Warning: This page contains spoilers for the June 13, 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 Actors) for Tuesday, June 13, 2023 (Season 39, Game 197):
He starred in the 2 films whose soundtracks were the top 2 bestselling albums of 1978
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Laura Blyler Scanland, a nonprofit fundraiser from Newport News, Virginia |
Joe Siebert, a graduate student in physics from San Diego, California |
Suresh Krishnan, a networking engineer from Suwanee, Georgia (5-day total: $82,194) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Suresh Krishnan knows how to win, and he’s now done that five consecutive times on Jeopardy!. Today, Joe Siebert and Laura Blyler Scanland try to stop him from winning game number 6.
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(Content continues below)
Correct response: Who is John Travolta?
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.)
According to the December 23, 1978 issue of Billboard magazine (p. 84), the top two Pop Albums of 1978 (the magazine’s year-end chart) were the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever at #1 and the soundtrack to Grease at #2. Both of those films very famously starred John Travolta.
The remainder of the Top 10: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours at #3, Billy Joel’s The Stranger at #4. Steely Dan’s Aja at #5, Chuck Mangione’s Feels So Good at #6, Styx’s The Grand Illusion at #7, Linda Ronstadt’s Simple Dreams at #8, Kansas’s Point of Know Return at #9, and Eric Clapton’s Slowhand at #10 (Amazingly, Billboard made a typographical error, spelling Clapton’s name as “Claption”.)
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, June 13, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Dadjectives; Flowers; The Year Of The Horse; Let’s Check Your Family History; Accessories; After The Fact)
Our challengers got off to a slow start, but they were both back in the black by the interviews. Suresh had a good spell after the interviews to hold the lead at the second commercial in spite of Joe finding the Daily Double.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Suresh 6 correct 0 incorrect
Joe 4 correct 1 incorrect
Laura 2 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Laura got to ghostwrite for Tom Hanks as a fundraiser.
Joe is focusing on astrophysics and cosmology.
Suresh likes to cut his travel close at the airport.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Suresh 9 correct 0 incorrect
Joe 7 correct 2 incorrect
Laura 3 correct 3 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Suresh $5,000
Joe $3,200
Laura $200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Deep Books; Presidential Campaign Slogans; Silent K Words; 4-Letter World Cities; Crop To It; Stand-Up Specials)
Both challengers got to Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy, but they were both incorrect. As it was, Suresh held the lead going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Suresh 20 correct 2 incorrect
Joe 16 correct 5 incorrect
Laura 5 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 34 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Suresh $11,800
Joe $7,200
Laura $600
Laura and Suresh were correct in Final—Suresh is now a 6-day champion!
Tonight’s results:
Laura $600 + $599 = $1,199 (Who is John Travolta Bacon)
Joe $7,200 – $6,000 = $1,200 (Who is Harrison Ford?)
Suresh $11,800 + $2,601 = $14,401 (Who is Travolta?) (6-day total: $96,595)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) FLOWERS $600 (clue #25)
Joe 1600 +1600 (Suresh 4000 Laura 1000)
2) 4-LETTER WORLD CITIES $1600 (clue #4)
Joe 4400 -2000 (Suresh 6200 Laura 200)
3) SILENT K WORDS $2000 (clue #10, $24000 left on board)
Laura 2600 -2000 (Suresh 8600 Joe 3600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -22
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Suresh 1 2 3 2 3 4 5 3 4 5 1 4
Joe 1 2 3 4 2 5 2 3*
Laura 1 1 1 2 3
DJ! Round:
Suresh 2 3 1 2
Joe 4* 5† 4
Laura 1 3 5*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Suresh 2.81
Joe 3.18
Laura 2.13
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 34 (0.17 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Suresh $11,800 Coryat, 20 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/4 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Joe $8,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 5 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Laura $2,600 Coryat, 5 correct, 4 incorrect, 12.28% in first on buzzer (7/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $22,600
Lach Trash: $17,800 (on 17 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,600
Player Statistics:
Suresh Krishnan, career statistics:
104 correct, 16 incorrect
12/16 on rebound attempts (on 37 rebound opportunities)
27.30% in first on buzzer (92/337)
4/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,195)
5/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,733
Joe Siebert, career statistics:
16 correct, 6 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$400)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,200
Laura Blyler Scanland, career statistics:
6 correct, 4 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
12.28% in first on buzzer (7/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,600
Suresh Krishnan, to win:
7 games: 35.450%
8: 12.567%
9: 4.455%
10: 1.579%
11: 0.560%
Avg. streak: 6.549 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- A reminder that the judges can see the Final Jeopardy! responses being written as they’re being written; thus, they would have seen Laura write all of the letters of “John Travolta”, regardless of its eventual legibility.
- I thought it was interesting that Suresh took the chance on the final $2,000 clue; while he risked the lead if incorrect, it also significantly improved his Final Jeopardy! position, giving him a “crush” game.
- Today’s box score: June 13, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Suresh $11,800 Joe $7,200 Laura $600)
Suresh: Standard cover bet over Joe is $2,601. (Actual bet: $2,601)
Joe: Bet between $2,001 and $6,000 to have the best chance of winning. (Actual bet: $6,000)
Laura: Bet whatever you like; however, I’d recommend leaving at least $1 back, just in case Joe goes all in. (Actual bet: $599)
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Got this one, woo-hoo! Did think Kevin Bacon too but remembered the 2 films of John Travolta.
I’m calling a triple get on this one. And yes, I did have both those soundtracks on vinyl (and doing a quick check, I still do).
8 track here 🙂 and not any more
I thought a triple get was a stretch, given that this is a popular culture reference from 45 years ago. A contestant would have to be 50+ to have a true recollection.
Yeah, even though I never saw it, Grease was unavoidable in 1978. And of course, SNF came out late in 1977 and was going strong through the beginning of ’78. That made this an easy get.
The year gave it away!!!
The one thing I’ll say about Suresh is he is a survivor and defies the odds. How long will this streak last is the question. If he would actively search for daily doubles he might stick around that much longer.
Hi. What is a “crush” game? It seems to me that it was all risk and no gain for the champ to answer the final clue. If he got it wrong and the challenge you got it right, challenge would would be in the first place heading into final. If champ did not answer, he was guaranteed to have the lead going into final. Is there any benefit to the larger lead that he attained by correctly answering? I would think that leading by one and leading by less than double are exactly the same. Maybe there is benefit. Just thinking out loud. If champ would go into final Jeopardy with a $600 lead, would he need to wager enough to cover the middle Challenger, to potentially allow the right most Challenger back into the game if champ and middle Challenger were incorrect and right Challenger was correct. Thanks in advance and of course thanks for this amazing website!!
A “crush” game is one where second place has at least one-half, but less than two-thirds, of the leader’s score entering Final Jeopardy.
In such a case, the leader’s “standard cover bet” (to ensure victory if correct on Final) will not cause the leader to fall below second place if wrong. Such a bet forces the trailing player to be correct on Final to have any chance of winning; thus, it is considered a significant strategic improvement over second having >= 75% the leader’s score (in which case the trailer has a chance to win on a Double Stumper in Final between first and second).
Thanks. Amazing explanation. Really clarify things!
Thanks Matt! Good to know.
@George – you might what to read the betting strategy page that Andy has put together. Lots of interesting things (and lists terms like crush game). https://thejeopardyfan.wpengine.com/final-jeopardy-betting
The year and movie grease gave this away. John Travolta will always be my favorite actor as i remember swordfish was his greatest movie back then as well.
Thanks Mark. Will take a close look later.
1978 where I was 23 and remembering that John Travolta was most popular for those two movies. So this was a get for me within ten seconds.
I am happy that Suresh has won again. But I will say that I was in the Sony studios and watched three episodes being taped for next Monday thru Wednesday. I won’t spoil anything. But just saying that I was again at the studio watching tapings of the show.
Really mad at myself for not getting this one.
Grease producers actually wanted Henry Winkler to play the lead, which visually is a similar character to “The Fonz”…not sure how Winkler would’ve handled the singing and dancing though, as those were not exactly “Fonz” traits. It seems as though the casting gods, more often than not, have put the right person in the right place in the right roles (except for Hayden Christensen as Anakin/Vader…still scratching my head at that decision.)
Despite the immense popularity of those two movies (and having seen them later on VHS) that sort of thing was never my kind of thing, so I am not surprised to have not associated them with 1978.
I don’t know why Joe and I thought ‘Force 10 from Navarone’ and ‘The Star Wars Holiday Movie’ would have had popular soundtracks and so both guessed Harrison Ford! Just kidding — for me it was having no idea what were 1978 hits, so assuming the same problem for him.
Easy peasy FJ. But that was my era.