Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 3, 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 20th Century Eponyms) for Monday, April 3, 2023 (Season 39, Game 146):
A 1940 headline about this included “failure”, “liability when it came to offense” & “stout hearts no match for tanks”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Dan Bayer, a college administrator originally from Strasburg, Ohio |
Crystal Zhao, a tech consultant from Bloomington, Minnesota |
Sharon Stone, a manager from Round Rock, Texas (2-day total: $33,600) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Welcome to a new week and month of Jeopardy! episodes! Sharon Stone, whose sister finished third on the show in 2015, is now a 2-game champion! She goes for victory #3 today against Dan Bayer (originally from Strasburg, Ohio) and Crystal Zhao (from Bloomington, Minnesota).
Today’s categories—at least if J!6 is correct, and it generally is—include “President Grover Cleveland’s Non-Consecutive World”. That is reason #1 why contestants should practice calling categories by their shortened titles. If all five clues in that category are called by their full name, I would be incredibly surprised if we saw a full complement of 61 clues in today’s game.
One important thing that I’d like to mention: I was completely horrified the last two days by the number of people who, both on this site itself and on Facebook, took an April Fools joke completely seriously, either through a complete failure to read an article or for whatever other reason. I’ve lost a great deal of faith in a large section of the fandom of this show over the past few years, and the reaction this past weekend is a major reason.
Meanwhile, the spring Gamers vs. MS Twitch live-stream charity relay will start 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 said on Friday I would have a donation link up today, but that has been delayed for a few days.)
Chag Pesach Sameach! The Unofficial Jeopardy! Haggadah supplement, written by many former contestants, is again available for the Passover Seder for Jeopardy! fans worldwide.
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 the Maginot Line?
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.)
In the 1930s, the French built a series of fortifications on its eastern border with the idea that heavy fortification would cause Germany to be slowed enough for France to mount a proper counter-attack. These fortifications were named the Maginot Line, after French Minister of War André Maginot. Unfortunately for France, Germany’s 1940 invasion through Belgium was faster than the French were able to mobilize against, and early World War II saw France occupied by the Germans.
While the general public has since roundly mocked the French for this fortification, many historians believe that France was justified in building the fortifications, as the line did protect France’s industrial heartland from the initial attack, and that the line’s purpose was to force Germany’s attack into what was believed to be more favorable conditions for the French. Moreover, France knew it was at a manpower disadvantage due to its losses in World War I, compounded by America’s isolationist tendencies and Britain’s unwillingness to make a “continental commitment”.
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: President Grover Cleveland’s Non-Consecutive World; Horrors!; How Does It Fasten?; Rocks & Minerals; You’re Gonna Sing; Like A Bird)
Dan had the best time in the early going, but Crystal had the lead come Daily Double time; unfortunately, her incorrect response put her in third place at the second break. Dan finished the round well to hold the lead after 30 clues.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Dan 7 correct 1 incorrect
Sharon 2 correct 0 incorrect
Crystal 5 correct 0 incorrect
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Dan 12 correct 2 incorrect
Sharon 6 correct 1 incorrect
Crystal 9 correct 1 incorrect
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Superlative Earth; Their Lesser-Known Books; National Heroes; Common Bond Cuisine; Tv; Adjective Then Noun)
Both Sharon and Dan had their opportunities in Double Jeopardy; however, both missed a Daily Double to drop their respective scores. Thus, it was Crystal who led going into Final! Scores going into Final were Crystal at $11,000, Sharon at $8,900, and Dan at $7,200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Crystal 21 correct 3 incorrect
Sharon 11 correct 2 incorrect
Dan 18 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 23 (0 today).
Final Jeopardy! today was a Triple Stumper; with how the wagers shook down, Crystal is your new champion—in what seemed to be a great surprise to her! She’ll defend her title tomorrow.
Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, April 3, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:
Scores going into Final:
Crystal $11,000
Sharon $8,900
Dan $7,200
Tonight’s results:
Dan $7,200 – $5,400 = $1,800 (What is the World’s Fair)
Sharon $8,900 – $5,600 = $3,300 (What is ?)
Crystal $11,000 – $6,801 = $4,199 (What is a rifle?) (1-day total: $4,199)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Dan $5,400
Sharon $3,400
Crystal $2,600
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) ROCKS & MINERALS $1000 (clue #24)
Crystal 4600 -2000 (Sharon 2200 Dan 3600)
2) ADJECTIVE THEN NOUN $1600 (clue #21)
Sharon 11400 -2500 (Crystal 13000 Dan 8200)
3) NATIONAL HEROES $2000 (clue #28, $2400 left on board)
Dan 10200 -3000 (Sharon 8900 Crystal 12600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -95
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Sharon 2 4 2 2 4 5
Crystal 3 2 4 2 3 5 3 3 5*
Dan 1 3 5 1 5 1 2 4 4
DJ! Round:
Sharon 5 2 4 4 2 1 4* 1
Crystal 1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5 3 5 3 1
Dan 1 2 3 2 3 4 5 5*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Dan 3.00
Crystal 3.14
Sharon 3.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 23 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Crystal $13,000 Coryat, 21 correct, 3 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Sharon $11,400 Coryat, 11 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Dan $10,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 5 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $34,600
Lach Trash: $8,200 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $11,200
Sharon Stone, career statistics:
49 correct, 7 incorrect
11/13 on rebound attempts (on 26 rebound opportunities)
20.83% in first on buzzer (35/168)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,000)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,467
Crystal Zhao, career statistics:
21 correct, 4 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,000
Dan Bayer, career statistics:
18 correct, 6 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,200
Crystal Zhao, to win:
2 games: 37.642%
3: 14.169%
4: 5.334%
5: 2.008%
6: 0.756%
Avg. streak: 1.604 games.
Today’s interviews:
Dan has a soccer-playing daughter but doesn’t understand what’s happening.
Crystal has a collection of about 500 board games.
Sharon says she gives off “social worker” vibes.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Crystal $11,000 Sharon $8,900 Dan $7,200)
Sharon: You can’t both cover Dan and win a Triple Stumper with Crystal (known as Stratton’s Dilemma). If you want to cover Dan, go all-in to force a cover bet from Crystal (Though the minimum cover bet is $5,501). Otherwise, I might suggest a bet between $1,301 and $1,699. (That covers Dan’s low range while forcing him to be correct.) (Actual bet: $5,600)
Crystal: Standard cover bet is $6,801. (Actual bet: $6,801)
Dan: If Crystal misses Final, she finishes at $4,199. Limit your bet to $2,999 to stay ahead of that. If you want to be more aggressive than that, go all in to force Sharon to cover. (Actual bet: $5,400)
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Sure… well known pre-war boondoggle 😐
1940, “failure”, plus the rest of the clue, got it right away. (Yet Andy’s write-ups on this website are so educational—from what little I knew of its history, I had always believed the thing was a total flop and waste. But then, I guess I’m a part of the “general public”.)
I think that the 1940 German/French war was a classic example of the French preparing for/fighting the last war – and since in 1940 France fell in 6 weeks, the protection of its industrial base by the Maginot Line proved moot.
If memory serves, the French actually had a comparable number of tanks (and of higher quality) as the Germans, but rather than listen to new military leaders like de Gaulle, they used them piecemeal where they could be easily dealt with by the Germans instead of using them en masse, as did the Germans.
Andy: I assume that you wrote the piece on Mayim and Ken literally splitting each show. Well done. Extremely clever. Doesn’t everyone now read everything that comes out on April 1 with extreme skepticism? I guess not.
One would think! I loved it. Hilarious!
Ditto, didn’t fall for it😀
If only the super extended tournament of champions was a big April fools joke. I do applaud you on yours on April 1st though it was one of the best I came across all day
I just guessed the correct response based on “Eponyms”, ‘1940’ and the nature of the rest of the elements of the clue, WITHOUT knowing any of the details about the Maginot Line, just having many times heard of its existence and it having a role in WWII.
Do you think maybe not one of the contestants realized that “Eponyms meant the correct response had to have a person’s name in it (even if they presumably would have known what “eponymous” meant)? Otherwise, if you could not think of a name that fit the clue, just put the name of your spouse or mother or ‘Alex Trebek’? [I started by thinking of NAMES associated with early WWII instead of specifically the latter details of the clue.]
Sharon may very well have known that “Eponyms” meant the correct response needed a person’s name but just couldn’t come up with something that fit the other elements of the clue. I was only able to come up with it because I had just heard a reference to it the other day on some program or other on TV. I can’t recall what show it was but it was fairly recent so it stuck in my mind and I was able to recall it today. Plus, my father had to go to France and other places in Europe in WWII courtesy of Uncle Sam.
I’ve noticed relatively often that the main subject of FJ, if not the particular detail (but often that) is something that I fairly recently heard about on the news or a PBS doc, meaning that at time of taping it would have been VERY fresh. I wonder if they throw some very new information or current events into the pot at nearly the last minute (or for the docs, have insiders that feed them info ahead of time) or if these are just incidences of Baader–Meinhof phenomenon.
I won’t speculate about the contestants’ knowledge, but it does seem that keeping the category in mind is absolutely crucial on this particular clue.
It’s quite possible that I’m mistaken, but I think this is first game in which no betting clues were answered correctly since May 26, 2022 (Ryan Long’s 10th game).
Whew! Luckily I eventually got Monday’s Final Jeopardy! answer. I kept trying to remember an “eponymous” name in Europe during World War II. I suddenly remembered the “Maginot Line,” after a couple other choices went through my head. Barely made it under the buzzer!
The date mentioned, and, the statements, made me think of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, not, France. Right war, wrong battle.