Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, December 2, 2022

Current Champion

Nikolas Polsinelli, career statistics:
44 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,500

To win:
3 games: 64.111%
4: 41.102%
5: 26.351%
6: 16.894%
7: 10.831%
Avg. streak: 3.786 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

September 26-27: S42 E174 (May 7, 2026)
October 3-4: S42 E175 (May 8, 2026)
October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category World Capitals) for Friday, December 2, 2022 (Season 39, Game 60):

Among its nicknames are the “City of Classical Music” &, possibly in honor of a famous resident from 1860 to 1938, the “City of Dreams”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Ilana Freedman, an occupational therapy assistant from New Orleans, Louisiana

Josh Gregor, a teacher from Grand Rapids, Michigan

Cris Pannullo, a customer success operations manager from Ocean City, New Jersey (19-day total: $666,744)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

With his win yesterday, Cris Pannullo tied Jason Zuffranieri and David Madden with his 19th victory. Today, he goes for win #20—winning that 20th game will tie Julia Collins. Today, Josh Gregor and Ilana Freedman enter the Jeopardy! stage in the hopes of becoming Jeopardy! champion.

One thing’s for sure: The longer streaks that we’ve seen since James Holzhauer are actually what I thought we would have seen 17-18 years ago in the aftermath of Ken Jennings’s and David Madden’s streaks. However, all of these super-champions have won with their own unique play style, and I don’t think I can uniquely blame “the analytics revolution” as a cause for all of these great players. The only real commonality, I would say, would be the breadth of the show’s casting that Jeopardy! has been able to do since COVID. Moving the auditions online has reduced a significant barrier to entry for numerous prospective contestants, many of whom are immensely capable of going on a lengthy win streak but otherwise would have been unable to access the show’s tryouts.

The way to defeat Cris is definitely through the Daily Doubles. He needs to be starved of them, and the challengers need to make the most of their opportunities with them—even making bets that contestants might otherwise not be comfortable with.

PSA: The best way to keep COVID-19 at bay (and keep Jeopardy! producing new episodes) is for everybody to get their vaccinations as soon as they can, including any boosters as recommended. When wearing a mask, please ensure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.

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Correct response: What is Vienna, Austria?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2022 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Composers such as Schubert, Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven spent significant time in Vienna, leading to its being well-known as the City of Classical Music. One of the academics who ties Freud into Vienna and the nickname “City of Dreams” is Harvard professor Joseph Koerner, doing so in his documentary “City of Dreams”. Per the film’s description, “Using one of Vienna’s most famous sons, Sigmund Freud, as a key, Koerner attempts to unlock Vienna’s psyche for clues as to why this unlikely city gave birth to modernism”.

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Game Recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Historic Quotations; Body Language; Fizz-ics; African Lakes & Rivers; Hit The Spot; NFL Teams By Home Stadium)

Today looked like it was going to be Cris’s day from the get-go, he got the Daily Double early and was over $10,000 at the interviews. By the end of the Jeopardy! round, he’d picked up 17 correct!

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Cris 9 correct 0 incorrect
Josh 4 correct 0 incorrect
Ilana 2 correct 0 incorrect

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Cris 17 correct 2 incorrect
Ilana 6 correct 0 incorrect
Josh 7 correct 3 incorrect

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: It’s Epic; Their ’80s No. 1 Album; Word History; Honorary U.S. Citizens; Old Technology; Micro Fish)

There really was no stopping Cris today, as much as Ilana and Josh tried. Cris found the Daily Double on consecutive clues, punting the second one for just $100. (He did get the clue correct, though.) Going into Final, the scores were Cris at $35,900, Ilana at $11,000, and Josh at $1,200.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Cris 34 correct 2 incorrect
Ilana 11 correct 1 incorrect
Josh 10 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 12 (0 today).

Final Jeopardy! today was a triple get—Cris has cleared the $700,000 mark and returns on Monday as a 20-day champion!

Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, December 2, 2022 Jeopardy! by the numbers:

Scores going into Final:

Cris $35,900
Ilana $11,000
Josh $1,200

Tonight’s results:

Josh $1,200 + $128 = $1,328 (What is Vienna?)
Ilana $11,000 + $0 = $11,000 (What is Vienna?)
Cris $35,900 + $8,221 = $44,121 (What is Vienna) (20-day total: $710,865)

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Cris $12,400
Ilana $3,800
Josh $2,000

Opening break taken after: 15 clues

Daily Double locations:

1) AFRICAN LAKES & RIVERS $600 (clue #7)
Cris 3600 +3600 (Josh 1600 Ilana 0)
2) OLD TECHNOLOGY $1200 (clue #11)
Cris 19200 +7000 (Josh 4000 Ilana 8200)
3) HONORARY U.S. CITIZENS $800 (clue #12, $18000 left on board)
Cris 26200 +100 (Josh 4000 Ilana 8200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 137

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Cris 5 4 5 5 3*
Josh 3 4
Ilana

DJ! Round:
Cris 4 5 4 3* 2*
Josh 3 4
Ilana 4 5 3 5 3

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Cris 4.00
Ilana 4.00
Josh 3.50

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 12 (0.20 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Cris $27,800 Coryat, 34 correct, 2 incorrect, 54.39% in first on buzzer (31/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Ilana $11,000 Coryat, 11 correct, 1 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Josh $1,200 Coryat, 10 correct, 5 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,000
Lach Trash: $6,000 (on 5 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,000

Cris Pannullo, career statistics:

610 correct, 46 incorrect
32/33 on rebound attempts (on 77 rebound opportunities)
49.12% in first on buzzer (558/1136)
41/45 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $160,400)
13/20 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $25,440

Josh Gregor, career statistics:

11 correct, 5 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,200

Ilana Freedman, career statistics:

12 correct, 1 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,000

Cris Pannullo, to win:

21 games: 92.983%
22: 86.459%
23: 80.392%
24: 74.751%
25: 69.506%
Avg. streak: 33.252 games.

Today’s interviews:

Ilana started reading the encyclopedia at the age of 7 or 8.
Josh would move around in the womb when his mom watched Jeopardy!
Cris has siblings sending him photos of him giving thumbs-up on the show.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• At 610, Cris passes Julia Collins for 8th all-time in terms of number of correct responses on the show; barring a historically low performance, Cris will pass Jason Zuffranieri (617) for 7th on Monday.
• $44,121 is the 132nd-best regular-play one-day total of all time on the show.
• As you can see, the clue selection chart doesn’t show any mistakes—Cris was just dominant when he needed to be in order to find and convert the Daily Doubles.

• Today’s box score: December 2, 2022 Box Score.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Cris $35,900 Ilana $11,000 Josh $1,200)

Cris: Bet between $0 and $13,899 and enjoy win #20! (Actual bet: $8,221)

Josh: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $128)

Ilana: Bet between $0 and $8,599 and enjoy second place. (Actual bet: $0)

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