Jeopardy Champions Wild Card 2025 Recap, Part 1: The Quarterfinals

 

 

We now enter the final phase of the leadup to the 2025 Tournament of Champions: Champions Wild Card. And in a sign of improvement by the producers they have decided to return to a previous format.

The fifteen players will playing five quarterfinal games. The five winners will advance along with the four high scores among non-winners. (Wild Card spots for the Wild Card. I hope I don’t get lost.) There will then be three semi-final matches to produce three winners in a two-game total point affair with the winner advancing to the 2025 Tournament of Champions. (Well, that’s not entirely accurate but I’ll get to that at the end of these recaps.)

So here is the recap of the five quarterfinal matches.

 

Monday January 13^th

Will Yancey-Paul Clauson-Jen Feldman

In the Jeopardy round Paul got off to a very fast start and built up to $3800 before he found the Daily Double in SCIENCE. He bet everything:

“The recoil of a gun is an example of conservation of this, mass times velocity.”

He paused a long time before guessing: “What is…force?” It was in fact momentum. He dropped to zero.

He made a remarkable recovery regaining the lead and finishing the Jeopardy round with $4600 to Jen’s $2800 and Will’s $2600.

In Double Jeopardy Will took an early lead helped by some blunders by Paul in THERE IN THE WORLD IS THAT. He had gotten back up to $3400 when he found the first Daily Double in PEOPLE IN THE BOOK. Proving he’d learned nothing from the recent past he bet everything he had. He then made the mistake of not understanding the category:

“Paralyzed Clifford, amorous Constance, manly Oliver.” He guessed: ‘What are Lady Chatterley’s Lovers?’ Had he omitted the S he would have been fine but they couldn’t accept it, particularly considering that Constance was Lady Chatterley herself. (Hopefully that will forego online backlash). He dropped to zero again.

Not long after that another blunder by Paul in the category ARE YOUR SURREAL?, let $2000 go into Jen’s pocket and put her in the lead for the first time. She found the other Daily Double on the next clue and while she only bet $3000, it didn’t go any better for her than either of Paul’s:

“Leonora Carrington’s crocodile sculpture in Mexico City was inspired by a poem a little girl recites in an 1865 novel by this man.” Jen took a long pause before guessing Dickens. It was actually Lewis Carroll. (Alice in Wonderland recites “How Doth the Little Crocodile” to the Caterpillar.) It cost her $3000.

The rest of the round was a battle between Will and Jen for the lead while Paul made a recovery. Double Jeopardy ended with Jen at $10,200, Will at $9800 and Paul in position with $4000.

The Final Jeopardy category was HISTORIC CURRENCY. “Henry VIII minted the first pound coin in 1489, which was called this, also a term for what Henry was.”

Paul’s wrote down: “What is a sovereign?” That was correct. He wagered everything to go to $8000. Will also wrote down: “What is a sovereign?” He bet $4000 to put him at $13,800. Jen, however, wrote down: “What is a Tudor coin?” (with a hi to her friend Lorna.) It cost her $2000. Will, the winner of the first week of Second Chance, advanced to the semi-finals.

 

Tuesday January 14^th

Davey Morrison-Stevie Ruiz-Evan Dorey

In the early stages of the Jeopardy round Evan and Davey fought for the lead but Evan pulled ahead and then found the Daily Double in AS THEY SAY…He chose to bet $3000:

“No backsies with this phrase, iacta alea est in Latin.” Evan knew his Latin: “What is the die is cast?”  He went up to $9000. He finished the round with $9800 to Davey’s $3800 while Stevie was at $2200.

Stevie got off to a quick start in Double Jeopardy but Davey got to the Daily Double in WE’RE JUST GONNA CALL HIM HERCULES. In a distant second he bet $4600:

“Hercules had a hand in the Trojan War, as his slaying of Laomedon made this man Troy’s king.” Davey hesitated a long time and before time was called he guessed: “Who is Agamemnon?” It would have been wrong anyway; it was Priam. He dropped to zero.

Davey found the other Daily Double in BOTANY and though it hadn’t worked the last time, he still bet the $2800 he had: “The agave is this type of plant whose name comes from the Latin for ‘juice’. This time he had it with: “What is succulent?”

But by this time Evan had built up an insurmountable lead and finished with $20,600 to Davey’s $8800 and Stevie’s $7000. He had locked up his spot in the semi-finals and Stevie and Davey had to position themselves for a wild card spot.

The category was maddeningly vague: COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. The clue was not much more help. “Bilady, Bilady, Bilady’, it’s national anthem, replaced a more militaristic one following a 1979 peace treaty.” None of them were right but were exactly wrong in their guesses.

Stevie wrote down: “What is Ireland?” (That’s what I thought it was.) It was wrong and it cost him $1801. Davey wrote down: “What is Iran?”  (Given the date, that’s logical.) It cost him everything. Evan wrote down: “What is Vietnam?” (The date would seem to mesh.)  In this case the 1979 Peace Treaty referred to the Camp David Accords and the country in question was Egypt. (Apparently it translates to ‘My homeland, my homeland, my homeland.” ) Evan didn’t have to risk anything and he didn’t.

Evan Dorey, who had the highest one day total of Season 41 so far, advanced to the semi-finals.

 

Wednesday January 15^th

Drew Goins Vs. Jay Fisher Vs. Aiden Ozrech

The first part of the Jeopardy round was excruciating for all three contestants. When Drew found the Daily Double after six consecutive (albeit very difficult) clues with no correct responses, Drew found the Daily Double in POP CULTURE PEOPLE. With only $600 to risk, he just bet the $600:

“In 2024 she made news by using her voice to question OpenAI’s practices after a new ChatGPT voice sounded an awful lot like her.”  Somehow Drew knew it was Scarlet Johansson and doubled his score. Things improved after that for all three players: at the end of the round Drew had $5000 to Jay’s $2400 and Aiden’s $400.

Jay made progress very early in Double Jeopardy when he found the first Daily Double in STATE CAPITALS. He bet $2000:

“This state capital lies where the Severn River flows into Chesapeake Bay.” He knew it was Annapolis and went up to $5600.

From that point on the round belonged to Drew and Jay. Drew managed to put up some distance before Jay found the other Daily Double in FIDDLIN’ AROUND. Cautiously he bet $1800:

“You need violins to represent this human part of a 1936 Prokofiev title duo.” It took him a moment to guess: “Who is Peter?” (of Peter and the Wolf) He went up to $14,600.

The round ended with only two players standing: Drew at $23,400, Jay with $15,400. Aiden had gone into the red early and never got out of it. He was eliminated.

The Final Jeopardy category was BOOKS OF THE 1960s. “In 1962 The New York Times said the release of this controversial book: “presages a noisy fall.” Jay thought it referred to Lolita, which was wrong. It cost him nothing. Drew wrote down: “What is Silent Spring? (hope this works!). He was right but he added nothing to his total either. Drew Goins became the second winner of the Second Chance Tournament to advance to the finals while Jay’s $15,400 put him in a strong position for a Wild Card Slot.

 

Thursday January 16^th

Joey DeSena vs Mehal Shah vs Eamonn Campbell

Joey found the Daily Double on the first clue in the Jeopardy which set the tone for a high-stakes fast paced game between three two game-champions. At the end of the Jeopardy round Mehal had a slight lead over Joey with $6600 to Joey’s $6200. Eamonn trailed with $2800.

Mehal found the first Daily Double on the second clue of Double Jeopardy and shocked everyone by betting the $7800 he had in TRAVEL USA: “The U.S. Space & Rocket Center in this Alabama city displays one of the world’s largest collections of space memorabilia.” Mehal knew it was Huntsville and jumped to $15,600. For much of the rest of the round he was in command of the game while Eamonn and Joey were trailing him.

Then late in Double Jeopardy Joey found the other Daily Double. At the time he had $11,800 to Mehal’s $18,600. He wagered $11,000, which according to Ken was the second biggest wager on a Daily Double so far this season in ‘MORE’ OR ‘LESS’

“The pope endorsed neither candidate in the 2024 U.S. Presidential election but said voters should choose this.” Joey took a long pause before saying: “What is the lesser of two evils?” That was acceptable for the judges who had wanted “the lesser evil.” Understandably Joey needed to take a breath before he picked again.

Double Jeopardy finished with the highest scores of the quarterfinals so far: Joey led with $24,000, Mehal was next with $19,600, Eamonn in third with a very respectable $9600.

The Final Jeopardy category was TREES. “Order Arecales, this tree gets its name from Roman times; a leaf from one was placed in a victor’s hands after a contest was won.” All three contestants gave the wrong response: “What is a laurel?” It’s hard to argue with that; it is a tree we associate with greatness (rest on your laurels) but it was the palm tree. “It got its name because it was shaped like the hand it was being placed in.”

Eamonn lost everything. Mehal and Joey each lost nothing. Joey became an automatic semi-finalist. And though Mehal is unaware of it, with his score of $19,600 he has also qualified for the semi-finals. That is the highest score so far and it means that Jay Fisher, who has $15,400 is also assured of a spot in the semis.

 

Friday January 17^th

Will Weiss vs Marko Saric vs Adam Hersh

Almost from the start of the Jeopardy round this game was a back and forth battle between Adam and Marko for the lead. The Daily Double didn’t do enough for Marko but in late stages Will made a big move to close the gap. The round ended with Adam ahead with $5800 to Marko’s $4800 and Will’s $4600.

Marko managed to take control on the second clue of Double Jeopardy when he found the first Daily Double in PHYSICAL SCIENCE. He wagered $4500: “It’s separation of waves according to their wavelength, as in a rainbow; also what police may want a crowd to do, meaning scattering.”  Marko needed a moment to come up with “What is dispersion?” and jumped up to $10,500.

It took until the sixth clue of the round for Adam to ring in and after five correct responses he retook the lead. (Will wouldn’t be able to ring in until the 20^th clue of the round.) Marko then retook the lead and found the other Daily Double in TOTAL DRAMA!

With $18,100 in front of him he bet $2700 this time: “Characters in this 4-act play include Judge Hathorne, Giles Corey and Tituba.” It took him another moment. “What is The Crucible?” He had ‘hard to calculate’ (as Ken put it) $20,800. Adam didn’t let him relax though and when the dust clear Marko had $24,400 to Adam’s $18,600 while poor Will was left with $5400.

The Final Jeopardy category was HISTORIC STATEEMENTS. “He wrote of his intent ‘to reserve & throw away my first fire, & I have thoughts of even reserving my second fire”

Will was unable to come up with anything. He wagered everything and dropped to zero. Adam seemed to be thinking of recent events: “Who is Baldwin?” This was incorrect and cost him everything. Marko wrote down: “Who is Nixon?” That was also wrong.

For the record I knew the correct response. (I don’t say this brag; this was only the second Final Jeopardy clue in the quarterfinals I knew the correct response too.) As Ken pointed out “this was somebody planning on not going all out in a duel; it is Alexander Hamilton thinking of letting Aaron Burr pause and reflect. He did not throw away his shot and we know what happened.”

Marko wagered nothing and became an automatic semi-finalist. And as a result we now knew who the four wild card spots would be held by: Mehal Shah, Jay Fisher, Jen Feldman and Paul Clauson.

With the semifinals beginning next week, I would like to add that by and large, my prophecy about the difficulties of Final Jeopardy when it comes to the postseason have so far been borne out. This is certainly true for the viewer at home, with each passing week I have known fewer of the correct responses for Final Jeopardy. I knew four of the five in the first week of Second Chance, three out of five last week and two out of five this week. I shudder to think just how difficult the Final Jeopardys will become in the semi-finals and the finals.

I will be back Wednesday with my recap of the semi-finals.