Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 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 Business & Social Media) for Wednesday, May 3, 2023 (Season 39, Game 168):
On Twitter in 2023, this food franchise followed an exact total of 11 accounts that included Victoria Beckham, Mel B & Herb Alpert
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Hannah Wilson, a data scientist from Chicago, Illinois |
Dan Czekalski, a project manager from Columbia, South Carolina |
Kevin Belle, a trail planner from Silver Spring, Maryland (3-day total: $42,798) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Kevin Belle is now a 3-day champion; a fourth win today will see him make his way to the bottom of the Tournament of Champions standings. However, Dan Czekalski & Hannah Wilson absolutely want to stop him from getting to that point.
That said, I’d like to revisit something from last night’s game. While most of you know me as the writer of this website, this isn’t my only project. I have multiple production credits from various game shows myself, and I will put on my “game show producer” hat when revisiting yesterday’s episode. It’s become clear to me—and I’m honestly surprised that this hasn’t caught up to the show by this point, with the show having gone through months of different hosts after Alex Trebek’s death—that having Alex Trebek’s 35+ years of experience caused the show’s writers and researchers to let bad trivia-writing habits creep into their writing.
Last night, the writers not being prepared for the distinct possibility of a contestant saying “Eros” instead of “Cupid” essentially caused the wrong player to play a Daily Double in yesterday’s game—which inherently has a major effect on the potential outcomes of a game. When preparing material for the show, a good fact-checker doesn’t just check a writer’s source for correctness; a good fact-checker also asks, “Are there any sources that disagree with this source” or even “What if someone says X”? It seems clear to me that this hasn’t been happening—otherwise, Paul would have been given credit for his response at the time, and the game would have proceeded normally and properly.
It appears that the writers & researchers have been finalizing incomplete material. If your material is incomplete to the point where your moderator needs to know the similarities between Eros and Cupid to save your bacon, then that is a critical writing flaw that needs to be rectified. Speaking as someone who has been working in various roles on Reach for the Top (a production that relies on moderators who very likely don’t have perfect knowledge of everything asked about) for over a decade now, it is crucial that the writers provide as much information as possible to their moderators. That clearly broke down with last night’s game, and I hope the show’s writers and researchers can provide enough information so that both Ken & Mayim can do their best work.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is KFC?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
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The subject of today’s Final Jeopardy! has been a meme for the better part of a decade now; in order to lean into its secret recipe of 11 herbs & spices for its fried chicken, KFC, on Twitter, has followed 11 people: 4 of the Spice Girls and 7 people named Herb. (Hence, “11 Herbs & Spices”.)
We’ve seen a bunch of more difficult Finals as of late—an easier Final like this one may end up being the undoing of a player like Kevin, who hasn’t been making the standard cover bet in Final Jeopardy. An astute challenger will notice this and adjust their own Final Jeopardy strategy accordingly.
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 Wednesday, May 3, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: , Said This Literary Character; That’s A Good Spot For A Break; Mix -Ology; Aboard The Aircraft Carrier; The “USS”; John C. Reilly)
Hannah got off to the best start, having $6,800 at the opening break and $10,200 after the Jeopardy! round. Kevin had a good round, and Dan struggled early on.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Hannah 8 correct 0 incorrect
Kevin 5 correct 0 incorrect
Dan 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Hannah devised a cat Jumble for her wedding program where the answer was “showtime” and not something referring to cat poop.
Dan was in “The Notebook”.
Kevin has a foosball-related tattoo.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Hannah 14 correct 0 incorrect
Kevin 9 correct 0 incorrect
Dan 4 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Hannah $10,200
Kevin $4,000
Dan $1,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historic Americans; “D” Tour; There’S Gold In Them Thar Hills; Sax Education; Homophones; Theater Before & After)
Double Jeopardy today belonged to the challengers—Dan and Hannah dominated proceedings, with them both gaining over $3,000 on their Daily Doubles. Unfortunately, Hannah was a little too conservative on the last one, which meant that she didn’t quite have a runaway going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Hannah 24 correct 0 incorrect
Dan 11 correct 2 incorrect
Kevin 15 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Hannah $22,800
Dan $12,300
Kevin $6,000
Dan & Hannah both got Final correct—Hannah is your new Jeopardy! champion! She’ll be back tomorrow to defend her title.
Tonight’s results:
Kevin $6,000 – $5,000 = $1,000 (What is McCormick’s?)
Dan $12,300 + $12,000 = $24,300 (What is KFC?)
Hannah $22,800 + $3,000 = $25,800 (What is KFC?) (1-day total: $25,800)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) , SAID THIS LITERARY CHARACTER $800 (clue #7)
Hannah 2200 +2000 (Kevin 1400 Dan 0)
2) HISTORIC AMERICANS $800 (clue #4)
Dan 4000 +3500 (Kevin 4000 Hannah 10200)
3) “D” TOUR $1600 (clue #7, $28000 left on board)
Hannah 10600 +3000 (Kevin 4400 Dan 7500)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 207
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Kevin 1 2 3 5
Dan
Hannah 4 3 4*
DJ! Round:
Kevin 1
Dan 3 4 5 2* 1†
Hannah 4*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Hannah 3.75
Dan 3.00
Kevin 2.40
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.15 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Hannah $20,200 Coryat, 24 correct, 0 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Dan $9,600 Coryat, 11 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Kevin $6,000 Coryat, 15 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,800
Lach Trash: $13,800 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,400
Player Statistics:
Kevin Belle, career statistics:
74 correct, 7 incorrect
3/4 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
30.70% in first on buzzer (70/228)
2/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $800)
1/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,500
Dan Czekalski, career statistics:
12 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,500)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,600
Hannah Wilson, career statistics:
25 correct, 0 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,200
Hannah Wilson, to win:
2 games: 69.971%
3: 48.959%
4: 34.257%
5: 23.970%
6: 16.772%
Avg. streak: 3.330 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Hannah had some incredibly strong gets today and I hope that today is the first of many victories for her.
- Today’s box score: May 3, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Hannah $22,800 Dan $12,300 Kevin $6,000)
Kevin: Limit your bet to $2,399—that way(Actual bet: $5,000)
Dan: Bet at least $8,701 to give yourself any chance of winning. (Actual bet: $12,000)
Hannah: Standard cover bet over Dan is $1,801. (Actual bet: $3,000)
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Of course Tuesday’s “oversight” of the Eros/Cupid answer became a “contoversey” click bait for a probable tabloid website, thought not the usual subject. And, course another site tried to make Mayiam finishing the “daytime” Jeopardy season into one.
I had Tuesday’s FJ, but, maybe the way it was phrased, or, whatever, didn’t get this one until Mayiam gave some explanation as to why KFC was the correct. And, Andy’s “More Information” made it still clearer.