Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 8, 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 Ancient History) for Friday, December 8, 2023 (Season 40, Game 65):
Before visiting Achilles’ tomb, this man threw his spear onto the ground in Asia & declared the continent “spear-won”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Jon Spurney, a writer & musician from Los Angeles, California
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Carmela Chan, a researcher from San Diego, California
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Gary Hollis, a chemistry professor from Roanoke, Virginia
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today is the second-to-last quarterfinal of Fall 2023’s Champions Wildcard Hearts competition; today’s players are Gary Hollis, Carmela Chan, and Jon Spurney. Carmela was a 3-day champion in the lead-up to Election Day 2020; in general, 3-day champions have had a very good time in Champions Wildcard. However, Gary did win a game in the very strong Professors Tournament of 2021. Meanwhile, Jon Spurney was a good player from March 2021 who fell after two wins to a poorly-constructed Mike Richards-era Final Jeopardy. I said in my preview that I didn’t think I could confidently predict a winner in today’s game, and that feeling hasn’t changed.
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Correct response: Who is Alexander the Great?
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.)
According to accounts of the era, Alexander the Great, on the beginning of the Macedonian conquest of Asia in 334 BC, was first off the boat, onto the show, declaring the area spear-won. According to legend, he made a sacrifice at the tomb of Achilles while passing through Troy.
Over the next eight years, Alexander’s conquests reached as far as the Beas River in northern India before his troops mutinied, and he turned back.
To me, this Final feels like a “Who else could it be?” straightforward clue, as long as the contestants don’t overthink it.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, December 8, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Organ Recital; We’Re Talking Baseball; Olive Me; The Ivy League; Geographic Titles; As Easy As A-B-C)
In a topsy-turvy opening round that saw 8 lead changes, Jon got off to a hot start, but dropped to third with a missed Daily Double as Gary took a good-sized lead into the first break. However, four incorrect responses after the break dropped him into a distant third, as Jon’s seven correct saw him re-take the lead.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Gary 6 correct 0 incorrect
Carmela 3 correct 1 incorrect
Jon 4 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Jon started a pandemic band that went viral on TikTok.
Carmela eloped since her last appearance (and she apparently nearly forgot about this.)
Gary helps put on a yearly Clue-like scavenger hunt in his department.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jon 11 correct 2 incorrect
Carmela 9 correct 2 incorrect
Gary 6 correct 4 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jon $3,600
Carmela $3,000
Gary $1,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Organ Recital; Classic Movie Original Dialogue?; Working On A Building; Car”Eer” Opportunities; A Muse Me; Words From Arabic)
In amongst seven more lead changes—including lead changes on an incredible five consecutive clues—just one Triple Stumper, and zero incorrect responses, Gary caught fire midway through the round and took the lead for good, aided by finding both Daily Doubles in the last 10 clues of the round. His conservative bets, though, made sure he didn’t have a runaway, as everyone was still in it going into Final thanks to Carmela getting 3 of the last 4 clues correct!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Gary 19 correct 4 incorrect
Carmela 18 correct 2 incorrect
Jon 18 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Gary $21,200
Carmela $13,400
Jon $10,000
Jon and Gary got Final correct, which makes Gary a semifinalist!
Tonight’s results:
Jon $10,000 + $9,999 = $19,999 (Who is Alexander the Great?)
Carmela $13,400 – $13,400 = $0 (Who is Genghis Khan?)
Gary $21,200 + $5,601 = $26,801 (Who is Alexander the Great?) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) GEOGRAPHIC TITLES $600 (clue #10)
Jon 2600 -2000 (Gary 1600 Carmela 2200)
2) WORDS FROM ARABIC $2000 (clue #21)
Gary 12000 +2000 (Carmela 10200 Jon 9200)
3) WORKING ON A BUILDING $1600 (clue #23, $6400 left on board)
Gary 14800 +4000 (Carmela 10200 Jon 9200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -33
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Gary 3 4 5
Carmela 4 4 5 4
Jon 3 5 3*
DJ! Round:
Gary 3 4 2 1 2 4 5 3 5* 2 4*
Carmela 3 5 3 3 3 4
Jon 4 2 4 5 2 1
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Gary 3.36
Jon 3.22
Carmela 3.80
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:
Gary $18,800 Coryat, 19 correct, 4 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Jon $12,000 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Carmela $13,400 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $44,200
Lach Trash: $4,400 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,400
Lead Changes: 15
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Gary Hollis, career statistics:
61 correct, 12 incorrect
7/8 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (57/171)
5/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,000)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,667
Carmela Chan, career statistics:
93 correct, 14 incorrect
7/11 on rebound attempts (on 29 rebound opportunities)
32.20% in first on buzzer (85/264)
4/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,700)
3/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,920
Jon Spurney, career statistics:
90 correct, 12 incorrect
7/7 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
38.60% in first on buzzer (88/228)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,400)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,000
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: December 8, 2023 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Gary $21,200 Carmela $13,400 Jon $10,000)
Gary: Standard cover bet over Carmela is $5,601. (Actual bet: $5,601)
Carmela: Bet at least $6,601 to make sure you cover Jon, but because you have to be correct to win, you might as well go all in. (Actual bet: $13,400)
Jon: You also need to be correct to win, so you might as well go all in here. (Actual bet: $9,999)
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Alexander the Great. “Who else could it be?” He was maybe not the best person in history, but accomplished some amazing things in his short lifetime.
And yet his own tomb has never been found.
Sure. It sounds like him, just based on the apocryphal stories. Really not sure who else it could be.
Alexander the Great of course, it couldn’t be anyone else but still based on the stories about him his tomb locale was not known.
I didn’t know who else it could be, I didn’t even know who it could be. If this story was covered in my Ancient History class from oh so many years ago, I don’t recall it.
Andy, you took the words right out of my mouth (or head). As soon as I read the clue, I thought ““Who else could it be?” but Alexander the Great. I guess Carmela gave us one option of who else but, of course, that wasn’t correct. Still, it’s better to put something rather than nothing to give yourself a chance.
I like this sort of game where everyone does well and the lead changes hands several times. In the end, the number of correct responses shows how evenly matched these competitors were with 19, 18 and 18 correct answers. Also, nice that everyone was over $10,000 after Double Jeopardy! A well-played game by all concerned. Another one that for me is an instant classic.
I have to admit that the only things I know about Alexander the Great is the “elephants over the Alps” and the name of his horse. I should have paid more attention to the years involved when I saw the ‘Secrets of the Dead’ episode on the Alps route within the last year or so.
But it is nice to know that the response that I thought maybe could be correct was the same as 3-day champion [Carmela].
Elephants over the Alps was Hannibal.
Now that you say it, I remember that, but oddly enough, I had double-checked my memory by Googling for a reference to Alexander the Great and elephants (but unfortunately did not read the search result to see what it actually said) 😬
But I am right about the horse LOL . . . Bucephalus.
Did Ken take a jab on Pete Rose? I thought he said something like “I’m betting you did” after the response…? I was too lazy to rewind.
Yep, I thought I heard that, too.
Well, I’m not one who knows a lot about “Ancient History,” so I was clueless.
Great game with a boat load of lead changes, highs and lows, and great play. I always love to see a game where all 3 players are at or above $10k after Double Jeopardy.
One more Quarterfinal on Monday and I’ll go with Emma Saltzberg, as she was the player that was winning when I started watching the show full time.
Should be 3 great semifinal games as well. 🙂
Have a great weekend everyone!