Editor’s Note: In my previous
article, my listing of Jeopardy champions who had double digit winning streaks
but had poor luck in the Tournament of Champions, I omitted Matt Jackson who
won 13 games in Season 32. My original argument still holds true, however; Matt
made it to the finals of the 2015 Tournament of Champions but was defeated – resoundingly -by Alex
Jacob.
Many of the champions who
have qualified for this year’s Tournament of Champions on Jeopardy have been
among the most astonishing in the show’s nearly four decades on the air. So
perhaps it is fitting that the finals for this tournament reflect the
circumstances.
I wrote in the articles
leading up to this that the finals for the tournament were a two-day total
point affair, with the winner at the end of the second game winning the
tournament. I was unaware, however, that the producers had changed the rules
again. Modeling themselves after the Greatest of All Time tournament that aired
in primetime in January of 2020, the finals of this tournament are what might
be considered a best-of-seven affair, with the first player to win three games
winning the grand prize of $250,000.
When I learned about this at
the start of last week, I admit I had my doubts. The GOAT tournament
commemorated James Holzhauer, Brad Rutter, and Jennings himself, and was done
primarily to be a tribute to the ailing Alex Trebek who passed away that
November. Watching at the time, I think the format was something of a
disappointment but I accepted it more as a tribute to Alex. There was no sign
of any change in the format in the last Tournament of Champions, so there
didn’t seem any reason to do the same here. I think this may have been done
with the implied idea that the three finalists would be Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach,
and Amy Schneider. That seems hard to believe considering the show’s producer’s
should know better by now, but I can’t think of any other reason they would so
radically alter a format that’s worked just fine all these years.
However, having watched the
finals I confess that I have changed my mind. I don’t believe this is so much
precedent for future tournaments as a way of dealing with a very special year.
I find it likely that in the next Tournament, Jeopardy will return to business
as usual. But the finals, which extended into six games have proven themselves
to be more than worth the buildup. The matches have been thrilling from
beginning to end, remarkably evenly matched between the three competitors, and
have ended with some of the toughest Final Jeopardys in the history of Jeopardy
tournaments, leading to some of the most thrilling finishes in the show’s
history. And though it took awhile together, it was finally won by the player
who earned it.
Here is a play-by-play for
the finals between Sam Buttrey, Andrew He and Amy Schneider.
Game 1
The Jeopardy round of Game 1
started off fairly evenly with Sam getting off to a quick start. The mood
changed in the middle of the round when Andrew found the Daily Double in THE SOUTHERN
HEMISPHERE. Continuing a trend he had begun in the semi-final match that would
become a recurring theme, he bet everything he had:
“You can go from ‘A’ to ‘Z’
crossing the 660-mile border between these 2 southern African countries.”
Andrew hesitated before saying: “What are Angola and Zambia?” He doubled his
score to $3600 and went into the lead. At the first commercial break, he’d
still be ahead with $4400 to Sam’s $3000 and Amy’s $1400.
It didn’t last for long. Amy
went on a mini-run in the second half and pulled ahead by the end. But it was a
very close score: she had $5000 to Sam’s $4800 while Andrew had dropped to
$4200.
In Double Jeopardy, Sam and
Amy spent much of the first half of the round dividing the clues between them.
Then Andrew managed to ring in on a clue in FOREIGN WORDS AND PHRASES and found
the Daily Double immediately afterwards in POETRY. Trailing with $7800, he bet
everything:
“’Thou singest of summer in
full-throated ease”, Keats wrote in ‘Ode to’ this creature.” Andrew came up
with a Nightingale and jumped into the lead.
Sam found the second Daily
Double two clues later in FOREIGN WORDS AND PHRASES, and slightly behind Andrew
decided to wager $6000. It didn’t go as well for him:
“A criminal who is caught
red-handed is caught this way, “while the crime is blazing.’ Sam struggled,
finally guessed: “What is corpus delicti?” It was actually in flagrante
delicto. He dropped to $7200. Not long after that Amy managed to get four
consecutive clues correct, including three of the remaining $2000 clues. Still
Andrew had enough of a margin that he finished Double Jeopardy in the lead with
$18,800. Amy was next with $14,600 and Sam was in good shape with $12,000.
The Final Jeopardy category
was one that Ken was relatively sure had never been seen before: GEOGRA-FLEE.
“In July 2022 the ousted president of this country fled west across the Indian
Ocean to the Maldives.” Sam and Andrew
knew the correct country: “What is Sri Lanka?” (Ken: Sri Lanka is just a bit
southeast of the tip of India, the Maldives are right to the Southwest.) Amy
apparently thought it might have Sri Lanka, but wrote down: “What is
Indonesia?”
The wagers were more
considered than they probably would be in a two-day total point affair. Sam bet
nothing, leaving him at $12,000. Amy lost $10,000 dropping her to $4600.
Andrew’s correct response guaranteed him a win, but he had bet enough to beat
Amy by $1 had she been correct and wagered everything.
Winner Game 1: Andrew.
Game 2
In the Jeopardy round Andrew
went in the red early and managed to climb out by the first commercial break.
All three players were on a fairly even level until Sam made a mistake in the
historically tricky category JEPORTMANTEAU! For $600:
“Area in which law is
enforced + a reference book.”
Sam thought it was
‘districtionary’, while Amy knew it was ‘jurisdictionary.” This put her into a
tie with Andrew with $2800 at the commercial break.
Andrew managed to put some
distance between him and Amy when he finally found the Daily Double in FACTS
& FIGURES. Again he bet everything: “50% of our genes – 10,000 of 20,000
are regulated by this rhythm, from Latin for ‘about’ & ‘day’. He knew it
was circadian and doubled his score to $7600. He finished the Jeopardy round
with $9200 to Amy’s $4600 and Sam’s $2200.
In Double Jeopardy Amy would
take an early lead when she found the first Daily Double in TALKING ECON’. She
bet $4000: “The birth of economics as its own discipline is often traced to a
1776 work by this man.” Amy knew the answer: “Who is Adam Smith?” She went into
the lead with $10,200.
She held that lead after a
lot of struggling with the category FIRST-TIME RESPONSES. But then Andrew found
the other Daily Double in A LITTLE PEACE OF HISTORY. Trailing her by just $200,
he bet the $10,000 he had: “The 2006 Greentree Agreement, settling a fight by
shifting a peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon was brokered by this African.”
Andrew thought before guessing: “Who is Annan?” (the former Secretary-General
to the UN) He jumped to a big lead with $20,000.
The chances for Amy to
anybody to catch up with Andrew were remote at that point and Amy didn’t, but
she came incredibly close. Doing well in categories NOW STREAMING ON DuMONT +
(a 1950s TV network) and LATE 20TH CENTURY BOOKS, she managed to
finish the round only $1000 behind Andrew with $22,200 to his $23,200. Sam was
in good shape with $9400.
The Final Jeopardy category
was NAME’S THE SAME and it was tough. “Name shared by a Victorian novelist and
an 1805 flagship captain whose name is heard in a famous phrase.” Andrew and
Sam both wrote: “Who is Gridley?” Amy put down: “Who is Nelson?” Amy had the
right idea. Lord Nelson’s last words
were: “Kiss me, Hardy.” The man he was speaking to was named Thomas Hardy.
It came down to wagers. Sam
bet nothing. Amy bet $1100, and Andrew bet $21,199. Amy had the most at the
end.
Winner Game 2: Amy.
Game 3
The Jeopardy round of Game 3
was by far the most evenly matched of the games to this point. Andrew dropped
into the red early again in the game, and when he found the Daily Double in
AMERICAN HISTORY, he didn’t have a lot to work with, so he bet the $1000 he
could.
“At this New York battle in
the fall of 1777, nearly 6,000 British troops surrendered to Colonial forces.”
Andrew knew it was Saratoga and went to $1400. The game continued in a close
fashion: in fact, there was actually a three way tie for first at one point.
The Jeopardy round ended nearly as close: Amy and Andrew were tied at $3800,
Sam had $3600.
Amy effectively gutted her
chances early in the Double Jeopardy round. She found the first Daily Double in
COMPOUND WORDS. At this point it was still very close, she was in the lead with
$5800 and Andrew was in third with $5000. So she tried to break it open by
betting $5000. It didn’t work out:
“A point of reference from
which measurements are made, it was once an actual notch or line made on a
permanent object.” She pondered a long time before guessing: “What is
milestone?” It wasn’t. It was benchmark. She dropped to $800.
Much of the remainder of the
round was dominated by Sam. He had gotten up to $12,400 when Andrew managed to
find the other Daily Double in 4 WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL. With only $5800,
betting everything seemed like a reasonable option: “On September 12, 1846,
this pair of poets wed secretly at St. Marylebone Church; the bride lived with
dad on Wimpole Street for another week.” He knew it was Robert and Elizabeth
Barrett Browning and closed the gap by getting up to $11,600. But Sam managed
to hold the margin and finished Double Jeopardy ahead with $14,800 to Andrew’s
$13,200 while Amy loomed as spoiler with $2400.
The Final Jeopardy answers
to Game 3 have met with some controversy going forward. The category was THE
NEW TESTAMENT. “Paul’s letter to them is the New Testament epistle with the
most Old Testament quotations.” Amy’s response of: “Who are the Hebrews?” was
ruled correct. Sam’s response of: “Who are The Romans?” was ruled wrong. But
there have been online challenges as to the veracity of the response, with some
scholars saying that the latter book has more quotations.
The results were about the
wagers. Amy bet nothing. Andrew (who wrote down: “Who are the Philippians?”)
lost $3201. Sam bet big - $11,601. Andrew had the most money at the end of
Final Jeopardy and notched his second win.
Winner Game 3: Andrew.
Game 4
The Jeopardy round was
pretty much dominated by Amy. She took a quick lead and was in charge pretty
much from beginning to end, with $6200 at the commercial break and $10,200 by
the end of it. Andrew was slow to get started and not even finding the Daily
Double was able to put up much of a dent in Amy’s lead. Andrew was in second
with $4000 and Sam trailed badly with $2400.
Double Jeopardy was Sam’s
turn to shine. Trailing badly with $6000 when he found the first Daily Double,
he brought laughter to the crowd when he said: “I’d like to bet the maximum
amount required by law.” A couple of moments later he brought the crowd to
their feet for a different recent.
The category was FAR OUT:
“Once matter enters a black hole, it falls to the center and concentrates at an
infinitely dense point called this.” Sam knew it was the singularity and jumped
up to $12,000. He would take the lead briefly on the $2000 clue in that
category.
He wouldn’t hold it long,
though. Amy found the second Daily Double near the end of the round in NATIVE
AMERICAN PLACE NAMES IN THE U.S. “It’s the capital of a state and the seat of
Laramie County.” Amy knew it was Cheyenne and gained $4000 which put her at
$21,000. She finished with the very impressive total of $25,000, Sam was next
with $20,000 and Andrew was in last place at the end of a final for the first
time with $6800.
The Final Jeopardy category
was the deceptively easy sounding MOVIES & LITERATURE. The clue was
anything but that. “Ridley Scott’s first feature The Duelists, was based
on a story by this author to whom Scott’s film Alien also pays tribute.
All three contestants were thinking in terms of science fiction or fantasy.
Andrew wrote down: “Who is (Philip K. ) Dick?” Sam wrote down: “Who is A.C.
Clarke?” Amy responded: “Who is Lovecraft?” As Ken pointed out: “Many of the
spaceships and other objects are named in honor of the works of Joseph Conrad,
such as the Nostromo, the spaceship in Alien. And Conrad wrote the
duelists.” It came down to wagers: Andrew bet $5999. Sam bet everything and Amy
bet $6000. Amy was left with $19,000, which gave Amy her second victory, tying
her with Andrew.
Winner Game 4: Amy.
Game 5
In the Jeopardy round,
everybody got off to a slow start. Amy found the Daily Double early and got it
wrong. (The FURNITURE category was a bad one for the contestants.) Slowly but
surely Amy pulled into the lead with $2400 at the commercial break and $6000 by
the end of it. Andrew was next at $2400, while Sam, who was in the red for much
of the round, managed to get up to $1600.
Early in Double Jeopardy it
looked like Andrew had the momentum. He found the first Daily Double in 20th
CENTURY FICTION. As he done on five previous Daily Doubles in the finals, he
bet everything: “This book with a facial feature in its title was Toni
Morrison’s debut novel.” He thought for a moment before guessing: “What is The
Bluest Eye?” He doubled his score to $10,000.
He then found the other
Daily Double on the very next clue in PAINT SAMPLES. Once again, he bet
everything. This time, his luck ran out. “Don’t try to pet this cat in a tricky
canvas by Louis-Leopould Boilly, who invented this French term.” Andrew
struggled but could not come up with a response. It was trompe l’oeil.” He
dropped to nothing and spent the rest of the game in last, though he gave it
his best effort.
Amy maintained her lead the
rest of the way, despite a worthy challenge by Sam. At the end of Double
Jeopardy, Amy led with $15,800, Sam was next with $11,200 and Andrew trailed
with $6800. Amy was in the best position to clinch the tournament.
The Final Jeopardy category
was ENGLISH CITIES. “William the Conqueror’s son built a fortress on a key
northern river in 1080, giving this city its name.” Andrew didn’t have the
right answer, but Sam and Amy did: “What is Newcastle?” Sam also knew the other
part of the name: “upon Tyne.”
It came down to wagering. Sam,
who had nothing to lose, bet everything. Andrew, who knew his only chance was
if Sam and Amy canceled each other out, bet $6700. Amy clearly saw Andrew as
the bigger threat and wagered only $1800. If she’d been wrong and he’d been
right, she still would have won the tournament. Unfortunately for her, Sam was
not as cautious and was rewarded with his first victory of the finals.
Winner Game 5: Sam.
Game 6
The early stages of the
Jeopardy round were dominated by Sam and Andrew. Then Sam found the Daily
Double in WRITERS AND THEIR WORKS. He gambled and bet the $2600 he had. “Left
unfished at his death, Juneteenth, his second novel, was published in
1999.” Sam puzzled over this before guessing: “Who is Baldwin?” This was wrong.
It was Ralph Ellison. He dropped to zero and spent the rest of the Jeopardy
round in last.
By the middle of the round
Amy caught fire and pulled ahead. She spent much of the remainder battling with
Andrew for first, and finally took it over with $6400 to his $5800. Sam was in
a distant third with $1400.
Luck seemed to be with Sam
early in Double Jeopardy. He found the first Daily Double on his first
selection in BODIES OF WATER and bet the $2000 he could. “The Komandorski
Islands are part of a 1200 mile arc separating this sea from the Pacific Ocean
to the South.” He knew it was The Bering Sea and went to $3400.
Sam’s luck improved more
when Andrew made a mistake in the category ‘P.J.” that cost him $1600 and Sam
got one that earned him $1200. He then hesitated before choosing the category
MOVIE TAGLINES and found the other Daily Double. He bet $3000.
“2021: Every family has its
own language.” He hesitated before guessing: “What is CODA?”
and
jumped up to $9600 and into the lead.
That unfortunately was the
highpoint of the game for him. He soon lost $3600 on two consecutive clues in
INTO CREAM CHEESE and the rest of the round was fought fairly evenly between
Andrew and Amy. When Amy got three of the last four clues correct, she managed
to get the barest of advantages, finishing the round with $15,600 to Andrew’s
$14,200 and Sam’s $8000.
The Final Jeopardy category
for the game was PLAYS. “The January 12, 1864 Washington Evening Star reported
on a performance of this ‘dashing comedy’ to a ‘delighted full house.’” Sam may
have had the right idea when he wrote down: “What is Our Mutual Friend?” but
Andrew and Amy had the right play: “Our American Cousin.” (This is the
play Lincoln was seeing at Ford’s Theater the night he was assassinated.)
Again it came down to
wagers. Sam bet and lost everything. Andrew bet $2801. But Amy had learned her
lesson and this time bet $13,000. This gave her $28,600 and made her the winner
of the Tournament.
Tournament Winner: Amy. ($250,000)
Second Place: Andrew.
($100,000)
Third Place: Sam ($50,000)
Tomorrow I will wrap up this
series of articles with a final analysis of the tournament and the significance
of the winners in the context of the history of Jeopardy.
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