Warning: This page contains spoilers for the March 22, 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 American Novelists) for Wednesday, March 22, 2023 (Season 39, Game 138):
He served with an airman named Yohannan in World War II & despite what readers might think, he said he enjoyed his service
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Zach Wissner-Gross, a vice president of math curriculum from Roslyn Heights, New York
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Karen Morris, a veterinary student from Christiansburg, Virginia
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Melissa Klapper, a professor from Merion Station, Pennsylvania (2-day total: $42,400)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Two-day champion Melissa Klapper goes for victory number three tonight; Zach Wissner-Gross and Karen Morris are your two challengers. Melissa is a very strong player, as strong as recent octochamp Stephen Webb in terms of scoring in the main game. She’s definitely a player worthy of a Tournament of Champions spot; hopefully, she’ll be able to win enough to qualify!
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is Joseph Heller?
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.)
Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, said in a 1974 letter, “How did I feel about the war when I was in it? Much differently than Yossarian felt and much differently than I felt when I wrote the novel … In truth I enjoyed it and so did just about everyone else I served with, in training and even in combat.” This might come as a surprise to readers of Catch-22, which was a satirical novel designed to lampoon both war and the military-industrial complex.
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Game Recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Possessive Lit; Long-Lived Critters; Around The House; 4-Letter Sports Terms; Apply The Rainbow Color; At “Last”)
Melissa lost half her score on the first Daily Double; this gave Karen the lead after 30 clues.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Karen 5 correct 0 incorrect
Melissa 4 correct 1 incorrect
Zach 3 correct 2 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Karen 10 correct 0 incorrect
Melissa 7 correct 1 incorrect
Zach 9 correct 2 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: 1963; Making Music; Move That T From Front To Back; Resilience; Plateaus; Hans, Solo)
Interestingly, both Daily Doubles were at the $800 level; they thus came out very late in Double Jeopardy! Karen got to them both, finding the second when in a guaranteed runaway position at that point. However, she bet $10,000—and her inability to come up with a response nearly halved her score. This brought both Melissa and Zach back into play; scores going into Final were Karen at $11,400, Melissa at $8,700, and Zach at $7,200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Karen 21 correct 4 incorrect
Melissa 14 correct 3 incorrect
Zach 15 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 16 (0 today).
Zach and Melissa got Final correct; unfortunately, Karen did not–Melissa’s run continues after a shocking result; she’s a 3-day champion now with winnings $59,100! She’ll go for win #4 tomorrow!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, March 22, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Karen $11,400
Melissa $8,700
Zach $7,200
Tonight’s results:
Zach $7,200 + $0 = $7,200 (Who is Keller Heller?)
Melissa $8,700 + $8,000 = $16,700 (Who is Heller?) (3-day total: $59,100)
Karen $11,400 – $6,001 = $5,399 (Who is Hunter S. Thompson)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Karen $6,200
Melissa $3,500
Zach $2,000
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) APPLY THE RAINBOW COLOR $800 (clue #12)
Melissa 3000 -1500 (Karen 3600 Zach 400)
2) PLATEAUS $800 (clue #21)
Karen 14600 +6000 (Melissa 7100 Zach 6000)
3) HANS, SOLO $800 (clue #25, $2400 left on board)
Karen 21800 -10000 (Melissa 7100 Zach 6400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -55
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Melissa 3 4 5 2 4*
Karen 3 4 4 5 5
Zach 3 4
DJ! Round:
Melissa 5 5 5 5 3 2
Karen 4 3 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 2 2* 1 2 2*
Zach 3 4 4 3 1
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Melissa 3.91
Zach 3.14
Karen 3.42
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 16 (0.12 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Melissa $10,200 Coryat, 14 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Zach $7,200 Coryat, 15 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Karen $16,200 Coryat, 21 correct, 4 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $33,600
Lach Trash: $10,600 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,800
Melissa Klapper, career statistics:
58 correct, 6 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (54/171)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,500)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,000
Karen Morris, career statistics:
21 correct, 5 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$4,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,200
Zach Wissner-Gross, career statistics:
16 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,200
Melissa Klapper, to win:
4 games: 61.509%
5: 37.833%
6: 23.271%
7: 14.314%
8: 8.804%
Avg. streak: 4.598 games.
Today’s interviews:
Zach knew that being able to solve a hard math problem is how he knew he was “back” from anesthesia.
Karen had to schedule her appearance around birthing pregnant cows.
Melissa had a student who went “I didn’t know [a paper] was plagiarized when I bought it”.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- On the final Daily Double, any bet of $2,799 or less would have guaranteed victory then and there.
- Today’s box score: March 22, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Karen $11,400 Melissa $8,700 Zach $7,200)
Melissa: Because you can’t both cover Zach and win a Triple Stumper, you might as well go all in and force Karen to cover. (Actual bet: $8,000)
Karen: Standard cover bet over Melissa is $6,001. (Actual bet: $6,001)
Zach: Limit your bet to $1,799 and stay ahead of Karen if she misses Final. (Actual bet: $0)
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I agree that Karen should have bet small in order to keep the runaway; however, with $2,799, taking any negs after the Daily Double runs the risk of allowing Melissa back into the game. In situations like these, I generally like the ideology of betting with the assumption that you will get every remaining clue incorrect and the second place player – in this case, Melissa – picks up all the rebounds. In this case, I personally would cap my bet at $399.
Or you could just put the buzzer down and not be tempted to ring in no matter how sure you are 🙂
Following your ideology, Melissa’s maximum possible score (at that point in the game) is $19,000. Karen would need at least $19,001 to lock her out. She has $21,800, so a maximum bet of $2,799 ensures she has at least $19,001.
Sorry, this is just the proof of Andy’s theorem. QED.
If Karen bets $399 and is incorrect, her score ends up at $21,401. There’s $2,400 worth of clues left on the board. Melissa’s highest possible score is $9,500.
You see where I’m going with this?
I am not trying to speak for Andy here, but $2,799 is referred to as the “maximum” DD wager for Karen. A lesser amount, even if incorrect, would still ensure a FJ lock-out.
To be fair, $2,799 is the “if you’re wrong, set your buzzer down and don’t be incorrect again and you’ll be fine” threshold.
$399 is the “you can do whatever you like, nothing you do will at all jeopardize this runaway” threshold (known as a “superlock” in J! Archive parlance).
I also thought the DD bet was over-aggressive and unnecessarily risky. I did figure Heller. BTW, it was originally going to be Catch-18, but changed because Uris’ Mila 18.
Also considered was “Catch-27” per Erica Heller (daughter of Joseph). That actually sounds pretty good to me, too.
I feel bad for Karen but all I could think of when she made that wager was that it was Cliff Clavinesque. Sometimes, it is better to just risk the minimum of $5. And apropos to someone’s previous comment, there is no reason to ring in on any remaining clues either. Once you have a runaway locked up, why risk giving it up?
As for final, Yohannan leads to Yossarian leads to “Catch-22” leads to Joseph Heller at the speed of thought.
Not to get into specifics but this was the first time in a long time I yelled at my TV watching Jeopardy (I’ll make a safe bet and assume you know why)
I liked her bet on the first daily double. It was aggressive to put her into a possible runaway, but she must have figured an 800 clue would be easier so she overset on the second one.
I wondered why Karen was sitting on a chair. My friend thought that contestants had to stand.
The show is happy to provide seating for any contestant who requests it.
I never even thought about the mathematics or logic of that Daily Double wager – probably because I wasn’t paying enough attention to the scores.
But I was yelling at my TV because HOLBEIN was the painter of that era and H8’s court. (I was also yelling some months back when everyone missed MAGRITTE in Final.)
Final was pretty easy, I thought; I’ve never read the book or seen the film adaptation.
Just…wow. One for the ages.
I kept thinking, where do I know Zach’s name from? He’s the editor of the FiveThirtyEight’s Riddler column.
How much time does a contestant get to place a bet for a Daily Double?
Karen bet too much on her Daily Double. Was it the pressure of being on television and feeling hurried?