a wild goose chase on the country’s eastern half. I’d be impressed with any contestant who can come up with a correct response to this in 30 seconds. Oregon does border Nevada to its southeast.
I’d like to reiterate something that I’ve said in the past regarding Final Jeopardy! difficulty, in light of recent comments that Michael Davies has made where he has said that he dislikes Triple Stumper Final Jeopardy! clues. I think that Triple Stumpers Final Jeopardy! clues (and triple-get Finals) are important for strategic purposes. In order to keep contestants both betting aggressively and playing strategically, there needs to be a chance that Final Jeopardy! could be either very hard or very easy. And while it feels disappointing in the context of a single episode, it evens out over the course of a season and is generally important for overall gameplay.
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: “In” The Right Place; Sci-Fi & Fantasy; Ad Verbs & Taglines; Get Stuffed!; The Silent & Not-Silent Letter; Jason Concepcion)
Jake started the game off very well, running the Jason Concepcion category, and then immediately doubling those winnings on the Daily Double! However, both challengers had a better time over the next 24 clues, and Jake still had that $6,000 at the end of 30.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Jake 8 correct 0 incorrect
Soren 5 correct 0 incorrect
Liz 0 correct 1 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jake 10 correct 2 incorrect
Soren 9 correct 1 incorrect
Liz 7 correct 2 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historical Fiction; Medical Folks; A Capital Offensive; Head Gear; They Wrote The Movie; 3-Letter Palindromes)
Jake got to the second Daily Double and extended his lead; Liz got the third, and unfortunately for her, the correct response came to her too late. She did battle back to stick around for Final, though. Meanwhile, Jake did enough to ensure the game was a runaway! Scores going into Final were Jake at $21,000, Soren at $8,800, and Liz at $200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Jake 21 correct 3 incorrect
Soren 15 correct 3 incorrect
Liz 14 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 14 (0 today).
Final Jeopardy! today was a Triple Stumper; Jake is now a 3-day champion!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, January 31, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Jake $21,000
Soren $8,800
Liz $200
Tonight’s results:
Liz $200 – $200 = $0 (What Kansas +)
Soren $8,800 – $200 = $8,600 (What are Oregon and ?)
Jake $21,000 – $333 = $20,667 (What are Kansas +) (3-day total: $68,661)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jake $6,000
Soren $5,200
Liz $2,400
---Advertisement---
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) “IN” THE RIGHT PLACE $1000 (clue #6)
Jake 3000 +3000 (Soren 0 Liz 0)
2) HISTORICAL FICTION $1600 (clue #6)
Jake 10400 +4600 (Soren 7600 Liz 2400)
3) MEDICAL FOLKS $1600 (clue #9, $24000 left on board)
Liz 3600 -3000 (Jake 15800 Soren 7600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 61
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Jake 5 4 3 2 1 5*
Soren
Liz
DJ! Round:
Jake 4 3 4* 2 3
Soren 3 5
Liz 2 4*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Jake 3.27
Soren 4.00
Liz 3.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 14 (0.14 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Jake $16,000 Coryat, 21 correct, 3 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Soren $8,800 Coryat, 15 correct, 3 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Liz $3,200 Coryat, 14 correct, 5 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/4 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $28,000
Lach Trash: $12,000 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $14,000
Jake DeArruda, career statistics:
71 correct, 13 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
42.69% in first on buzzer (73/171)
5/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $23,600)
0/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,867
Soren Bliefnick, career statistics:
15 correct, 4 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,800
Liz Mendoza, career statistics:
14 correct, 6 incorrect
1/4 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,200
Jake DeArruda, to win:
4 games: 78.651%
5: 61.860%
6: 48.653%
7: 38.266%
8: 30.097%
Avg. streak: 6.684 games.
Today’s interviews:
Liz saw George Takei in McDonald’s and accidentally said she liked him in “Star Wars”.
Soren has a mother who founded an all-female bluegrass band.
Jake went to high school in Ludlow, Vermont.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I’m disappointed at the fact that all three players made bets in Final Jeopardy; they might as well have bet $0 and made history.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jake $21,000 Soren $8,800 Liz $200)
Jake: Limit your bet to $3,399. (Actual bet: $333)
Soren: Limit your bet to $8,399. (Actual bet: $200)
Liz: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $200)
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
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.
WOW! I was shocked I was able to get this. I figured Nevada had to be one of them, and almost didn’t go with Oregon as my second because I was unsure of how much of Nevada’s northern border was taken up by Idaho. Glad I went with my gut!
Also – Don’t understand the Jake hate. I like that he’s quirky, gives him a bit more of an edge! It’s much more fun to watch than a contestant with zero flavor.
As we saw during rowan ward’s bulldozing of everyone in their path (in the Jeopardy sense) during the Second Chance Tournament, there’s always gonna be that small-but-very-vocal part of the community who prefers all contestants to be stiff and have absolutely no personality. Thankfully, that’s only a small part of the community.
Ran out of time. First state I thought of was Kansas and starting thinking of all the states that bordered it (only four), so ran out of time before even getting farther west.
I like it when people say they “ran out of time”; it’s nice to see home viewers putting themselves under the same conditions (as much as is practical) that the contestants in the studio have to face.
I got this one pretty quickly, but yes – I always give myself 30 seconds to try to figure it out before I scroll down to see the answer. 🙂
Thank you for doing this every day!
You were right. Coming up with the two states in 30 seconds will be tough. I quickly chose Nevada as my first state, but by the time I chose Oregon as my second, the Final Jeopardy! music had cycled two or three times!
I got this only because I used to live in Oregon and chose it for my starting point. Would have taken me too long to sift through all the western states otherwise.
The first state I thought of was Oregon. (Kansas didn’t even come to mind.)
And then I thought of Nevada because… I play STATEle® every day! And one of its rounds is identifying bordering states. STATEle® is from the creator of WORLDle® and a great way for this Canadian to brush up on the basics of USA geography.
Andy: I totally get your frustration with the present Ontario government and am glad you got out of here. Stay well!
I am also getting a lot of practice on state geography from that game where I go right after Wolrdle every morning 🙂
Happy to say I got this within the allotted time, and I’m geographically-challenged.
Another fun and challenging game is Globle.
GLOBle® is great too.
I like the recent interface upgrade since I don’t always remember how to spell Krygyzstan. (I think I did it again.)
FYI, If you go to the little gear wheel, select practice mode and you can play all day, not just once. Very cool.
Huh, I thought of Oregon first and then came up w Nevada. I figured that kind of puzzle was typical stuff that prospective contestants would get in most cases, which perhaps just shows I am out of touch😅
Yes, I was expecting at least the contestants from Arizona and California to have gotten FJ correct, especially Soren as California only has three border states, one of which is Nevada and he did come up with Oregon. [I get the impression from TV shows that everybody in California goes to Las Vegas occasionally, but it is so infamous maybe they only think “Las Vegas” and don’t even think “Nevada” 😉.]
Jake reminds me a little bit of Matt Jackson in that both are faster and more intense than the average contestant. And while it annoyed me at first, I’ve started to warm up to Jake, and now I’m just interested in seeing how far he can go, since he’s clearly a very strong player. And just like with Matt Amodio, I think people will slowly start to care less about Jake’s mannerisms and focus more on his strength as a player, at least if his run continues for a while.
I really wish people would keep a lot of their, ahem… more colorful thoughts to themselves. Having to see those responses would probably devastate me if I was a contestant. (Though I would probably take the Lloyd Sy route and reply to mean comments with an equally sarcastic response.)
I didn’t get it today, but Final felt like one of those “forehead slap” clues, which I like.
I’m enjoying Jake’s run. And I agree with MasterDoge about the similarities to Matt Jackson, whose run I enjoyed as well. Let’s all just enjoy the game!
I enjoy watching contestants who play the game well. Different personality types can do that. As long as not disrespectful to the host/other contestants (and can’t recall the last contestant that fit that description), its all good.
Jake plays with a level of enthusiasm that is fun to watch. He was clearly excited to win that first game (as he should be and anyone who becomes a Jeopardy champ should be).
Seems like the super champs from last season have had an impact on how the game is being played. A few months ago, Ken was basically begging contestants to bet big on Daily Doubles (you aren’t going to beat a super champ betting $1,000 on Daily Doubles). More and more contestants are actively searching for Daily Doubles and betting big when they hit them. Makes for some interesting games.
Thanks, MasterDoge. I was trying to think of who Jake reminds me of but couldn’t quite come up with the name. You are exactly right, there are similarities between Jake and Matt Jackson in terms of their mannerisms and such. If I recall correctly, they both use their fingers to flash the number of wins they have. Matt eventually went on to run out of fingers because he won 13 games. I would not be surprised if Jake also went on to run out of fingers. If Jake’s run is something like Matt’s run, I think he will grow on people. Many people were put off by Matt at first but grew to like him and root for him. I could see the same thing happening with Jake. He may be off-putting at first to some but I think/hope people will grow to like him, too, as he continues his run.
I got it — after a few minutes. 🙂
I put this clue into the same category as a couple other final jeopardy clues – Only state capital whose last two letters are the two letter postal code of the state that it is in AND
Only state capital whose first four letters are the last four letter of the state that it is in. Both of those are also ones that I didn’t get in 30 seconds, but would eventually get.
Proud resident of the PNW that I am, Oregon popped into my head almost immediately. I’d guess the back easters would probably have the most difficulty with this.
I’m a not-so-proud resident of the SE, but I have relatives in several western states. I got Oregon and Nevada quickly enough, even though I’d thought of Kansas first. It seems like most people are saying they’d think of a 6-letter state and then start thinking of its surrounding states. I went with thinking of 6-letter states and just letting them fall into place when I’d realize that two I’d said do abut.
How many times has a contestant won enough to make it to the Tournament of Champions despite having a regular play Final accuracy rate of 0%? Right now I only remember one (Paul Nelson, S29) but I’m sure there’s a few from pre-Sky’s The Limit.
As a geographically challenged student, I came up with Oregon and Nevada immediately since both of them have six letters but I did not need Kansas. I play Around the USA trivia almost each week and hopefully Around the World trivia later on. Happy to see Jake winning again
Hi Lou,
Do you have a link or similar for Around the USA trivia game?
It sounds interesting.
thanks, Tim
Thanks for your reminder about negative comments. It’s sad that we need to be reminded. Our mothers said it best: if you can’t say something good don’t say it.
Agreed! I was glad Andy spoke up about this, but also sad that it’s necessary.
Got it easily within the time, and I know zero about US geography. Oregon came to mind immediately and then I tried to think of something else somewhere down there with 6 letters. Probably the first Geography final ever solved.
I saw Jake’s “quirks” starting with Monday’s game. If that what works for him, more power to him.
My response to this game’s final was “what are the Dakotas” Dakota IS six letters, but since the names are North Dakota,and,South Dakota, obviously I was way off base.
I got Oregon right away. I missed Nevada. I thought it was too far south.
It was a good clue. It was a runway, so the question was moot.
Since you got Oregon, but thought Nevada was too far south, did you think it was “Oregon & Idahoe”? 😉
Well the category had nailed down the answer to 50 states and then when gave the clue, quickly came up with Oregon and Nevada thinking close by and counting on my fingers to make sure 6 letters.
I got FJ within the 30 seconds. It probably helped that I have driven through both Nevada and Oregon multiple times (though never directly from one to the other).
I got Nevada right away and eventually got Oregon before the time ran out. Don’t know if I would have written it in time though.
Agree about the FJ triple stumpers. The game’s more interesting when all possible outcomes are in play. Trying to engineer a lack of triple stumpers would probably lead to a lot of excellent FJ clues being forgone in favor of inferior clues.
As for today’s clue: I’m still not a fan of needles-in-the-haystack, but at least the haystack was reasonably small.
Does Iowa border Illinois? If it does then do water barriers count? If so, does Alaska then border Hawaii? Probably far-fetched, but maybe the question might have said land border. Just asking.
border of Iowa and Illinois runs down the middle of the river, so part of the river is IA and part of the river is IL; and those parts touch each other.
The same cannot be said for Alaska and Hawaii.