Warning: This page contains spoilers for the March 27, 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 Old Words) for Wednesday, March 27, 2024 (Season 40, Game 143):
First appearing in an English dictionary in 1623, mesonoxian means pertaining to this word
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Brandon Blackwell, a writer & TV personality originally from Jamaica, New York
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Jennifer Quail, a wine-tasting consultant from Dowagiac, Michigan
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Alex Jacob, an online trivia league host from Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
In what is probably the strongest quarterfinal of this event, today’s game sees Alex Jacob, Jennifer Quail, and Brandon Blackwell. Firstly, Alex did something in his Tournament of Champions that James Holzhauer didn’t even do: win every round of the tournament in runaway fashion. The prediction model is slightly sour on Alex due to Alex only having gotten two Final Jeopardy clues correct in his career, though, and could absolutely outplay his prediction. Jennifer Quail is a player underrated by many, but her knowledge base can rival anyone in this field. (Though, I really wish she’d realize that herself in gameplay and be willing to bet more on herself!) Thirdly, we have Brandon Blackwell. You might recognize Brandon from being a Chaser in both the U.S. and Australian versions of The Chase after being a breakout star in 2019–20 on University Challenge in the U.K.; however, before that, his first quizzing appearance was as a Teen Tournament semifinalist in 2008. Despite his lack of Jeopardy! pedigree compared to his opponents, Brandon is very much as strong of a player as his opponents in this one!
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(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is midnight?
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.)
I wish there was more of a “cool story” that I could come up with for this Final Jeopardy clue, but this word, first seen in 1623 from lexicographer Henry Cockeram, is simply one of putting Greek and Latin roots together: the “meso” is Greek for middle, while “nox” is Latin for “night”. To be honest, I was hoping that I was going to find a more interesting story to tell than this, and I feel disappointed.
Do I think that our players will be able to come up a correct response to this in 30 seconds? I hope so!
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, March 27, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Trending; Musical Instruments; Equine Words; Auto Parts 101; Cruise Lines; Ports Of Call)
It was “The Lightning Bolt” that got off to a lightning start in this one, picking up 7 correct and the Daily Double to jump out to an early lead with $5,000 to Alex’s $1,800 and Jennifer’s $1,400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Brandon 7 correct 0 incorrect
Alex 3 correct 0 incorrect
Jennifer 2 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Brandon was very surprised and very grateful to be invited to this event.
Jennifer got a pony with her winnings, and took her mom on a cruise.
Alex started an online trivia league about two years ago.
Alex had a good second segment, picking up 9 correct to take the lead over Brandon.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Alex 12 correct 0 incorrect
Brandon 11 correct 0 incorrect
Jennifer 3 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Alex $6,600
Brandon $6,200
Jennifer $1,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: During James Buchanan’S Presidency; Architects; World Literature; Music Collabs; I’Ve Got A Bone To Pick With You; The 3 “R”S)
Jennifer used DD2 to propel herself back into contention, and then the search began for DD3. Brandon got to it, and a True Daily Double put him in the driver’s seat going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Brandon 20 correct 1 incorrect
Alex 18 correct 1 incorrect
Jennifer 13 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Brandon $23,600
Alex $14,200
Jennifer $11,000
Jennifer was the only player correct in Final…maybe the prediction model knows what it’s talking about? In any case, she came from behind to win this one, and is a semifinalist!
Tonight’s results:
Jennifer $11,000 + $11,000 = $22,000 (What midnight? (Hi Mom!)) (Semi-Finalist)
Alex $14,200 – $14,200 = $0 (What is I <3 U Sa)
Brandon $23,600 – $4,801 = $18,799 (What is asleep?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $1000 (clue #3)
Brandon 800 +1000 (Alex 800 Jennifer 0)
2) DURING JAMES BUCHANAN’S PRESIDENCY $1200 (clue #6)
Jennifer 5600 +5000 (Alex 6600 Brandon 6200)
3) WORLD LITERATURE $800 (clue #17, $12000 left on board)
Brandon 11400 +11400 (Alex 13400 Jennifer 9000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 289
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Alex 4 4
Jennifer
Brandon 5*
DJ! Round:
Alex 4 4 5 5† 3 4
Jennifer 3 4 5 2 1 3* 3
Brandon 5 3 4† 2*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Jennifer 3.00
Brandon 3.80
Alex 4.13
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:
Jennifer $7,200 Coryat, 13 correct, 5 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Brandon $13,000 Coryat, 20 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 3/4 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Alex $14,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 1 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $34,400
Lach Trash: $12,000 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,600
Lead Changes: 6
Times Tied: 5
Player Statistics:
Alex Jacob, career statistics:
354 correct, 40 incorrect
16/18 on rebound attempts (on 56 rebound opportunities)
43.55% in first on buzzer (341/783)
17/23 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $70,500)
2/12 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,557
Jennifer Quail, career statistics:
354 correct, 42 incorrect
20/26 on rebound attempts (on 53 rebound opportunities)
42.53% in first on buzzer (336/790)
19/20 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $40,700)
13/14 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,757
Brandon Blackwell, career statistics:
52 correct, 5 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 17 rebound opportunities)
25.73% in first on buzzer (44/171)
2/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,400)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,533
Andy’s Thoughts:
- If you think a player failed to respond in the form of a question: you’re probably wrong. Viewers should also note a couple of things: firstly, the show has ability to isolate contestant audio, regardles of whether or not it makes it into the final edit; secondly, in the opening round, it’s a warning offense if it happens, not a penalty; thirdly, such complaints here on the site are against the Site Comment Policy.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Brandon $23,600 Alex $14,200 Jennifer $11,000)
Alex: You can only win if you’re right and Brandon isn’t. You might as well go all in. (Actual bet: $14,200)
Jennifer: You can only win if you’re right and Brandon isn’t. You might as well go all in. (Actual bet: $11,000)
Brandon: Standard cover bet over Alex is $4,801. (Actual bet: $4,801)
Updated JIT odds:
Matt +390
Larissa +470
Amy +670
Jennifer +710
Andrew +990
David +1000
Sam K. +1500
Victoria +1800
Ben +2000
Chuck +3700
Colby +6000
Sam B. +6800
Dhruv +7500
Lilly +11000
Monica +11000
Finals length odds:
2 games: +170
3 games: +110
4 games: +340
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I missed this one in studio, because I thought “nox” had something to do with poison or sickness, so I went with pandemic. Thankfully, I didn’t fall into the same trap this time!
I didn’t know nox, either. I knew meso thanks to Mesopotamia being in the middle of rivers, but from there I was stuck.
I also knew “meso” as middle from ‘Meso-America’. Unfortunately I had no idea what ‘nox’ meant.
The year 1623 partially made me think I was supposed to make a jump from “middle of the night” to “middle ages”…
I like that we get these straightforward FJ clues on occasion. They may at first appear as YEKIOYD-type questions, but they’re a good reminder that if you keep calm and take it piece-by-piece there are ways to figure it out.
One could certainly figure it out if they had the crucial piece of information that “nox” is Latin for “night.” I did not, so no hope for me on this one.
Sam, you are exactly right. That’s what I did and got “middle” from “meso” and “night” from “nox,” hence, midnight. This was a sort of work-it-out clue. Easy enough to do with a classical education.
What a reversal in Final — congratulations to Jennifer! Shows just how important the wagering clues are, and might be in favor your point last week that it’s appropriate to count against players when they “punted” in Final in the prediction model.
NB on the second paragraph in Pregame: “6:30 PM Eastern or later” covers the full scope of affected affiliates. The one CBS station showing J! at 4:30 MT, KMVT in Twin Falls, ID, is pre-empting the daytime and first-run episodes to air local and national news before the basketball gets underway.
Isn’t the reason Alex has only gotten 2/12 in Final Jeopardy in his J! career because when had runaways he usually gave joke answers? Or am I misremembering this?
That would be correct, but as I said on X after the prediction model was posted, “I believe that reps with the pressure off helps when you are under pressure to nail a crucial Final,” referring to how I was counting those joke answers against him in the prediction model.
A dramatic finish! Another example of the power of being excellent in Final. That is a real strength for Jennifer.
Why did NBC 2 in Fort Myers, FL air part of last night’s episode instead of todays?
Sometimes television stations have technical issues; I assume this was one of those cases. I’m sure they received many calls when it happened; hence the switch at a commercial break.
Many years back for a while I watched a couple of soap operas. One day the sound from the first was being aired with the video from the second. I called the local station about it and they didn’t believe me! [Stupid of the person who was answering the phone — I was watching the second and had just watched the first, but by doing his job (answering phones) he had watched neither. I bet once the station did know about it, they never heard from the phone person that he had heard about it in time to tell someone to fix it.]
Okay, this is getting crazy! 0 for my last 22 in FJ. Not a clue tonight.
Great comeback and retro congrats on that win Jennifer.
Down to the final 3 Quarterfinals. This should be good!
IF I had understood what mesonoxian meant, or, it componets, I would have gotten this Final like Jennifer. But I didn’t. Tomorrow is another chance.
LOL, kind of stating the obvious, aren’t you? If Alex or Brandon had understood what mesonoxian meant, or, it componets, THEY would have gotten this Final like Jennifer.
Once I found out what ‘mesonoxian’ means, I wondered if “night owls” are considered to be mesonoxian. [Apparently not, since search engines do not (readily) find that combination.] So, I’m wondering if Brandon was kind of thinking along those lines when he responded “asleep”.