Jeopardy Champions Wild Card Recap: The Semi-Finals

 

We are now in the final week before the 2025 Tournament of Champions. On Friday along with my recaps of the final, I will give an official recap of who will be competing in the Tournament of Champions, along with the official format. But for now, let’s deal with the semi-finals in all their glory. And there was quite a lot of that.

 

Game 1

Jen Feldman vs. Drew Goins vs. Joey DeSena

Note: This game was preempted in many markets – including mine - by coverage of Inauguration Day. What follows is basically a recap of events taken more or less from The Jeopardy Archive online. Sorry.

Drew got off to a fast start in the Jeopardy round, helped that when Joey found the Daily Double he got it wrong and lost everything. He had $7200 at the end of it to Jen’s $2400 while Joey was at $800.

Joey and Jen made up a lot of ground in Double Jeopardy and Jen looked like she was making a big move when she found the first Daily Double in 18^th CENTURY WRITING. She bet $5000:

“Pangloss & Cunegonde are characters in this satire that mocked optimism by portraying a world of folly and danger.” Jen knew it was Candide and went up to $12,200.

However one clue later Drew found the other Daily Double in PSYCHOLOGY. He wagered $4000:

“Like ‘helicopter parents’, this term from a sports-minded Danish psychologist describes parents who sweep obstacles away from kids.” Drew needed a moment: “What are curling parents?” Ken noted he didn’t sound hopeful but that was the correct term. He went up to $23,600. Getting six of the last ten clues correct he managed to get his total up to $26,800, just enough for a runaway of Jen’s $12,600 and Joey’s $9200.

The Final Jeopardy category was COLD WAR CRAFT. “A U.S. Navy Website says its journey from New London to Norway in 1957 opened up Arctic waters previously ruled by the Soviets.”

There was a sense of camaraderie in the Final Jeopardy responses. Joey was the only one who knew the correct answer: “What is the Nautilus?” (The first nuclear powered submarine.) He added: “Go for it Drew!” Jen wrote down: “What is watch more women’s sports?” Joey was particularly funny. He wrote down: “What is a mouse?” That was the incorrect response he gave for Final Jeopardy in Game of the Wild Card finals. He added, graciously, “Thanks Jen and Joey!” (Both Jen and Drew added heart signs to their responses.) Drew didn’t have to wager anything and he didn’t as he qualified for the finals.

 

 

 

 

Game 2

Evan Dorey vs. Jay Fisher vs Will Yancey

From the start of the Jeopardy round it was clear this was going to be a dogfight between Evan and Will. Not even a missed Daily Double early could slow Will much. At the end of the round Evan led with $7800 and Will was next with $5200. Jay was at-$400 and knew very early how tough this would be.

Early in Double Jeopardy Will began a remarkable run that centered on a sweep of the category THE BIBLE. He found the first Daily Double in the $800 clue and he wagered the $10,800 he already had:

“In the New Testament we learn Peter’s brother Andrew, who also became an apostle, had previously been a disciple of this religious figure. Will knew it was John the Baptist, doubled his score to $21,600 and had what seemed to be insurmountable lead.

Three clues later, however, Evan found the other Daily Double and decided to call and raise, wagering the $13,400 in ‘B’ ON THE SEA. “The name of this mall Middle Eastern kingdom means ‘the 2 seas’ in Arabic. “ Evan needed a moment to come up with: ‘What is Bahrain?” His score was $26,800. Will was never able to catch him for the rest of Double Jeopardy. At the end of the round Evan and Will each had two of the highest scores seen on Jeopardy all-season: Will had $26,000; Evan had $32,400. Jay was still with $2800 but he knew what a mess it was.

It came down to Final Jeopardy. The category was MYTHOLOGY: “Some myths say that the treasure of the Nibelung was hidden under a promontory called this, on the Rhine near St. Goarshausen.

Jay didn’t try and lost nothing. Will was next: What is Lorelei’s rock?” That was acceptable. As Ken pointed out: The Lorelei, the rock in the Rhine said to be where a siren would lure fishermen to their death.” Will bet everything to put him at $52,000.

It was on Evan. He couldn’t come up with an answer. He wagered $20,000 and as a result Will advanced to the semi-finals.

 

 

 

Game 3

 Marko Seric vs Mehal Shah vs Paul Clauson

In the Jeopardy round Mehal came out swinging. He was already at $2600 when he found the Daily Double in LITERALLY LITERATURE. He did what is quickly becoming the trend  when they come up and bet everything:

“This 1880s short story ends with ‘never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.” Mehal knew it was  “Who is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?” (the mongoose from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book) and leaped up to $5200. He slowed down a little after that but finished with $7400 to Marko’s $3000 and Paul’s $2000.

Paul got off to a bad start when he found the first Daily Double on the first clue of the Double Jeopardy round in PREFIXED PAIRS. This was a tricky category as it required two words with the same prefix. “One millionth of a 60^th of a minute and a small region with its own pattern of weather.”  He had nothing and I couldn’t figure out a microsecond and a microclimate. He then got the $2000 clue in the category wrong.

Mehal then spent much of Double Jeopardy building a huge lead so by the time Paul found the other Daily Double in INSECTS IN HIGH & LOW CULTURE he knew he had no choice but to bet the $4600 he had:

“In a Rimsky-Korsakov opera, this piece of music conveys when a prince is transformed into a certain insect (by a magical swan!) Paul figured it out: “What is Flight of the Bumblebee?” and made it to $9600. Thanks to that remarkable comeback Mehal still had a big lead going into Final Jeopardy with $19,800 but Paul had $12,400 and Marko was not out of contention with $5800.

The Final Jeopardy category was one I don’t recall seeing on Jeopardy before: FROM REAL LIFE TO FICTION: “These 2 British authors based characters – Dikko Henderson & Old Craw – on Richard Hughes, journalist and double agent.

Marko knew the correct two authors: “Who are Fleming and Le Carre?”  He doubled his score to $11,600. Paul got it half right: “Who are Fleming and Tolkien?” It cost him $2500, leaving him with $9900.

It came down to Mehal. His response was: “Who are Fleming and Stevenson?” It cost him $6001. It left him with $13,799 and that was enough to move on to the finals.

So starting tomorrow both winners of the Second Chance Tournament will face off, against two game winner Mehal Shah. Will and Drew managed to win their quarterfinal matches; Mehal got in, fittingly in a way, via wild card spot.

Of the three players Will is the only one who has gotten both of his Final Jeopardys correct and in both cases, he needed them in order to advance. Drew is the only one of the three finalists to manage a runaway victory. Mehal has yet to answer a single Final Jeopardy correct. This may or may not matter going forwards because, just as in the quarterfinals, the Final Jeopardys remain incredibly difficult. Only three players in all three games have responded correctly.

Will and Drew I should add have already been tested in a way that Mehal hasn’t been though they don’t have that much distance. Mehal’s two wins were in the last week of November, nothing in Jeopardy terms. Will it matter or not? We will start finding out tomorrow when the final spot (s) in the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions are filled.