Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 4, 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 State Capitals) for Thursday, April 4, 2024 (Season 40, Game 149):
It was named for a nearby river that explorer Gabriel Moraga named for one of a religious grouping of 7
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Victoria Groce, a writer & television personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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Sam Buttrey, a bon vivant & man about town from Pacific Grove, California
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Matt Jackson, a grad student in computer science & public policy originally from Washington, D.C.
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today is Semifinal #3 in the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. as Matt Jackson, Sam Buttrey, and Victoria Groce do battle for the right to face Amy Schneider and Andrew He in the final. The prediction model gives Matt and Victoria the best chance of advancing, but the Daily Doubles can absolutely throw a wrench into everything!
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)
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Correct response: What is Sacramento?
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.)
In 1808, Gabriel Moraga named what is known today as the Sacramento River as Rio de los Sacramentos, after the Seven Sacraments—the name was later Anglicized to the Sacramento River. Later, Sutter’s Fort was established on the river by John Sutter; in 1850, the area around the fort was incorporated as Sacramento, California, after the river. The California State Legislature moved to the city in 1854 and it was named the permanent state capital in 1879.
I really enjoyed this Final Jeopardy clue, especially in a high-level tournament situation such as this one. Congratulations to any player who gets this one within 30 seconds.
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, April 4, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: European Capitals; Anatomical Etymology; Quasi-Related Pairs; A Category Made Of Steel; Characters In Musicals; You Can’t Spell…)
Despite some struggles in QUASI-RELATED PAIRS, all three players found their footing by the first break; Sam and Matt had $2,200 at the interviews, with Victoria third at $2,000.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Sam 4 correct 1 incorrect
Matt 5 correct 1 incorrect
Victoria 4 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Victoria has been using rhythm games to prepare.
Sam believes he has lost more games than anyone else.
Matt has been doing a lot of community theatre.
Victoria got to the Daily Double after the break and propelled herself into the lead after 30 clues!
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Victoria 9 correct 3 incorrect
Matt 10 correct 1 incorrect
Sam 9 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Victoria $6,000
Matt $4,800
Sam $3,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historical Quotes; Train Tales; A Beacon In The Night; Photographers; ’90s Movie Fun; “C-U” Later)
Sam got into the lead with a True Daily Double—and then the search began for the last one. Victoria found it, and bet to ensure she had the lead, but Sam was still in contention going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Victoria 23 correct 5 incorrect
Sam 16 correct 1 incorrect
Matt 16 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Victoria $27,000
Sam $16,000
Matt $10,400
Victoria and Sam got Final correct, which puts The Queen into the final that starts tomorrow!
Tonight’s results:
Matt $10,400 – $10,399 = $1 (What is St. Paul (#SkillsNotScores))
Sam $16,000 + $11,001 = $27,001 (What is Sacramento?)
Victoria $27,000 + $5,001 = $32,001 (What is Sacramento? Hi, Nora <3) (Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) YOU CAN’T SPELL… $800 (clue #18)
Victoria 2600 +2600 (Matt 3200 Sam 2200)
2) TRAIN TALES $1200 (clue #2)
Sam 5400 +5400 (Matt 4800 Victoria 6000)
3) A BEACON IN THE NIGHT $800 (clue #19, $8800 left on board)
Victoria 16800 +9000 (Matt 6800 Sam 13600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 254
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Matt 4 5 3 2 4 5 4 5 3
Sam 4 3 5 3
Victoria 4 3 5 3 4*
DJ! Round:
Matt 5 5 5†
Sam 4 3* 3 4 5 4
Victoria 4 3 2 4 3 5 3 2 2 2*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Victoria 3.27
Sam 3.80
Matt 4.17
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:
Victoria $17,000 Coryat, 23 correct, 5 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Sam $11,800 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Matt $10,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $39,200
Lach Trash: $7,000 (on 5 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,800
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 3
Player Statistics:
Matt Jackson, career statistics:
557 correct, 31 incorrect
22/24 on rebound attempts (on 70 rebound opportunities)
42.80% in first on buzzer (502/1173)
37/40 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $162,995)
12/22 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,800
Sam Buttrey, career statistics:
418 correct, 54 incorrect
19/23 on rebound attempts (on 71 rebound opportunities)
34.50% in first on buzzer (413/1197)
12/15 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $43,200)
10/21 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,857
Victoria Groce, career statistics:
103 correct, 22 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
49.78% in first on buzzer (111/223)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $18,700)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,100
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I’m glad to see Victoria extol the virtues of rhythm games after I mentioned it in an editorial back in October.
- Chances in the finals: Victoria 39.49% (+140); Amy 32.56% (+190); Andrew 27.96% (+240).
- Chances of each finals length: 2 games 33.56% (+180); 3 games 44.45% (+110); 4 games 21.99% (+330)
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Victoria $27,000 Sam $16,000 Matt $10,400)
Matt: You can’t win unless Victoria overbets—but the margin is tight. Go all in here, just in case.(Actual bet: $10,399)
Sam: Bet at least $6,000. (Actual bet: $11,001)
Victoria: Standard cover bet over Sam is $5,001. (Actual bet: $5,001)
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I guessed “What is Des Moines?”, knowing that it meant “the monks”, and that it is on the Des Moines River. I missed the significance of “seven” and “Moraga”.
Here’s a possible in that might help, especially if you’re a college sports fan:
Moraga, California is the home of Saint Mary’s College, frequent participant in March Madness; the town is named after his son. So if you know that, it’s possible that might clue you in to California.
I’ve heard of Saint Mary’s College because of college basketball, but I never knew where exactly it was located (I knew it was a California-based school).
I’d like to think with more time I would’ve figured this out. As it was, I guessed Santa Fe which means ‘Holy Faith’.
Worked my way through the capitals with vaguely religious sounding names, and fairly quickly settled into the correct response.
I’m rooting for Sam here, but he is up against a pair of juggernauts. Hats off to whomever the winner ends up being.
I think if the players pay attention to the Spanish-sounding Moraga (especially if, as Will mentioned, they know the city of Moraga) and start their scanning on the West Coast, they should be able to get there in time. Looking forward to this last semifinal game!
That is pretty much what I did. I thought Moraga sounded Spanish, so I started in the SW corner of the country intending to fan out thinking of state capitals, but after quickly eliminating Phoenix, Sacramento was next and I decided that was likely it (thinking “name surely has something to do with sacraments”) and did not think further even though I was not familiar with there being Seven Sacraments.
Lisa, I figured this out just like you did! Started with Washington, then Oregon, then California. Once I thought Sacramento, I got the word Sacraments. Didn’t know about the 7 Sacraments though.
Difference is that I associated “Spanish” with SW instead of NW for where to start.
Got it. I knew Moraga is in California. I also knew about the Sacramento River. Living in California definitely helped.
I couldn’t think of a religious grouping of seven so I just went with my blind guess state capital, Sacramento (it’s kind of my fall back position when I can’t make a connection to a state capital). Once I settled on Sacramento, it finally hit me that the religious grouping of seven was the sacraments. Kind of backwards but that’s what happened, lol.
This FJ was easy for me. I’m from California and we learned about Sacramento in school.
Andy, is Sam right? Has he lost the most games?
Yes. As of this game, he has 13 losses.
As Andy mentions, Sam does have the most losses with 13. Andrew He has 12; Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider each have 11*.
Sam would be overtaken in the JIT final if either of two things happen — (a) Victoria wins, or (b) the final goes the full four games.
(I make this comment only now, with Andy having confirmed Sam’s claim. I had previously elected not to remark on it here, seeing it unmentioned in the recap and being well aware of TJ!F editorial policy on “negative records.”)
My count of Amy’s losses excludes the ToC exhibition match, mainly due to what transpired in the NUMBER, PLEASE Jeopardy! round category; Andy may have a different view on whether it should be included.
IMHO, the ToC exhibition should not count because they all had goals [such as freshening buzzer skills] OTHER THAN “winning” and they didn’t “win” anything, not just no money.
Thank you for the question, Myron, and the answers and data, Andy and Matt. I was wondering the same thing.
I am expecting (should they lose) others to comment about tying or “exceeding” Sam.
Fun fact:
Today 5 years ago was James Holzhauer’s first win on Jeopardy! Also, this episode aired on a Thursday as well.
Yes. Leap year helped get the 2024 calendar starting March 1 same as 2019. After seeing news reports about James’ winning, we started watching J! again (somewhere in his 2nd week), after not watching for several years (we were not upset w/ J!, simply due to other activities, did not watch). It has been nice to see some of the historic all stars in recent tournaments that we missed on their original runs.
Finally, when I look at the all time list of greats, many in recent years.
Well, being from and living in California my whole didn’t help me. I went with Austin. o for last 28 now. Grr……
Retro congrats to Victoria on her win here. I am very much looking forward to the first game of the finals tomorrow. I believe we’ll get at least 3 games. Talk about the pressure being ramped up though with a first to 2 wins taking it down. Win tomorrow and you’re on the precipice of a Jeopardy Masters invite! Selfishly, because I like great Jeopardy, I’d love to see this go 4 games and be decided next Wednesday.
Have a great Friday everyone! 🙂
Since I didn’t get to watch today, I came here for FJ. I got it right but I lost track of how long it took me to get there. It was pretty close, but I’ll take it. I only did capitals in the South and West because of the Spanish last name.
Did see the clip of Sam wanting to put the record for most losses out of reach, and that was great. Going to miss having him on my screen, but I expect he’ll be back for another go if they do a JIT next year (as would all the losing semifinalists + finalists – 8 of them + 3 Masters who failed to place + 5 from this year’s TOC + 4 who couldn’t come this year = 20, so there’d be 7 more spots, so that works).