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Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 18, 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 Natural Landmarks) for Wednesday, October 18, 2023 (Season 40, Game 28):
The Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition happened upon it in 1870 & named it for the regularity of its activity
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Lucy Ricketts, a book designer & freelance illustrator from Atlanta, Georgia
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Josh Saak, a traffic engineer from Boise, Idaho
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Sam Stapleton, a college consultant from Los Gatos, California
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
As I said in my Finals preview, this is a matchup between the #1 (Lucy), #3 (Josh), and #5 (Sam) seeds of the 27 players in this bracket (And, we were an incorrect royal title away from this being a matchup between seeds 1, 2, and 3.) This is also a matchup between three very good players; Sam has never had an individual game Coryat less than $16,000, while Josh and Lucy have been very strong players in both regular play and this event.
This is also a reminder that this is a two-game total-point final, with today’s scores being added to tomorrow’s in order to determine the overall tournament champion. If you’re curious as to how we’ll be figuring out the strategies tomorrow, I did recently post a “Wagering Strategy 102” page, dealing with Game 2 of a two-game final, as we’re seeing an increasing number of two-game finals in the modern Jeopardy!
It should also be noted that the fourth quarterfinal of Celebrity Jeopardy!, between Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), 2-time NBA champion Shane Battier, and Steven Weber (Wings) airs tonight on ABC at 8:00 (7:00 Central).
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is Old Faithful?
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 the few years prior to Yellowstone being established as a National Park in 1872, a number of exploratory expeditions to the area took place. It was during the second of these expeditions, now known as Washburn-Langford-Doane (after Montana Surveyor General Henry D. Washburn, Montana politician Nathaniel P. Langford, and Lt. Gustavus C. Doane giving a military escort—attorney Cornelius Hedges was not named although the National Park Service does say he was on the expedition) that the famed geysers of Yellowstone National Park—including the most famous, Old Faithful—were explored in detail.
Langford wrote in his account, “It spouted at regular intervals nine times during our stay, the columns of boiling water being thrown from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five feet at each discharge, which lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes. We gave it the name ‘Old Faithful’.”
Much like I said back during Second Chance in September, I think this Final will reward a player willing to take a chance and take a big gamble in this Final Jeopardy round. (Because, after all, there are 61 clues tomorrow to make it back up if a gamble doesn’t work out.)
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, October 18, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The 1600s; A Day At The Races; Dining Out In New York; Ooh, Look, Shiny Things!; Smoke; Mirrors)
It was Lucy who got to the first Daily Double, but it was Sam who lead at the first break, thanks to six correct responses! However, Josh picked up six after the break to hold a slim lead after 30 (though only $600 separated first from third!)
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Sam 6 correct 0 incorrect
Lucy 4 correct 0 incorrect
Josh 2 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Lucy thinks it’s “overwhelming” to be a finalist.
Josh is grateful for the chance to play again.
Sam plans on convincing everyone the ToC is happening two weeks later if he qualifies.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Josh 8 correct 1 incorrect
Sam 9 correct 1 incorrect
Lucy 8 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Josh $5,000
Sam $4,600
Lucy $4,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: In Crisis Mode; You Shouldn’t Have Left The Couch; Rock & Roll Bookstore; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob; A Fabric-ated Category; 3 Little Words)
Lucy got put into crisis mode with a miss on the second Daily Double, and Sam took the lead after getting DD3 correct! However, Josh found another gear in the back half of the round, pulling out a $4,000 lead going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Josh 19 correct 3 incorrect
Sam 17 correct 2 incorrect
Lucy 15 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Josh $16,600
Sam $12,600
Lucy $9,200
Everyone got Final today—and Josh was the most aggressive! His $8,600 bet gives him a $10,000 lead over Sam and an $11,000 lead over Lucy going into Game 2 tomorrow!
Tonight’s results:
Lucy $9,200 + $5,000 = $14,200 (What is Old Faithful?)
Sam $12,600 + $2,600 = $15,200 (What is Old Faithful?)
Josh $16,600 + $8,600 = $25,200 (What is “Old Faithful”)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) THE 1600s $800 (clue #6)
Lucy 400 +1000 (Sam 800 Josh 1600)
2) ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB $1200 (clue #3)
Lucy 8000 -4000 (Sam 4600 Josh 5000)
3) IN CRISIS MODE $2000 (clue #15, $16000 left on board)
Sam 8200 +4000 (Josh 11400 Lucy 5600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 99
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Sam 4 5
Josh 2 3 2
Lucy 4*
DJ! Round:
Sam 4 4 5*
Josh 2 2 2 2 3 2
Lucy 4 5 3* 4 5 3
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Josh 2.22
Sam 4.40
Lucy 4.00
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 $16,600 Coryat, 19 correct, 3 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Sam $10,600 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Lucy $13,000 Coryat, 15 correct, 1 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,200
Lach Trash: $6,600 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,200
Lead Changes: 7
Times Tied: 2
Player Statistics:
Sam Stapleton, career statistics:
122 correct, 11 incorrect
7/8 on rebound attempts (on 17 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (108/342)
10/11 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $32,600)
2/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,933
Josh Saak, career statistics:
151 correct, 21 incorrect
5/7 on rebound attempts (on 23 rebound opportunities)
37.94% in first on buzzer (151/398)
6/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $19,600)
6/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,943
Lucy Ricketts, career statistics:
155 correct, 19 incorrect
15/17 on rebound attempts (on 37 rebound opportunities)
34.94% in first on buzzer (138/395)
8/12 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
4/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,343
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Because anything earned today can be doubled tomorrow, Josh has an “effective lead” of $5,000 over Sam and $5,500 over Lucy.
- Because today is Game 1 of a final, there are no wagering suggestions posted.
- Today’s box score: October 18, 2023 Box Score.
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I have noticed that there have been no unplayed clues all this season. Is this a record?
As far as I know – and Andy, please correct me if I’m mistaken – all tournament games are guaranteed to have zero unplayed clues out of fairness.
Though that rule might have been relaxed with Davo’s nixing of wildcards in tournaments.
But I’m fairly certain that 27 games w/o an unplayed clue is a record for the season.
That rule only applied to the quarterfinal games in the first week of the traditional format (15 players, 10 games) tournament.
As you intimate, because the non-winners’ scores are not compared to those from other games in the same round, it’s not needed to equalize the number of clues between them.
27 games in without an unrevealed clue is in fact a record; the previous one was 21 games two seasons ago. The only other season that remotely approaches it was, surprisingly, Season 11 (the first unrevealed clue wasn’t until game 17).
Interesting info about Season 11!
I have a good idea as to what the first three games were due to (namely, Steve Chernicoff and his averaging 39 correct on the main boards per day) but how the other 13 didn’t see unrevealed clues is still kind of beyond me!
This is likely helped by a dearth of video categories due to the strike.
Whatever it is, let’s keep it up.
I’m going out on a limb to say this will be a triple get.
It was a strong-looking limb 😁
This no-brainer will certainly reward the aggressive wager in the FJ.
It was fairly easy, IF you listened/read the answer. The categoryand,the partabout regularity should have lead you to Old Faithful. It apparently did to the players,and,to all of ux.
My first thought upon reading the clue was “Old Faithful”. I’m happy!!!
The Old faithful seems to be the geyser worth checking out next time around. This should be a no brainer because I studied ba bit about this in my younger years.
Too easy for Final Jeopardy IMHO.
My thought exactly. Not only too easy for a FJ but even moreso when you consider it’s a FJ in a tournament.
Hi Kasey, My sentiments, exactly. This Final! clue was entirely too easy for tournament play.
This was a very fun game and I definitely look forward to Game 2 tomorrow. Should be pretty intense and then Friday we get the start of the Diamonds Bracket (aka Group 2).
Hi Judith P.! I agree with you, Robert J. Fawkes, and Kasey. So I didn’t even bother posting about the Final, but instead went with the more interesting question: does this season hold a record for no unrevealed clues? Which, according to MasterDoge and Matt Carberry, it does! (I appreciate having had such knowledgeable commenters weigh in on this topic.)
P.S. Since I check back a few days, let’s you and I not get stuck in a “thank-you circle” (although I do admire your good manners) but only post replies when one or the other of us has something new to say.