Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 2, 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 Presidential Proclamations) for Monday, October 2, 2023 (Season 40, Game 16):
Both issued in April, 80 years apart, the first proclamations by these 2 Presidents each declared natl. days of mourning
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Dane Reighard, a writer & editor from Los Angeles, California |
Emily Seaman Hoy, an attorney from Houston, Texas |
Burt Thakur, a project engineer from Palm Springs, California |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today sees the first quarterfinal of the first-ever Champions Wildcard competition. This time, each competition sees 27 players competing through quarterfinals, semifinals, and a 2-game final for 1 spot in the next Tournament of Champions. Today’s quarterfinal features Burt Thakur, Emily Seaman Hoy, and Dane Reighard. Of the three, Dane is probably the favorite; he lost his third game in Andrew He’s debut in November 2021 with one of the highest losing scores ever.
Another important note: as soon as the contestants for this competition were announced, questions were raised regarding Burt Thakur’s eligibility for the event, as he’s been gearing up for another run in a Republican Congressional primary. A statement provided last week from Jeopardy! to The Jeopardy! Fan stated, “Burt Thakur’s participation is within the parameters of the official rules of the show.”
If you’re looking for a quick rundown of what happened last week, I write a weekly recap column for Geeks Who Drink’s Questionist, released every Sunday. Yesterday’s column was titled “Palace Intrigue“. Questionist also has a newsletter that you can sign up for!
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Correct response: Who are Andrew Johnson and Harry Truman?
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.)
Both of these proclamations (in April 1865 by Andrew Johnson and in April 1945 by Harry Truman) were issued to announce the death of their respective predecessors (Lincoln in 1865 and Franklin Roosevelt in 1945)
One thing to watch out for today: Ken has been prompting for contestants to “be more specific” more often this season; I am very curious to know if the show will accept just “Johnson” on this one. Regardless, if someone does answer just “Johnson”, I fear that the tabloid media will unnecessarily use the situation to attack the show. It should be mentioned that there has been an intervening offseason and it is possible for the show to have adjusted its policies on prompting. It should also be mentioned that if this is the case the show is not obligated to inform fans if it does choose this—though, if it wants to be taken seriously as a sport, it probably should, as it would be unfathomable for MLB to change the balk rule or the strike zone without informing the public.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, October 2, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Geography “B”; Fighters; Are You Shakespearienced?; A Bug’s Life; Native Americans; A Category About Nothing)
Burt struggled early with incorrect responses, a theme which continued throughout the match. Dane held a lead after 15 thanks to the Daily Double, but Emily led after 30.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Dane 7 correct 1 incorrect
Emily 5 correct 0 incorrect
Burt 1 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Dane was upset by how FAMOUS RUSSIANS went in his original appearance.
Emily likes to make human pyramids with her family.
Burt was on the last show aired before Alex Trebek died.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Emily 10 correct 2 incorrect
Dane 8 correct 2 incorrect
Burt 7 correct 3 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Emily $4,800
Dane $3,200
Burt $1,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: South Africa; They Played Wyatt Earp; Signs & Symbols; Egyptian Mythology; Hodge Podge; Proverb Vs. Proverb)
The Daily Doubles had a negative effect on the scores; Burt and Dane both lost $2,000 on Daily Doubles! Things were close two-thirds of the way through the round, but Dane had a good finish to hold a lead going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Dane 19 correct 4 incorrect
Burt 15 correct 7 incorrect
Emily 12 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Dane $10,800
Burt $7,200
Emily $3,600
Final Jeopardy today was a Triple Stumper, with the “Johnson” question being left unanswered! Burt’s overly aggressive bet led to Dane taking the victory and a spot in the semifinals!
Tonight’s results:
Emily $3,600 – $0 = $3,600 (Who is Abraham Lincoln?)
Burt $7,200 – $7,200 = $0 (Who are Lincoln and Truman)
Dane $10,800 – $5,000 = $5,800 (Who are Lincoln & FD) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) ARE YOU SHAKESPEARIENCED? $800 (clue #11)
Dane 1800 +1200 (Burt 0 Emily 3000)
2) SOUTH AFRICA $1600 (clue #2)
Burt 1600 -2000 (Emily 4800 Dane 3200)
3) HODGE PODGE $1600 (clue #14, $14400 left on board)
Dane 6000 -2000 (Burt 3200 Emily 3200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -67
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Burt 5 5 5
Emily 3 3 3 4
Dane 4 5 2 4*
DJ! Round:
Burt 5 4* 5† 5 3 3† 3 3 3
Emily
Dane 4 5 4 3 4*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Dane 3.89
Emily 3.25
Burt 4.08
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:
Dane $12,400 Coryat, 19 correct, 4 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
Emily $3,600 Coryat, 12 correct, 5 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Burt $9,200 Coryat, 15 correct, 7 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $25,200
Lach Trash: $13,200 (on 12 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $15,600
Player Statistics:
Burt Thakur, career statistics:
44 correct, 16 incorrect
2/6 on rebound attempts (on 13 rebound opportunities)
27.65% in first on buzzer (47/170)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,000)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,333
Emily Seaman Hoy, career statistics:
47 correct, 10 incorrect
3/5 on rebound attempts (on 18 rebound opportunities)
28.65% in first on buzzer (49/171)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
0/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,067
Dane Reighard, career statistics:
86 correct, 14 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
38.16% in first on buzzer (87/228)
4/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $17,000)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,000
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Ken certainly noticed and implied the special betting situation. It’s a shame none of the contestants seemed to notice.
- It was clear that the show had Johnny’s opening redubbed; Ken said that Burt was from Frisco, Texas in the interview, but he was introduced as being from Palm Springs.
- If you are in the Dallas area, I’m curious to hear if the show airs as planned there tonight.
- In case you missed the ending, the end credits did show Emily and her family do a human pyramid on the Jeopardy! set with Ken.
- Today’s box score: October 2, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Dane $10,800 Burt $7,200 Emily $3,600)
Burt: Bet $0 or $1. (Actual bet: $7,200)
Emily: Your best chance at victory comes if you go all in. (Actual bet: $0)
Dane: Standard cover bet over Burt is $3,601. I would highly suggest not betting any more than this, because it’s a special betting situation here. (Actual bet: $5,000)
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My instant guess was LINCOLN/ROOSEVELT, but I realized that didn’t match up and stuck with the relative time frames to get the solution.
I went with FDR for Pearl Harbor and Lincoln – because he was 80 years earlier. So, yes, I missed it. So, close.
I was surprised how many people (seemingly including all three contestants) lost sight of the implications of “THE FIRST proclamations”, meaning they would have been mourning something [probably] JUST BEFORE or [maybe] RIGHT AT the beginning of their term(s) in office, not DURING.
As I’m sure you know, Pearl Harbor was in December.
My initial thought was the mourning events were the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy. But quickly realized that would have been more than 80 years. Plus Kennedy was shot in November not April. Sticking with Lincoln and moving forward 80 years took me to 1945. Was sure of month FDR died but knew it was before end of WW2 so it was a reasonable guess. I would have just said “Johnson” knowing the Jeopardy rules on last names. If you take a response of “Johnson and Truman” in the context of a clue with an 80 year gap, there is only one President Johnson you could be referencing. Not sure how the show would have ruled though.
I did not know the correct responses, but I do want Dane to win today’s game, which will air locally at 10:30 pm tonight after the football game, etc.
To avoid the “only Johnson “ dilemma, the instructions could have been we need first and last namess
That’s covered by the “be as specific as you think you need to” blanket instruction given to contestants during the briefing.
The whole “Category About Nothing” bit must be familiar to Ken Jennings since it was one of the categories that he saw on his last game way back in November 2004.
If “be more specific” is indeed the way of things now, I’m all for it.
I was close enough though I did get truman but I also got FDR because of his connection to the pearl harbor thing. Still glad to see our first semi finalist today
Although none of the contestants wagered appropriately in Final Jeopardy!, the most deserving (the one who played the best) contestant won anyway. All’s well that ends well.
Odd that Burt wagered the way Emily should have and Emily wagered the way Burt should have. That made me chuckle to myself.
Dane played the best until FJ! He clearly was on the right track, but ignored “THE FIRST proclamations” which clearly indicated a “fresh” president and thus the subsequent presidents to those he wrote rather than the mourned presidents. But since he did not have time to write the ‘R’ of ‘FDR’ he had probably taken too long to realize the general time frame to have gotten Johnson & Truman fully written even if he had realized his wrong perspective on the various events of those times.
What a great sport Ken is to do the human pyramid with Emily and her family. I guessing he would prefer not to have too many requests like that, but he stood tall on this one; albeit on all fours.
I saw “first” and “April” so I put down “Who are A. Johnson and Truman?” with 20 seconds to go (OK, I added the “A” after). Was surprised none of them got it, and only one picked the two who had died. I was also baffled by the betting and came here knowing you’d say the same thing. Not only did Dane’s overbet potentially cost him if Emily bet correctly and got it right, but Burt and Emily did what the other was supposed to do! It’s extraordinary how this circumstance had both 2E = B and E + B = D. Don’t see that much.
Was great of Ken to do the human pyramid. One of the most wholesome moments on the show in quite some time.
FIRST proclamations “in April” do strongly imply they were by vice presidents ascending to president following the death of the prior president since we think of presidential inaugurations being in January. However, a potential red herring that could have slowed down considerations is the fact that until 1933 the Presidential inaugurations were in March, so that gives a potential 15 presidents prior to Andrew Johnson that their first proclamation could have been in April [as slower travel and communication back then might have made presidential activities slow to get going] and a dozen after him.
Now this does not provide for any truly viable possibilities, especially since 80 years before Johnson would predate Washington’s inauguration (which WAS in April, but only 76 years earlier, though his first “proclamation” was not until June). John Tyler took office April 4, 1841 upon the death of William Henry Harrison so if a contestant was well aware of that they could spend some time trying to think whether Warren G Harding might have issued his first proclamation over four weeks after his March 4, 1921 inauguration (and there had been a lot of dying over the previous 4 years ).
So the players really did have A LOT to think about (then have to write down) in only 30 seconds, so I guess it is not surprising that by the time they’d settled on the two events the clue was probably about, they’d forgotten the two presidents they should write down were the “vice-presidents become presidents”, not the presidents who’d died.
Hello. New here. Could you explain “special betting situation” to me. I think I kind of get it, but want to be sure.
Thanks!
Jeff
So, basically, a “special betting situation” is any Final Jeopardy situation where the scores have a mathematically special property to them; in the case of this game, you had essentially the three players in a multiple of 3-2-1 (10,800-7,200-3,600).
“Special” situations usually require more care to get right as there is usually only one or two specific bets which are best for a player’s chance of victory.
In this case, Dane’s cover bet is $3,601, which means he falls to $7,199 if he’s wrong. In order to defend against that possibility, Burt should wager $0 (or possibly $1 if he feels a need to cover Emily) and Emily should go all in.
Jeff, thanks for asking (and Andy, thanks for answering!). I had the same question!
Gladly Kathryn O.! 🙂 And I had a hunch it was something like that Andy, but wanted to be sure. I saw that the scores were like that and thought it was very interesting. Thank you for the awesome site and the answer.
A three way tiebreaker would have been cool to see.
I put A Johnson and Truman on my paper at home. While it’s clear in this context which Johnson I meant I wouldn’t take any chances, especially since the other Johnson also sent a proclamation of mourning.
I think a case could be made for each of the contestants to have bet $3600.
Dane – Lock tie if you’re right, and you can’t fall behind Emily if you’re wrong, even if she’s right. Tiebreaker question likely, but unless you’re wrong and Burt is right, you won’t lose straightaway.
Emily – No reason not to go all in and to tie Burt.
Burt – This is the trickiest one – $0 is probably better, but $3600 could force a tiebreak with either Emily or Dane, if one of them goes with a $0 bet. If you’re going to bet $1, you might as well bet more.
The thing about $1 in this specific scenario is that it at least gets you a tie with Dane if he covers by $1 and is incorrect. Anything more than that loses that downside.