Warning: This page contains spoilers for the November 9, 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 American Authors) for Thursday, November 9, 2023 (Season 40, Game 44):
In 1950 the Swedish Academy said this Nobel Prize winner “is a regional writer” but called “his regionalism universal”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Matt Takimoto, an elementary school teacher from Moraga, California
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Jen Jazwinski, a youth services librarian from Algonquin, Illinois
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Charlie Fonville, a producer from Los Angeles, California
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Buckle up. We’re in for a lengthy Pregame Thoughts section today!
We’re two brackets down in this Champions Wildcard event; the third bracket, where 27 more players will return, starts today! Viewers are reminded that the first 14+ weeks of Season 40—returning contestants from Seasons 37 and 38, playing on mostly recycled clues—were deemed necessary by the show in order to put out shows for the viewers after the AMPTP felt it necessary to starve out the WGA writers this summer and early fall. While the WGA strike concluded between the tapings of yesterday’s episode and today’s, the show felt it necessary to conclude its full slate of strike contingency programming—likely because it had a certain number of players in mind for the next Tournament of Champions and a certain number of spots it needed to fill in the bracket.
It is still yet to be seen how many of today’s clues will be repeated material; it’s possible that the show had a board of repeat clues planned, but just wrote new clues to fill specific categories. Back when the strike was settled at the end of September, a member of the Jeopardy! team did tell Questionist “as fast as feasible, we’d try to nudge the repurposed material out in favor of new material,” and “If we go back on a Tuesday, then even if we’re taping on Wednesday, we’d throw in something about the mud at Burning Man, to take them away from all the questions about Ally McBeal they’ll be seeing.”
The full slate of Clubs bracket participants had yet to be released before publication time. However, I will share my notes from each player in this match today and my overall thoughts for this match. (The full preview will be published once the full slate of 27 Clubs participants has been unveiled.)
Matt Takimoto — Matt was a 1-day champion from February 2022; much like Charlie and Jen, Matt has very strong statistics. However, my game write-ups from Matt’s initial run noted that Matt seemed indifferent to finding Daily Doubles. One good thing about this event is that it is a chance to see if players choose to make different strategic choices.
Jen Jazwinski — Jen Jazwinski’s run spanned the end of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s and the start of George Stephanopoulos’s hosting stints in July 2021. Jen’s first game saw her put up $26,000 going into Final Jeopardy; if we see that Jen in this one, we could very well have fireworks in the opening game of this part of the bracket.
Charlie Fonville — Charlie won 1 game in November 2020. Charlie picked up 29 and 28 correct responses in his two games, only losing in his second game because Henry Baer expertly rebounded Charlie’s incorrect responses. Charlie also won his lone game against 4-timer Andy Wood. If there’s a 1-day champion who could make a run in this sort of competition, it’s certainly Charlie.
Overall Thoughts — Seeing players with stats like Charlie, Jen, and Matt paired with each other gives me high expectations and hope for some really good games coming up! Charlie is probably the favorite based on stats alone, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we had a competitive game with all three players over $10,000.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is William Faulkner?
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.)
Famous American writer William Faulkner, known for works such as The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom!, and As I Lay Dying, won the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature; the quote from today’s Final Jeopardy! clue is from Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy at the presentation of Faulkner’s award in December 1950.
Why did Faulkner receive his award one year later, though? Initially, the Nobel committee decided that none of the nominees for that year met the award’s criteria. However, as permitted by the Nobel Prize’s statutes, the Nobel committee elected to reserve the 1949 prize until 1950. Faulkner then received the 1949 prize in 1950, while Bertrand Russell was given the 1950 prize.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, November 9, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Classical Music; Famous Former Teachers; A Little Legalese; Potpourri; Operation; Altered States)
In a very close game in the correct response department, Jen led after 30 clues thanks to a True Daily Double.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Charlie 6 correct 0 incorrect
Jen 4 correct 1 incorrect
Matt 3 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Matt didn’t study “The Merry Wives of Windsor”.
Jen has a grandmother who is now a celebrity at her retirement home.
Charlie has a daughter who didn’t think he was going to do well the first time.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jen 9 correct 1 incorrect
Matt 9 correct 1 incorrect
Charlie 8 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jen $7,000
Matt $4,600
Charlie $3,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Math Symbols; Oscar-Winning Screenplays; Changing White House Towel Monograms; Eat; Pray; “Love”)
The good news for Charlie: he got to both Daily Doubles. The bad news for Charlie: he went 1/2 on them, losing $5,500 on the second and falling to third place. After a late incorrect response was rebounded by Jen, Jen and Matt found themselves tied going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Jen 18 correct 2 incorrect
Matt 20 correct 3 incorrect
Charlie 14 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Jen $15,400
Matt $15,400
Charlie $8,100
Though Charlie made a very ill-advised bet, both Charlie and Jen were correct in Final—Jen is now a semifinalist!
Tonight’s results:
Charlie $8,100 + $8,100 = $16,200 (Who is William Faulkner?)
Jen $15,400 + $15,400 = $30,800 (Who is Faulkner?) (Semi-Finalist)
Matt $15,400 – $15,400 = $0 (Who… is Sinclair Lewis?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) A LITTLE LEGALESE $1000 (clue #20)
Jen 2600 +2600 (Charlie 3000 Matt 2800)
2) OSCAR-WINNING SCREENPLAYS $1600 (clue #4)
Charlie 5400 +5400 (Jen 7800 Matt 4600)
3) CHANGING WHITE HOUSE TOWEL MONOGRAMS $2000 (clue #25, $2800 left on board)
Charlie 13600 -5500 (Jen 14600 Matt 14200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 160
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Charlie 1 2 3 5 1 2 1 2
Jen 3 4 5 4 3 4 5*
Matt 5 4 3 4 5
DJ! Round:
Charlie 1 2 4* 5† 1 1 2 5*
Jen 3 5 3 2 4 5 3 2
Matt 4 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 3
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Jen 3.67
Charlie 2.38
Matt 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:
Jen $13,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Charlie $9,800 Coryat, 14 correct, 1 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Matt $15,400 Coryat, 20 correct, 3 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $39,000
Lach Trash: $6,800 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,200
Lead Changes: 9
Times Tied: 4
Player Statistics:
Charlie Fonville, career statistics:
72 correct, 8 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
42.69% in first on buzzer (73/171)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,900)
3/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600
Jen Jazwinski, career statistics:
84 correct, 10 incorrect
5/6 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
34.21% in first on buzzer (78/228)
4/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $8,000)
4/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,400
Matt Takimoto, career statistics:
60 correct, 10 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
36.90% in first on buzzer (62/168)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,800
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: November 9, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jen $15,400 Matt $15,400 Charlie $8,100)
Charlie: If you’re really concerned about either Jen or Matt betting $0, bet at least $7,301. Whatever you do, do not go all in. (Actual bet: $8,100)
Jen: I would suggest going all in here, because you have to worry about covering Charlie. (Actual bet: $15,400)
Matt: I would suggest going all in here, because you have to worry about covering Charlie. (Actual bet: $15,400)
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In 1950, a “regional [American] writer” whose “regionalism is universal”=“Who is Faulkner?” I didn’t know he had won a Nobel Prize, but was not surprised.
Hi RedRose, I wrote you a note today. It is below your comment for the Jeopardy! game on Tuesday, November 7th. The Final! clue was “World History.” (Sadly, I’m still behind in watching the daytime Jeopardy! shows.) Cheers!
I was thinking Steinbeck because he often wrote about California and he’s been the subject of other Jeopardy clues recently. Oops.
Had the exact same line of thought, Glenn!
I do remember the sound and the fury in my local library once. And that book led me to Faulkner. Although I still need to find that book next year at the book sale it is crucial that I need to reread it
Heavyweights on early 20th Century American authors points to Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Faulkner. Hemingway was too diverse in his locations. I went the other way from Glenn and Kate, and knowing Faulkner wrote about the South a lot, and that Steinbeck was in a clue earlier this week, I went for Faulkner.
So hypothetically speaking considering we had all in bet from all three players for some reason, what is the protocol if we had a three way tie at 0 dollars? Do we go to a tiebreaker or would they all be disqualified like on a regular episode since no one had any money?
My expectation is that the game would go to a three-way tiebreaker. The show changed its rules after the 2013 Teen Tournament because a three-way tie at zero happened in the second semifinal of that event, and all three players were eliminated. This opened up a wildcard spot in the final; but having seen SF 1 from the audience, the players in SF 3 had knowledge of the non-winners’ scores from SF 1, which put them at an advantage.
The remaining 24 contestants would have all been sitting in the audience watching this game. Disqualifying all three would open up the semifinal spot from this game to them, to be able to be claimed in some fashion. If the show were to put in place a wildcard spot to replace the winner of this game, it would have to sequester all the contestants and bring them out three at a time to play the remaining QFs. That actually could be feasible in QF 1, but it wouldn’t be at any later point in the round. Thus, now in a tournament situation like this, a three-way zero tie would be settled by a tiebreaker.
Being that there are 9 quarterfinals spread over two tape dates, trying to enforce a sequester overnight would be completely unworkable.
That certainly argues in favor of a three-way tiebreaker as Matt surmises. I agree with Matt entirely.
Thanks, Robert — but please don’t agree with me that a “surprise” wildcard, which would need a sequester, would have been feasible! Andy’s entirely correct on that point.
Matt T. confirmed on Reddit that there would have been a tiebreaker clue.
When I did Second Chance last year, we were explicitly told in our debriefing that there would be a winner in every game and that in the event of a three-way $0 tie, there would be a three-way tiebreaker to decide a winner.
Came here just to see what you said about they awful bet, which he won’t take any flack for because he got it right. I remember that lady who made an all-in bet from third in this same situation, then it was a triple stumper. All three lost with $0. The YouTube hivemind for some reason was instead going after the two who were tied despite them making the correct move of betting the farm (the only other correct choice being $0). Charlie learned nothing from this. His only correct bet was $7301 and I deduced this quickly – it forces Matt and Jen to go all-in, because if they’re betting anything, it has to be everything. Cindy’s tidbit above (thanks for that!) of a three-way tiebreaker means that he should bet to win in FJ – his odds are better that way.
I also got the correct answer via nothing more than a logical guess. The only name I thought of was Faulkner and it happened to be right. Sometimes it just works that way.
I could not come up with a guess and missed my first FJ! this month ☹
I came up with the guess of Robert Frost, no better result than your non-guess, but I console myself that he had lived in the right time-frame and did win a Pulitzer.
Hi, Judith P.!
I got both your Tuesday’s and Thursday’s comments. Did you notice that, on Tuesday, Jilana fell into the same trap that we both narrowly avoided? Congrats on getting the Final right.
Hi RedRose, I’m chuffed that you got both of my previous messages to you. Yes, and I felt so bad for Jilana Cotter. She played so hard during that game, too. And she’s about to become a mom in December. Kudos to her, all around.
That was one heck of a 1st Quarterfinal. If the rest of the Clubs competition is that good, we’re in for a treat. I had zero clue in FJ. I’m not so good at authors of any kind. Well, give me a Clancy book and I might be. 🙂