Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 13, 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 Exploration) for Thursday, April 13, 2023 (Season 39, Game 154):
James Cook’s account of a 1774 visit here records an object “near 27 feet long, and upwards of 8 feet over the breast or shoulders”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Liz Jensen, a stay-at-home mom from Metuchen, New Jersey |
Peter Early, a settlement consultant from Windham, New Hampshire |
Ben Chan, a philosophy professor from Green Bay, Wisconsin (1-day total: $16,001) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Green Bay’s Ben Chan absolutely dominated the proceedings during yesterday’s game, but he only won $16,001—mainly due to losing a great deal of money on the game’s opening Daily Double. This will be an interesting test for my prediction model—a lot of commenters yesterday think that the model is significantly understating Ben’s chances. Yes, Ben could have a $30,000 day today. But he could also be spooked a little bit by having lost that $7,000 and turn conservative as well. Anything could happen, and the variance considered by the prediction model tries to consider all possibilities. Peter Early and Liz Jensen are today’s challengers.
Meanwhile, the spring Gamers vs. MS Twitch live-stream charity relay started on Friday! As always, many Twitch streamers—I’ll be joining the relay for the fifth time—will collectively raise money for MS Canada from April 7–17. Canada has some of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world, with an estimated 1 in 385 Canadians living with MS. MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that attacks myelin, the protective covering over the nerves. If the damage is bad enough, nerve impulses can be completely disrupted. There is no cure; however, researchers are learning more daily. I’ll be streaming on my Twitch channel from 2AM to 8AM Eastern on Friday, April 14.
If you aren’t able to make it to the stream and still want to contribute, that’s more than okay! Tiltify is already set up to receive donations. As always, my beard is on the line and your donations (you can select one side or the other when donating) will determine what happens to it! Help me reach my $1,000 goal!
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!
(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is Easter Island (Rapa Nui)?
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.)
These are descriptions of the famed moai statues located on the southern Pacific island of Easter Island (known by the native population as Rapa Nui) made by James Cook in 1774.
Interestingly, some of these moai had been reported by Cook—who led the third European expedition to the island—as toppled, while neither of the 1722 or 1770 reports mentioned toppling; many theories regarding the 18th-century destruction of Rapa Nui still abound.
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: The Scenic Southwest; Letter Perfect; In The Air Tonight; Foodstock; Trademarked Sounds; Fish Out Of Water)
Ben had a much better time with the first Daily Double today, getting it correct and doubling up to jump into the lead at the first break! His strong play after the interviews put him into five figures! Peter played well early to stay in contention after 30 clues.
Statistics at the first break (14 clues):
Ben 5 correct 0 incorrect
Peter 7 correct 0 incorrect
Liz 2 correct 1 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Ben 11 correct 1 incorrect
Peter 11 correct 0 incorrect
Liz 6 correct 2 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Book Of Romans; Here’s A Bit Of Everything; Secretaries Of State; Triple “A”; German Literature; Fish Out Of Water On Tv)
Ben got to both Daily Doubles in the first eight clues with some strong hunting instincts; from there, his strong play continued, while Liz got unlucky with a pair of incorrect titles lowering her score. Scores going into Final were Ben at $27,200, Peter at $6,400, and Liz at $6,000.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ben 22 correct 1 incorrect
Peter 16 correct 1 incorrect
Liz 13 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 23 (0 today).
Ben and Liz got Final correct; Ben’s wager brought him to exactly $30,000! (I swear, I write my Pregame Thoughts before I watch the show!) He’ll go for win #3 tomorrow!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, April 13, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Ben $27,200
Peter $6,400
Liz $6,000
Tonight’s results:
Liz $6,000 + $5,000 = $11,000 (What is Easter Island?)
Peter $6,400 – $1,916 = $4,484 (What is Rua)
Ben $27,200 + $2,800 = $30,000 (What is Easter Island?) (2-day total: $46,001)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Ben $10,200
Peter $6,000
Liz $800
Opening break taken after: 14 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) FISH OUT OF WATER $600 (clue #14)
Ben 3400 +3400 (Peter 4000 Liz 400)
2) SECRETARIES OF STATE $1600 (clue #6)
Ben 16200 +1600 (Peter 6000 Liz 800)
3) THE BOOK OF ROMANS $1600 (clue #8, $24400 left on board)
Ben 19000 +3000 (Peter 6000 Liz 800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 126
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ben 4 5 4 4 3*
Peter 3 5 2 1 3 4 5
Liz 3 1
DJ! Round:
Ben 3 5 3 3 4* 3 4*
Peter
Liz 4
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ben 3.75
Liz 2.67
Peter 3.29
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 23 (0.15 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Ben $23,000 Coryat, 22 correct, 1 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Liz $6,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 4 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Peter $6,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,400
Lach Trash: $11,200 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,400
Ben Chan, career statistics:
53 correct, 5 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
5/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,800)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $23,200
Peter Early, career statistics:
16 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,400
Liz Jensen, career statistics:
14 correct, 4 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,000
Ben Chan, to win:
3 games: 71.202%
4: 50.698%
5: 36.098%
6: 25.703%
7: 18.301%
Avg. streak: 4.473 games.
Today’s interviews:
Liz had a radio show where she accidentally broadcast dead air for weeks.
Peter had a bear encounter—in his home.
Ben is the owner of two rescue dogs.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- The rules of Jeopardy! for the last two decades have been clear: Titles need to be exact (leading articles excluded). Liz gave a pair of incorrect titles, and was correctly ruled incorrect by the judges. (And no, people performatively complaining on Twitter that they don’t know the rules of the show should not be a topic for tabloid clickbait.)
- Today’s box score: April 13, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ben $27,200 Peter $6,400 Liz $6,000)
Ben: Limit your bet today to $14,399. (Actual bet: $2,800)
Peter: Standard cover bet over Liz is $5,601. (Actual bet: $1,916)
Liz: Bet between $801 (thereby covering against Peter’s potential low range) and $5,199 (thereby staying ahead of Peter on a Double Stumper if he covers you).(Actual bet: $5,000)
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An object that size points to the moai of Easter Island, which I recalled Cook visiting, though not the year.🗿
I did not get this one, which is kind of ironic considering🗿is pretty much my most used emoji. Darn.
Got it. Should be a 3-get.
Bounced back from a bad streak with a “get” today.
By the way, there’s a funny/amusing New Yorker cartoon from some years ago captioned “Easter and Passover Island”
Ben could, indeed, have a $30,000 game today. Prescient.
I suspect that Peter had heard of Rapa Nui and was pretty sure that was what the clue referred to but could not exactly remember it.
I may be wrong as I did not see them “live”, just their pictures (and he does seem to have some grey hair), but Peter just looks younger to me than the other two and most references, documentaries, etc. nowadays call it Rapa Nui, not Easter Island, so it would not be surprising to me for a younger contestant to have not really heard Easter Island before, but to have heard of Rapa Nui, whether they remembered it well or not. I am fairly “woke” and I know and did say Rapa Nui, but if I was a Jeopardy! contestant, I would have written Easter Island in order to keep from maybe misspelling Rapa Nui.
Yahoooo! Finally, an easy Final Jeopardy question today. I knew that the clue was referring to the moai statues of Easter Island. It’s been a while since I instantly got a correct answer! Wheeee!
Andy,
Have you considered moving the “Scores after the Jeopardy! Round,” “Scores Going into Final,” and “Tonight’s Results” into the Game Recap section? It seems like having the Categories, Narrative, Correct/Incorrect, Scores, Categories, Narrative, Correct/Incorrect, Scores, Final Results would be a natural flow and grouping of information.
Having the 1st round scores below the scores going into and out of Final has always seemed a little odd to me.
I do feel for Liz on the “My Old Kentucky Home” clue, as the first part seems almost designed to bait a contestant into omitting the “my”.
I think so, too, but I feel like it is what made it into a bottom row clue. However, I am probably biased because I have been there (on a school trip long ago). [The thing I remember most, though, was how good it smelled driving past the distilleries in Bardstown! The school bus windows were down and the only liquor I’d ever smelled was “flavoring” in boiled custard at Christmas.]
Missing the ‘first’ word of a title would have been appropriate for today (Friday). It was ‘Our American Cousin’ playing at the Ford Theatre on April 14th 1865, but many mistakenly remember it as ‘My American Cousin’
Good One! 👏
There SHOULDN’T be any “click bait” from that one website, that seems to want to sensationalize most ANYTHING from Jeopardy, but won’t be surprised if there is. Like Wednesday’s Final Jeopardy, the two clues where Liz was ruled incorrect, called for specific answers, like the full title of the song “MY old Kentucky Home,” this game or the NUMBER of the amendemnt that talks about “Cruel and Unusual punishments, from Wednesday.
As for this game’s Final Jeopary, POSSIBLY if the clue had actually mentioned the objects by name, instead of just quoting Cook’s measurements of them I might have gotten this FInal (though realisticaly probably not.) But then if the clue writter had been that specific (and, gotten it past the clue editors, and, the rest of the production staff,) probably would have made things too easy, and, while Jeopardy goes over and aboard to make things fair for the contestants, they don’t want to make things too easy either.