Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, September 20, 2023

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

August 12: S42 E98 (January 21, 2026)
August 13: S42 E99 (January 22, 2026)
August 14: S42 E100 (January 23, 2026)
August 15-16: S41 E141 (March 24, 2025)
August 17: S42 E101 (January 26, 2026)
August 18: S42 E105 (January 30, 2026)
August 19: S42 E102 (January 27, 2026)
August 20: S42 E103 (January 28, 2026)
August 21: S42 E104 (January 29, 2026)
August 22-23: S41 E142 (March 25, 2025)
August 24: S42 E106 (February 2, 2026)
August 25: S42 E107 (February 3, 2026)
August 26: S42 E108 (February 4, 2026)
August 27: S42 E109 (February 5, 2026)
August 28: S42 E110 (February 6, 2026)
August 29-30: S41 E143 (March 26, 2025)
(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 $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Andrew He $534,365
17. Scott Riccardi $533,000
18. Jerome Vered $499,102
19. Julia Collins $495,767
20. Austin Rogers $493,000
21. Ben Ingram $449,201
22. Paolo Pasco $448,717
23. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
24. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
25. Juveria Zaheer $441,000

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 20th Century People) for Wednesday, September 20, 2023 (Season 40, Game 8):

In 2022 the Dept. of Energy noted “a flawed process” & vacated a 1954 commission’s decision “in the matter of” this man

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Pam Sung, a physician-scientist from Amherst, New York

Alex Lamb, a data scientist from Lake Forest, California

Brian Ross, an attorney from Los Angeles, California

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Deanna Bolio and Rob Kim are already in the finals of Second Chance this week. One of Brian Ross, Alex Lamb, and Pam Sung will be joining them.

One thing I noticed this morning, especially after the opposite result was brought to my attention yesterday: I don’t think the show counts its Triple Stumpers properly when there’s a judge’s reversal. Yesterday’s show boxscore claimed 16 Triple Stumpers, while my count and J! Archive’s showed 15. I’m guessing that this was caused by a judge’s reversal on one of Rob’s responses yesterday; I think we can all agree that a clue should not be a Triple Stumper if a contestant is retroactively given credit for a correct response.

Another interesting thing that came out earlier this week: audience members have come out and reported the format for the Champions Wildcard events this fall. It appears as though the competitions will be contested among groups of 27 players over 14 episodes: 9 quarterfinals, 3 semifinals, and a 2-game total-point final, with the winner getting a Tournament of Champions berth. The first Champions Wildcard competition begins on October 2. (I also don’t see regular play returning until April 2024 at this point.)

Correct response: Who is J. Robert Oppenheimer?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2023 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

This should be a relatively straightforward Final—if you watched Oppenheimer in theatres this past summer. If you didn’t, you’re going to be in trouble.

In 1954, the security clearance of famed Manhattan Project scientist (and director of the Los Alamos Laboratory) J. Robert Oppenheimer was revoked, due to claims of associations with communism in the “Red Scare” at the start of the Cold War. This essentially ended Oppenheimer’s career as a nuclear physicist. In 2022, the Department of Energy vacated the 1954 decision, citing “more evidence has come to light of the bias and unfairness of the process that Dr. Oppenheimer was subjected to while the evidence of his loyalty and love of country have only been further affirmed”.

Even during Oppenheimer’s lifetime the Atomic Energy Commission (precursor to the Department of Energy) attempted to make political amends for the revocation; Oppenheimer was awarded the Enrico Fermi Award by the AEC in 1963.

As I mentioned at the top, the revocation of Oppenheimer’s security clearance played a major role in the 2023 film starring Cillian Murphy. Certainly, this isn’t the only case in Jeopardy! history where having seen a recent major film makes a Final Jeopardy clue much easier—Bob Harris recounts a story in Prisoner of Trebekistan about how his failure to see Amistad in theatres hurt his chances in his Tournament of Champions final in 1998.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, September 20, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Back In The Day; The Sporting News; The New York Knocks; Name That Play; European Vacation; B Minus)

Alex was rolling along well, but an incorrect True Daily Double took away his momentum. As it was, Pam gave zero incorrect responses en route to holding a $2,000 lead after 30 clues.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Pam 4 correct 0 incorrect
Brian 3 correct 1 incorrect
Alex 4 correct 3 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Pam has parents celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary at the taping.
Alex got Re-Called on the 2-year anniversary of his airdate.
Brian was haunted by his Final Jeopardy in his first game.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Pam 8 correct 0 incorrect
Brian 7 correct 1 incorrect
Alex 10 correct 4 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Pam $4,600
Brian $2,600
Alex $1,400

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The Hand That Feeds You; Mickey’s Mantel; Also A State Postal Abbreviation; The Real (White House) Wives Of D.C.; Opera; “High” Notes)

Double Jeopardy! saw the Daily Doubles stay out for a long while, but Pam then found them on back-to-back clues! Unfortunately for her sake, she split them for a net $0—which allowed Brian to keep Pam from having a runaway going into Final!

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Pam 18 correct 2 incorrect
Brian 14 correct 1 incorrect
Alex 16 correct 7 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Pam $15,000
Brian $9,800
Alex $2,200

Final Jeopardy today was straightforward for everyone; Pam is your third of this week’s finalists!

Tonight’s results:

Alex $2,200 + $117 = $2,317 (Who is Oppenheimer?)
Brian $9,800 + $9,800 = $19,600 (Who is Oppenheimer?)
Pam $15,000 + $5,000 = $20,000 (Who is Oppenheimer?) (Finalist)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) BACK IN THE DAY $1000 (clue #7)
Alex 2200 -2200 (Brian 800 Pam 2000)
2) THE REAL (WHITE HOUSE) WIVES OF D.C. $2000 (clue #19)
Pam 15400 +3000 (Brian 7800 Alex 3000)
3) OPERA $1600 (clue #20, $7600 left on board)
Pam 18400 -3000 (Brian 7800 Alex 3000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -97

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Brian 4 5
Alex 3 4 5*
Pam 5 4

DJ! Round:
Brian 3 5 3 2 4
Alex 4 4 3 1 2 3
Pam 5 3 4 5 4 5 2 5* 4*

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Pam 4.18
Brian 3.71
Alex 3.22

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:

Pam $17,000 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Brian $9,800 Coryat, 14 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Alex $4,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 7 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,200
Lach Trash: $11,400 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $11,400

Player Statistics:

Brian Ross, career statistics:

35 correct, 5 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
30.36% in first on buzzer (34/112)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,400)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,800

Alex Lamb, career statistics:

38 correct, 9 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,800)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,100

Pam Sung, career statistics:

40 correct, 5 incorrect
2/4 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
32.46% in first on buzzer (37/114)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $0)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Today’s box score: September 20, 2023 Box Score.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Pam $15,000 Brian $9,800 Alex $2,200)

Brian: Bet at least $600; however, a bet between $5,201 and $5,399 both passes Pam’s score and keeps Alex locked out for second. (Actual bet: $9,800)

Alex: Any bet but “all in” is okay here in the battle for second. (Actual bet: $117)

Pam: Standard cover bet over Brian is $4,601. (Actual bet: $5,000)

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