Warning: This page contains spoilers for the March 21, 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 9:30 AM Eastern today in some U.S. television markets—earlier than usual due to March Madness coverage on CBS this week.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 20th Century Novels) for Thursday, March 21, 2024 (Season 40, Game 139):
Virginia Woolf disliked this book that was “cutting out the explanations and putting in the thoughts between dashes”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Larissa Kelly, an editor from Richmond, California
|
Jason Zuffranieri, an upper school mathematics faculty member from Carrollton, Texas
|
Leonard Cooper, a doctoral student from Little Rock, Arkansas
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
The 2024 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament continues today with Quarterfinal #2, as Leonard Cooper, Jason Zuffranieri, and Larissa Kelly take to the stage in the hopes that they will be the one to join Andrew He in the semifinals of this event. Interestingly, I think this is a battle between underrated players. While Larissa is seen by many as a very strong player, I still think she’s underrated in that respect; she’s one of the top players of all time. Jason, too, is rated highly by the prediction model—I think a lot of people are discounting him after his Tournament of Champions, though. What most people forget is that Jason was a Daily Double away from being a finalist at the 29th Tournament of Champions instead of Jennifer Quail. Leonard, meanwhile, is returning after his stint on Team Austin in the 2019 All-Star Games. It will be interesting see how the Pandemic Era has affected his game.
Please remember to check your local listings this week if you are a market where the show airs on CBS; March Madness coverage is moving the show around today and tomorrow in many television markets. It should also be noted that today’s episode is scheduled to air as early as 9:30 AM Eastern in some areas. Matt Carberry has put together a Google sheet of affected TV markets nationwide.
And, some good news if you’re one of the tournament haters—at worst, the tournaments in syndication in 2024 will be ending no later than three weeks today.
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.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2024? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
Do you appreciate the work I do here on The Jeopardy! Fan? Would you like to make a one-time contribution to the site? You may do so here!
You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 17 players, now including Adriana Harmeyer, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Correct response: What is Ulysses?
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.)
Virginia Woolf, along with her husband Leonard, had been operating Hogarth Press for about a year or so when they were given a copy of four chapters of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Virginia Woolf’s response to the novel was lukewarm, with Hogarth rejecting the novel for a number of reasons. In one letter, she said, “We’ve been asked to print Mr Joyce’s new novel, every printer in London and most in the provinces have refused”, and “I don’t believe that his method, which is highly developed, means much more than cutting out the explanations and putting in the thoughts between dashes. So I don’t think we shall do it.” She was more diplomatic in her official rejection letter, saying, “…the length is an insuperable difficulty to us at present. We can get no one to help us, and at our rate of progress a book of 300 pages would take at least two years to produce—which is, of course, out of the question for you or Mr Joyce.” Interestingly, while Woolf was cool on Joyce’s methods, Hogarth likely would have published the book anyway—the issue lay in the fact that every other printer in England believed that Ulysses was obscene enough such that publishing it would have risked prosecution; thus, nobody was willing to provide the help that Hogarth needed at that point. It took four years and a French publisher, Sylvia Beach’s Shakespeare and Company, for Ulysses to receive full publication.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items, including our new Masters Season 3 Player List T-shirt:
Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, March 21, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historic Firsts; Characters In Book Series; Transportation; There Will Be A Test On This; The Cinema In 2023; 4-Letter Homophones)
It took all of 10 clues for Larissa’s score to pass the $10,000 mark in the opening to this one. While Leonard and Jason got in a few times before the interviews, this one was shaping up to be all Larissa.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Larissa 9 correct 0 incorrect
Jason 2 correct 0 incorrect
Leonard 3 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Larissa enjoys being able to compete in something at such a high level.
Jason has a wife who won a LearnedLeague One-Day Special about parenting.
Leonard is in a Sci.D. program in Milwaukee.
While Jason had the best time after the interviews, he was only able to make small inroads into Larissa’s lead, as they were mostly low-valued clues he was getting in on.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Larissa 12 correct 0 incorrect
Jason 9 correct 1 incorrect
Leonard 6 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Larissa $12,000
Jason $4,200
Leonard $1,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Locals; In Your Element; Notable Names; On The Nose; Classic TV; Idioms & Expressions)
As has often happened recently when someone gets off to a big lead, the Daily Doubles give the opponents a chance to catch up—and that’s what happened here. Both Leonard and Jason converted True Daily Doubles, as Larissa needed some clutch gets down the stretch in order to lead going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Larissa 25 correct 1 incorrect
Jason 16 correct 1 incorrect
Leonard 13 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Larissa $25,200
Jason $19,600
Leonard $9,600
Both Leonard and Larissa got Final Jeopardy correct, as Ken did a great job of drawing out the suspense! That means Larissa has advanced to the semifinals.
Tonight’s results:
Leonard $9,600 + $4,700 = $14,300 (What is To the Li Ulysses)
Jason $19,600 – $6,000 = $13,600 (What is The Sound & the Fury)
Larissa $25,200 + $15,000 = $40,200 (What is Ulysses?) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) THERE WILL BE A TEST ON THIS $800 (clue #8)
Larissa 4600 +4600 (Leonard -200 Jason 0)
2) IN YOUR ELEMENT $1600 (clue #3)
Leonard 2400 +2400 (Jason 5000 Larissa 12000)
3) NOTABLE NAMES $2000 (clue #11, $20400 left on board)
Jason 9400 +9400 (Leonard 6800 Larissa 15600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 300
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Leonard 3 4
Jason
Larissa 4 5 5 3 3 4*
DJ! Round:
Leonard 2 4* 5† 4
Jason 3 4 5 2 5*
Larissa 3 2
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Larissa 3.63
Leonard 3.67
Jason 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:
Larissa $21,400 Coryat, 25 correct, 1 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Leonard $8,800 Coryat, 13 correct, 2 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Jason $12,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,400
Lach Trash: $7,600 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,000
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Leonard Cooper, career statistics:
111 correct, 21 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
35.50% in first on buzzer (120/338)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $18,900)
4/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,086
Jason Zuffranieri, career statistics:
633 correct, 51 incorrect
42/46 on rebound attempts (on 88 rebound opportunities)
45.28% in first on buzzer (571/1261)
35/44 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $105,705)
13/23 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,965
Larissa Kelly, career statistics:
347 correct, 26 incorrect
16/18 on rebound attempts (on 43 rebound opportunities)
40.03% in first on buzzer (319/797)
17/21 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $49,000)
13/15 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,640
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Due to March Madness, this episode aired on WTSP Tampa at 9:30 AM Eastern today.
- I’m not a fan of Jason’s bet in Final Jeopardy. It’s too big to keep Leonard locked out, and too small to be useful defending against most of Larissa’s possible small-bet range. There are definitely better bets to make here.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Larissa $25,200 Jason $19,600 Leonard $9,600)
Leonard: Bet at least $1,600—but you might as well go all in here. (Actual bet: $4,700)
Jason: I would probably just bet $399 or less here and keep Leonard locked out. If you really think Larissa is going to try something funny with her bet, go all in to force the cover. (Actual bet: $6,000)
Larissa: Standard cover bet over Jason is $14,001. If you want to play around with small wagering shenanigans (though I wouldn’t really recommend doing so), betting between $2,800 and $5,200 defends against anything that Jason might do on the smaller end. But you’re Larissa Kelly and you’ve generally been money in Final over the years. Bet on yourself to get this right and make the cover bet. (Actual bet: $15,000)
Updated JIT odds:
Larissa +410
Andrew +880
Matt +1000
Brandon +1400
Sam K. +1400
Victoria +1500
Amy +1700
Ben +1700
Jennifer +1900
Austin +2400
Arthur +2600
Alex +2600
David +2800
Chuck +3300
MacKenzie +3500
Alan +4600
Colby +4800
Sam B. +5500
Dhruv +6200
Celeste +8200
Lilly +8500
Monica +9300
Terry +16000
Finals length odds:
2 games: +170
3 games: +110
4 games: +350
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.
Have you had a chance to listen to our podcast game show, Complete The List, yet? Check it out! It's also available on Apple Podcasts.
Right author, wrong book: I guessed “What is ‘Finnegan’s Wake’?”
It was between those two novels for me, but I ended up leaning towards Ulysses only because it was the earlier of the two.
Having read it in college, I figured it was probably Ulysses. The time and place fits well with Virginia Woolf. Incidentally, if you are a fan of the book, there is a two-hour video on YouTube in which the host shows you the location in Dublin of each chapter in the novel.
Finally Larissa winning with final vs losing it on final as we’ve seen over the years. She’s a real threat in all this.
Neighbor’s cat Ulysses came by to say ‘hello’ this morning, and that’s as close as I got to this correct answer. And like Andy suggested, if in Jason’s shoes, I would’ve bet to keep Leonard locked because betting Larissa wasn’t making a cover bet seemed like a bad bet.
Thanks for linking to my list of March Madness effects, Andy.
The first fifteen clues in particular brought me back to something I said in our All-Star Games preview on the late #JeopardyLivePanel — “If you don’t know how good Larissa Kelly is, you’re about to find out. She’s the real deal.” Another cohort of Jeopardy! viewers finds out when they see this episode.
I was similarly surprised by Jason’s Final wager, and unhappy with it. When Double ended, I saw he barely had Leonard locked out, and thought, “well, that should be a zero from second.”
Final — my mind didn’t cross the pond, had nothing good, put down The Great Gatsby for something.
I am aware of Joyce’s Ulysses, but never have read, was totally unware of it’s history. 0 for 2 on Final Jeopardy’s this JIT.
Impressive performance by Larissa. After Jason converted on his true Daily Double in the second DD of DJ, she outscored him 9,600 to 800 the rest of the way in DJ! And she is not easy to catch if she has the lead going into Final, given her high historical success rate in Final, which she continued today.
The only thing I remember about James Joyce from my English Literature class was his stream of consciousness technique. When I saw, “putting in the thoughts between dashes,” in the clue, I immediately thought of James Joyce. From there, it was an easy step to come up with “Ulysses.”
I don’t really see how people can underrate Larissa Kelly. After all, she’s in the top ten in All Time Jeopardy! Winnings. She’s ahead of such notables as Roger Craig, Matt Jackson, Austin Rogers and even Julia Collins. That should alert people not to sleep on Larissa.
I kind of disagree with Andy on Jason’s FJ wager. There’s no point in playing for second place in this tournament. The goal is to win your fist game and move on. Jason wagered enough to move himself ahead of Larissa if she got it wrong (which was his only hope) so I think that was all he was interested in doing. His wager was enuogh to do that had she gotten it wrong (which she seldom does in Final).
Her career percentage of wrong answers is the lowest I have seen in a good while (at around 7%). In the last several months of various kinds and levels of tournament play, I have noted very few who were as low as 10%, most quite a bit higher. That has never been a sure predictor of ultimate success, but it goes a long way. Mostly, though, I just love to see them play and also love to see them win [like I think they are the most deserving or something — not knocking shrewd bettors, that’s just not where my admiration lies].
Missed FJ again. 18 straight misses.
Retro congrats to Larissa on the win. I had never seen these 3 players play and they were impressive, to say the least.
Tomorrow is another 3 that I have never seen play.
Have a great Friday everyone! 🙂
Larissa explains it all!
There’s a recent historical novel, “The Paris Bookseller” by Maher, that details Beach’s heroic efforts to publish Ulysses (Woolf’s disdain for the Big U in particular and Joyce, period are highlighted, but that didn’t, of course, stop her from pursuing elements of Joycean style in her own subsequent books (e.g., To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Dalloway)).
The book, frankly, is so-so, but there’s an Author’s Note at the end that is both concise and worthwhile. And you’ll likely not miss any J! questions about the Lost Generation in the future!