Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 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 Famous Ships) for Thursday, July 13, 2023 (Season 39, Game 219):
This first U.S. battleship ever built was launched in 1889 but lasted less than 9 years
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Dennis Leung, a biotech scientist from Half Moon Bay, California |
Kathy Barkey, an engineer from Kingston, New York |
Ittai Sopher, a digital journalist & news producer from New Orleans, Louisiana (1-day total: $12,401) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
New Orleans’s Ittai Sopher is your new Jeopardy! champion following his victory on yesterday’s program. Today’s challengers are Kathy Barkey and Dennis Leung.
I like to take this time to congratulate both Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik on their respective Emmy nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host—which is somehow as many congratulations as appeared in the first twenty hours of the thread on r/Jeopardy announcing their respective nominations. (That, quite frankly, is an embarrassing statistic from a fanbase that needs to act more respectfully toward both hosts on Reddit.)
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 USS Maine?
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 United States Navy’s Naval History and Heritage Command, “U.S. Navy battleship construction began with the keel laying of the Maine in 1888…” (And, yes, Wikipedia—and by extension, Google—are 100% wrong.) The Maine being the first battleship isn’t why it’s best remembered today, though: it was sunk, by explosion, on February 15, 1898 in Havana Harbor. The resulting U.S. media firestorm, blaming Spain for the destruction, led to the Spanish–American War outbreak.
As with many Final Jeopardy clues dealing with years: the best way to get a correct response on this clue is to do the math: 1889 + 9 = 1898. From there, remembering the Maine should be straightforward. Of course, it’s quite possible that a contestant or two could get more hung up on the first part of the clue, miss the year, and be out at sea on this one.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, July 13, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: From The Headlines; Live Cams; Eat It! Wear It! Or Sit On It!; Nonfiction; “R” Song; Animal Expressions)
In an excellently-played opening round, Dennis jumped out to a lead thanks to a Daily Double whose correct response sounded rather familiar to me for some reason! The three players broke the $18,000 mark in score through 30 clues.
Statistics at the first break (14 clues):
Dennis 5 correct 0 incorrect
Ittai 5 correct 0 incorrect
Kathy 4 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Dennis falsified library cards when younger.
Kathy got to see a performance of “The 1812 Overture” at the Royal Albert Hall.
Ittai was an extra on “Boardwalk Empire”.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Dennis 12 correct 0 incorrect
Kathy 7 correct 2 incorrect
Ittai 8 correct 3 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Dennis $9,400
Kathy $5,000
Ittai $4,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Flightseeing Across America; Flowery Poetry & Prose; Medicine; Movie Before & After; Religious Objects & Symbols; Españ-O)
In a very strong Double Jeopardy round for him on the signaling device, Ittai eventually got to both Daily Doubles; he got the first one incorrect, but the second one correct. Unfortunately, Dennis still pipped Ittai for the lead going into Final by getting the last clue before the time’s up signal.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Dennis 16 correct 0 incorrect
Ittai 19 correct 6 incorrect
Kathy 10 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 41 (2 today).
Scores going into Final:
Dennis $13,800
Ittai $13,500
Kathy $6,600
Unfortunately, Dennis could not remember the Maine, which means that Ittai is now a 2-day champion! He’ll go for win #3 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Kathy $6,600 + $3,300 = $9,900 (What is the Maine?)
Ittai $13,500 + $301 = $13,801 (What is the Maine?) (2-day total: $26,202)
Dennis $13,800 – $13,201 = $599 (What is the Washington?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) ANIMAL EXPRESSIONS $600 (clue #14)
Dennis 3200 +3200 (Ittai 3400 Kathy 3200)
2) RELIGIOUS OBJECTS & SYMBOLS $1200 (clue #15)
Ittai 12000 -2000 (Kathy 5800 Dennis 9400)
3) FLOWERY POETRY & PROSE $800 (clue #27, $1200 left on board)
Ittai 10400 +3100 (Kathy 6600 Dennis 13400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 113
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ittai 3 5 4 4 5 5
Kathy 4 5 2 2
Dennis 3 3 4 3*
DJ! Round:
Ittai 5 5 4 4 3 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 3* 2 3 5† 5 2 2† 2*
Kathy 2 1 1
Dennis 3 5 2 1
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ittai 3.77
Kathy 2.43
Dennis 3.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: FLOWERY POETRY & PROSE $400 RELIGIOUS OBJECTS & SYMBOLS $400
Total Left On Board: $800
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 41 (0.19 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Ittai $13,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 6 incorrect, 42.59% in first on buzzer (23/54), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Kathy $6,600 Coryat, 10 correct, 3 incorrect, 20.37% in first on buzzer (11/54), 0/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Dennis $11,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 0 incorrect, 25.93% in first on buzzer (14/54), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,000
Lach Trash: $13,600 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,600
Player Statistics:
Ittai Sopher, career statistics:
32 correct, 8 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
30.56% in first on buzzer (33/108)
2/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $100)
2/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,800
Kathy Barkey, career statistics:
11 correct, 3 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
20.37% in first on buzzer (11/54)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,600
Dennis Leung, career statistics:
16 correct, 1 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
25.93% in first on buzzer (14/54)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,200)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,200
Ittai Sopher, to win:
3 games: 32.800%
4: 10.759%
5: 3.529%
6: 1.157%
7: 0.380%
Avg. streak: 2.488 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: July 13, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Dennis $13,800 Ittai $13,500 Kathy $6,600)
Ittai: I would bet between $0 and $299 here, to keep Kathy locked out. This would have been an automatic $300 suggestion here in 2014 or earlier. (Actual bet: $301)
Kathy: I would actually consider going all-in here, just in case Ittai bets in the $300 or $301 range.(Actual bet: $3,300)
Dennis: This is the famous “Faith Love” betting scenario. If you think Ittai is going to bet to keep Kathy locked out, bet $0. Otherwise, bet $13,201. (Actual bet: $13,201)
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I would not have gotten it except for the “less than nine years later” clue, which pointed to the Maine incident.
I remembered the Maine.
Well played!
I remembered her as well – helping me deal with a very choppy FJ week
Same here. The “less than nine years later” made me think Maine. Otherwise, I had no idea.
I think Andy correctly foresaw it coming — I (and probably Dennis) did not expect to be clued in by the end date (so did not even bother adding 9 to 1889), so I just thought what was this nation probably going to name their first home-built battleship and assumed they would have named it for their first president (even though he was not a Naval man), so quickly went with ‘George Washington’. [Had I been on the show, I would have just written Washington like Dennis did, just in case it was named for “DC”, not for the president himself.]
Had the clue not had the extra information about “first ever built”, I think I would have done the addition and PROBABLY have gotten it because I remember more about the Spanish-American War than other short wars because one of my grandparents was born in 1898, so whenever I heard any information about the Spanish-American War [like “Remember the Maine”] I would instinctively think of that birth-year, making me more likely to remember the war fact. So this was another “kind of easy” clue tricked up a bit to make it a little more difficult while ostensibly making it easier by adding additional facts — kudos!
I did not hear of the Emmy nominations for Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik until just now. So thanks Andy for pointing this out.
Why do you say Wikipedia is wrong? It also says construction began in 1888: “her keel was laid down on 17 October 1888”
Wikipedia also says the Texas is the first battleship.
Interesting, was Texas commissioned first but then Maine was built first?
Damn.
It’s on the tip of my tongue but I can’t get it out.
Why can’t I remember it?
thank you, thank you… the poached sole is very good this evening, also the veal cutlet, try them out.
Your humor cracks me up!
I want to share the laugh but don’t get it. Can you dumb it down for me?
OK BusyBee. . .here goes! Why can’t I remember?
THE WAR CRY WAS REMEMBER THE MAINE!
I believe that the gourmet food alludes to Wm Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. They “fanned the flames”. Their attitude was “Let’s you and him fight!” while they were living it up like Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned.
Thanks; I got the, “Why can’t I remember it?” allusion right away but had no idea what the poached sole and veal cutlet comment had to do with it.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/try_the_veal
Thank you for that link, Andy! I had never heard of that phrase uttered after a joke (but I had heard, “I’ll be here all week” that was referenced in the article).
To BusyBee AND Andy:
Andy, thanks for correcting my wrong assumption! Mine made sense to me at the time!
BusyBee, Sorry I led you down the garden path! I was so sure about Hearst and Pulitzer:(
Happy 95th birthday to Johnny Gilbert
Wow! 95 years young. Kudos to Johnny Gilbert and his mellifluous voice!
This absolutely has to be a triple get!
I DO “Remember the Maine”. . .not personally! I’m old, but not quite that old!
Happy 95th birthday to Johnny Gilbert! I remember the USS Maine while studying about this event in grade school and how it started the war at that time.
Yeah, Happy Birthday to you Johnny. Please keep announcing Jeopardy! You are a mainstay of the game.
Congratulations to Ittai for winning game #2.
Don Pardo lived to 96.
I remember Don Pardo very well. Especially from SNL. Rest In Peace.
The happiest of birthdays to Johnny Gilbert! You have the golden voice of a much younger man !