Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 15, 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 Newer Words) for Monday, July 15, 2024 (Season 40, Game 221):
Philosophers use it for language that accompanies an action, like “I dub thee knight”; it also means done for show or signal
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Brenna Sniatecki, a drama club director from Rochester, New York
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James Hayakawa, a non-profit program officer & actor originally from Davis, California
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Isaac Hirsch, a customer support team lead from Burbank, California (8-day total: $195,389)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Isaac Hirsch enters this week of play as an 8-game champion and nearly $200,000 in winnings. Today, he goes for win #9 over James Hayakawa and Brenna Sniatecki. How far will Isaac go? Well, certainly the fanbase’s theories are split to the point where a certain tabloid put out articles explaining how fans think Isaac will both win and lose today’s game within the span of a couple of days. It’s, quite frankly, laughable work.
It should also be noted that this week, starting tonight, will see a number of pre-emptions and schedule changes, especially on the West Coast, due to the Republican National Convention. Matt Carberry has put together a spreadsheet of pre-emptions; make sure to check your local listings as well.
I have an occasional 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 performative?
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.)
Though originally used to describe actions that accompany performing an action, such as “I dub thee knight” or “I adjourn this meeting”, the word performative today is most often used as a pejorative for language or actions seen—usually by detractors—as done solely to increase one’s clout on social media. Certainly, it would not surprise me today to see some of my detractors today commenting on how ironic it is that I have to describe this word; of course, you won’t get to see it, because these commenters have their comments immediately sent to the Trash by my website.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, July 15, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: “I” On History; TV Shows By Character; College In New England; From The Dutch; Good Afternoon; Extreme Weather)
It was James who got off to the best start, picking up 6 correct responses and leading at the midpoint of the round. At the interviews, James had $3,400, Isaac $2,400, and Brenna $1,200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
James 6 correct 1 incorrect
Isaac 4 correct 1 incorrect
Brenna 3 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Brenna got serenaded by Weird Al at a concert c.2000.
James is a twin.
Isaac is a onetime Jeff Goldblum impersonator.
Isaac picked up 8 correct, including the Daily Double, to jump into the lead after 30 clues today.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Isaac 12 correct 2 incorrect
Brenna 7 correct 1 incorrect
James 8 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Isaac $6,600
Brenna $3,000
James $2,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The World In 1776; Fruits & Vegetables; One-Word Song Titles; Fashion In Books; U.S. Geography; To The “Nth” Power)
Isaac got DD2 incorrect, which gave our challengers an opening. However, neither really took advantage, with James going back into that category repeatedly and Brenna only betting $3,000 on the last Daily Double, with Ken even commenting that Brenna “maybe should have bet more”. As it stood, Isaac led going into Final Jeopardy by just $1,200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Isaac 20 correct 5 incorrect
Brenna 15 correct 4 incorrect
James 12 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 21 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Isaac $11,200
Brenna $10,000
James $4,000
James and Isaac were correct in Final; that makes Isaac a 9-day champion! He’ll go for superchamp status tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
James $4,000 + $1,200 = $5,200 (What is performative? <3 F)
Brenna $10,000 – $2,000 = $8,000 (What is verbin)
Isaac $11,200 + $8,801 = $20,001 (What is performative?) (9-day total: $215,390)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) COLLEGE IN NEW ENGLAND $1000 (clue #20)
Isaac 3800 +1400 (James 2400 Brenna 2200)
2) THE WORLD IN 1776 $2000 (clue #13)
Isaac 13000 -3000 (James 1200 Brenna 4200)
3) FASHION IN BOOKS $800 (clue #26, $1600 left on board)
Brenna 6200 +3000 (Isaac 11600 James 4000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 62
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Isaac 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5*
James 3 4 4 3 4 3 4
Brenna 4 3 3 2 2
DJ! Round:
Isaac 3 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 5 5* 3 4 5 3
James 3 5 2 4 2† 1†
Brenna 2 1 2 5 2 2*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Isaac 4.18
Brenna 2.55
James 3.23
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 21 (0.10 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Isaac $13,800 Coryat, 20 correct, 5 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 3/4 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
Brenna $7,800 Coryat, 15 correct, 4 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
James $4,000 Coryat, 12 correct, 5 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $25,600
Lach Trash: $15,200 (on 12 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,200
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 1
Player Statistics:
Isaac Hirsch, career statistics:
247 correct, 40 incorrect
14/16 on rebound attempts (on 36 rebound opportunities)
47.85% in first on buzzer (245/512)
13/17 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $16,300)
7/9 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,067
James Hayakawa, career statistics:
13 correct, 5 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,000
Brenna Sniatecki, career statistics:
15 correct, 5 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,800
Isaac Hirsch, to win:
10 games: 63.806%
11: 40.712%
12: 25.977%
13: 16.575%
14: 10.576%
Avg. streak: 10.763 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Isaac $11,200 Brenna $10,000 James $4,000)
Isaac: Standard cover bet over Brenna is $8,801. (Actual bet: $8,801)
James: If Isaac is incorrect in Final, he falls to $2,399. Bet no more than $1,599. (Actual bet: $1,200)
Brenna: Bet no more than $1,999 to keep James locked out. (Actual bet: $2,000)
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I had no idea. I guessed “What is expressive?” just to say something. I had never heard of the word “performative” in either meaning. Although my vocabulary has now been expanded, I doubt I will have much occasion to use this.
Andy! Your detractors comments belong in the Trash.
I have three words that I use to describe you and this site to my frirnds and family = insightful and informed and informative.
You keep on keeping on!!
Was surprised two contestants got FJ right today. This seemed like more of a TOC-level question. It must be easier for younger people more in tune with social media.
This was one of those “what else could it be?” responses for me. I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t come up with anything better.
Appreciate you linking to my spreadsheet, Andy; I have just updated it following a second look at all the affected markets. Many of the “NONE” entries from my original check on Saturday have been removed. We do have one more significant pre-emption event before the hiatus — the season finale is going to get hit on NBC stations by Olympics coverage.
“Neither really took advantage” sums it up well about Double. That “1†” could get a “??” from chess notation appended to it; in fact, I noted that on my score sheet. With a Daily Double outstanding, Jason had ($400 × 5, $800 × 1) to pick from. I would not have liked my chances in Fashion in Books, but I’m still going to the $800 box. And with a chance to take the lead from Brenna’s position, I’d try to do so. Given that this is the first game of the day to be taped, the players might not know that Isaac hadn’t trailed entering Final so far, and thus his ability to wager from behind hasn’t been tested. But leading entering Final is always better than not, so that’s a risk worth taking — and it’s lower than it might otherwise be, the clue being in the second row.
Thank you for the spreadsheet Matt! 🙂 And yes, I was bewildered when Jason didn’t go for where the DD clearly was. 🙁
I would seem to me that the word “posturing” would be better used in place of the modern perverting of the word “performative”.
In Chicago, the second half of today’s Double Jeopardy, and, Final Jeopardy, got prempted by a news story 90 miles away in Milwaukee. The official announcement of Sen. Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate.
I came here, read the Final Jeopardy “answer” (clue) and, basically said what? Then seen the correct response, the word “performative; to perfrom some action” certainly fit the examples in the Final Jeopardy “answer” (clue). But I never heard of that word,
then I read the category; “newer words.” Then it all came together.
Thank you for the update. I was upset withe interruption.
This comment is not about Final Jeopardy, but concerns a clue in Double Jeopardy, in the category “to the NTH power.”
For the clue about getting paid on the 1st and the 15th of the month, Isaac responded “what is bi-monthly” and was deemed correct. If you are paid bi-monthly, you get paid once every two months. The correct response should have been “what is semi-monthly”. I’m surprised that the judges did not catch this mistake.
Barbara:
The dictionary agrees with the judges. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bimonthly can mean both.
Yes, I can attest to the fact that “bi-monthly” can mean both “twice a month” and every “two months.” Both “semi-monthly” and “bi-monthly” would be correct responses. This is something that I always alerted my students to when I was teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages.
This discussion also reminds me of the description of my sex life as I have aged. The three stages of sex for a man are: tri-weekly, try weekly and try weakly. 🙂
LOL Robert!
I was equally bothered by this. But I think it’s one of these things where the word does mean both – not by original definition but rather by common incorrect usage (like literally meaning figuratively) forcing it into common acceptance.
And infamously ‘factoid’ going from its original ‘factual sounding but not true’ to ‘small fact’. [Am wondering if its evolution provided the building blocks for “fake news”?]
In the payroll world, there is no concept of bimonthly for wage withholding purposes. The 5 types of payroll periods are daily, weekly, biweekly, semimonthly and monthly. As evidenced by Ken’s pause, I believe the show was looking for semimonthly but had to accept bimonthly based on the definition as linked by Andy.
Did anyone notice during Ken’s interview with Isaac, Isaac was telling about water ballets in the old “Ethel Merman” movies? I believe the actress he was referring to was Esther Williams.
I wonder if people (especially younger generations) remember Esther Williams as Ethel Merman because of the name resembling mermaids? [Of course just ‘merman’ would tie in, but she wasn’t male.]
In her final Jeopardy miss, Brenna wrote down, “verbin.” Does anyone know the meaning of this word? The urban dictionary has something very x-rated for its meaning. The only other thing I could see was from a very old Hebrew word, “Verbinah,” which means blessing.
Isaac made a funny mistake in his story during the interviews. He referenced water ballets in the vein of Ethel Merman … he obviously meant Esther Williams. I got a laugh thinking of Ethel Merman playing an Esther Williams role.
I assume that the timer ran out on Brenna before she finished whatever she intended to write.
My thought was that Brenna was going for “verbatim” but as Andy surmised, she was running out of time and just got down what she could in a hurry.
I agree, the Ethel Merman reference was hilarious. I think he was confused by the similarity to “mermaid.”
At first I thought she was going for some synonym of ‘ritual’ but I can’t find one that comes anywhere near ‘ver’ nor ‘bin’, so I guess not. If she had only gotten down ‘verb’, I would have thought maybe she was going for something like ‘verbal pronouncement’. I think your idea of ‘verbatim’ could be it even though it would not fit the clue.