Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 11, 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.
This site also has recaps for today’s three Pop Culture Jeopardy episodes. If you’re looking for those recaps instead: Episode 4 (It’s A She Thing, South Shore Squad, Generation XYZ); Episode 5 (What Is…South Dakota, Sidekicks, The Stage Names); Episode 6 (Beauty and the Beasts, The Legg Ladies, Sparkle Stop Motion).
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category The World of Science) for Wednesday, December 11, 2024 (Season 41, Game 68):
NobelPrize.org says some papers of this scientist “are stored in lead boxes” a “legacy that is literally untouchable”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Sam Nguyen, a tax accountant from Hyattsville, Maryland
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Molly LeBlanc, an administrative assistant from New Orleans, Louisiana
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Bill McKinney, a VP of restaurants & bars originally from Boston, Massachusetts (2-day total: $28,000)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Welcome to Wednesday—in addition to the three episodes of Pop Culture Jeopardy on Prime Video released today, we have our usual regular game of Jeopardy. Bill McKinney enters today’s matchup as a 2-day champion, facing off against challengers Sam Nguyen and Molly LeBlanc.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Marie Curie?
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.)
Marie Skłodowska-Curie, best known for her pioneering research on radioactivity, has research books and papers that are still so radioactive that they need to be stored in lead boxes, making those research notes unsafe to handle. She died of aplastic anaemia, likely as a result of her exposure to radiation over the course of her research.
This feels like a relatively straightforward Final Jeopardy clue to me; hopefully today’s 61st clue will proceed without any controversy whatsoever.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, December 11, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Political Oopsies; On The Ropes; Rhyming Last Names; TV Show Taglines; Triple “T”s Me; True Tales Of Transportation)
Bill picked up an early Daily Double and led on the strength of four correct responses. After 15 clues, Bill had $2,600 to Sam’s $1,000 and Molly’s -$200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Bill 4 correct 1 incorrect
Sam 2 correct 0 incorrect
Molly 3 correct 3 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Sam said he was more of a Jeopardy fan at a Wheel of Fortune audition.
Molly belongs to a Mardi Gras krewe.
Bill subjected his kids to Jeopardy during his preparation.
Molly ran TRUE TALES OF TRANSPORTATION to come closer, but Bill picked up six correct of his own; he continued to lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Bill 10 correct 1 incorrect
Molly 10 correct 3 incorrect
Sam 3 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Bill $5,400
Molly $3,600
Sam $1,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historic Objects; U.S. Place Names; The Old Testament; Asian Americans; “X”-Rated Music; Tough 4-Letter Words)
Molly struggled with incorrect responses, picking up a bunch of them as Bill found both Daily Doubles; Bill got one of them correct as he cruised to a runaway.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Bill 21 correct 3 incorrect
Sam 5 correct 0 incorrect
Molly 15 correct 8 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 17 (2 today).
Scores going into Final:
Bill $14,800
Sam $3,200
Molly $2,000
Everyone got Final today as Bill picked up another $4,000 and brought his win streak to 3 games. He’ll go for win #4 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Molly $2,000 + $2,000 = $4,000 (Who is Marie Curie?)
Sam $3,200 + $801 = $4,001 (Who is Marie Curie?)
Bill $14,800 + $4,000 = $18,800 (Who is Marie Curie) (3-day total: $46,800)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) RHYMING LAST NAMES $1000 (clue #2)
Bill 0 +1000 (Molly 0 Sam 0)
2) THE OLD TESTAMENT $2000 (clue #9)
Bill 10200 +4000 (Molly 4400 Sam 1200)
3) ASIAN AMERICANS $2000 (clue #24, $2800 left on board)
Bill 16200 -3000 (Molly 1600 Sam 3200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 121
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Bill 4 5*
Molly
Sam
DJ! Round:
Bill 3 4 5 4 5* 3 4 3 3 4 5 2† 2 2 5*
Molly 3 2 3 4 5 5
Sam 1 2 4
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Bill 3.71
Sam 2.33
Molly 3.67
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: U.S. PLACE NAMES $400 THE OLD TESTAMENT $400
Total Left On Board: $800
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 17 (0.25 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Bill $15,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 3 incorrect, 30.91% in first on buzzer (17/55), 2/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Sam $3,200 Coryat, 5 correct, 0 incorrect, 9.09% in first on buzzer (5/55), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Molly $2,000 Coryat, 15 correct, 8 incorrect, 41.82% in first on buzzer (23/55), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $21,000
Lach Trash: $18,800 (on 16 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,400
Lead Changes: 0
Times Tied: 1
Player Statistics:
Bill McKinney, career statistics:
59 correct, 11 incorrect
8/10 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
30.77% in first on buzzer (52/169)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,000)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,600
Molly LeBlanc, career statistics:
16 correct, 8 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
41.82% in first on buzzer (23/55)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,000
Sam Nguyen, career statistics:
6 correct, 0 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
9.09% in first on buzzer (5/55)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,200
Bill McKinney, to win:
4 games: 50.162%
5: 25.162%
6: 12.622%
7: 6.331%
8: 3.176%
Avg. streak: 4.007 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Bill $14,800 Sam $3,200 Molly $2,000)
Bill: Bet no more than $8,399. (Actual bet: $4,000)
Molly: If Sam bets just to cover and is incorrect, he falls to $2,399. Bet at least $400 to have a chance of second place. (Actual bet: $2,000)
Sam: Cover bet over Molly is $801. (Actual bet: $801)
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Thinking of the only Nobel Prize winner (that I know of) who was buried in a lead lined casket, this was an easy one for me.
Quickly answered. Marie Currie, a historic scientist who happened to be a woman.
This was completely a “straight forward” Final Jeopardy IF you knew a little bit about the history of science. As the answer clue was show/being read, I immediately said who was Curie? The only Nobel winner I knew right of hand whose work dealt with radioactivity. There probably are others but Mme. Curie is the one who comes to mind first with most people.
I’d say any Nobel prize winner since her (as there were none before) who worked with radioactivity would have known of the dangers (as she could not have been aware) and kept themselves and their papers safe from it.
I, too, “got” Marie Curie immediately and expected a triple-get from the contestants.
Bill’s probably of winning next game is about 50%. Was 48% to win this game, after being 60% to win game 2. Obviously, I do not know the math behind this calculation, it surprised me his % went down and then up only marginally after his conclusive win today. Assume it’s missed DD not helping.
Game 1 saw Bill have $22,000 before Final, and significantly less than that in both Game 2 and Game 3.
No surprise that it was a triple get in today’s FJ! Marie Curie is so well-known that I pretty much expected all contestants to get it.
I think anyone trying to come up with anyone else would have been risking running out of time (vs. the chance of being correct with the “obvious” Marie Curie), but since lead had long been used as a form of protection [like for early canning in metal cans rather than glass jars and for whatever reason it was all over the Notre Dame cathedral] and the lead box itself would be in a way “untouchable” (i.e., dangerous to health) regardless of what it had in it, I thought maybe it could possibly be someone else, especially if there was some other winner who worked with dangerous chemicals rather than radioactivity.