Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 28, 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 European Scientists) for Tuesday, May 28, 2024 (Season 40, Game 187):
On the 2022 bicentennial of his birth, the body of this man was exhumed & DNA used to determine his genetic afflictions
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Steve Miller, a retired medical transcriptionist from Eugene, Oregon
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Abby Mann, a digital scholarship librarian from Normal, Illinois
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Amar Kakirde, a graduate student from Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey (4-day total: $55,899)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Amar Kakirde is a 4-time Jeopardy! champion; today, he looks to become the 277th 5-time champion since the show returned to the airwaves in 1984. The prediction model gives Amar a 42% chance to make it to five; Illinois’s Abby Mann and Oregon’s Steve Miller are hoping to stop Amar at 4 victories.
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Remember, if you would like to enter the “Explore Iceland” sweepstakes, you can do so at sweepstakes.jeopardy.com. Today’s Final Jeopardy category is “European Scientists”.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Gregor Mendel?
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.)
As NPR wrote in 2022, to celebrate the 1822 birth of Gregor Mendel, “When the man known as the ‘father of genetics’ turns 200, how do you celebrate? By digging up his body and sequencing his DNA, of course”. Local researchers in Brno, Czechia received permission from Mendel’s religious order, the Augustinians, to exhume Mendel’s body. During their analysis, they realized that Mendel had genetic variants linked to many various health conditions, including heart problems, kidney disease, diabetes, and one that had been associated with epilepsy. As to whether researchers thought Mendel would be okay with this—it was noted that Mendel had requested an extensive autopsy be done on him after his death.
To me playing this clue at home, my general thought process was “I hadn’t heard about this story. However, I think that 1822 is a possible birth year for Mendel, and it certainly fits the genetic half of the clue.” I’d expect to see such a “puzzle-it-out” mentality from both players and viewers today.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, May 28, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: European History; Defining Law; Doing A Number On You; Sounds Like A Boy Band; Do Bug Us; Think “Small”)
While the opening 15 clues saw a handful of incorrect responses, both Abby & Amar got off to a good start. At the first break, Abby had $3,800 to Amar’s $2,600 and Steve’s -$200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Abby 6 correct 1 incorrect
Amar 5 correct 2 incorrect
Steve 3 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Steve learned cooking because he wanted to cook better than his parents.
Abby has an adult tricycle because she can’t ride a bicycle.
Amar would like to be a backcountry farmer.
Abby struggled on the buzzer in this segment, while Amar picked up seven correct, including the Daily Double, to jump into a big lead at the second commercial break.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Amar 12 correct 2 incorrect
Abby 7 correct 2 incorrect
Steve 7 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Amar $8,600
Abby $3,000
Steve $1,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Canadian Cities; Nonfiction Books By Subtitle; Weapon Names; What Do You Measure?; Movies With Little Dialogue; Spill The “T”)
Double Jeopardy did not go Amar’s way; in addition to him going 0 for the Canadian Cities category, he also gave two incorrect responses in that category. Meanwhile, Steve picked up $6,000 combined on the Daily Double and went into Final Jeopardy with a $1,200 lead—the exact amount of Amar’s two incorrect responses in the Canada category.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Steve 18 correct 3 incorrect
Amar 18 correct 4 incorrect
Abby 12 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 18 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Steve $15,400
Amar $14,200
Abby $8,200
Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper; Amar went for a big wager in Final, and Abby is your new Jeopardy! Champion! She’ll be back tomorrow to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Abby $8,200 – $3,000 = $5,200 (Who is Charles D) (1-day total: $5,200)
Amar $14,200 – $14,199 = $1 (Who is Tesla?)
Steve $15,400 – $13,001 = $2,399 (Who is Hersch)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) DOING A NUMBER ON YOU $800 (clue #17)
Amar 3600 +3000 (Abby 3800 Steve -200)
2) WEAPON NAMES $1200 (clue #1)
Steve 1400 +2000 (Amar 8600 Abby 3000)
3) NONFICTION BOOKS BY SUBTITLE $1200 (clue #11, $22800 left on board)
Steve 8200 +4000 (Amar 9400 Abby 3000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 232
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Amar 3 4 4 5 2 3 5 4*
Abby 2 3 1 3 4 5
Steve 5 2 4
DJ! Round:
Amar 5† 3
Abby
Steve 3* 4† 2† 1† 4 5 2 1 3*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Abby 3.00
Steve 3.00
Amar 3.80
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:
Abby $8,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Steve $11,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 3 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Amar $12,000 Coryat, 18 correct, 4 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $32,000
Lach Trash: $14,600 (on 12 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,400
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Amar Kakirde, career statistics:
92 correct, 20 incorrect
8/10 on rebound attempts (on 29 rebound opportunities)
31.23% in first on buzzer (89/285)
4/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,500)
2/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,600
Abby Mann, career statistics:
12 correct, 3 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,200
Steve Miller, career statistics:
18 correct, 4 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,800
Abby Mann, to win:
2 games: 28.456%
3: 8.097%
4: 2.304%
5: 0.656%
6: 0.187%
Avg. streak: 1.398 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Steve $15,400 Amar $14,200 Abby $8,200)
Amar: Standard cover bet over Abby is $2,201. (Actual bet: $14,199)
Abby: I would bet between $3,800 and $5,800 here; this would both stay ahead of Steve if he is incorrect and bets to cover, and defend against any small cover bet Amar might make. (Actual bet: $3,000)
Steve: Standard cover bet over Steve is $13,001. (Actual bet: $13,001)
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“Who is Mendel?” Who else but “the father of genetics” would be a “European scientist” considered suitable for a DNA study 200 years after his birth? (I’m glad Andy’s write-up told us that he would have approved.)
I hadn’t heard of the story and thought Mendel was 17th or 18th century. So my mind went to a different European scientist who would draw suspicion of having genetic afflictions: Tesla. Okay, he was 25 years late on the birth thing.
I don’t see this one getting too many gets in play. But I’ve been stumped on “easy” clues before and known “hard” ones off the top of my head, so who am I to say?
I guessed Louis Pasteur. I at least had the birth year correct.
I also guessed Louis Pasteur.
Me three!
That two such significant and impactful European scientists were born in the same year should be the basis of a good TOC-level FJ some day.
I thought Mendel was 18th century, not 19th (much like Andy PG). The best guess I had was Darwin since that would have seemed to make at least a little sense with the genetic aspect of selecting for the best traits. However, he was born 13 years too early.
I got this solely from the word “genetic” in the clue, and for no other reason. Now excuse me while I chase away the fruit flies in my kitchen.
Now we have the curse of the 4 day winners not winning their 5th game!!
All I could come up with was Lincoln and his suspected Marfan Syndrome.
Not European and not a scientist. However, I think you went the same way as I inadvertently did, not associating the scientist with genetics, but with known disabilities or maladies. Then, in not coming up with any potential scientists (that I was aware of) moved on to other historical figures, forgetting it was supposed to be a scientist (but remembering it was a European) — I only came up with George III or “The Elephant Man”, but doubted they were in the right time frame.
Early in today’s game, my reception was interupted briefly. During the Jeopardy round, Anna rang in with what sounded like half the correct response to a clue referring to a “dual monarchy.” Did Amar ring in with the full correct response “What was Austriaa-Hungary?
We Americana ahould be ashamed about how litt;e we know about our neighboor to the north, especially as compared to what it seems many Canadiansknow about US. One correct response out of five clues. Not that I did much beeter than today’s players, I had two, probably the easiest ones.
In regards to today’s Final Jeopardy; As the answer (clue) was revealed, I said I thought I remembered reading about how someone had been exhumed for this purpose. Sadly, hearing it was Mendel, did nothing for my recollection. I know the sources used for this Final Jeopardy are very accurate. It’s just my mind said it was someone else I was thinking of.
yes Amar had the full correct response. the clue had asked for a “dual” monarchy so 2 combined empires, she seemed to realize the correct answer a second later.
In general I’d agree about most Americans not knowing enough about Canada/Canadians and general world/global knowledge, but obviously most Jeopardy contestants usually don’t fit into that assumption. Sometimes it just depends on what the niche questions are, or they randomly draw a blank on something they do know (like I’d hope was the case with the capital of Manitoba question).
My hockey knowledge helped me on the Manitoba question, knowing it was Winnipeg.
As a casual NHL fan (primarily the BlackHawks,) I know of Winnipeg. I might haven even realizedit was the provencial capital. But I absolutley didn’t know it was so close to the Minneasota border.The two I got was Victoria, BC for some uuknown reason I knew it was the capital of British Columbia. And, the name of the hill in Ottawa where the Canadian Parliament sets. On something like that, my first guess would always be the name of the structure there.
Not remembering Charles Darwin’s birth year, nor the years of Mendel’s experiments, I went for my initial guess of Darwin.
Thanks to an advanced biology class in Genetics when I was in college, this was fairly easy for me. As you might guess, Mendel came up quite a bit in that class.
Didn’t know FJ. Threw out a guess that I don’t remember now and also thought of Pasteur.
Amar wasn’t used to betting from behind, so I see that as a reason for the, more or less, ill-advised bet.
Retro congrats to Abby on win #1 and we’ll see tomorrow if win #2 is happening. 🙂
Yeah seems obvious now. I focused too much on “afflictions” and not enough on “DNA”
That’s what she said. <– joke (because of what I’d said the night before)