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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 20th Century History) for Thursday, January 18, 2024 (Season 40, Game 94):
After the Vietnam War, Vietnam got bogged down in a campaign against this leader whom it managed to overthrow in 1979
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Nik Berry, a social studies teacher from Baltimore, Maryland
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Kendra Westerhaus, a licensed psychologist from Pocatello, Idaho
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Martha Bath, a retired CPA from Seattle, Washington
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s third quarterfinal of Group 1 of Winter 2024’s Champions Wildcard features Martha Bath, Kendra Westerhaus, and Nik Berry. Nik advanced to the quarterfinals after his win that aired on Friday evening on TuneIn Radio as part of the TuneIn-exclusive Play-In Games. Meanwhile, Kendra won two games this past season, and Martha one—Martha’s win going viral as it came 50 years after her appearance on the Art Fleming version of the show.
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(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Pol Pot?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2024 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Following the Vietnam War, Vietnam became embroiled in a war with Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot’s totalitarian regime. By 1979, the totalitarian Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, had been removed from power—which, on its surface, should have been seen as a good thing, as Pol Pot has since been seen as orchestrating the Cambodian genocide. However, the international community of the 1980s was certainly divided on how to handle the situation in Southeast Asia, with two governments claiming to represent Cambodia internationally as both the previous Democratic Kampuchea government and the new People’s Republic of Kampuchea government had differing allies. The situation was not resolved until the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, January 18, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Classical Music; What In The Wide World Of Sports…?; Take It Back!; Vegetable Stew; The Past, Presently; The Mising Leter)
While Kendra did struggle early with some incorrect responses, she did give a correct response on the round’s Daily Double. Martha led after 15 clues on the strength of six correct responses. The second half of the opening round saw Martha pick up another four correct responses to stay in the lead, while Kendra also turned things round. Everyone had at least $3,000 after 30 clues!
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Martha 6 correct 0 incorrect
Nik 6 correct 1 incorrect
Kendra 3 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Nik got in trouble with his students after his first appearance. (The same story was told in the Play-In Round.)
Kendra got to hear from a lot of past people in her life.
Martha went viral during her run for having played in the Fleming era.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Martha 10 correct 0 incorrect
Nik 11 correct 1 incorrect
Kendra 8 correct 3 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Martha $6,800
Nik $4,200
Kendra $3,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: On The Map; A Woman’s Place; Movie Titles With Numbers In Them; Painful Memories; The Writer’S Strike; An “H” & “R” Block)
The Daily Doubles stayed out very late in this one; Nick got them both; unfortunately, he got them both incorrect. He did get a couple of correct afterwards to make sure he was round for Final. Meanwhile, Kendra entered Final Jeopardy with exactly 50% of Martha’s score! (At least with this being a tournament there won’t be a debate as to the tiebreaker rule.)
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Martha 13 correct 1 incorrect
Kendra 15 correct 6 incorrect
Nik 22 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Martha $9,600
Kendra $4,800
Nik $800
Everyone went for Ho Chi Minh on this Final—that makes Martha a semi-finalist!
Tonight’s results:
Nik $800 – $1 = $799 (Who is Ho Chi Minh?)
Kendra $4,800 – $4,800 = $0 (Who is Ho Chi Minh?)
Martha $9,600 – $0 = $9,600 (Who is Ho Chi Minh?) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) TAKE IT BACK! $800 (clue #5)
Kendra -200 +1000 (Martha 600 Nik 1800)
2) THE WRITER’S STRIKE $1600 (clue #20)
Nik 11000 -6000 (Martha 9600 Kendra 3600)
3) ON THE MAP $800 (clue #24, $2800 left on board)
Nik 6600 -6600 (Martha 9600 Kendra 3600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -55
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Martha 3 4
Kendra 4*
Nik 5 4
DJ! Round:
Martha 3 2 1 5
Kendra 4 5 4 4 5 3
Nik 5 4 3 5 4 3 2 3 3 4* 5† 2† 2 2*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Martha 3.00
Nik 3.50
Kendra 4.14
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:
Martha $9,600 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Nik $13,400 Coryat, 22 correct, 5 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 4/4 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Kendra $4,600 Coryat, 15 correct, 6 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $27,600
Lach Trash: $11,800 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $14,600
Lead Changes: 6
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Martha Bath, career statistics:
50 correct, 3 incorrect
11/11 on rebound attempts (on 22 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (36/171)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,200)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,733
Kendra Westerhaus, career statistics:
68 correct, 12 incorrect
6/8 on rebound attempts (on 21 rebound opportunities)
27.19% in first on buzzer (62/228)
5/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,200)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,800
Nik Berry, career statistics:
62 correct, 18 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 23 rebound opportunities)
30.09% in first on buzzer (68/226)
1/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$12,200)
0/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,900
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score: January 18, 2024 Box Score.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Martha $9,600 Kendra $4,800 Nik $800)
Martha: Avoid the tiebreaker, especially because Kendra had more correct responses than you. Bet $1. (Actual bet: $0)
Kendra: You have exactly one choice: all $4,800. (Actual bet: $4,800)
Nik: Basically any bet that isn’t all $800 works best for you here. (Actual bet: $1)
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All I could think of was Ho Chi Minh, even though he didn’t fit any one of the clue elements, and I knew I was wrong from the get-go. Still, as has often been said, it is better to guess SOMETHING than to draw a blank.
Now I don’t feel so bad thinking Ho Chi Minh (while like you knew it couldn’t be correct), since you and all three contestants went that direction, too.
I was just the both of you and had Ho Chi Minh as well and knew that wasn’t right. Just couldn’t get to Pol Pot.
Am I the only one confused and thought the clue should have referred to overthrowing FOREIGN leader?
Speaking from professional experience:
Obfuscation is a valid writing tactic to make a clue harder.
I thought the reference to Vietnam getting “bogged down” was a fairly clear indication that the clue referred to a foreign engagement.
When I think about pol pot and the Cambodia event. There is something called killing fields during the Vietnam war in Cambodia as well. I was going to say ho chi Minh but I didn’t go that far
I read the question, immediately thinking of Pol Pot and Cambodia, then I went back to re-read the question to see if there was some modifier (domestic, foreign, neighboring, etc.) that disqualified my immediate answer. After a second scan, I was confident in my response.
🙂 🙂 🙂 well done!
Delighted to see that Martha won today’s Jeopardy! game. After all, our Jeopardy histories started at almost the same time — June 1972. And a razz to those who think that it’s not a good idea to invite back us oldsters. I’d love to be next.
I knew of Pol Pot and the killing fields, but not enough for the keywords in this Final Jeopardy to lead me to a correct response,
I was similar to you and I just got the impression that the clue was referring to internal political machinations and I knew Pol Pot was in Cambodia, so Jeopardy’s obfuscation worked and I also guessed Ho Chi Minh (knowing I didn’t remember what became of him). But no hard feelings on the obfuscation 😉.
Having lived through the Viet Nam War era (and, fortunately, survived it) and subsequent events, this was pretty easy for an old Baby Boomer like me. I didn’t expect it to be a Triple Get but I thought, maybe, one person would get it. I was kind of surprised by the triple same wrong answer but I can see why people might have gone in that direction if they didn’t quite get the clue.
Ken said he felt he could not use a smaller word for “conceived.”
That’s why Ken is the GOAT.
Yes, that was pretty hilarious!
The category was “Missing Letter”. The clue was “lim”. The answer was “limn” but it could have been “limb”.
Being that the show gave a definition on that clue, “to draw or outline”, I would very much disagree with your assessment here.
Retro congrats to Martha! She was my pick to win today under Andy’s preview of this competition. Missed on Quarterfinal 1 and got yesterday and today right. Tomorrow I have Erin Portman picked.
The writers were kind of mean having “H” & “R” Block as a category while Ken is the host.
I have the Dead Kennedys and their song “Holiday in Cambodia” to thank for getting this FJ correct as the song and Pol Pot immediately popped into my head!