Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 17, 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 Fictional Characters) for Tuesday, December 17, 2024 (Season 41, Game 72):
Dressed in white in her first scene, this play character says her name means “white woods”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Jasmine Zhou, an ASIC engineer from Woodland, California
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Jordan Carr Peterson, a professor from Knoxville, Tennessee
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Ashley Chan, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas (3-day total: $46,500)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It’s Tuesday, eight days until Christmas. (No, my shopping isn’t quite done yet.) Interestingly, we haven’t had a player win a fourth game in over a month, with Greg Jolin back on Election Day the last player to win number four. Ashley Chan hopes to break that today with challengers Jasmine Zhou and Jordan Carr Peterson. (Let me tell you, I am glad, for Jordan’s sake, that he chooses to add Carr in there.) I do think that Ashley might have her work cut out for her, though, as Jasmine has been a strong player in the quizzing world over the past few years. While I’ve often said that’s no guarantee of a good day on the Alex Trebek Stage, it does make me think that we’re going to have an exciting game today.
One other thing to note today, from a strategy perspective: remember that Ken did say at the start of yesterday’s game—at the start of a taping day—that Ashley had made an unorthodox Final wager on Friday—the last game of the previous taping day. If you’re in second place against Ashley at this point, that should mean that your first instinct should be to bet everything in Final Jeopardy.
And, on the pre-emption front, the in-season NBA Cup final is airing on ABC tonight; this will have airing impacts in markets west of the Eastern time zone. Matt Carberry has compiled a Google Sheet detailing how the show is affected. Check your local listings!
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Blanche Dubois?
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.)
“It’s a French name. It means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together mean white woods. Like an orchard in spring! You can remember it by that.” That’s how Blanche Dubois describes her name to Mitch in Scene 3 of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire. Her arrival in Scene 1, arriving at the home of her sister Stella and Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski, is described in the script as “incongruous to this setting” when she arrives “daintily dressed in a white suite with a fluffy bodice, necklace and earings of pearl, white gloves and hat, looking as if she were arriving at a summer tea or cocktail party in the garden district.”
This one took about ten seconds of “huh?” before the correct response dawned on me. I’m sure that someone for whom the dawn takes more time today will find some way of taking umbrage with this clue online, even though there is nothing actually wrong with it: it’s one of the most famous characters in American theater described as per primary sources. (You can find a digitized link to the script at the Internet Archive.)
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, December 17, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Books & Authors; Swap A Vowel; 19th Century Sports; Amphibians & Reptiles; For A Dollar; Name A Woman)
Both Ashley and Jasmine had good starts in this one; Jasmine converted a True Daily Double on the clue before the break to lead after 15 clues. At the interviews, Jasmine had $4,800 to Ashley’s $4,400 and Jordan’s $800.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Jasmine 4 correct 0 incorrect
Ashley 6 correct 0 incorrect
Jordan 2 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Jasmine drove a truck by hooking it up to a laptop.
Jordan had Mario Kart as a pandemic hobby and still plays competitively.
Ashley is also a yoga instructor.
All three players played well over the second half of the opening round, with Jasmine extending her lead.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jasmine 9 correct 0 incorrect
Ashley 8 correct 0 incorrect
Jordan 7 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jasmine $7,200
Ashley $5,200
Jordan $3,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: World History; Jury Duty; From The AFI Catalog; Art Class; Canadiana; Crossword Clues “R”)
Ashley picked up 13 correct and both Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy to hold the lead going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ashley 21 correct 2 incorrect
Jasmine 16 correct 1 incorrect
Jordan 13 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 17 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ashley $18,800
Jasmine $15,600
Jordan $10,200
Everyone was correct in this Final Jeopardy; Ashley made another small wager and picked up win #4 when Jasmine chose not to go all in. Ashley gets to go for win #5 tomorrow!
Tonight’s results:
Jordan $10,200 + $1,800 = $12,000 (Who is Blanche DuBois?)
Jasmine $15,600 + $5,000 = $20,600 (Who is Blanche Dubois?)
Ashley $18,800 + $2,100 = $20,900 (Who is Blanche DuBois?) (4-day total: $67,400)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) SWAP A VOWEL $1000 (clue #15)
Jasmine 2400 +2400 (Ashley 4400 Jordan 800)
2) FROM THE AFI CATALOG $1200 (clue #6)
Ashley 8000 +3000 (Jordan 4600 Jasmine 9200)
3) ART CLASS $1200 (clue #17, $12800 left on board)
Ashley 15000 +3000 (Jordan 9000 Jasmine 10000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 158
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ashley 3 4 5 4 5 2 1 4
Jordan 3 5
Jasmine 3 4 4 3 5*
DJ! Round:
Ashley 5 4 3* 2† 5 4 3 3*
Jordan 4 5 3 1† 4 2 2
Jasmine 3 5
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ashley 3.56
Jasmine 3.86
Jordan 3.22
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 $15,200 Coryat, 21 correct, 2 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
Jasmine $14,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Jordan $10,200 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $39,600
Lach Trash: $10,000 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,400
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Ashley Chan, career statistics:
86 correct, 10 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (84/228)
5/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,500)
1/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,200
Jordan Carr Peterson, career statistics:
14 correct, 1 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,200
Jasmine Zhou, career statistics:
17 correct, 1 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,200
Ashley Chan, to win:
5 games: 54.972%
6: 30.219%
7: 16.612%
8: 9.132%
9: 5.020%
Avg. streak: 5.221 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I would have been happier with the Triple Stumper on the clue about the island of Newfoundland had it been a stand-and-stare. The fact that all three players gave incorrect responses on it just makes it worse.
- As I noted in my preview: all of the contestants would have been privy to the fact that Ashley had not bet to cover, as Ken announced it to the world at the start of yesterday’s game. This should now be an automatic all-in from second place—and this advice comes without the benefit of hindsight.
- That being said, it would not surprise me in the least if we saw Jasmine back in a year for Second Chance.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ashley $18,800 Jasmine $15,600 Jordan $10,200)
Ashley: Standard cover bet over Jasmine is $12,401. Though I think you’d be playing with fire in doing so, especially after Ken announced yesterday that you didn’t make cover bets, a bet between $1,602 and $3,199 plays for the Triple Stumper and covers most of Jasmine’s small cover bet range. (Actual bet: $2,100)
Jordan: I would bet between $600 and $3,800; this will pass Jasmine if she bets to cover you and is incorrect, while also staying in front of Ashley if she bets to cover and is incorrect. (Actual bet: $1,800)
Jasmine: Ashley hasn’t been betting to cover–and Ken announced this to everyone yesterday. Go all in. (Actual bet: $5,000)
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An easy FJ today; but, since this is a strong category for me, it’s hard to judge how it will play out. Just the opposite of yesterday, where Geography hit me in my weak spot.
Being a play, led me to Shakespeare and thinking a name like Blanca, I went with Bianca from ‘Taming of the Shrew’
Same, here.
I was thinking more Shakespearean and trying to come up with some name related to ‘sylvan’ or ‘alba’.
After trying German first, unsuccessfully (Weiswald ?), I got to Blanche Dubois after 20 or so seconds. Although, to be fair, her name means “white of the wood”.
You’re arguing against a direct quote from the play here.
I’m not arguing about what the character has said. I am merely saying that in standard French, “du bois” == “of the wood”. That said, reconstructing back from “white woods” (literally, “bois blancs”) takes one more mental step than if the translation was correct.
Maybe Blanche was mistaken about the exact translation of her name.
Or just explaining it simplified on purpose. In Leo’s defense I feel he was explaining the steps of figuring it out IF ONE DOESN’T ALREADY KNOW the quote. If one does know the quote, there is no figuring necessary.
Of my reading, Leo B. did not criticize the clue. What he pointed out, is factual. I wonder if this difference was intentional on the part of Tennessee Williams? Blanche, I believe, is not quite as sophisticated as she hopes to project. That would be a brilliantly subtle note.
I think this is right. Also of note is that the DuBois call their estate “Belle Reve” – intended to mean beautiful dream – whereas the correct French would be “Beau Rêve”.
Longtime lurker; I think I would chalk the bets today up to the fact that fictional characters could yield such a broad range of subjects I get not going all in. If it were a more narrow subject like geography I’d be willing to wager the bets would’ve shaken out differently.
To be fair, the category often takes enough of a right turn that it should be the last thing taken into account, if it’s taken into account at all.
After just watching “Kings of Tupelo” on Netflix, the ricin question mede me laugh.
Andy, I state that the reason there was three incorrect responses for the Newfoundland answer in the Candiana category is the almost complete lack of knowledge of thing Canadian by many Americans. An important story to Canadians, that could effect Americans as well, has been absent from my newspaper. It took a mention ob the morning program for SirriusXM 60’s Gold before I knew of the strike against Canada Post. That saying I got 3 of 5 in the Canadiana Category. Would’ve beem 4 for 6, but on the Newfoundland answer I said Prince Edward Island as well. Didn’t know about Jasper National Park.
Final Jeopardy.If Ihad nore knowledge of the French laguage,Imight have gotten this.But then,knowing little about “Streetcar” sure didn’t help either.
Do most Canadians know that Trump says he is going to privatize the U.S. Post Office? I, myself, am usually aware when Canada Post is on strike but never get the information from the news. I now have family in Ontario and always check before sending them something in the mail. This dates back since over 40 years ago when we made our first trip to Canada and could not send postcards home because of a postal strike then. My family did not even believe us as this was before regular people had the internet and search engines to check for themselves.
The US Postal Service is currently like a government owned corporation. The Postmaster General is elected by the Board of Governors. Nine members of the Board are Presidential appointess, with the Postmater General, and, the Deputy Postmaster filling the last two seats.
The Postal Service, per Congress is supposed to be self sustaining, it has failed at that. Proposals to cut costs, by triming delivery days, locations, and, etc., have met with bipartisan Congressional opposition.
Trump, during his first term, did talk about privatising the USPS. Some have thought the installation of Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General was a prelude to that. But nothing more was said during that term. Maybe Musk’s “Department of Government Efficency” will put that idea out there again.
Admin note:
Commenters are reminded of two things:
1) On CANADIANA $800, the clue said “island”. Labrador is not an island.
2) I also have subject matter expertise here, by virtue of currently living on said island.
Final Jeopardy wagering has, it seems, moved on from the era of “covering” and assuming your opponents will cover. Now it’s more about reading your opponents. All three contestants today made smart wagers – even taking Ashley’s previous wagers into account.
Respectfully, that is a scorching hot take, and one that I wholeheartedly and fullthroatedly disagree with.
Jasmine’s wager was either a very poor read given the information available or, if she did predict what Ashley was going to do, a poor strategic decision.
In fact, I would posit that your statements are coming from a significant results-oriented bias. I can not see you making such a statement had Ashley lost due to her wager yesterday.
Well yes, Jasmine misread Ashley and Ashley read Jasmine correctly. Not clear who’s resulting though. Jasmine wins whenever she’s right and Ashleys wrong and also on some triple stumpers if Ashley covers. My impression is many more second placers have lost winnable games by over betting than have lost winnable games by under betting. Still betting it all when behind sometimes is a good strategy, to keep first place honest – the question is how often.