Warning: This page contains spoilers for the September 15, 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 Astronomy) for Friday, September 15, 2023 (Season 40, Game 5):
The only dwarf planet located in the inner Solar System, it’s named for an ancient deity of planting & harvests
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Hari Parameswaran, a hardware engineer from Cupertino, California (Yesterday’s total: $1,600) |
Jill Tucker, an operations manager from Mulino, Oregon (Yesterday’s total: $19,600) |
David Maybury, a magnetics engineer originally from Richmond, Virginia (Yesterday’s total: $6,728) |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
David dominated the proceedings yesterday from a trivia perspective; his attempt numbers and buzzer speed were significantly higher than his opponents. However, he is behind in this match because his opponents played Jeopardy! better than he did yesterday. David’s clue selection statistics yesterday included a pair of 1s and a †—needless to say, the player whose clue selection numbers didn’t have any blemishes on it, Jill, is currently leading. The Daily Doubles brought Jill’s score close enough to David’s that she could take good advantage of a Final Jeopardy! that she was able to figure out before her opponents were. Of course, this final is only 50% done, and there’s still everything to play for today. Jill’s “effective lead” is only $6,436, which could easily be wiped away if David finds a Daily Double or two in the second half of this final.
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Correct response: What is Ceres?
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.)
The largest body of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Ceres has been reclassified many times since its discovery in the early 19th century (from “planet” to “asteroid” and then to “dwarf planet” with the IAU reclassification in 2006). Due to its dimness, very little was known about Ceres until it was approached by the NASA spacecraft Dawn in 2015. It was given the name Ceres after the Roman goddess of agriculture; its credited discover, Giuseppe Piazzi, actually wanted to name it Ceres Ferdinandea after the king of Sicily, Ferdinand III, but that was rejected by other countries.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, September 15, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: In Your Element; Building, America; Agatha All Along; Song Birds; Cat Lovers; Fire Z)
David and Hari had the best time in this opening round; David got the Daily Double and Hari got 12 correct! While Jill still led overall, things were very interesting through 30 clues!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
David 6 correct 1 incorrect
Hari 5 correct 0 incorrect
Jill 2 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Hari wants to thank his parents and both past opponents and teammates.
Jill wants to thank her family, friends, coworkers, and Jeopardy! staff.
David wants to thank his family and he’s glad he could share this experience with them.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Hari 12 correct 0 incorrect
David 10 correct 1 incorrect
Jill 6 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Hari $6,800
David $6,400
Jill $3,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Monet Monet; Currency; From “B” To “F”; Celeb Lit Before & After; Thirst; Trap)
While there were no clue selection blunders today, Hari found his signalling device timing in this round, and this led to him finding both Daily Doubles back to back! Things were still very interesting, though, when he split them. As the round neared its conclusion, any of the three players could have been in the outright lead going into Final, but as it was, Hari was in the best position with one more clue in the week to play!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Hari 26 correct 1 incorrect
David 18 correct 1 incorrect
Jill 11 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Hari $19,200
David $14,800
Jill $7,800
David and Hari got Final correct, which means that Hari advances to the Champions Wild Card event later this fall! David took second and Jill third.
Tonight’s results:
Jill $7,800 – $0 = $7,800 + $19,600 = $27,400 ($10,000) (What is Demeter?)
David $14,800 + $14,800 = $29,600 + $6,728 = $36,328 ($20,000) (What is Ceres? :))
Hari $19,200 + $16,000 = $35,200 + $1,600 = $36,800 ($35,000) (What is Ceres?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) SONG BIRDS $1000 (clue #9)
David 2000 +2000 (Jill 800 Hari 2400)
2) TRAP $1600 (clue #9)
Hari 15600 -5000 (David 7600 Jill 5000)
3) THIRST $1600 (clue #10, $20800 left on board)
Hari 10600 +3000 (David 7600 Jill 5000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 96
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
David 4 3 5 5*
Jill 3 4
Hari 3 5 4
DJ! Round:
David 4
Jill 3 3
Hari 3 4 5 5 3 4* 4*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Hari 4.00
David 4.20
Jill 3.25
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Hari $22,800 Coryat, 26 correct, 1 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
David $13,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 1 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Jill $7,800 Coryat, 11 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $44,400
Lach Trash: $5,600 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,000
Player Statistics:
David Maybury, career statistics:
90 correct, 7 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
38.16% in first on buzzer (87/228)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $200)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,350
Jill Tucker, career statistics:
58 correct, 9 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 13 rebound opportunities)
23.68% in first on buzzer (54/228)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,200)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,600
Hari Parameswaran, career statistics:
72 correct, 12 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
32.59% in first on buzzer (73/224)
3/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,800)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,150
Andy’s Thoughts:
- It certainly took Hari a long while to find buzzer timing, but he certainly found it when it counted.
- Today’s box score: September 15, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Hari $19,200 ($1,600) David $14,800 ($6,728) Jill $7,800 ($19,600))
David: If you go all in and are correct, you will have $36,328. In order to cover Jill, bet at least $13,673. You might as well go all in, though, and force a cover bet from Hari, because things are out of your hands if you’re incorrect. (Actual bet: $14,800)
Jill: If you go all in and are correct, you’ll have $35,200. Therefore, compared to David and Hari, you’re in third. Things are pretty much out of your hands here, because both David and Hari have to make big bets to pass you and defend against each other. You can pretty much do whatever you’d like here, but going all in would force a cover bet out of David. (Actual bet: $0)
Hari: If you go all in and are correct, you’ll have $40,000. Bet at least $15,529—but because you’re guaranteed third place if you do this and are incorrect, you’re safe to add a buffer and are even safe to go all in here to not worry about the math at all. (Actual bet: $16,000)
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Another get! Wednesday was a total miss, and Thursday’s clue was so confusing to me I didn’t even try to guess. (I’d never even heard of Apia, and Oslo was a surprise as well. Congrats, Jill!) But today I knew that Ceres was both a Goddess of agriculture, and the largest asteroid. I didn’t know that She had been re-classified as a “dwarf planet”, but the only other one I knew in that category was Pluto, which is not “in the inner Solar System”. So, a good end to the week! P.S. Judith P., if you’re reading this, I left you a comment 7:36 am Wednesday about your Tuesday post.
Hi again, RedRose, I was able to go back & read your comment. Thanks for your support! Judith P.
Also—to all Jewish members of our community—for Rosh Hashanah, Chag Sameach & Shanah Tovah U’Metukah!
(Translation from the Hebrew “For the Head Of The Year, have a Happy Holiday & a Good and Sweet New Year!”
As an astronomy nerd going back to childhood (I got my Astronomy merit badge in Scouts, even!), this was an easy get. My record for Season 40 goes to 5-0 and I have a 7-FJ correct streak for first-run episodes that goes back to the last two episodes of Season 39.
In keeping with my remarks from the spring/early summer; just because this was an easy get for me, I don’t expect it to be a triple-get on the show. It all depends on the breadth of knowledge and experience for the contestants. Just because I learned all I could about space and the Sol System when I was a child doesn’t mean other intelligent people care that much about it. Just like yesterday’s was an easy get for me as a Geography MA, but others struggled with it, obviously.
🙂
My son used to watch a ton of educational videos about planets and the solar system, one of which was a catchy song that named all of the dwarf planets. Combined with my strong mythology knowledge, this was was an easy get for me. 4-1 for the season, and matching my total for last year’s Second Chance (both weeks worth) just one week into the competition this year.
In the history of the show, this is only the 11th time, out of 136 multiple-game matches, that the player in third entering the final day has come back to win. The most recent previous instance was Buzzy Cohen in the 2017 Tournament of Champions.
Excellently played by all three players throughout on both days, and great wagering under the unique circumstances on today’s Final.
What a great way to end the week. I’ve always wondered why the winner doesn’t get more than the 35k if the exceed that. Maybe Moderna only agrees to cover a certain amount of the winnings possibly?
Congratulations go out to Hari who won by a very slim margin. I was rooting for him being that he is local to me…in the same county as well. A great way to end the week.
Congrats to hari making the championship wildcard. Studying the solar system and the planet’s helped me with this clue today
This was an instaget which I only needed the astronomy portion of the clue for, but the mythology tie-in was still appreciated 🙂
Once you know that Ceres is the correct response, the part of the answer about “an nacient deity of planting and harvests” makes. Or, if you know about dwarf planets at the edge of our solar system.
Unfortunately, the only dwarf planet I know off hand is Pluto, the god of the underworld, which certainly doesn’t fit, planting, and, harvests
I am not familiar with any ancient deity of anything, though I have begun to recognize a few just from game shows 🙄. I do not recall being aware of one of the asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter having been declared a dwarf planet, but I DID know that some of them are pretty good sized, so I assumed that was what the clue referred to but could not recall any names. [I say “didn’t recall” instead of “didn’t know” because once the correct response was revealed, it sounded VERY familiar and I have had a lot more exposure to solar system stuff than ancient deity stuff 😉. But, actually, my recognition was probably due to past news about that NASA probe sent to Ceres in 2015.]