Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 24, 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 Literature) for Friday, May 24, 2024 (Season 40, Game 185):
Preserved in a singular manuscript called Cotton MS Vitellus A XV, this epic begins with the word “Hwaet”, often translated as listen
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Anna Marie Cunningham, a market research account manager from Sellersville, Pennsylvania
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Has Karbalai, a public health advisor from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Amar Kakirde, a graduate student from Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey (2-day total: $24,599)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Amar Kakirde is a 2-day champion coming into today’s game; Calgary’s Has Karbalai and Anna Marie Cunningham from Pennsylvania are your two challengers.
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Correct response: What is Beowulf?
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.)
Called as such (Cotton MS Vitellus A XV) because the manuscript came to the British Museum thanks to the descendants of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (the collection eventually moved to the British Library), Beowulf is one of the most important epics of Old English literature. Its author unknown, it is the story of the Geat hero Beowulf, who comes to the aid of Danish king Hrothgar, whose mead hall has been attacked by the monster Grendel.
Honestly, this one will probably come down to whether or not you can recognize “Hwaet”. I’m not sure how it will play.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, May 24, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Literary Similes; Crossword Clues “2”; I’Ll Just Need To Verify Your Identity; Date Of Birth; Mother’s Maiden Name; Your First Concert)
While Has did well on the high-valued clues, Amar got to the Daily Double. Unfortunately, an incorrect response dropped his score. After 15 clues, Has had $2,800, Amar $2,100, and Anna Marie $1,000.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Has 5 correct 2 incorrect
Amar 4 correct 1 incorrect
Anna Marie 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Anna Marie got lots of tattoos after her mother’s passing.
Has entered a chili pepper-eating contest in the UK.
Amar once took a shortcut through a rice paddy; it did not go well.
Although there were many incorrect responses in the round, the scores did generally go up; Has held the lead at the start of the break, but a judges’ reversal put Amar in the lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Amar 8 correct 2 incorrect
Has 11 correct 5 incorrect
Anna Marie 5 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Amar $4,500
Has $4,000
Anna Marie $1,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Up In The Air; Indigenous Actors & Actresses; American History; Geographic Anagrams Of Each Other; The British Parliament; Rambling Words)
Has got to an early Daily Double, but an incorrect response dropped him to $0. While he got to DD3, Amar gave 11 correct responses in the round, and that was enough for him to have a runaway going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Amar 19 correct 3 incorrect
Has 19 correct 7 incorrect
Anna Marie 5 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 18 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Amar $15,300
Has $6,800
Anna Marie $1,400
Has and Amar were both correct in Final Jeopardy; that makes Amar a 3-day champion!
Tonight’s results:
Anna Marie $1,400 – $1,400 = $0 (What is this has been a dream come true!)
Has $6,800 + $3,999 = $10,799 (What is Beowulf?)
Amar $15,300 + $1,500 = $16,800 (What is Beowulf?) (3-day total: $41,399)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) MOTHER’S MAIDEN NAME $600 (clue #10)
Amar 1000 -500 (Has 3400 Anna Marie 400)
2) GEOGRAPHIC ANAGRAMS OF EACH OTHER $800 (clue #2)
Has 4400 -4400 (Amar 4500 Anna Marie 1400)
3) THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT $2000 (clue #6, $28000 left on board)
Has 1600 +2000 (Amar 7700 Anna Marie 1400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -50
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Amar 2 4 3*
Has 5 5 5 3 5 2
Anna Marie 1
DJ! Round:
Amar 3 4
Has 2* 5 5*
Anna Marie 1
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Amar 3.20
Has 4.11
Anna Marie 1.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 18 (0.10 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Amar $15,800 Coryat, 19 correct, 3 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Has $11,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 7 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Anna Marie $1,400 Coryat, 5 correct, 2 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $28,400
Lach Trash: $17,200 (on 15 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,400
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Amar Kakirde, career statistics:
55 correct, 10 incorrect
4/6 on rebound attempts (on 18 rebound opportunities)
30.41% in first on buzzer (52/171)
1/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$500)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,933
Has Karbalai, career statistics:
20 correct, 7 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,200
Anna Marie Cunningham, career statistics:
5 correct, 3 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,400
Amar Kakirde, to win:
4 games: 38.556%
5: 14.866%
6: 5.732%
7: 2.210%
8: 0.852%
Avg. streak: 3.627 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
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“What is ‘Beowulf’?” I knew this one because I once read a review of a public performance of ‘Beowulf’ and it mentioned ‘Hwaet!’ I am familiar with the story but would not have known the language except for this.
I’ll admit it took me 10-15 seconds for it to sink in. My initial instinct was Canterbury Tales, until I realized Chaucer would not have had a single collection for that given how it is unfinished. I’m predicting a partial solve (1 or 2, but not 0 or 3) on this one.
My eighth grade English teacher did a unit on Beowulf, and had the opening stanza in both Old and Modern English on the bulletin board during that unit. Later in life, I picked up a bilingual edition at Borders. Seeing “Hwaet!” gave it to me instantly. This is definitely not a “what else could it be” Final; this will require specific knowledge, I think.
I have a vague recollection of encountering Beowolf sometime during my school years. But that encounter, probably brief, didn’t lead me to knowing that the first word of the story is usually considered to be listen-translated, of course from the old English.
Same here, though I did think that its beginning with “Listen” implied that it either WAS an old legend passed down orally until written, or an original written work meant to sound like it was an old oral legend, so if I could have remembered ‘Beowulf’ I would have chosen it, but I was trying to think of something Greek or Roman.
On the ‘One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ clue, wonder if they would have accepted just ‘chief’. I’d forgotten they actually mentioned him by name.
Agreed. Seems this is the second time in recent memory he’s been a response, yet only Chief sticks with me… grr.
Having read “Beowulf” in some long ago forgotten Literature class, this came to me right away as, of course, “what else could it be.” I wouldn’t expect a triple get but I should think, at least, one or two would get it.
My first concert was Run DMC and the Beastie Boys so I did get that one.
I threw out a guess in FJ of Roots. Um, nope!
Retro congrats to Amar! We’ll see if win #4 comes on Monday.
9 weeks left of Season 40.
Have a great weekend everyone and to those in the States, I am wishing you a nice Memorial Day weekend. Monday will be the day that we mourn for and remember all of the lost soldiers. All gave some and some gave all. This is about those that made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
When I hear “epic,” I immediately go to Gilgamesh and Beowulf, which is funny because I’ve read about as much Homer (but long ago)…
But the “hwaet” definitely wasn’t going to be Sumerian (or Greek), and I couldn’t think of anything else before I realized it totally had to be Beowulf. Score one for me and a favorite professor. This show should just be permanently dedicated to teachers.
I expected most of the actual contestants (not us viewers) to get it, if only because I did it without remembering the word “hwaet” specifically.
And speaking of triple stumpers…
that Van Halen thing was hilarious! I was literally laughing out loud. Ken was right, those would have been great one off shows. RIP Sam – he would have loved that.
It’s always interesting to see knowledge gaps all aligning. I usually expect that, say, when I don’t know something, someone else usually will. So if I were a contestant, that’s what I envision. But the gaps obviously do happen. And it’s always a surprise when I’ve never heard of the response at all. Time to hit the google.
OTOH, the amount of triple stumpers today was disappointing, even if several did stump me too.
Better luck to all the players Monday!
Btw, did I miss something?
Is the suggested wager section for the contestants gone? I can’t seem to find it; it’s one of my favorite things about the website.
Hey! It’s not gone entirely—I just struggled to see the point of including it when the situation is entirely trivial like it was today—what with it being a double-runaway (first with a runaway over second, second with a runaway over third).
Don’t worry–when the situation calls for it, I’ll absolutely be talking about wagering!
Thanks for the reply 🙂
I’m glad to know that feature is safe. I wasn’t thinking about the player’s scores at the time; I just check it out of habit. I’m not prepping to be on the show or anything, but I still do like to play along!
Thanks
I have a feeling I know of a S38 contestant who would have had this on lock. 😉