Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 21, 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 Numbers Old & New) for Friday, July 21, 2023 (Season 39, Game 225):
Expressed in today’s numbers, it’s the sum total if you add the 7 Roman numerals together
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Taylor Clagett, a marketing director originally from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland |
Ben Sasamoto, an environmental consultant from Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Nik Berry, a social studies teacher from Baltimore, Maryland (1-day total: $9,601) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
On yesterday’s show, Nik Berry made a very savvy bet in Final Jeopardy, and found himself rewarded with the title of Jeopardy! Champion! Today’s challengers are Ben Sasamoto from Minnesota and Taylor Clagett, originally from Maryland.
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 1666?
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.)
This old-school Final Jeopardy clue wouldn’t have felt out of place in 1985 or 1986, let alone 2023. The seven Roman numerals are M (1000), D (500), C (100), L (50), X (10), V (5), and I (1). Adding 1000, 500, 100, 50, 10, 5, and 1 gives you 1,666.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, July 21, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Happy 75th Birthday, Israel!; Shakespeare; That Hollow Feeling; The Romaines Of The Day; Track & Field; Homophone Connection)
Ben got off to the best start, converting an early Daily Double to jump into the lead! Taylor was struggling, but getting 5 of the last 6 clues correct in the round brought him into a tie for the lead!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ben 6 correct 0 incorrect
Nik 2 correct 0 incorrect
Taylor 2 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Taylor coached lacrosse in the Netherlands.
Ben got a Ken Jennings autograph at the age of 13.
Nik once visited the world’s highest monastery.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Taylor 7 correct 1 incorrect
Ben 8 correct 2 incorrect
Nik 5 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Taylor $3,800
Ben $3,800
Nik $3,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Explorers; Internally Yours; Old Hollywood Scribes; Motley Clues; Stately Demonyms; Ends In “X”)
The scores were staying down in Double Jeopardy, as Nik knocked himself out of contention with a missed Daily Double. Taylor then missed the last one, but he stayed within 50% of Ben’s score going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ben 16 correct 3 incorrect
Taylor 14 correct 6 incorrect
Nik 9 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 43 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ben $9,400
Taylor $5,400
Nik $1,200
Taylor was the only player correct on today’s Final Jeopardy—he’s our new champion! He’ll return on Monday to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Nik $1,200 – $17 = $1,183 (What is 2166?)
Taylor $5,400 + $5,400 = $10,800 (What 1,666?) (1-day total: $10,800)
Ben $9,400 – $3,000 = $6,400 (What 666?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) SHAKESPEARE $800 (clue #7)
Ben 1000 +1000 (Nik 800 Taylor 400)
2) STATELY DEMONYMS $1600 (clue #12)
Nik 5000 -5000 (Ben 3000 Taylor 4600)
3) INTERNALLY YOURS $1600 (clue #24, $4000 left on board)
Taylor 5800 -1200 (Nik 1200 Ben 7000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -21
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Nik 1 5 1
Ben 2 4 4*
Taylor 3
DJ! Round:
Nik 3 4 5 1 3 4* 5† 2† 5 5 4 3 2
Ben 1 2 1† 5 3
Taylor 5 4 3 2 4 4*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Taylor 3.57
Ben 2.75
Nik 3.31
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 43 (0.19 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Taylor $6,600 Coryat, 14 correct, 6 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Ben $9,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 3 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Nik $6,200 Coryat, 9 correct, 2 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $22,000
Lach Trash: $19,600 (on 19 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,400
Player Statistics:
Nik Berry, career statistics:
20 correct, 6 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
20.54% in first on buzzer (23/112)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$5,000)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,200
Ben Sasamoto, career statistics:
16 correct, 4 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,200
Taylor Clagett, career statistics:
15 correct, 6 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,200)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,600
Taylor Clagett, to win:
2 games: 24.400%
3: 5.954%
4: 1.453%
5: 0.354%
6: 0.086%
Avg. streak: 1.323 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- In response to some commentary regarding recent editorials of mine and how my opinion differs in certain scenarios: I would like to note that there is a major difference between numbers that might be considered profane and numbers that might be considered as a dog whistle for hate speech.
- Today’s box score: July 21, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ben $9,400 Taylor $5,400 Nik $1,200)
Nik: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $17)
Ben: Standard cover wager over Taylor is $1,401. (Actual bet: $3,000)
Taylor: Bet at least $2,601 to have the best chance of winning. (If you limit your bet to $2,999, you guarantee second place as well.) (Actual bet: $5,400)
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Great question! Are Roman Numerals even taught in schools now? I know the numerals and figured it out, but it took a little over 30 seconds.
Yeah, I didn’t time myself – it would have been close. I learned the roman numerals as a kid looking at the copywrite day at the end of movie credits and calculating them in my head. Thinking they haven’t done that for some time since I don’t remember in 2000 seeing a copywrite date of MM.
Yes, they do still do that, or at least a lot of them do, but the numerals for the couple of decades after 1999 have been so fewer “digits” than for the several decades before MM that they have not been as noticeable to “catch” at the end.
I think this is easier than a similar FJ from 2011 which was a triple stumper (I think I remember it because I remember most that I get correct that the contestants don’t). “Adding up the denominations of circulating bills with U.S. Presidents on the front gives you this total.”
Well…don’t leave us hanging without the answer…is it $78?
50 + 20 + 5 + 2 + 1 = $78
(Grant, Jackson, Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington)
Yes, 78. They all missed Jefferson.
The quickest way to do this one might be to use your screen as a scratch pad. Write down each number, make sure you have 7, do a quick total, put that down, then strike through everything else.
That’s what I did at home, and it’s also exactly what I would have done if I were on the show, as I don’t trust myself to do arithmetic in my head.
I could do it in my head, but only because it did not require remembering which means which between D, C, and L!
[Yeah, if forced to guess I would assume C is for century (i.e., 100), but that still leaves D and L, with the additional uncertainty caused by my association of D with ‘decimal’ and associating ‘decimal’ with 100. I know, I know, decimal is about 10, not 100 — I think maybe 100 pennies in a dollar subconsciously influences me.]
I was thinking the exact same thing. I wonder if the judges would have dinged a contestant for “showing their work.”
Just got it in less than 30 seconds! Being good at mental math helps. I agree that younger contestants might be less familiar with Roman numerals.
I feel like Nik and Ben probably just got tripped up in keeping track of the 7 they were adding rather than not knowing all the numerals. I didn’t want to risk getting “off” or being slowed down, so I “cheated” by using my fingers to keep track but they could have, too. (You don’t even need both hands available — start at the high end and add downward while ticking off five fingers, then quickly throw in the 5 and the 1 [the basics] without two more fingers!)
Math has always been one of my strong points, so I got this one really fast, which feels good after going almost dry over the last week 🙂
With so few games left in the season, the chance of a Daily Double being in the top row of any board this season is definitely slim-to-none. But then again, the penultimate episode of Season 37 had one, so my hope isn’t totally dead just yet!
I wish more Daily Doubles were on the top row. It would keep players honest in their clue selection.
I think the practice of not putting a DD in the top row originated due to the normal strategy being for players to start at the top and in general work down the same category. Though, of course, when a different player made a correct response, they would often switch to a more favored (by them) category, but still top to bottom. Therefore, keeping the DDs farther down let the players accumulate more money before hitting one. That’s rarely the strategy nowadays, so no need to keep the DDs out of the top row. I actually wish they would put them “high” more often to keep the players from concentrating “low” quite so much of their early play.
I am pretty good at math so roman numerals such as this one wasn’t an issue here. I hope that the daily doubles can be nailed next week but that true daily double really didn’t work out for Nik
As a former math teacher I was not surprised that every contestant arrived at a different sum.
LOL Good one!
“They didn’t tell me there was going to be math!”
This made me laugh out loud.
Sorry Andy, I did not mean to either take or give offense, only to ask for clarification, which you have provided. Thank you. (I would not use this public forum for my apology if I knew of some other way to reach you.)
Today’s final was pretty much elementary school stuff back when I was in school. Boomers like me learned this from an early age. Any Boomer probably gets this right off but I’m not sure about younger generations. I thought this would be a triple get but, then, I was thinking of my age group. Disappointed that these guys only went 1 for 3 on an elementary school question. Ask yourself, “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” LOL
Yes, I recall learning this many years ago in school also. Funny how such a thing sticks in the memory 🙂
As per the Site Comment Policy: “Any comment that clearly demonstrates that one did not read the post being commented on will not be approved.”
Specifically, I would invite commenters to read the “More Information About Final Jeopardy” section to obtain an explanation about how today’s Final Jeopardy! correct response is calculated.
It was a bit of a race trying to parse the clue and do the math, but I got it just before the music ran out.
Surprised they got to all of the clues with the triple stumpers and incorrect responses.