Note: This page contains spoilers for the July 31, 2023, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please also note that today’s game is an encore presentation of the game that originally aired on October 17, 2022.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Famous Animals) for Monday, July 31, 2023 (Season 39, Game 26):
In September 1964 the New York Times announced the passing of this pet, a gift, “used as a symbol of honesty in 1952”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Jessica Stephens, a statistical research specialist from Nashville, Tennessee |
Aaron Gulyas, a community college history instructor from Grand Blanc, Michigan |
Cindy Zhang, a user experience designer from New York, New York |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today is the first day of six weeks’ worth of encore presentations; the show is first revisiting the 2022 postseason, starting with the two weeks of the Second Chance competition. Jessica Stephens, playing in today’s episode, has basically been cited by Michael Davies as the inspiration for the Second Chance competition entirely. (We still need that Jeopardy! Book Club, though.) Cindy Zhang and Aaron Gulyas also came incredibly close to winning in their respective regular play appearances, and all three of them were very deserving of being invited back to the show last fall.
I would also like to state editorially that I would be incredibly surprised if Season 40 did not start on September 11. Tapings are set to kick off on Tuesday, August 15, and while I made my stance clear on the Season 40 clue situation clear in my Weekly Thoughts column yesterday, I will continue to provide show coverage until the WGA asks press outlets to boycott coverage of struck productions.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Checkers?
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.)
In September 1952, six weeks before that year’s presidential election, Richard Nixon was in danger of being dropped as Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate after being accused of improprieties regarding a fund created to reimburse Nixon for political expenses. As part of that fund, a supporter had given a black-and-white cocker spaniel, named Checkers by Nixon’s children. In order to defend himself, Nixon delivered a joint radio and television address from the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. In the speech, Nixon said, “you know the kids love the dog, and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re going to keep it.” The speech greatly boosted Nixon’s popularity, he was retained on the ticket, and the Republicans won that 1952 election in a landslide.
Checkers passed away in September 1964 at the age of 12; the obituary is still available at the New York Times website.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, July 31, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Literary First Lines; An Impressive Vocabulary; World Facts; Common Bonds; Lyrically Yours; Skin Care From A To Z With Michael Strahan)
Cindy got out to the best start, but fell back to $0 after missing a True Daily Double on clue #8; she did nearly pull back into the lead before clue #15, though! After the break, though, Jessica had the best time of things, jumping out to a big lead.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Jessica 3 correct 0 incorrect
Cindy 7 correct 1 incorrect
Aaron 3 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Jessica called her initial game her “space camp experience”.
Aaron got a lot of texts from friends who knew he dislikes sports.
Cindy was asked about fashion and her handwriting before Second Chance.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jessica 9 correct 1 incorrect
Aaron 8 correct 2 incorrect
Cindy 9 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jessica $5,400
Aaron $3,000
Cindy $2,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Actors Get Their Roles Mixed Up; “If” At First…; Anagrams; Here’s Your Science Prize; Trying To Get Some Works Done; But I Have This Historic Meeting)
Jessica’s good fortune continued when she picked up the second Daily Double, improving her score by $2,500. Aaron had a shot midway through the round to claw back, but he also got a Daily Double incorrect. As it turns out, Jessica pulled out a runaway game by the end of things.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Jessica 18 correct 2 incorrect
Cindy 14 correct 3 incorrect
Aaron 15 correct 6 incorrect
Scores going into Final:
Jessica $17,100
Cindy $6,800
Aaron $2,800
In Final Jeopardy! today, both Jessica and Aaron were correct; we’ll see Jessica again on Thursday and Friday in this week’s final!
Tonight’s results:
Aaron $2,800 + $2,800 = $5,600 (Who is is Checkers?)
Cindy $6,800 – $0 = $6,800 (Who Thanks for having me!)
Jessica $17,100 + $3,000 = $20,100 (Who is Checkers?) (1-day total: $20,100)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) WORLD FACTS $1000 (clue #8)
Cindy 2800 -2800 (Aaron 1800 Jessica 0)
2) “IF” AT FIRST… $1600 (clue #3)
Jessica 6200 +2500 (Cindy 1200 Aaron 1000)
3) TRYING TO GET SOME WORKS DONE $1200 (clue #17, $16000 left on board)
Aaron 4200 -3000 (Cindy 4400 Jessica 12300)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -131
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Cindy 2 4 2 3 5*
Aaron 3 5 4
Jessica
DJ! Round:
Cindy 2 2 2
Aaron 1† 4 3 5 3*
Jessica 5 4* 3† 2† 3 3 5 2 1
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Jessica 3.11
Cindy 2.75
Aaron 3.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Game Stats:
Jessica $16,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Cindy $9,600 Coryat, 14 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Aaron $5,800 Coryat, 15 correct, 6 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,600
Lach Trash: $11,800 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $10,600
Player Statistics:
Cindy Zhang, career statistics:
36 correct, 6 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
32.74% in first on buzzer (37/113)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $200)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,600
Aaron Gulyas, career statistics:
40 correct, 11 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
37.72% in first on buzzer (43/114)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,400
Jessica Stephens, career statistics:
34 correct, 2 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
25.44% in first on buzzer (29/114)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,500)
2/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,300
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: July 31, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jessica $17,100 Cindy $6,800 Aaron $2,800)
Cindy: Bet between $0 and $1,199 and take the extra $1,000 for second. (Actual bet: $0)
Aaron: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $2,800)
Jessica: Bet between $0 and $3,499 and enjoy your victory! (Actual bet: $3,000)
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Jessica’s win was doubly impressive, since she also knew Final Jeopardy: a clue that clearly favored Aaron, due to his age and profession.
I initially had Jessica slated to win this match, because as I’ve said many times before, she came less than $500 away from beating two of the best contestants from S38 at the same time, which is really saying something given the quality of players in S38.
I also got Final correct this time around, which already gives me just as good a track record as this whole week last time around 🙂
I had previously watched today’s episode when it originally aired. I was shocked to see that I had forgotten most of the clues from last time around. I did remember Cindy’s adorable flower-bedecked “little black dress,” though. Thankfully, I also got the Final! correct today.
Andy, did you realize that the “Next post >” on this page dead-ends to a newspaper article about Jeopardy? A reader must click on RECAPS at the top of this page and then pick August 1st in order to proceed on through your site.
Lisa: Thank you for mentioning this. It was an experiment about potentially linking to articles about contestants again, and I did not realize that the site would act in such a fashion. It should work as expected now.