Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 12, 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 Word Origins) for Thursday, October 12, 2023 (Season 40, Game 24):
Though it meant “seasickness” in Latin, this 6-letter word now refers to a more general feeling of sickness
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Josh Saak, a traffic engineer from Boise, Idaho |
Valerie Castelo, a legal training & development manager from San Leandro, California |
Steve Clarke, a lawyer from Chesapeake, Virginia |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today is the ninth of nine quarterfinals for the Spades bracket of the Champions Wildcard competition, and it probably features the one player that most of the diehards wanted to see return: Josh Saak, who was a 3-game champion and was only $400 behind Matt Amodio going into Final Jeopardy in Matt’s first game. (Now that’s a Jeopardy! “What if?” for you.) This alone makes Josh the favorite here.
I also don’t expect the semifinal pairings to be released until tomorrow morning; the semifinal draw can put today’s winner into tomorrow’s game.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is nausea?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
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With the same root as “nautical”, it should come as no surprise that “nausea” would refer to “seasickness” in Latin. While WORD ORIGINS Final Jeopardy clues have historically been some of the more diabolical Final clues the show can ask, this one is more straightforward, especially for a fan who might have grown up as a Flintstones viewer. If you’ll recall, The Flintstones episode “Divided We Sail” had a boat that Fred and Barney named; Barney wanted “Nautical Lady”, Fred wanted “Queen of the Sea”, and the compromise name was—you guessed it—Nau-Sea (“a sickening name for a boat,” as Betty exclaimed.)
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, October 12, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Spooky Literature; Let’s Play Sportsball; Words From 2 Letters; Aaron Burr; Got Milk?; The Jeopardy! World Orchestra)
Josh jumped out to a lead at the first break, due mostly to Steve getting the daily double incorrect; however, Steve bounced back to take the lead by the end of the first round!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Josh 6 correct 0 incorrect
Steve 4 correct 1 incorrect
Valerie 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Josh works out while he prepares.
Valerie got a March 2020 Call just before the pandemic hit.
Steve endowed a scholarship in memory of his late mother with his winnings.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Steve 12 correct 2 incorrect
Josh 9 correct 0 incorrect
Valerie 5 correct 3 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Steve $5,400
Josh $5,200
Valerie -$400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Presidents’ Executive Orders; Happier Movie Endings; “L” On Earth; Geometry; Rank-ly Speaking; You Need To Clear That Up)
The 10th lead change of today’s game came just before Steve found the final Daily Double! Steve got it correct and held onto a slim lead going into clue #61!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Steve 22 correct 2 incorrect
Josh 18 correct 0 incorrect
Valerie 12 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Steve $19,100
Josh $16,400
Valerie $5,200
Josh and Valerie were the only two players correct in Final—that means Josh advances to the semifinals!
Tonight’s results:
Valerie $5,200 + $0 = $5,200 (What is nausea?)
Josh $16,400 + $2,705 = $19,105 (What is nausea?) (Semi-Finalist)
Steve $19,100 – $13,701 = $5,399 (What mer malaise?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) LET’S PLAY SPORTSBALL $600 (clue #4)
Steve 800 -1000 (Valerie 0 Josh 400)
2) GEOMETRY $1200 (clue #6)
Valerie 400 -2000 (Steve 8200 Josh 5600)
3) PRESIDENTS’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS $2000 (clue #21, $11600 left on board)
Steve 12600 +2500 (Valerie 2800 Josh 12400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -180
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Steve 1 2 3*
Valerie
Josh 3
DJ! Round:
Steve 1 2 1 4 2 5*
Valerie 3 4 3* 5 2 2 1 3 2
Josh 3 5 2 3 4† 4
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Josh 3.43
Steve 2.33
Valerie 2.78
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:
Josh $16,400 Coryat, 18 correct, 0 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Steve $19,600 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Valerie $7,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 4 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $43,200
Lach Trash: $5,600 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,200
Lead Changes: 11
Times Tied: 1
Player Statistics:
Steve Clarke, career statistics:
95 correct, 18 incorrect
7/10 on rebound attempts (on 15 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (92/228)
6/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $14,000)
1/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,300
Valerie Castelo, career statistics:
45 correct, 6 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
25.61% in first on buzzer (42/164)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
3/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,000
Josh Saak, career statistics:
114 correct, 14 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
39.08% in first on buzzer (111/284)
6/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $19,600)
4/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,960
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: October 12, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Steve $19,100 Josh $16,400 Valerie $5,200)
Steve: Standard cover bet over Josh is $13,701. If you think Josh will bet conservatively to keep Valerie locked out, you could try making the “Shore’s Conjecture” bet of $3,301. (Actual bet: $13,701)
Valerie: If Steve bets to cover and is incorrect, he falls to $5,399. Thus, you have to bet at least $200, though you might as well go all in. (Actual bet: $0)
Josh: Bet between $5,401 (defending against any of Steve’s small range) and $5,999 (therefore keeping Valerie locked out). (Actual bet: $2,705)
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Got it so fast I hadn’t even finished reading the clue. That’s always a great way to start the day 🙂
“Straightforward”, indeed! Although I never saw that “Flintstones” episode, I got the connection with “nautical”— and then, “6-letter word”? The clue practically spelled it out! I finally got one this week, so, I’m glad it was so easy. I expect everyone to get this—but then, I have been surprised before.
Got this one. I enjoyed the Flintstones tid bit.
I also got this right away maybe because I’m inclined to say when someone says that they are nauseous when they are feeling nauseated, “no really, you aren’t that bad”.
I too got this one right away. I thought of “Nausea”, and counted the letters, so I went with it. And I was right!
So I am rooting for Josh to win this game.
So happy to see that Josh won…
My exact process (if you could call that a process).
Easy but not accurate as a word origin. The word is a latin borrowing from the greek.
You might just as well call pirouette an english word.
For what it’s worth, I do think the clue is correct as worded; it’s not claiming a Latin origin—it’s just saying it meant seasickness in that language.
True, I mostly felt bad for Steve who was obviously trying for a latin etymology, it is a bit of a misdirect.
I don’t know if that sort of misdirect is inherently bad; it’s like when you’re expecting a curveball and the pitcher throws a fastball. I’m sure Steve feels bad about this miss as well, considering that I think a lot of people at home will get this one right.
Some thoughts surrounding the Goosebumps category…
The TV/Theatrical side of SAG-AFTRA was on strike when this game was taped (August 30), and remains so today. I have to believe that Justin Long is a member covered under that CBA (the “legacy SAG” side), and that “Goosebumps” would be a covered production. Assuming those to be true, I would also imagine these clues were filmed before July 14 (the start of the strike). A lot of assumptions, to be sure, but hopefully they’re close to the mark.
Assuming all legal obligations are met, it’s tough to justify the show not running the category; being as it’s tied to the premiere of the series, it would be difficult if not impossible to use it at a later date. But, for lack of a better word… it felt a bit “icky” seeing Long there publicizing content to be released by a company struck by his union.
Any thoughts?
Let’s put it this way: I didn’t realize it was promoting a new series when I was watching it.
In order for the category to have run in the first place, it would have had to have been finalized before the WGA strike, which means Long was fine to record it.
Other entertainment news outlets made clear back in July that they were still able to publish things based on pre-strike interviews, so I presume that this falls under the same general umbrella.
In other words: it definitely had a weird feeling to it, but it seemed kosher to me.
Good call about the WGA strike and the associated timing.
And reading your explanation, I feel myself doing a Picard-esque facepalm, on account of recalling Pike. Re-checking shows me the entire second half (last five episodes) of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Season 2, was released after SAG-AFTRA struck. So were the associated Ready Room episodes — basically, also the same general principle. (And as we know well, few if any are more hardline on union solidarity than Wil Wheaton.)
Shout-out (from me) to “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, “Ready Room”, Wil Wheaton as “Ready Room” host, Wil Wheaton as vocal supporter of the trades unions, and Wil Wheaton as well-playing Jeopardy! contestant.
I also got this one and each time i think of it i usually will come across bad food and it made me nauseous. So I normally wouldn’t touch contaminated or expired food that makes nausea in people
Yeah, it seemed like an easy get to me as well.
Geez. I thought “Hazy Shade of Winter” should have been called a Simon & Garfunkel song. The Bangles covered it.
Yes, totally agree.
With all due respect, The Bangles charted much higher with it.
I think it’s fine that they went with The Bangles on the clue, but they should’ve phrased it as “a song recorded by The Bangles” or suchlike.
Correct. It’s a Bangles “hit” or “cover”, but a Simon and Garfunkel song.
The Beatles charted higher with their version of “Twist and Shout” than any previous recording, but it’s commonly acknowledged as a cover.
Steve is a good player. In this and his original loss, his FJ answering demonstrated cleverness.
Spades:
Game 1 – Dane Reighard: CORRECT
Game 2 – Lawrence Long: CORRECT
Game 3 – John Bussard: INCORRECT
Game 4 – Brendan Sargent: INCORRECT
Game 5 – Daniel Nguyen: CORRECT
Game 6 – Camron Conners: INCORRECT
Game 7 – Morgan Briles: INCORRECT
Game 8 – Robert Won: INCORRECT
Game 9 – Josh Saak: CORRECT
4/9 correct predictions!