Final Jeopardy: The Southern Hemisphere (10-8-21)

Today’s Final Jeopardy question (10/8/2021) in the category “The Southern Hemisphere” was:

British zoologist George Shaw looked for stitches when he first saw this mammal in 1799, thinking he was being tricked

37x champ Matt Amodio, a PhD student from New Haven, CT has racked up $1,467,801 so far on his streak. In Game 38, he takes on these two players: Claire Lyon, an engineer orig. from Ashland, KY; and Max Godnick, a producer orig. from New York, NY.

Round 1 Categories: October – Tales of Horror – Surviving Prohibition – We Look Down on that State – Actor-Moguls – 4, 4

Matt got the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “October” under the $1,000 clue on the 3rd pick. In the lead with $2,000, Matt was the only one with any money. He bet it all and he was RIGHT.

In Catholic tradition, October is the month to celebrate this set of prayers recited with an accompanying physical aid. show

Matt finished in the lead with $14,200. Max was second with $3,600 and Claire was last with $0. No clues went uncovered.

Round 2 Categories: The Grand Ole Opera House – Not Your Average Gemstone! – Pardon My Frenchman – The Flying… – Technology – I’d like a Word with “U”

Matt landed on the first Daily Double in “Not Your Average Gemstone!” under the $1,200 clue on the 4th pick. He was in the lead with $18,600, $15,000 more than Max in second place. He bet $6,000 and he was RIGHT.

Dust & Ash from a volcano in this state were used to create a new green type of gem called helenite. show

7 clues later, Matt got the last Daily Double in “I’d Like a Word with ‘U’” under the $2,000 clue. Now leading with $31,800, he had $26,200 more than Max in second place. Matt bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.

This Japanese word for a type of flavor entered English in the early 1960s. show

Matt finished in the lead with a runaway $43,800. Max was second with $7,600 and Claire was last with $5,600. No clues went uncovered.

TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS A PLATYPUS? (Also acceptable: duckbill platypus, duckbilled platypus)

From Ripleys.com: “Zoologist George Shaw was the first westerner to describe a platypus, the pelt and bill of which he was sent in 1799 from Australia. Shaw tried to understand the platypus but … couldn’t shake the feeling he was being duped. Shaw believed it was very possible a person might have taken an actual duck’s bill and the pelt from an otter or a mole and sent them to England to mess with him. In fact, he even cut the skin with scissors to try and find the stitches–which, of course, he couldn’t!”

The platypus is one of the “Surprisingly Dangerous Animals Around the World” listed on the Daily Sabah



Claire got it right. Her $1,691 bet brought her up to $7,291.

Max came up with a zebra. That cost him $3,601 and left him with $3,999.

Matt also got it with “duckbill platypus”. He bet $7,000 and won the game with $50,800. Matt’s 38-day total is $1,518,601.

Final Jeopardy (10/8/2021) Matt Amodio, Claire Lyon, Max Godnick

I only saw these two triple stumpers in the whole game:

TALES OF HORROR ($200) The kids of Kettle Springs are menaced not by “Scarecrow in a Cornfield” but worse, this smiley creature “in a Cornfield”

TECHNOLOGY ($800) Jetronic increased power & mileage in 1967 as the first workable electronic system for this auto process, sending the gas to the engine

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “World Literature”

Some parts were translated from a 15th century Syrian manuscript when this work was introduced to Europe around 1700 show

IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE SHOW OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!

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17 Responses

  1. Susan says:

    Keep going Matt! Love to watch you play.

  2. Bret says:

    You guys crack me up! How can you not just celebrate someone with such intellect? I doubt Jeopardy has lost a true forever viewer over Matt! I adore his quirks just like James’ , Kens’ and many winners. Not all had runs like them but I enjoy their gifts and only wish I would have studied harder in ALL subjects…not just the ones I enjoyed. So before anyone critiques me…grammar wasn’t one of my favorites. For me it is still a great game I’ve enjoyed….let’s just say over half a century. Just be kind people…life goes so much smoother that way.

    • VJ says:

      @Bret, What you are seeing here is a couple of honest opinions. Not everyone watches the show for the same reasons. Some people tune in to see a competition. Some people (like myself) tune in for the clues and some people love to see a player set new records. Some people can appreciate these differences of opinion and others can’t but no one is just saying stuff to be unkind.

      As for celebrating intellect, Matt himself has indicated that his opponents are just as smart as he is. In this game, you could see Claire trying to buzz in on many clues. She simply could not beat Matt on the buzzer.

  3. John Christian says:

    Hope for some rebound and no Triple Stumper next week. This week has been rough for Matt, given that Wednesday’s FJ! was tough.

  4. Steven J. Smith, M.D. says:

    I love the show, but I stopped watching 20 episodes ago once Matt was into his run. A great deal of the drama is gone with him winning every day. Several of my friends have voiced concerns the show is now fixed. I’m a 160 IQ, and its hard to believe one person, particularly a grad student, could have his breadth of knowledge. You ought to put him against some very capable opponents and get the show back on track.

    You ought to be wondering, what percentage of lost viewers will stay away. While the minority of new viewers, watching to see Matt go on, by definition will drift away once he loses. Net loss.

    • klm says:

      agree with everything u said. as i commented earlier, the doctors, lawyers, librarians, teachers have suddenly disappearead and now we have marketing people, producers, ironworkers thrown at amodio. no disrespect, but these are cannon fodder.
      also, the charm is gone by the end of the first round when u can see a runaway happening. true fans can just get the clues and responses then from J archive.

  5. Sean Cassidy says:

    GREAT JOB, MATT!! You’re almost at a 40-day total! But, when I was watching you play Jeopardy!, I had to write checkmarks on all the questions and answers you just did. But, I think you might be going a little too fast. I wish Jeopardy should slow down a little bit. I didn’t hear Matt Amodio very clearly.

  6. JR says:

    I’ve looked in several dictionaries, both online and books. “Playpus” is NOT A WORD!
    Yesterday, the word “biathalon” was not accepted for adding a syllable, even though saying the word “biathlon” often sound like 4 syllables. Today, Matt either misspelled the word or didn’t know it. He shortened the word by a syllable. He wins either way, but the same rules need to apply to everyone.

    • VJ says:

      @JR, that is my typo and I’m terribly sorry I didn’t notice it when I proofread the recap before publishing. Matt most definitely wrote “duckbill platypus”.

      Again, I’m sorry for the confusion. I just fixed my mistake.

  7. Lou says:

    Another week finished with Matt getting a streak despite a costly final jeopardy on Wednesday. Next week I hope we get another triple solve. Overall I say this has been a good week for our streaker Matt winning one and a half million dollars. It’s a big total. I can see that he might get to 2 million either next week or the following week. No giant killer yet.

    • John Christian says:

      That giant killer will be in December because Matt will BREAK the record.

      • Darius Scott says:

        @John Christian – Probably, if Matt can still keep up. Honestly, Matt will probably break the 156-day game record, but if that’s not it, then it’s probably going to happen, because he will not win all 230 games. A giant killer will come to him eventually. Actually, interesting fact: December is two months from now.

        • Richard Corliss says:

          I agree with John Christian, because he’s gonna be here all October not December. So he’ll get defeated on November, just like Ken Jennings. If Blaze was here and was human he’ll be way faster than Matt and he’ll be famous just like he wins every monster machine races.

        • Darius Scott says:

          I agree with you both. We’ll see how things go eventually when Matt still wins next month. I’ll make sure to check the recaps for the wins.

        • Darius Scott says:

          Awww! He lost early than December! I’m sorry that happened to him!

  8. Pat C says:

    Just found your website. It is a lifesaver now that Dish Network has lost the NBC channel that airs Jeopardy in our Minneapolis market area. Great fun to follow Matt’s journey!