Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 23, 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 French Authors) for Friday, February 23, 2024 (Season 40, Game 120):
Trained as a priest & a physician, in 1532 he published his first novel under the pen name Alcofribas Nasier
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Matthew Marcus, a software developer & substitute teacher from Portland, Oregon |
Suresh Krishnan, a networking engineer from Suwanee, Georgia |
Emily Sands, a project manager from Chanhassen, Minnesota |
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It is time: today begins the 31st Tournament of Champions. The largest ToC field ever—27 players—will compete for $250,000 and a spot in this spring’s Jeopardy! Masters. The tournament kicks off today with a quarterfinal between Emily Sands, Suresh Krishnan, and Matthew Marcus. The prediction model favors Emily in this one, on the strength of some incredible Daily Double performances. If she can find them, this one may be in the bag before Final. (And, as I’ll say below—she may need this one to be in the bag before Final Jeopardy.) Suresh does have the most number of regular-season wins of all three of our players, though—and that can never truly be counted out. Meanwhile, Matthew has an internationally strong quizzing reputation: he comes in as the defending London Times crossword champion. (On the much harder British-style “cryptic” crosswords, to boot!)
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(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is François Rabelais?
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.)
Well, this is a fitting start to a Gargantuan-sized Tournament of Champions!
François Rabelais, considered today to be the first great French prose author, was a 16th-century writer best known today for his Gargantua series of novels, beginning with 1532’s Pantagruel. He followed that up with 1534’s Gargantua. The French establishment was not a fan of the works, with the books being decreed as obscene by censors at the Sorbonne. It probably didn’t help that the Catholic church generally opposed Rabelais, who was seen as a humanist.
I hope this Final Jeopardy was written before early January and before a contestant placed Rabelais as a Baroque-era artist and not a 16th-century writer. Still, it’s certainly possible the writers were inspired by that incident when constructing this Final. That being said, as much as I’ve gone on record even this week criticizing the writers, I think this is an excellent Tournament of Champions-level Final Jeopardy clue—on its surface, it requires some deeper knowledge of French literature. And, for the wordplay enthusiasts, there’s one final entry into this clue where all you have to be is aware that Rabelais exists: “Alcofribas Nasier” anagrams to “François Rabelais”. Considering that anagram, I’m pretty sure that this Final Jeopardy clue will play right up Matthew’s alley.
It should also be noted that from a judging perspective, because the show did not explicitly say that it was an anagram, both first and last name should not be required for a correct response here. (However, if the show did say “anagram” in the clue, it likely would have been.)
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, February 23, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: 1960s Fiction; TV Comedy; Sleep-Pourri; Condiments; Election Lingo; Triple Rhyme Time)
Much like last year’s opening quarterfinal, things got off to a slow start: the opening 15 clues saw six Triple Stumpers, a missed Daily Double, and some varying amount of jitters amongst all three players.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Emily 4 correct 1 incorrect
Suresh 3 correct 1 incorrect
Matthew 1 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Matthew thinks he should have applied to the UK version of the show.
Suresh thinks his family might be “done” with his ToC prep.
Emily has parents who kept bragging about her on a recent cruise.
Emily continued her strong play, picking up 7 correct, but the game was still close enough to be in the balance with 31 clues to play.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Emily 11 correct 2 incorrect
Matthew 6 correct 2 incorrect
Suresh 4 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Emily $4,800
Matthew $1,000
Suresh $200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The American Revolution Era; Pop Culture Dragons; Judges; That Building Has Great Bones; Quick Geo; 2020s & 1920s Slang)
The Daily Doubles definitely broke in Emily’s favor; she went +7000 on hers, while Suresh lost another 3000 on another True Daily Double. As it was, Emily romped to a runaway while Suresh’s incorrect response on the final clue meant he wasn’t around for Final.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Emily 24 correct 4 incorrect
Matthew 11 correct 3 incorrect
Suresh 10 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Emily $21,800
Matthew $7,400
Suresh $0
As predicted, Matthew started writing immediately; he was the only player correct on Final. However, Emily’s runaway means she advances to the semifinals!
Tonight’s results:
Suresh $0 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Matthew $7,400 + $7,399 = $14,799 (Who is Rabelais? I love you Magda and Clara!)
Emily $21,800 – $0 = $21,800 (Who are the greatest people in the universe Jeopardy fans?) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) TRIPLE RHYME TIME $1000 (clue #7)
Suresh 2400 -2400 (Emily 2000 Matthew 0)
2) THAT BUILDING HAS GREAT BONES $1600 (clue #13)
Emily 14000 +7000 (Suresh 1400 Matthew 5800)
3) POP CULTURE DRAGONS $2000 (clue #16, $10400 left on board)
Suresh 3000 -3000 (Emily 21000 Matthew 5800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -150
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Emily 4 5 4
Suresh 5 5 4 5*
Matthew
DJ! Round:
Emily 3 4 5 4 4 5 5 4* 4
Suresh 5 2 5 5*
Matthew 4 3 2
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Emily 4.25
Matthew 3.00
Suresh 4.50
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:
Emily $16,400 Coryat, 24 correct, 4 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Matthew $7,400 Coryat, 11 correct, 3 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Suresh $5,400 Coryat, 10 correct, 5 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $29,200
Lach Trash: $13,200 (on 13 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $11,600
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Emily Sands, career statistics:
206 correct, 32 incorrect
9/14 on rebound attempts (on 35 rebound opportunities)
39.10% in first on buzzer (199/509)
13/16 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $45,400)
6/9 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,400
Suresh Krishnan, career statistics:
126 correct, 26 incorrect
13/18 on rebound attempts (on 48 rebound opportunities)
26.39% in first on buzzer (119/451)
4/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,795)
5/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,375
Matthew Marcus, career statistics:
135 correct, 15 incorrect
6/8 on rebound attempts (on 23 rebound opportunities)
38.24% in first on buzzer (130/340)
3/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
5/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,933
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Emily $21,800 Matthew $7,400 Suresh $0)
Emily: Bet no more than $6,999—but you might as well bet $0. (Actual bet: $0)
Suresh: (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Matthew: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $7,399)
Updated ToC odds:
Cris +650
Emily +830
Ben C. +1000
Juveria +1200
Troy +1200
Luigi +1300
Yogesh +1300
Hannah +1400
Ray +1600
Sean +2200
Jake +2600
Yungsheng +2600
Josh +2900
Brian +3100
Stephen +5100
Ike +5500
Emmett +6500
Jared +6800
Nick +7100
David +7300
Melissa +7700
Justin +8400
Deb +10000
Ben G. +19000
Kevin +20000
Finals length:
3 games: +650
4 games: +300
5 games: +210
6 games: +310
7 games: +780
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