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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Shakespeare’s Characters) for Tuesday, May 23, 2023 (Season 39, Game 182):
Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for “blessed”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Lynn Di Vito, a retired museum educator from Colorado Springs, Colorado |
Danny Leserman, a policy communications manager from Rancho Palos Verdes, California |
Ben Chan, a philosophy professor from Green Bay, Wisconsin (9-day total: $252,600) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Happy Tuesday! Yesterday, Ben Chan reached Buzzy Cohen levels of victories, with his ninth runaway in nine games, and has already broken into the top 20 in regular-play winnings. Today, Ben goes for super champion status and victory #10; Danny Leserman and Lynn Di Vito hope to stop him.
Also, the semifinal round for Jeopardy! Masters finishes tonight at 8:00 (7:00 Central) on ABC in the U.S. and on CTV2 in Canada. Two spots are still to play for in Wednesday’s final!
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 are Beatrice & Benedick (from Much Ado About Nothing)?
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.)
Beatrice & Benedick are the second pairing of lovers in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing it is generally seen today that their wit and banter provide much of the play’s humor. Both “beatus” and “benedictus” can mean “blessed” in Latin.
In an amusing coincidence, at least to me, Beatrice & Benedick came up in a Season 7 game that I put into J! Archive yesterday morning—both characters were in the clue, and the contestants had to name the play; they were even spotted “ALL” OR “NOTHING” in the category. (Though one contestant did attempt All’s Well That Ends Well.) This Final certainly would have been much more difficult for me had I not encountered these specific characters yesterday.
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 Tuesday, May 23, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Aviation; Super Bowl Winners By Quarterback; Animals In Literature; Historical Hodgepodge; “G”-Rated Words; You’re So Shellfish)
Ben got off to a rocket start, but a missed True Daily Double brought him back to $0. No matter, though—he still had a commanding lead after the Jeopardy! round!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ben 9 correct 1 incorrect
Danny 2 correct 1 incorrect
Lynn 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Lynn is very good at cornhole.
Danny welcomed a new baby recently.
Ben teaches a course in food ethics.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Ben 16 correct 2 incorrect
Danny 6 correct 2 incorrect
Lynn 5 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Ben $7,200
Danny $1,600
Lynn $1,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: A Century Of Time Magazine Covers; TV Sitcoms By Family; A Country By Any Other Name; Medicine; The Judgment Of Paris; Ends With A Silent Consonant)
Lynn had a great start to the round and jumped into the lead after a correct Daily Double! Ben then missed his second Daily Double of the match on the third one, but a very strong performance in the second half of the round meant he held a slim lead going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ben 27 correct 3 incorrect
Lynn 14 correct 1 incorrect
Danny 9 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 28 (1 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ben $17,400
Lynn $14,800
Danny $2,400
While Ben was agonizingly close, he did not give the correct character name, meaning he was very properly ruled incorrect—for the Triple Stumper. Lynn bet small and is your new champion!
Tonight’s results:
Danny $2,400 – $1,400 = $1,000 (Who Romeo + Juliet)
Lynn $14,800 – $3,000 = $11,800 (Who are Romeo and Juli) (1-day total: $11,800)
Ben $17,400 – $12,201 = $5,199 (Who are Beatrice & Benedict Benedict?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) HISTORICAL HODGEPODGE $600 (clue #9)
Ben 4200 -4200 (Danny -200 Lynn 400)
2) MEDICINE $1200 (clue #6)
Lynn 7000 +3000 (Ben 7200 Danny 1600)
3) A COUNTRY BY ANY OTHER NAME $1600 (clue #13, $16000 left on board)
Ben 11200 -3000 (Danny 400 Lynn 11600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -84
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ben 5 4 3 4 5 3*
Danny 2
Lynn 2 3
DJ! Round:
Ben 3 5 3 4*
Danny
Lynn 3 4 3 4 5 3* 4† 5 4
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Lynn 3.64
Ben 3.90
Danny 2.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: A COUNTRY BY ANY OTHER NAME $400
Total Left On Board: $400
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 28 (0.15 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Lynn $13,000 Coryat, 14 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.43% in first on buzzer (12/56), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Ben $24,600 Coryat, 27 correct, 3 incorrect, 46.43% in first on buzzer (26/56), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Danny $2,400 Coryat, 9 correct, 3 incorrect, 19.64% in first on buzzer (11/56), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,000
Lach Trash: $8,000 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,600
Player Statistics:
Ben Chan, career statistics:
288 correct, 26 incorrect
10/14 on rebound attempts (on 40 rebound opportunities)
46.65% in first on buzzer (265/568)
18/25 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $29,805)
8/10 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $23,100
Danny Leserman, career statistics:
9 correct, 4 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
19.64% in first on buzzer (11/56)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,400
Lynn Di Vito, career statistics:
14 correct, 2 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
21.43% in first on buzzer (12/56)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,000
Lynn Di Vito, to win:
2 games: 48.735%
3: 23.751%
4: 11.575%
5: 5.641%
6: 2.749%
Avg. streak: 1.951 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I must reiterate: This was a 100% correct call from the judges. “Benedick” and “Benedict” are two different names that are universally pronounced differently. Anyone looking to send abuse to the show for this call is absolutely in the wrong; the show made the absolutely correct call for this situation.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ben $17,400 Lynn $14,800 Danny $2,400)
Ben: Standard cover bet over Lynn is $12,201. (Actual bet: $12,201)
Danny: It doesn’t really matter what you bet here; you don’t really have a chance at winning today. (Actual bet: $1,400)
Lynn: Bet between $5,201 (defending against a small bet from Ben) and $9,599 (thereby winning the Triple Stumper). (Actual bet: $3,000)
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I remembered the word “beatus” which led me to Beatrice from Much Ado, and her lover Benedick.
Knew the play, got Beatrice, but I forgot the male character’s name and my guess of “Dominick” was close, but wrong.
As soon as I saw the clue, I was thinking someone will probably spell Benedick incorrectly. It happens quite often. Good call by the judges.
It seems that Ben knew it was wrong, too, but just couldn’t think of what was right. However, I sure hope that it was not one of those cases (for his “correction”, not his original attempt) where you are writing so fast that your muscle memory kicks in and you write what you most recently wrote rather than writing what you intended to.
Regardless of the final Jeopardy ruling, I particularly hate it for Ben that he missed only three clues in the entire game, and two of them were Daily Doubles.
If this had been Ben’s only game, I would definitely want him in the SCT, but no need as he is well qualified for the ToC.
Fluke. What a painful loss.
I made the exact same mistake as Ben. Ouch! (I was really hoping for an even longer run from him.) P.S. I had a relative named Beatrice, but nobody in the family with either version of the male name.
Andy, I used to input “the date and final jeopardy” to get to your site easily. Now it doesn’t appear in a search at all. Have things changed with your search words?
Judging by the number of new people who appear to have stumbled upon the site today, I’m not sure what to tell you.
I have no idea what keywords have been changed — or if anything has changed about the site’s findability. OTOH, I’m confident any massive influx of new visitors to the website has everything to do with the Jeopardy! Masters tournament being held since May 8 and concluding on May 24. Interest in the tournament would be particularly high today for viewers who were casually watching and wanted to understand how qualification for the finals worked.
Trust me—there has been an influx of visitors all day regarding this specific episode.
If anyone’s still convinced Ben had the correct answer, Ben himself said on a Reddit thread that he was off by a letter and was justly ruled incorrect. As much as Ben is awesome in pretty much every way, he was not correct in Final Jeopardy. Simple as that.
Nope. I put Troilus & Cressida. Though I now learn that they’re Greek names, that’s fairly close. I didn’t think it would be the easy response of Romeo and Juliet and I was right there. Just picked the wrong pair.
I am really sad to see Ben leave like this – yes, it was the correct decision by the judges, but it’s a brutal way to go out. Shocked that it happened so soon given how dominant he had been, but it was those Daily Double responses that prevented him (I got Turkiye instantly) from getting his runaway.
The judges made the right call here. Beatrice and Benedick were what I would have chosen as Shakespeare stuff is much more of my favorite. This i should say was a painful loss but still Ben is ready for the tournament of champions
Tonight’s outcome is exactly why I was telling people last week that it was presumptuous to imagine that Ben could have had a 30+ day run going when it was Hannah’s debut.
Nine runaways and then a loss! The incorrect DD (and FJ) responses obviously killed Ben today. He couldn’t have been closer on FJ without getting it. Just part of the variance of the game. But he should be a strong contender in TOC.
Ben knew the correct answer. The other two didn’t. Correct ruling, but a fluke and a damned shame.
What a painful way to lose! He was so close and nobody else had a clue. I can’t remember the second Daily Double that Ben got wrong now but it shocked me that he didn’t get it. He was clearly just slightly off his game today. I look forward to seeing him in the ToC.
Drat! I guessed “Benedict” for FJ! today. I forgot his lover’s name, even though I had a cousin named “Beatrice.” I’m sad to see Ben Chan go. He’s a formidable player. Ben will be back for the T.O.C., “blessedly.”
Nice clue substantively, but it might’ve been better to ask for the name of the play.
To be honest, Andy, the only thing I’m not sure of on that ruling is how Mayim said it; she said “it’s not correct” when it should’ve been said as “it’s not acceptable”.
No, I think Mayim ruled properly.
The name “Benedict” is incorrect when the sought-after name is “Benedick”.
It was ironical or even Shakespearean that Ben lost by misspelling a name so similar to his own.
I was thinking what names are similar to “bendito”, as Spanish is my only key to Latin, and I came up with Benedict as a possibility. (I have little knowledge of Shakespeare’s characters.) After the answer was revealed, I was surprised by Beatrice. But thinking about Matthew chapter 5 in the Bible, there’s the “beatitudes” which is also translated as blessed, so now I see the connection with Beatrice.
According to the British Library website, “Benedick” is the correct spelling from Shakespeare’s original manuscript.
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/benedick-and-beatrice-the-merry-war-of-courtship
Like most everyone with little knowledge of Shakespeare’s works, I thoought Romeo and Juliet. But since I couldn’t see how either name would have a root of blesses, figured I was wrong. Since the “answer” called for specific names, ruling Ben incorrect by rule was the right call. But, I couldn’t discern the difference between Benedick, and, Benedict when Mayim pronounced them, though you say they are pronounced differently, Andy. It would’ve been helpfull if the correct names had been shown as Mayim gave them.
Too bad he didn’t run out of time before he put the T on it.