Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, October 2, 2024


Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 2, 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 Science) for Wednesday, October 2, 2024 (Season 41, Game 18):

Physicist John Wheeler said he coined this term as a faster way to say “completely collapsed objects”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Erin Ward, a software developer originally from London, Ontario, Canada
Erin Ward on Jeopardy!
Scott Tcheng, an ER doctor from San Francisco, California
Scott Tcheng on Jeopardy!
Ryan Manton, a systems administrator from Columbus, Ohio (2-day total: $43,778)
Ryan Manton on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Ryan Manton is a 2-day champion on Jeopardy!, with his two victories both coming in runaway fashion. Today, he tries to make it three victories over Scott Tcheng and Erin Ward. His strong play thus far has been a result of successfully buzzing on 71% of his attempts over his first two games—I’d love to have access to the clue-by-clue ELVIS buzzer system timing for these games, just to see how strong on the buzzer Ryan truly is!


(Content continues below)


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Correct response: What is a black hole?


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.)

A black hole in physics is an object whose gravity is so strong that it is impossible for anything—not even light—to escape. While these bodies have been considered since the 18th century, it wasn’t until the 20th that they were considered more closely. John Wheeler saw the “advertising value” of a term like “black hole” instead of “completely collapsed objects” and popularized its usage beginning in the late 1960s.

It should also be said: Despite any potential earlier usage or claims otherwise, Wheeler’s 2008 New York Times obituary credits him with the coining of the term.



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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: On Australian Currency; Health & Medicine; TV, Currently; Having “Fun”; Please Don’t Go…; We’re Just Getting Started)

All three players got off to a great start; Ryan found the Daily Double on clue 1 and thus could only get $1,000 from it. At the break, Erin led with $3,800 to Ryan’s $3,000 and Scott’s $2,800.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Erin 5 correct 0 incorrect
Ryan 4 correct 0 incorrect
Scott 4 correct 0 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Erin once worked as a tree planter in Northern Ontario.
Scott enjoys skydiving.
Ryan enjoys collecting large plastic helmets from ballparks.

While Erin struggled on the buzzer, both Scott and Ryan continued their strong play; Ryan and Scott were tied after 30 clues.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Scott 12 correct 1 incorrect
Ryan 9 correct 0 incorrect
Erin 5 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Scott $5,800
Ryan $5,800
Erin $3,600

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: 20th Century Playwrights; On The Bucket List; Triple Rhyme Time; Religious Matters; Foreign Film Titles; It’s A Theory)

Ryan missed DD2 to fall to $3,800; Scott, needing to find DD3 to keep it out of Ryan’s hands, started picking $400 clues. Needless to say, Ryan picked up DD3 and used it to retake a lead, which he held going into Final Jeopardy.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Ryan 17 correct 2 incorrect
Scott 18 correct 2 incorrect
Erin 7 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Ryan $12,400
Scott $11,800
Erin $4,800

Scott and Ryan were both correct in Final; that makes Ryan a 3-day champion! He’ll play for win #4 tomorrow.

Tonight’s results:

Erin $4,800 – $4,000 = $800 (What is Col)
Scott $11,800 + $11,800 = $23,600 (What is Black Hole?)
Ryan $12,400 + $11,201 = $23,601 (What are black holes?) (3-day total: $67,379)


Ryan Manton, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the October 2, 2024 game.)


Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED $1000 (clue #1)
Ryan 0 +1000 (Scott 0 Erin 0)
2) IT’S A THEORY $1600 (clue #12)
Ryan 9400 -5600 (Scott 10200 Erin 3600)
3) RELIGIOUS MATTERS $800 (clue #26, $2800 left on board)
Ryan 7400 +5000 (Scott 12200 Erin 3600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 108

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Ryan 5*
Scott
Erin

DJ! Round:
Ryan 5 4 4 5 4* 3† 2 5 4 2† 1† 2*
Scott 5 4 5 4 5 3 3 3 1 1 1 2
Erin 3 2

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Ryan 3.54
Scott 3.08
Erin 2.50

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:

Ryan $13,800 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Scott $11,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Erin $4,800 Coryat, 7 correct, 2 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,400
Lach Trash: $18,000 (on 17 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,600
Lead Changes: 10
Times Tied: 7

Player Statistics:

Ryan Manton, career statistics:

70 correct, 8 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (63/171)
4/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,133

Scott Tcheng, career statistics:

19 correct, 2 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,800

Erin Ward, career statistics:

7 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,800

Ryan Manton, to win:

4 games: 52.928%
5: 28.014%
6: 14.827%
7: 7.848%
8: 4.154%
Avg. streak: 4.124 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

  • Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Ryan $12,400 Scott $11,800 Erin $4,800)

Ryan: Standard cover bet over Scott is $11,201. (Actual bet: $11,201)

Scott: Bet between $1,200 and $2,200 to cover against any of Ryan’s possible small range of bets and keep Erin locked out. (Actual bet: $11,800)

Erin: Bet no more than $3,600 to stay ahead of Ryan if he makes a cover bet and is incorrect. (Actual bet: $4,000)


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8 Comments on "Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, October 2, 2024"

  1. I was close in my response, but not close enough. Another loss for me.

  2. That was not too hard. I also briefly considered white dwarfs, but realized that they are not completely collapsed. As I’ve just found out, the term “white dwarf” was coined in 1922.

  3. Robert J. Fawkes | October 2, 2024 at 7:40 pm |

    If the clue hadn’t included the word “Physicist,” I wouldn’t have gotten this. That was crucial to getting me into the right field to come up with “Black Hole.”

  4. It was a toss up for me…black hole or singularity. Both fit but I went with the more familiar term “black hole”

  5. I’m not great at “Science” as a category and was worried when I saw that. Then I heard Ken read the question and saw it on the screen and immediately blurted “Black Hole” and stuck with that, as it seemed to make sense and nothing else hit me (thankfully!)

    1 for 3 on the week and 4 for 18 on the season.

    Retro congrats to Ryan on win #3 and here’s to hoping that he’ll be the first to a 4 game winning streak this season. 🙂

  6. I “got” Black Hole right away, but “right away” was very late due to being out of town.

Comments are closed.