Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 14, 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 Writers’ Lesser-Known Works) for Friday, April 14, 2023 (Season 39, Game 155):
Known for more philosophical works, he wrote the play “La Mandragola”, in which Florentines are rewarded for immoral actions
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Greg Czaja, a cardiologist from San Diego, California |
Kari Elsila, a grant strategy consultant from Cleveland Heights, Ohio |
Ben Chan, a philosophy professor from Green Bay, Wisconsin (2-day total: $46,001) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Green Bay’s Ben Chan might be pretty good at Jeopardy!; he won $30,000 exactly yesterday! Today’s challengers are Kari Elsila and Greg Czaja. He’s done an excellent job at managing variance, especially in Double Jeopardy; if that continues, we may see a long run out of him!
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. As of publication time, I have raised over $350; the relay in total is at over $22,000! If you couldn’t make it to my stream this morning and still want to contribute, that’s more than okay! Tiltify is still 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!
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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: Who is Niccolò Machiavelli?
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.)
Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher best known for his 16th-century political work The Prince; his work is so often associated with unscrupulous political acts that the term Machiavellian was coined to describe them.
I’m guessing that this will be a straightforward Final—I’m hoping that most would be able to associate Machiavelli with Florence and be able to answer the clue correctly.
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: New York Nicks; Baker’s Dozen; Potent Potable Rhyme Time; Heads I Win; Tales; You Lose)
Kari got to the Daily Double first; unfortunately, her incorrect response on it dropped her to $0. Ben picked up 7 correct on both halves of the interviews to have a big lead after the Jeopardy! round.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ben 7 correct 0 incorrect
Greg 3 correct 2 incorrect
Kari 3 correct 1 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Ben 14 correct 1 incorrect
Greg 7 correct 2 incorrect
Kari 4 correct 2 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Ottoman Empire; “B”ands; World Facts; Anagrammed Scientists; 20th Century Women; Deity Add A Letter)
Greg became the second challenger the get a True Daily Double incorrect early in Double Jeopardy; to make matters worse, Ben found Daily Double #3; his $5,000 wager effectively put the game out of reach. Scores going into Final were Ben at $20,800, Greg at $8,000, and Kari at $7,200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ben 24 correct 2 incorrect
Greg 15 correct 4 incorrect
Kari 10 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 23 (0 today).
Ben & Greg both got Final; Ben is a 3-day champion with 3 runaways! He’ll go for win #4 on Monday!
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, April 14, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Ben $20,800
Greg $8,000
Kari $7,200
Tonight’s results:
Kari $7,200 – $5,000 = $2,200 (Who is ?)
Greg $8,000 + $4,401 = $12,401 (Who is Machiavelli?)
Ben $20,800 + $2,200 = $23,000 (Who is Macchiavelli?) (3-day total: $69,001)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Ben $8,600
Greg $2,800
Kari $400
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) TALES $600 (clue #4)
Kari 1200 -1200 (Ben 0 Greg -800)
2) WORLD FACTS $1600 (clue #7)
Greg 3200 -3200 (Ben 10600 Kari 4400)
3) DEITY ADD A LETTER $2000 (clue #21, $8000 left on board)
Ben 15400 +5000 (Kari 5600 Greg 7200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -168
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ben 4
Kari 1 2 3*
Greg
DJ! Round:
Ben 3 4 2 5 4 3 2 5*
Kari 1 2 5 1 4
Greg 4* 5† 3† 2† 4 5 3 3
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ben 3.56
Greg 3.63
Kari 2.38
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 $17,800 Coryat, 24 correct, 2 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Greg $11,200 Coryat, 15 correct, 3 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Kari $8,400 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,400
Lach Trash: $10,400 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,200
Ben Chan, career statistics:
78 correct, 7 incorrect
3/4 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
41.52% in first on buzzer (71/171)
6/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,800)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,400
Kari Elsila, career statistics:
10 correct, 3 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,200)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,400
Greg Czaja, career statistics:
16 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,200)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,200
Ben Chan, to win:
4 games: 70.702%
5: 49.987%
6: 35.342%
7: 24.987%
8: 17.666%
Avg. streak: 5.413 games.
Today’s interviews:
Greg is a cardiologist in the United States Navy.
Kari tried out for the Teen Tournament at the age of 15.
Ben tried to order 2 egg tarts in Cantonese; instead ordered 2 dozen.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: April 14, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ben $20,800 Greg $8,000 Kari $7,200)
Ben: Limit your bet to $4,799. (Actual bet: $2,200)
Kari: Bet between $1,601 (covering Greg’s best low bets) and $5,599 (staying ahead of his cover bet on a Double Stumper.) (Actual bet: $5,000)
Greg: Standard cover bet over Kari is $6,401. (Actual bet: $4,401)
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Maybe a philosophy major could get this right …Oh ,wait!
Well, that was unexpected! My image of Machiavelli is completely blown now😳
Rummaging through my list of known Florentines, I guessed the less famous Dante, as it sounded more like something of his. That kinda dampens the end of the week, terminating a nice 5 game win streak.
Current FJ! streak: 1L
Got it! Multiple parts of the clue pointed to Machiavelli.
I figured it had to be Machiavelli, although I am totally unfamiliar with this play. Has anyone ever seen it performed? I know that “La Mandragola” translates to “The Mandrake,” but I don’t know whether this is used literally (mandrake plant) or figuratively (a magician).
The former explicitly (maybe there’s some extra meaning going on though?). The extract of the mandrake was used as a sedative or anesthetic, despite its toxicity. Folklore gives it more magical properties, such as increasing fertility (which figures into the story). Here’s a short synpopsis and analysis of the play I found – http://www.emachiavelli.com/Mandrasum.htm
Thanks for the link. That was very interesting, but it made me think of Shakespeare so much that I googled it and apparently it wasn’t outlandish of me to think that.
Nice.
I too put Dante, because of Inferno and whatnot. He just felt like he ticked all the boxes. Whoops. Should have known this one.
Unrelated thought, but I liked how Greg went for same-category clues that he knew he could get after missing his Daily Double. Only getting $2K on the second one if he got it would have made getting competitive harder for him. Since he didn’t go for the top row, it felt like a risky but logical move in his situation, one that could have paid off with better luck.
Drat! I guessed Dante Alighieri, the other famous Florentine writer. A poor ending to a week of some tough Final Jeopardy! clues. Womp-womp…
I note that during the Jeopardy round, Greg failed to give the specific response called for, answering “Tale of Paul Revere,” instead of the actual title of Longsworth poem; “the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” I fell into that trap myself, saying the “Ride of Paul Revere,” and, of course, would’ve been ruled wrong if I was on stage’
As for this game’s final Jeopardy. I was lost from the reading of the clue. though like mosy I know of the NAME Machiavelli. And. of course a professor pf philosophy would know the correct response tp the clue. Right in Ben’s proverbial wheelhouse. thanks to thw blind draw of this set of questions. for this game.
Will the US site of a British tabloid try to make something out of this happenstance?