Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 1, 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 18th Century Literature) for Monday, May 1, 2023 (Season 39, Game 166):
The first name of this title character is from Hebrew for “devoted to God”; his last name suggests he can be easily duped
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Cyrus Zhou, a graduate student from St. Louis, Missouri |
Maryhelen Shuman-Groh, a retired university administrator from Clearwater, Florida |
Kevin Belle, a trail planner from Silver Spring, Maryland (1-day total: $11,599) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Mayim Bialik moves to the hosting lectern as we begin the final 13 weeks of Season 39 today. Kevin Belle returns as champion having survived a difficult week for Jeopardy! players in general, with last week’s winners taking home just $50,797 in total. Today, Kevin faces off against Maryhelen Shuman-Groh and Cyrus Zhou.
I should make one thing abundantly clear: comments regarding who is hosting are out of order on this website. You may think you have a unique point to make. I assure you that after reading everyone’s points for the last two-plus years, you do not have a unique point to make, and having these viewpoints essentially forced upon me makes me want to turn off commenting entirely—and that’s no fun for anybody.
In better news, we are just one week away from the start of Jeopardy! Masters on ABC. Later this week—Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to be exact—I’ll be posting my 6-part preview of the event, with one article featuring each of the six players taking part in the tournament.
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: Who is Lemuel Gulliver?
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.)
Lemuel Gulliver is the title character of Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satirical work Gulliver’s Travels; in it, Gulliver is generally presented as a naive, gullible type who generally accepts and believes whatever he is told. The work is generally presented as a travelogue of Gulliver’s voyages into various distant fictional lands that were said to occur between 1699 and 1715. He is also seen as devoutly religious, thus befitting a name that means “devoted to God”; during his travels in Japan, he begs the Emperor not to force him to “trample on the crucifix”.
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 & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, May 1, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Titles With Exclamation Points!; World Of Belief; 3-Letter Words With 2 Vowels; Time To Dance; It’s Gonna Be May!; Doctor: Who?)
In an interesting opening round, Maryhelen had the best time in the first half of the round, but she fell off with some incorrect responses in the second half. Cyrus found his game in the second half of the round, but Kevin found the Daily Double to nearly pull into the lead!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Maryhelen 6 correct 0 incorrect
Kevin 6 correct 0 incorrect
Cyrus 2 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Cyrus recently accidentally called his supervisor “Dad”.
Maryhelen has backpacked all around the world with her husband.
Kevin works for a rail-to-trail conservancy.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Cyrus 11 correct 1 incorrect
Kevin 9 correct 0 incorrect
Maryhelen 6 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Cyrus $6,400
Kevin $6,200
Maryhelen $1,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Sitting In With The Orchestra; Divided Islands; Hi, TV Neighbor; World Of Words; Better Angels; “R” Nature)
Cyrus struggled in Double Jeopardy!, especially in the second half of the round—he was unable to give a correct response in the last 20 clues. Thus, it was Kevin and Maryhelen who got to play the Daily Doubles. Kevin went conservative, while Maryhelen went more aggressive, with Kevin leading and Maryhelen sitting second going into Final.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Kevin 19 correct 1 incorrect
Maryhelen 14 correct 4 incorrect
Cyrus 13 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Kevin $14,000
Maryhelen $9,800
Cyrus $7,600
Today saw another Triple Stumper in Final; Kevin made another conservative bet and is now a 2-day champion! He’ll go for win #3 tomorrow!
Tonight’s results:
Cyrus $7,600 – $7,600 = $0 (Who is Candide??)
Maryhelen $9,800 – $6,000 = $3,800 (Who is Jude the Obscure?)
Kevin $14,000 – $1,201 = $12,799 (Who is Simple Simon?) (2-day total: $24,398)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) IT’S GONNA BE MAY! $600 (clue #26)
Kevin 3600 +2400 (Maryhelen 2800 Cyrus 6200)
2) WORLD OF WORDS $1600 (clue #16)
Kevin 8600 +1400 (Maryhelen 3800 Cyrus 8800)
3) SITTING IN WITH THE ORCHESTRA $1600 (clue #25, $7600 left on board)
Maryhelen 4600 +3600 (Kevin 12000 Cyrus 7600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 161
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Kevin 1 2 2 3 4 5 3 3 3*
Maryhelen 1 2 3 5 2 2
Cyrus 4 1 4 5 1 3 4 5 1 4 5
DJ! Round:
Kevin 1 4 1 2 3 4* 5† 1 2 3
Maryhelen 2 3 4 5 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 4*
Cyrus 3 5 1
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Kevin 2.74
Maryhelen 2.83
Cyrus 3.29
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Kevin $12,400 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Maryhelen $7,800 Coryat, 14 correct, 4 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Cyrus $7,600 Coryat, 13 correct, 3 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $27,800
Lach Trash: $19,200 (on 14 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,000
Player Statistics:
Kevin Belle, career statistics:
38 correct, 4 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
30.70% in first on buzzer (35/114)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,800)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,800
Maryhelen Shuman-Groh, career statistics:
14 correct, 5 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,600)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,800
Cyrus Zhou, career statistics:
13 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,600
Kevin Belle, to win:
3 games: 46.231%
4: 21.373%
5: 9.881%
6: 4.568%
7: 2.112%
Avg. streak: 2.860 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Being that Mayim did say just “Gulliver” first, I presume that the show would have accepted just Gulliver had a contestant given it.
- I also thought that Mayim did an excellent job hosting today.
- Being a rail-to-trail conservator, I presume Kevin would be a big fan of the Newfoundland T’Railway.
- Because of the scores, Kevin already had the advantage already on the Triple Stumper. His conservative bet in Final was unnecessary for the situation and put the game unnecessarily at risk.
- Today’s box score: May 1, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Kevin $14,000 Maryhelen $9,800 Cyrus $7,600)
Kevin: Standard cover bet over Maryhelen is $5,601. (Actual bet: $1,201)
Maryhelen: Unfortunately, you can’t both bet to win a Triple Stumper and bet to cover Cyrus. Moreover, Cyrus has occasion to go all in because of the scores. Bet at least $5,401, but you might as well go all in, in order to force Kevin to cover you. If you really would rather bet on a Triple Stumper, bet no more than $1,399. (Actual bet: $6,000)
Cyrus: You have to be correct to win; you might as well go all-in, so as to force Maryhelen to cover you. (Actual bet: $7,600)
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.
That’s a good one. And no, I didn’t get it. Assuming will need first and last name so even if you figure out Gulliver’s travels, you’d need the first name?
That’s a good question re: first/last names. I’m not really sure, to be honest. Maybe we’ll get an answer later on today.
Given your later comment in “Thoughts” I guess my response of just Gulliver would be right after all…
yay 🙌
Because the clue talks about the meaning of both his first and last name I think they want both. I read the book over 60 years ago, so I don’t remember his first name.
It seems from the phrasing that that is right. I couldn’t remember the first name either :/ Funny thing about his last name, which has the meaning of ‘glutton’. There is a related word ‘gull’, which as a noun could be used to mean a dupe or a credulous person.
Current FJ streak: 1L
Update to reflect the prevailing opinion that the Last Name of Lemuel Gulliver would be sufficient for the purpose of this FJ! clue.
Corrected Current FJ streak: 3W
I would assume last name alone would be sufficient, citing “this title character”…in that the “title” itself only contains a last name, and therefore should be correct. If the character was Tom Jones, Oliver Twist, or Walter Mitty, that’s a different story.
I think you are correct about the phrase “this title character” being a major reason only the last name is required (besides the usual requirement of only the last name unless it is too common among famous people).
I feel like the clue talking about the meaning of both his first and last name was NOT implying they wanted both. Firstly, I feel like the first name business was just extra description like “redhead”. Secondly, I feel like it was actually trying to make the clue a little bit easier by making it clear that (unlike often assumed) ‘Gulliver’ is NOT the character’s FIRST name.
Very interesting clue, but very difficult I think.
Friday’s episode was preempted by the NFL draft and broadcast at 2:00 in the morning. When I played the recording on Saturday afternoon, I noticed that parts of the beginning and end of the show were missing in order to make room for additional commercials!
I forgot about Jeopardy on Friday and remembered to tune in at the break before Final Jeopardy. The number of commercials crammed in was ridiculous.
I didn’t recall Gulliver having a first name, but it makes sense since “gullible” comes from his last. I put Robinson Crusoe because I couldn’t think of any other title characters who would satisfy the clue and were from the 1700s.
I think I always just assumed Gulliver was his first name.
I got Gulliver from gullible but I had no idea of his first name. Don’t recall ever having heard or read it. I hope the prevailing opinion that Gulliver is sufficient is correct (not that it matters now anyway).
Looking at Project Gutenberg’s version, it appears that it is only mentioned once, in the “Publisher” note to the reader that serves as an Introduction. I’d guess that bit probably doesn’t stick in most folk’s memories.
It certainly didn’t stick in mine. 🙂 Thanks for that interesting bit of information, Michael.
I really had no idea about the correct Final Jeopardy response. Seeing the players’ rsponses I was lead toward Biblical responses which was far affiled.
As for if Just Gulliver would have been accepted as the correct response, I’d have to agree that since the Final Jeopardy “answer” specifically mentions definitions of a first, and, last names, both would have been needed to be accepted.
But, like many, I’ve heard of Gulliver, seen cartoons based on his adventure in Lilliput. But, unles they’ve read Swift’s book, how many would know Gulliver’s first name. Hopefully, this won’t be made into a controversey becuase of the probable need for a first and last name, or, who is hosting for the balance of “daytime’ jeopardy’s seasonovers by a certain Us edition of British tabloid’s webiste.
I’m surprised no mention was made of Art Flemming’s birthday on today’s show.
I feel like the clue talking about the meaning of both his first and last name was NOT implying they wanted both. Firstly, I feel like the first name business was just extra description like “redhead”. Secondly, I feel like it was actually trying to make the clue a little bit easier by making it clear that (unlike often assumed) ‘Gulliver’ is NOT the character’s FIRST name.