Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 31, 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 Animals) for Thursday, October 31, 2024 (Season 41, Game 39):
The Aztecs called this animal ayotochtli, meaning a “turtle rabbit” for its rabbitlike ears & its turtle-like shell
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Greg Jolin, a system specialist & accountant from Raymond, New Hampshire
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Alicia Buffa, a translator from Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Joseph Carlstein, a graduate student from Chapel Hill, North Carolina (1-day total: $16,001)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
As we move on to our Halloween-day episode of Jeopardy, we have had a mini-carousel of champions starting. Nobody has been able to win more than one game thus far. Today, Joseph Carlstein attempts to win game #2, while Alicia Buffa and Greg Jolin try to stop him. Greg has been around the show’s fan community for nearly as long as I have; between that and Alicia being Canadian, this is definitely a day where I personally will be cheering for both challengers. (I should note that I have nothing against champion Joseph, I just don’t have something about him to cheer for like I do the others today.)
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is an armadillo?
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.)
With its English name coming from the Spanish for “little armored ones”, the armadillo originated in South America but migrated northward to southern North America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, historically reaching as far north as Texas. However, climate change and a lack of natural predators have resulted in the armadillo being able to exist further north, with them being documented today as far as southern Illinois.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, October 31, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: They Throw Serious Shade; A Question Of Time; I’ve Got The Movie Title Munchies!; Salutations!; Manners Maketh…; The King’s Men)
Greg picked up $1,600 on a True Daily Double, but a pair of $1,000 incorrect responses dropped him to second at the break. At the first commercial, Joseph led with $3,200 to Greg’s $2,600 and Alicia’s $800.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Joseph 4 correct 0 incorrect
Greg 7 correct 2 incorrect
Alicia 2 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Greg got bonus chickens when he bought his first house.
Alicia volunteers for the Loose Ends Project.
Joseph was bit by a bat twice.
Greg picked up 11 of the 15 clues in this part of the game and jumped into a big lead.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Greg 18 correct 2 incorrect
Joseph 6 correct 0 incorrect
Alicia 3 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Greg $8,000
Joseph $4,200
Alicia $1,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: October 31; Bodies Of Water; Hate-ful Quotes; U.S. Government; Rap Genres; The OED Says H-I)
In a very well-played Double Jeopardy round, both Alicia and Joseph brought themselves back into contention with successful True Daily Doubles. However, Greg still lead going into Final on the strength of 10 correct responses (28 combined between Single and Double).
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Greg 28 correct 4 incorrect
Joseph 12 correct 1 incorrect
Alicia 11 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 4 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Greg $16,400
Joseph $12,000
Alicia $12,000
Alicia was correct in Final, putting the pressure on Greg. But a correct response from Greg made him the new Jeopardy champ! He’ll be back tomorrow to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Joseph $12,000 – $12,000 = $0 (What is a hermit crab?)
Alicia $12,000 + $11,999 = $23,999 (What is an armadillo? Hi Bran + Bri! <3)
Greg $16,400 + $7,601 = $24,001 (What is armadillo) (1-day total: $24,001)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) A QUESTION OF TIME $800 (clue #6)
Greg 1600 +1600 (Joseph 1800 Alicia 0)
2) BODIES OF WATER $1200 (clue #2)
Alicia 2200 +2200 (Joseph 4200 Greg 8000)
3) U.S. GOVERNMENT $1600 (clue #12, $21200 left on board)
Joseph 3400 +3400 (Alicia 6000 Greg 14000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 300
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Joseph 5 4 3
Alicia
Greg 2 3 4*
DJ! Round:
Joseph 4*
Alicia 2 3* 4† 3
Greg 4 5 2 3 2 3 2
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Greg 3.00
Alicia 3.00
Joseph 4.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 4 (0.10 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Greg $15,600 Coryat, 28 correct, 4 incorrect, 54.39% in first on buzzer (31/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Alicia $11,000 Coryat, 11 correct, 1 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Joseph $10,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,800
Lach Trash: $11,000 (on 9 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,200
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Joseph Carlstein, career statistics:
26 correct, 5 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
22.12% in first on buzzer (25/113)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,800)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,900
Alicia Buffa, career statistics:
12 correct, 1 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,200)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,000
Greg Jolin, career statistics:
29 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
54.39% in first on buzzer (31/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,600)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600
Greg Jolin, to win:
2 games: 57.007%
3: 32.498%
4: 18.526%
5: 10.561%
6: 6.021%
Avg. streak: 2.326 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Greg $16,400 Joseph $12,000 Alicia $12,000)
Joseph: You do have the advantage for second place here by virtue of your leading Alicia after the opening round, so I’d lean towards going all-in here. (Actual bet: $12,000)
Alicia: Because you don’t have the advantage for second place here, I would take the conservative route. Bet $3,200 or less and hope for the Triple Stumper. (Actual bet: $11,999)
Greg: Standard cover bet over Joseph and Alicia is $7,601. (Actual bet: $7,601)
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The “shell” part made this a coin flip for me between armadillo and pangolin, but as cute as pangolins are, they don’t exactly have very visible ears. Given how terrible I’ve been at Final Jeopardy as of late, having two easier (for me) ones this week has been a very nice change of pace.
Happy Halloween! 🎃🎃🎃🎃
and happy Diwali!
I did not remember exactly how visible pangolin’s ears are, but I remembered in time that pangolins are from Asia.
Very similar clue to another final jeopardy some time ago mentioning that German immigrants in Texas referred to this animal as a panzerschwein. I got it that time, and I got it this time.
I found it easy too, and remembered that other time as well. Doesn’t seem that long ago.
Time flies – looked it up and it was May 18th, 2021.
OMG! I didn’t think it was in 2024, but no way would I have guessed it had been nearly three and a half years since that one.
I also found it to be easy.
The answer came to me immediately, but only because I, personally, couldn’t think of any other animal fitting the clur that would have lived in that part of the world. Like MasterDoge, I have not fared well with Final as of late, so it was nice to get one correct.
*clue
Hi. Can you explain the wagering strategy? If contestants 2 and 3, finish in a tie, then the leader after the jeopardy round, wins by virtue of tie breaker? Thanks
No, it’d go to a tiebreaker for the win.
If this was a lock game, I’d agree with the different strategy for the tied trailers (since I believe you’d be right about the 2nd vs. 3rd place tiebreaker). Since this is a winnable game for the trailers, I think both should either go for zero and play for a triple stumper win or go all-in to “cover” your opponent (and not play for 2nd).
I don’t agree with the recommended wagering strategy for Alicia. I think she should go all in so that if Greg is wrong, she goes into tie breaker with Joseph. Playing for second when you have a chance at first is not the way one should play on the Jeopardy stage. To answer your question George, the leader at the end of the previous round only matters for tie for second and third.
Short answer: Yes and no.
Long answer: I don’t think this situation is as concrete as it seems at first.
If it were Joseph, who is ahead on the tiebreaker, then he should absolutely go all-in. But because Alicia isn’t ahead, her situation basically turns into a game of “predict the clue”.
Obviously, if Greg is correct and covers, it doesn’t matter whatsoever what Alicia does, so her entire decision should be made with the assumption that Greg misses Final Jeopardy. If he does that and covers, that drops him down to $8,799 and behind the two tied players. If Alicia thinks the clue will be difficult enough that Joseph will also miss it, she should bet between $0 and $3,200 to win a Triple Stumper; otherwise, she should go all-in and just hope for the best.
Either I totally misread Andy’s wager suggestion for Alicia, or it was edited after my comment because reading it now, it is a logical wager.
Before I looked at the correct response, I thought of a strange looking animal. I came up with armadillo!!! Wow so I am correct today. Amazing!!!
Frankly the description in today’s Final Jeopardy clue (answer) really didn’t help me in coming upwith a response. Think! was ending when I said, questioningly,”what is an armadillo?” It was literally the only armored land animal I could think of. Pleasantly surpised that I was right. Remarkably, I’m 3 for 4 this week.
I suspect that Joseph was actually thinking of horseshoe crabs as hermit crabs look more like little lobsters hiding in biggish snail shells and horseshoe crabs are closer to resembling [some] turtles.
A rare 300 Daily Double Efficiency game. I checked the site’s list, this appears to be the second instance where each contestant converted a max wagered DD. First time was Matt Amodio’s 10th win.
The site’s page is missing at least Andrew He’s solo 300 from the 3rd semifinal of the 2022 ToC. Don’t know if it wasn’t in the lists because it wasn’t regular play, but it might warrant a separate mention on the page.
Also, the site’s link for the Jan 12, 2015, game goes to J-Archive’s Apr 14, 2015, game. The URL should use 4779 instead of 4872. The other links in the efficiency lists go to their respective games.
I probably should have gotten this, but didn’t get there. 0 for 4 on the week and 5 for 39 on the season.