Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 25, 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 Famous Names In America) for Monday, December 25, 2023 (Season 40, Game 76):
The name of this animal that died in 1885 after being struck by a train that subsequently derailed lives on as an adjective
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Iris Masucci, a pharmacist from Rockville, Maryland (Friday’s total: $2,400)
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Jason Carpenter, a stand-up comic from Santa Rosa Valley, California (Friday’s total: $16,200)
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Juveria Zaheer, a psychiatrist from Whitby, Ontario, Canada (Friday’s total: $51,200)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Merry Christmas! Make sure to check your local listings to find out when today’s game is airing, especially if you watch the show on ABC.
After Friday’s game, Juveria holds a big, but not insurmountable lead, of $35,000 over Jason Carpenter. Basically, the key number is $17,500. Jason needs to lead Juveria going into Final Jeopardy by at least that amount of money to have the advantage going into Final. (And if he doesn’t even get to $17,500, then Juveria has a victory regardless of what happens in Final Jeopardy). Iris, in third, is essentially $24,400 behind.
The largest Day 2 comeback in the 40-year history of the show comes from the 10th Anniversary Tournament final in 1993, when Frank Spangenberg came back from a pre-doubled $13,000 (the equivalent of $26,000 today) after Day 1 to defeat Tom Nosek.
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Correct response: What is Jumbo?
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.)
More Information About Final Jeopardy!:
Looks like this is some very stealth Canadian content for sure in today’s Final Jeopardy! Jumbo the Elephant was an African bush elephant made famous by P. T. Barnum, who exhibited Jumbo throughout North America in the early 1880s. Jumbo very famously died in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada (just south of London, Ontario about midway between Toronto and Detroit) when he was hit by a train. The name has lived on as an adjective for anything especially large or powerful—like Juveria’s score in Friday’s opening game.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, December 25, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Bats Entertainment; Getting Possessive; Hobbies; Let Me Phrase It This Way; Ride Into…; The Manger Zone)
Jason’s comeback took an early setback when he got an early True Daily Double incorrect. He came back well, but Juveria led this one after 30 clues.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Juveria 6 correct 2 incorrect
Iris 3 correct 1 incorrect
Jason 4 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Iris would like to thank her husband, her kids, and the 3 of her 5 siblings who were in the audience.
Jason would like to thank his family, especially his dad who pushed him to take the test.
Juveria would like to thank her coworkers.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Juveria 11 correct 2 incorrect
Jason 12 correct 2 incorrect
Iris 5 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Juveria $5,000
Jason $3,800
Iris $1,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: I’ve Seen Her Type Before; Science & Nature; ’80s No. 1 Hitmakers; Ages, Epochs & Eras; African Americana; Told You “So”)
Jason needed the Daily Doubles desperately, but it was Juveria who found them—her Timothy Simons wager on the last one cemented a runaway for her, while Jason wasn’t even able to keep Juveria from having a super-runaway going into Final.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Juveria 23 correct 3 incorrect
Jason 22 correct 3 incorrect
Iris 10 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Juveria $19,600
Jason $15,800
Iris $7,000
Jason got Final Jeopardy correct today for pride’s sake, but Juveria is headed to Champions Wildcard!
Tonight’s results:
Iris $7,000 – $5,000 = $2,000 + $2,400 = $4,400 (What is ???)
Jason $15,800 + $10,000 = $25,800 + $16,200 = $42,000 (What is Jumbo? Merry Xmas, peace on earth)
Juveria $19,600 – $0 = $19,600 + $51,200 = $70,800 (What is ??)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) HOBBIES $1000 (clue #5)
Jason 2000 -2000 (Juveria 0 Iris 800)
2) SCIENCE & NATURE $1600 (clue #9)
Juveria 7800 +5000 (Jason 12200 Iris 1800)
3) AGES, EPOCHS & ERAS $800 (clue #22, $4000 left on board)
Juveria 16800 +800 (Jason 14600 Iris 6200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -31
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Juveria 5
Jason 4 5*
Iris 5
DJ! Round:
Juveria 4 4* 3 5 2 3 2 2*
Jason 5 3 3 4 5 4 5† 4 5 5
Iris 3 4 2 3†
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Juveria 3.33
Jason 4.33
Iris 3.40
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:
Juveria $16,200 Coryat, 23 correct, 3 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Jason $17,800 Coryat, 22 correct, 3 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Iris $7,000 Coryat, 10 correct, 1 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $41,000
Lach Trash: $5,200 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,800
Player Statistics:
Juveria Zaheer, career statistics:
101 correct, 15 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
45.61% in first on buzzer (104/228)
6/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $48,000)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,550
Jason Carpenter, career statistics:
75 correct, 12 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
33.77% in first on buzzer (77/228)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,300
Iris Masucci, career statistics:
53 correct, 10 incorrect
3/7 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (48/228)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,500)
0/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,250
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: December 25, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Juveria $19,600 ($51,200) Jason $15,800 ($16,200) Iris $7,000 ($2,400))
Juveria’s current score: $70,800
Juveria’s maximum possible score: $90,400
Jason’s current score: $32,000
Jason’s maximum possible score: $47,800
Iris’s current score: $9,400
Iris’s maximum’s possible score: $16,400
Juveria: No matter what you bet here, nobody can pass your Day 1 score. Bet whatever you like and enjoy your win! (Actual bet: $0)
Jason: Juveria has you super-locked, no matter what you do, you can’t pass her Day 1 score. Thus, limit your bet to $15,599 and secure second place. (Actual bet: $10,000)
Iris: In order to pass Jason’s Day 1 score, you need to bet at least $6,801; it’s probably worth doing that, just in case. (Actual bet: $5,000)
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In NYC / North NJ area, looks like ABC channel 7 airing at 3 AM
🙄🙄🙄
I’d heard of Jumbo’s famous demise, but had completely forgotten about it—until I read this clue!
In the Denver area, Jeopardy! is scheduled to air at its usual time of 6 pm on Fox31.
I expected this to be a triple get. I thought everyone had heard of this, even just the “name of this animal lives on as an adjective” part without what century or the “hit by a train” part.
Sidenote: When Carnegie started supplying contractors with steel for bridges, people were not confident to cross a bridge made of these new-fangled materials, so he had PT Barnum bring Jumbo the elephant to walk across a newly-completed bridge in order to ease their minds.
I love the fact it’s like “hey you won over 70k the past 2 games but here’s 35k instead”. I mean I get it’s second chance but still that’s a bit lousy.
True. That does feel a bit empty.
I got this one after visiting the pt Barnum museum in Bridgeport CT once in my high school year. Jumbo is also the mother of dumbo in that Disney movie. Congratulations juveria and to Jason getting this right.
actually the mother was Mrs. Jumbo.
For those in the NYC-New Jersey area, the WABC Monday night (Christmas) episode of”Jeopardy” is listed as 3:07 A.M. I would set my DVR for an extended period before that time and after the scheduled end time as all post football programs on Channel 7 have their actual airing time dependent on the length of the football broadcast. Also don’t be confused about 2 episodes of “Jeopardy” in a row…”Daytime Jeopardy” which airs late nights (early mornings) on WABC-TV is scheduled to run right before the
delayed Christmas broadcast.
As for the FJ on the Christmas episode, I actually paid a visit to the Jumbo site in St. Thomas Ontario some years ago during one of my Canadian sightseeing journeys.
A fun and educational website is “Large Canadian Roadside Attractions”…a site that I have contributed a few photos to, over the years.
Speaking of (or should I say writing of) websites, “the jeopardy fan” is one of my all time favorites. Thanks Andy, for all the time and effort you contribute.
I couldn’t come up with Jumbo. Pretty tragic way to die. 😕 Jeopardy was on ABC here at 10 p.m. compared to our usual 7 p.m. here in Los Angeles.
That and the electrocution of Topsy (for being a ‘bad’ elephant) are probably the most famous elephant deaths. The video of Topsy’s death is still available. No, I have not watched it.