Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, December 13, 2024

---

Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 13, 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 Authors) for Friday, December 13, 2024 (Season 41, Game 70):

Following his unexpected death in 2001, he was referred to as “the Monty Python of science fiction”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Carla Winston, a political scientist from Baltimore, Maryland

Ram Murali, a writer originally from London, England

Ashley Chan, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas (1-day total: $15,600)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Ashley Chan is our new champion after she won yesterday’s game in runaway fashion. Today, she faces off against Carla Winston and Ram Murali in our final game of the week. Ram was introduced as being “originally from London, England”—this is rare to be introduced as originally from a place outside of the United States and Canada, but has occasionally happened over the years on the show.

I would also like to address something that has happened over the last 24 hours, with some members of the community suggesting that I “log off”. As I’ve always said privately—and am now willing to make slightly more public—I’d be happy to log off (essentially, in this case, selling The Jeopardy! Fan) for the right price. That being said, I do still believe that the number I’d be willing to sell the site for at this point is higher than most people would be willing to offer—so, I’d be surprised if I was going anywhere. Sorry!

---

(Content continues below)

---

My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have introduced a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.

Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.

Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2024? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!

Do you appreciate the work I do here on The Jeopardy! Fan? Would you like to make a one-time contribution to the site? You may do so here!

You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 17 players, now including Adriana Harmeyer, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!

You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!

Correct response: Who was Douglas Adams?

---

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.)

The phrase “the Monty Python of science fiction” was used to describe Douglas Adams—best known for his The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series of works—in reviews of the unfinished and posthumously-published The Salmon of Doubt in 2002, the third work in his Dirk Gently series of books. Interestingly, Adams had written for many British TV series, including co-writing the “Patient Abuse” sketch for the final episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

---

---

We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items, including our new Masters Season 3 Player List T-shirt:

---

Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, December 13, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: People In History; Technology; Word Addition; You Don’t Know Him From Adam; It’s Small, Whirled; What Are You Wearing, Literary Character?)

Despite a number of incorrect responses early in the history category, everyone rebounded to be in the black after 15 clues. Ashley picked up $1,000 on the Daily Double and led at the interviews with $3,800; Carla had $400 and Ram $200.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Ashley 5 correct 2 incorrect
Carla 4 correct 2 incorrect
Ram 3 correct 2 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Carla has played the double bass since the age of nine.
Ram had his first novel, “Death in the Air”, released earlier this year.
Ashley has been to 23 weddings.

Ashley picked up another eight correct responses after the break to extend her lead.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Ashley 13 correct 2 incorrect
Carla 8 correct 3 incorrect
Ram 4 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Ashley $7,600
Carla $2,400
Ram $1,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Waltzes & Sonatas; Animal, Vegetable Or Mineral; Emmy-Winning Television Movies: Real Life Edition; Delta; “T-W-A”; Airlines Past & Present)

Ram had the best Double Jeopardy round, picking up DD2—but just betting $1,500 on it. Ashley bet $2,500 on DD3 and led by $3,200 going into Final Jeopardy.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Ashley 21 correct 2 incorrect
Ram 17 correct 3 incorrect
Carla 11 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 17 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Ashley $16,500
Ram $13,300
Carla $6,800

Carla was the only player correct in Final—which ordinarily would have been to her advantage. But Ashley didn’t make the standard cover bet—her underbet gives her win #2 and makes her champion over the weekend. She’ll be back Monday to defend.

Tonight’s results:

Carla $6,800 + $3,301 = $10,101 (Who is Terry Prachett? Adams)
Ram $13,300 – $13,250 = $50 (Who is Isaac Asimov?)
Ashley $16,500 – $3,000 = $13,500 (Who is Frank Herbert?) (2-day total: $29,100)

---

---

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) PEOPLE IN HISTORY $800 (clue #3)
Ashley -400 +1000 (Ram -600 Carla -1000)
2) AIRLINES PAST & PRESENT $2000 (clue #4)
Ram 3400 +1500 (Ashley 8800 Carla 2400)
3) EMMY-WINNING TELEVISION MOVIES: REAL LIFE EDITION $2000 (clue #18, $14000 left on board)
Ashley 13200 +2500 (Ram 9300 Carla 4800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 163

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Ashley 3 2 4*
Ram
Carla

DJ! Round:
Ashley 2 3 2 3 2 5*
Ram 3 4 5* 1† 3 4 5 2 1 2
Carla 4 4

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Ashley 2.89
Carla 4.00
Ram 3.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 17 (0.24 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Ashley $15,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 2 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Carla $6,800 Coryat, 11 correct, 3 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Ram $13,800 Coryat, 17 correct, 3 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,400
Lach Trash: $11,800 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,800
Lead Changes: 0
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Ashley Chan, career statistics:

40 correct, 5 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (38/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,500)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,100

Ram Murali, career statistics:

17 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,500)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,800

Carla Winston, career statistics:

12 correct, 3 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,800

Ashley Chan, to win:

3 games: 57.591%
4: 33.167%
5: 19.101%
6: 11.001%
7: 6.335%
Avg. streak: 3.358 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• A reminder to viewers that leading articles may be added, dropped, or changed with another article without rendering a response incorrect.
• Do I think Carla had better bets than the one she made? Yes—but her options weren’t that easy to figure out, either. Do I think she deserves to be vilified for it on the Internet like she undoubtedly will be tonight in the tabloids? Absolutely not. I will agree with what Sarah and Sam have said on Inside Jeopardy: Wagering is hard, and a lot of armchair quarterbacks have the benefit of hindsight. While I hope that my suggestions below might help prospective contestants make better decisions under pressure, the inherent randomness sometimes introduced by Final Jeopardy wagering provides a lot of suspense and surprise for viewers.
• Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Ashley $16,500 Ram $13,300 Carla $6,800)

Ashley: Standard cover bet over Ram is $10,101. If you do decide not to make a cover bet here, a much better choice would be $2,899 or less—this would prevent Carla from being able to overtake you at all. (Actual bet: $3,000)

Ram: Standard cover bet over Carla is $301. (Actual bet: $13,250)

Carla: Your choice of bets here depend on what you think Ram will do, as if Ram makes a small bet, you can’t both catch up to him and win on a Triple Stumper. If you think Ram will bet small, you should bet at least $6,200 (and at that point, it might as well be all in.) If you think Ram will make a big bet, bet $400 or less and play for the Triple Stumper. (Actual bet: $3,301)

---

Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!

---

Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com

When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.

If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.

---

Have you had a chance to listen to our podcast game show, Complete The List, yet? Check it out! It's also available on Apple Podcasts.

---