Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 25, 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 Compound Word Origins) for Tuesday, July 25, 2023 (Season 39, Game 227):
This compound word meant an astronomical object of exceptional brightness in 1910; it was soon applied to actors & athletes
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Julie Sisson, a library circulation assistant from Everett, Washington |
Andrew Knowles, a psychologist resident from Portland, Oregon |
Taylor Clagett, a marketing director originally from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland (2-day total: $31,800) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Taylor Clagett picked up a runaway victory in last night’s episode of Jeopardy; today, he faces off against Oregon’s Andrew Knowles and Washington’s Julie Sisson.
This weekend—Saturday, July 29, beginning at 8:00 AM Eastern—I will be doing a lengthy fundraising live-stream on my Twitch channel (twitch.tv/thejeopardyfan/) to raise money for MS Canada‘s Gamers vs. MS “Boss Battles” July campaign. How long will the stream be? Well, that’s up to you with your donations! For every dollar (Canadian) raised before the start of the stream, one minute will be added to the clock. However, it doesn’t end there. During the stream itself, every two dollars (Canadian) donated will add another minute to the live stream. Donations are being handled by Tiltify; you can donate here!
Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world, with an estimated 90,000 Canadians living with the disease. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Since that includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve, MS can affect vision, memory, balance and mobility. The disease attacks myelin, the protective covering of the nerves, causing inflammation and often damaging the myelin. Myelin is necessary for the transmission of nerve impulses through nerve fibres. Currently there is no cure, but each day researchers are learning more about what causes MS and are zeroing in on ways to prevent it.
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 superstar?
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 Oxford English Dictionary, the astronomical use of the word “superstar”, denoting a very large or bright celestial object, dates from G.P. Service’s Round Year with Stars v. 123, published in 1910. The term today is generally used to refer to high performers in any field, especially sports and acting.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items:
Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, July 25, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Just Googly It; That Can Be A Greek Letter; The OED Describes The Animal; Rhyme The Time; Something’s Rotten; In Denmark)
All three players had a good opening round, but it was Taylor who led at both commercial breaks, thanks to getting the Daily Double correct on the 10th clue of the game.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Taylor 5 correct 1 incorrect
Andrew 5 correct 2 incorrect
Julie 2 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Julie carries around an “L” Scrabble tile as a good luck charm from her grandmother.
Andrew can touch his tongue to his elbow.
Taylor builds child-size Adirondack chairs for his friends’ chldren.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Taylor 10 correct 1 incorrect
Andrew 8 correct 3 incorrect
Julie 5 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Taylor $6,200
Andrew $4,400
Julie $3,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: State The 19th Century Senator; Somebody Wrote That; This American Lake; Kiss & Tell; Writer-Directors; The Idioms Go Thataway)
Unfortunately for Julie, she nearly fell to $0 early in the round after a missed Daily Double. However, she had plenty of time to recover, and her going 4/5 in the idiom category meant that, even though Taylor got the Daily Double correct, Taylor didn’t have a runaway going into Final—in fact, things were very close going into clue #61!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Taylor 14 correct 2 incorrect
Julie 14 correct 2 incorrect
Andrew 17 correct 8 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 43 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Taylor $9,700
Julie $8,200
Andrew $6,400
Both challengers today were correct in Final, which means that Julie is your new champion! She’ll return tomorrow to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Andrew $6,400 + $301 = $6,701 (What is superstar)
Julie $8,200 + $3,010 = $11,210 (What is Superstar?) (1-day total: $11,210)
Taylor $9,700 – $8,722 = $978 (What is star?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) THAT CAN BE A GREEK LETTER $800 (clue #10)
Taylor 1800 +1800 (Andrew 1600 Julie 400)
2) SOMEBODY WROTE THAT $1600 (clue #2)
Julie 4200 -4000 (Taylor 6200 Andrew 4400)
3) THIS AMERICAN LAKE $1600 (clue #6, $26800 left on board)
Taylor 9000 +2300 (Andrew 3600 Julie 200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 30
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Taylor 5 4 3 4*
Andrew 4 5 2 1 3
Julie 1
DJ! Round:
Taylor 5† 5 4*
Andrew
Julie 3 4* 2†
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Julie 2.50
Andrew 3.00
Taylor 4.29
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:
Julie $12,200 Coryat, 14 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Andrew $6,400 Coryat, 17 correct, 8 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Taylor $8,000 Coryat, 14 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $26,600
Lach Trash: $15,000 (on 14 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,400
Player Statistics:
Taylor Clagett, career statistics:
55 correct, 15 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 16 rebound opportunities)
33.92% in first on buzzer (58/171)
3/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,000)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,267
Andrew Knowles, career statistics:
18 correct, 8 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,400
Julie Sisson, career statistics:
15 correct, 2 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$4,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,200
Julie Sisson, to win:
2 games: 30.456%
3: 9.276%
4: 2.825%
5: 0.860%
6: 0.262%
Avg. streak: 1.438 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I hope that players waiting to play notice Julie’s lack of a cover bet here; it could affect strategy the rest of the week.
- Today’s box score: July 25, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Taylor $9,700 Julie $8,200 Andrew $6,400)
Taylor: Standard cover bet over Julie is $6,701. (Actual bet: $8,722)
Andrew: Play for the Triple Stumper and keep your score above $3,601. Thus, bet up to $2,799. (Actual bet: $301)
Julie: Standard cover bet over Andrew is $4,601. (Actual bet: $3,010)
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.
That Final seems almost too easy.
It also reminds me of a certain musical that was both embraced and banned.
In the church-going days of my youth, we had a minister who railed against it from the pulpit. When he transferred to a new charge, his replacement played it as part of services. (United Church of Canada, in case you are wondering.)
Yes. It’s not that I knew it, but it was sure easy to guess. Maybe someone will miss it just because they overthink it thinking superstar is too obvious.
Too hard for me. I had no idea superstar was ever an astronomical term so it didn’t pop up as a choice. It should have been easy, but I have never heard it in that context.
I got it right away, although I was only familiar (somewhat oddly, for me) w the term as applied to celebrities. You can actually view the referenced book in Project Gutenberg, which I found pretty cool😎
I found yesterday’s FJ a bit obscure. This one is the opposite. I got it immediately, but then considered for a moment switching to something less obvious like supernova. But this really seems like an FJ for elementary school.
I think these comments are an example of how what seems like obvious knowledge to some isn’t so obvious to others. I struggled to get anything other than “-star” for the answer today, even though Equatorial Guinea yesterday was a lay-up of a question for me (I have an MA in Geography). I knew it wasn’t going to be “all-star”, but all I could come up with was “silver star” and that didn’t seem right.
Keep in mind that everyone is coming from different backgrounds and different bases of knowledge, so what may seem easy to you may not be so for all who play. This is why I never venture guesses on whether or not a particular FJ! will be a “triple-get” or “triple-miss”.
Thank you, Katerina, for saying something that has needed to be said for quite awhile.
You’re welcome, Ted.
One thing I have noticed, when I’ve delved into the cesspit that is the Jeopardy hashtag on Twitter, is that a lot of people just assume everyone has the same knowledge base, which leads to a lot of indelicate opinions of a contestant when they don’t know what many believe should be obvious. But having taught university-level Geography, I know there are things that I would think were obvious, but I knew weren’t obvious to my students, and I would intentionally leave them about on quizzes as trap questions, attempting to get my students to put more thought and care into what they were doing.
I think coming from an educational background helps because you have to be very aware of the fact that students aren’t all cookies that came from the same cutter on an assembly line. With that perspective, it’s easier to remember you’re dealing with individuals, and as such you should never assume that what you or one particular student knows will hold for anyone else.
Thanks for your comments, Katerina E. I don’t disagree with anything you said. I would add that if one were to do a survey of the general public of the last 2 FJs, my opinion is that a significantly higher percentage would come up with “superstar” for today’s FJ than would come up with “Equatorial Guinea” for yesterday’s FJ. But the responses of any given individual could vary.
Easy to get misled by focusing on the date. 1910 is notable for two astronomical events — a periodic visit by Halley’s Comet, and the occurrence of “The Daylight Comet,” which shone so brightly it was brighter than Venus and was visible during the day at its brightest. Some astronomers say it was probably the brightest astronomical event of the 20th century.
FJ answers can sometimes be complex. Other times, “KISS” is helpful.
FJ clue was simple today but also deceptively easy to overthink the question. Still, the category narrowed it down….
This final would probably be for the kids in grade school but somehow I got this one because I hear it pretty much in gymnastics. Happy to see two people getting this one
I would have missed it because “1910” in connection with astronomical objects brought Halley’s Comet to mind, and I couldn’t work any compound words out from there.
My first thought was “nova” but knew that was not a compound word [except in Spanish, which it is told is why the Chevy Nova did not sell well in Mexico], so thought “supernova”, which the mention of actors and athletes immediately brought me to switch to “superstar” (even though I did not recall that had ever actually been an astronomical term). Those trains of thought probably sound like more than 30 seconds (at least including writing it down afterward), but it was really only like 5 seconds.
I originally was thinking “shining star,” but then went with “what is (a) Superstar?,” although I suspected what it was too obvious. But as regular visitors to this site know, sometimes the correct response to a Final Jeopardy answer, IS that obivous.
According to Deadline on MSN, the Jeopardy producers announced yesterday that the season 40 T of C will be delayed until the dispute between the WGA and the AMPTP is resolved, that they never had any intentions of doing a T of C with “recycled” materials. It was also mentioned in the story that Celebrity Jeopardy will return in the fall with gameboards developed before the WGA walked out. The story didn;t mention if the celebrity tournament had already been taped, or, if it hadn’t, would Ken host, since Mayim is staying away from hosting Jeopardy until the WGA strike is over.
Since the majority of the celebrities are actors, hopefully it has already been taped. I support most unions but am unclear on all the nuances, so would appearing on Celebrity Jeopardy (if not already taped) be “crossing picket lines”?
Game show appearances seem to be an exception under SAG-AFTRA’s “Code of Fair Practice,” which Andy touch on in brief awhile ago. This code seems to be a different contract than like aa motion picture, or, a tv drama/comedy.
Concerning “they never had any intentions of doing a T of C with recycled materials”, I assume that T of C refers to THE main/(superchampions?) ToC, not the new one that was going to be made up of ALL the champions from the season, largely single-day winners. It seems to me that “recycled material” is perfect for a “recycled winners” tournament.
The article I referenced didn’t mention either the “Second Chance” OR the “Wild Card” tournaments. BUT since those competitons are considered qualifiers for the Tournament of Champions itself, I’d think that those would be postponed as well.