Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 8, 2024, 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 Country Music) for Thursday, February 8, 2024 (Season 40, Game 109):
“It was kind of a prodding to myself to play it straight”, said Johnny Cash of this 1956 hit
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Suzanne Goldlust, a marketing manager from Reston, Virginia
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Ed Petersen, a planning technician from Orlando, Florida
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Alex Gordon, a surgical resident originally from Somers, New York
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s fourth quarterfinal is between Alex Gordon, Ed Petersen, and Suzanne Goldlust. Suzanne was a 1-day champion who lost to 5-time champion Ben Goldstein, while Alex was a dominant 2-day champion who lost in his third game after a missed Daily Double. Ed has already made an appearance in this tournament, having advanced via the Play-In Game on TuneIn Radio last Friday evening. Alex is definitely one of the favorites to advance all the way to the Tournament of Champions out of this bracket; it’ll definitely be interesting to see how far he goes!
Another reminder that I have started a Sunday mailbag column where I answer fan & viewer questions regarding the show. If you have a question, feel free to send it to mailbag@thejeopardyfan.com!
(Content continues below)
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have introduced a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
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Correct response: What is “I Walk The Line”?
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.)
Johnny Cash’s first #1 hit on the US country charts, 1956’s “I Walk The Line” was a song that he wrote as a reminder to himself to stay faithful to his first wife, Vivian Liberto. Cash had been the opening act for Elvis Presley, at the early height of Elvis’s fame, and the adoring fans that Elvis was seeing were attempting to court his opening act as well. It was in response to that temptation that spurred him to write “I Walk The Line”, and leading to the quote from the clue, later given numerous times in interviews.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, February 8, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: A Regional Treasure; Simple Spanish; Military Slang; A Wild Moose Chase; The Mourning News; Super Bowl Stars)
Alex and Suzanne got off to the best start in this one; five correct responses apiece saw their scores $200 from each other at interview time.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Alex 5 correct 0 incorrect
Suzanne 5 correct 1 incorrect
Ed 2 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Suzanne still has a parrot “Boo”, who sounds like her mother.
Ed got a fist bump from the mayor Orlando after his win.
Alex would like to thank his co-residents for covering for him.
Alex got to the Daily Double right after the break and only bet $2,000—potentially spooked by the circumstances of his defeat last season. While the football category might get some viral play after an incorrect response and two Triple Stumpers, Alex led Suzanne by $1,400 after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Alex 8 correct 1 incorrect
Suzanne 7 correct 1 incorrect
Ed 9 correct 4 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Alex $6,000
Suzanne $4,600
Ed $1,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Thinking About The Roman Empire; Sounds Like A Horror Movie, But Isn’t; Medical Specialties; Pastor Brown’s Church Newsletter Crossword; Same First & Last Letter; End Of Story)
There was one—not two—Daily Double in the medical category. Alex had a good time on his, but decided to stay out of the most likely category that the second one was in (even going back into medicine until it was finished.) This let Suzanne get to the last one—and then she only made a $2,500 bet on hers. While it was enough to make Final Jeopardy mean something, Alex was still in a very strong position going into Final.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Alex 21 correct 3 incorrect
Suzanne 16 correct 1 incorrect
Ed 13 correct 8 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Alex $26,000
Suzanne $16,300
Ed $1,000
All three of our players gave an incomplete song title—and while you can have an overfull song title, you can’t have an underfull one, so this one’s a Triple Stumper! Alex was in a strong enough position to advance on the Triple Stumper!
Tonight’s results:
Ed $1,000 – $407 = $593 (What is “Walk The Line”?)
Suzanne $16,300 – $4,000 = $12,300 (What is Walk the Line?)
Alex $26,000 – $7,000 = $19,000 (What is Walk the Line?) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) SIMPLE SPANISH $800 (clue #16)
Alex 3400 +2000 (Ed 0 Suzanne 3200)
2) MEDICAL SPECIALTIES $1600 (clue #5)
Alex 9200 +9200 (Ed 3000 Suzanne 5400)
3) THINKING ABOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE $1600 (clue #26, $3200 left on board)
Suzanne 11800 +2500 (Alex 26000 Ed 3000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 180
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Alex 2 3 4 2 1 4*
Ed 5 3
Suzanne 4 4 5 3 4 3 5 3
DJ! Round:
Alex 5 4* 3† 2† 1† 2 4 1 3 2 1 3 2
Ed 2 3 3 2
Suzanne 4 5 3 4 5 5 4 5 4*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Alex 2.58
Suzanne 4.12
Ed 3.00
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:
Alex $17,200 Coryat, 21 correct, 3 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Suzanne $15,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Ed $1,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 8 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $33,600
Lach Trash: $10,200 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $10,200
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Alex Gordon, career statistics:
99 correct, 16 incorrect
4/8 on rebound attempts (on 21 rebound opportunities)
42.54% in first on buzzer (97/228)
5/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,200)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,450
Ed Petersen, career statistics:
75 correct, 29 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
41.59% in first on buzzer (94/226)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,600)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,450
Suzanne Goldlust, career statistics:
49 correct, 8 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
26.90% in first on buzzer (46/171)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,400)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,467
Andy’s Thoughts:
- This game ends significantly differently than it did had Suzanne been more aggressive on her Daily Double bet.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Alex $26,000 Suzanne $16,300 Ed $1,000)
Alex: Standard cover bet over Suzanne is $6,601. Considering her conservative bet on her Daily Double, I wouldn’t bet any more than this. (Actual bet: $7,000)
Ed: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $407)
Suzanne: Bet at least $3,100, but realistically, you can bet up to $14,299 here. (Actual bet: $4,000)
Updated CWC Group 2 odds:
Alex +470
Mira +830
Deb +880
Taylor +1000
Patrick +1100
Dan +1200
David +1500
Kat +2000
Elliott +2000
Vince +2300
Long +2700
Nicole +3000
Ilhana +3100
James +3200
Emma +3200
Sriram +3300
Donna +4700
Jesse +8200
Diandra +10000
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I guessed “What is ‘Ring of Fire’?” I didn’t know the dates of either of these songs, but even though I got it wrong, at least this time I was in the right general vicinity.
I said “Walk the Line,” as in the movie title. Guess that would be ruled incorrect. Sometimes I wish Jeopardy! were more like Thrice!, where close is usually close enough.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t even consider that a player could be caught out by that.
It’ll be interesting to see if anybody does.
I went with Folsom Prison Blues, thinking it was a message to himself to stay out of legal trouble, moreso than to stay out of marital trouble. That was 1955, so I don’t feel too bad with the timing, but alas, it was a miss all the same.
Yes, so did I Jim. We thought exactly along the same lines.
I guessed Folsom Prison Blues also.
I haven’t heard too many johnny cash songs though the wife of cash helped here. The song isn’t something I remember.
How did the wife of Cash help here, since she wasn’t mentioned in the clue. Are you conflating Andy’s write-up with the clue?
That is usually what I assume Louis is revealing about how their own response was [supposedly] arrived at. However, in this case, in clearly admitting they do not even know the song ‘I Walk the Line’, I’m starting to think that their comments are often just theorizing how various people who DID get it correct may have arrived at their conclusion rather than explaining their own thought process.
From “straight” I got the idea of “line” but like all three contestants, I’ve never referred to the song with the pronoun in front! I blame the biopic with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon for that. While I’m glad it didn’t ultimately matter, I’m also disappointed in Suzanne for that terrible Daily Double bet. Alex getting that $2000 clue left on the board after that would have made a runaway very possible.
Was a fun game though! Don’t know if I’ll still feel that way tomorrow because clickbait sites will certainly post some covfefe about “Jeopardy fans angry that show did not accept FJ response” – even though nobody rational would be mad. (Also, I really liked his EMT banter with Ken.)
Unlike you, Andy P., straight, and, Johnny Cash lead me to “What is ‘I Walk the Line’?” For aomee reason my memory said to include the pronoun, which broke my two day streak of NOT having the correct Final Jeopardy response.
Let the clickbait sites kvetch about the non acceptance of “Walk the Line.” It may have been the title of the Johnny Cash “biopic,” but the movie is not was the Final Jeopardy was about. The rule of you can give more than a song title, as long as the full title is in there, and, incomplete song titles aren’t accepted, is long standing, and, most regular Jeopardy fans know it.
Andy (the site moderator,) I never heard the terms you used to describe the rule. I learned something new.
As far as I can see, there is no reason for anyone to be upset about the ruling. The question is really moot since the contestants were either all wrong or all right. Whether the judges accepted the response or not, the result would be the same.
It appears there was an absolutely inexcusable flub by the writers on Jeopardy! round clue 12. It implies that nearly 50 years elapsed between the deaths of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria; in fact it was nearly 40. (Dates of death being 1861-12-14 and 1901-01-22, respectively.)
That struck me also. I thought, I know she married young but no way did she have all those kids before she was 32. What are they teaching in math these days?
I knew the FJ and I guessed that at least one contestant would have an incomplete answer. I had to come on this site to see whether Alex did since the network break-in for the President’s press conference came precisely after Suzanne’s response was revealed. I was also surprised at the number of triple stumpers, but I can see how some of them might not be so obvious to the younger set.
Weird to me that all three contestants gave the same wrong response. It didn’t occur to me that the biopic would enter into it. I went straight to the song title because it made the most sense to me and never even considered the movie title. I guess the movie is what led the contestants to give that incorrect response. 🙁
I had thought it was really funny that all three knew which song but all three forgot the “I”. I think you are correct about the movie leading the contestants to the incorrect response, but I doubt any of them were confused as to which was required — I think they were only familiar with the song due to the movie and had never realized the song title was “I Walk the Line”.
I missed the end because of Biden’s speech but isn’t the answer A Boy Named Sue?
“A Boy Named Sue” doesn’t fit the year or the quote.
I think you were like me and misinterpreted “prodding to myself to play it straight” as what demeanor to keep when playing ‘Boy Named Sue’ which became my response, too. (He played that one more seriously than humorously.) I “grew up on” Johnny Cash songs but have no idea of their timelines, either. However, I’m pretty sure Andy meant “look up” related facts before implying you have a more appropriate response to the FJ! clue (rather than him implying you should have just known the difference in dates for each).
I had Folsom Prison Blues and that means I am doing very poorly on FJ lately. Not sure what my streak of misses is, but it’s not good! Pretty amazing to me that we’ve had 3 straight days of Triple Stumpers.
When Ken ruled against Ed, his retort to Ed made me instantly realize that the answer was “I Walk The Line.” I was pretty surprised to see all 3 miss it the same way and until I came here and was reminded of the name of the movie, then I realized why.
Anywho, I had Alex winning this one, so I’m now 2 of 4 on my predictions. For tomorrow’s Friday (thank God) game, I have Patrick Curran winning.
Have a great Friday everyone! 🙂
I had the correct answer including the “I”, but before the correct answer could be told by the show, there was a news interruption that caused the answer not to be told to the audience here in VA, at least so I did not receive any confirmation of my correct answer. Doesn’t really matter as I was not a contestant…….D