Having watched the thrilling
knockout rounds of the 2025 Jeopardy Masters I found myself wondering, how
would the show alter its format as it entered the quarterfinals this week?
The
answer is…not much. There will be only three days of quarterfinals which is considerably fewer than previous
years. But the match points that the six high scorers have amassed during the
knockout rounds have carried over into the quarterfinals. And with the same
system in play as before the basic rules that this years six masters are
dealing with have not changed.
Neither,
it should be added, have everything else about the Masters: same difficult
clues, same tough game play – and slightly more involved math. With that said,
let’s dive into last night’s quarterfinals.
Match
1: Yogesh Raut vs. Victoria Groce vs. Roger Craig
The
three players in the first match had the three highest scores going into the
quarterfinals. Yogesh had runaway with both of his previous games, defeating
Victoria in the first knockout round and Roger in the second. Going into the
Jeopardy round of his first quarterfinal, it looked like more of the same.
Yogesh got the first two clues correct in PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS and then
found the Daily Double he wagered the 1800 points he had:
This
1980s Neil Simon play set in Mississippi opens with Eugene Jerome in basic
training.” Yogesh
knew it was Biloxi Blues and doubled his score. It looked like Yogesh
was off to another runaway.
Then
Victoria and Roger both caught fire and Yogesh faltered slightly. He finished
the Jeopardy round still in the lead with 6200 points to Victoria’s 5600 and
Roger’s 3000 but it was clear that this match was not going to be as easy for
him as his previous two.
Indeed
in Double Jeopardy things slowly began to tilt away from him almost immediately.
It wasn’t really tilting in anyone’s favor for a while though. Victoria pulled
ahead and Roger found the first Daily Double in THE ARTS. Still in third he bet
the 2600 points he had:
“This
choreographer celebrated her dance company’s 60th anniversary in
2025 pairing her ‘Diabelli’ & ‘Blacktide’
He
struggled before guessing: “Who is Martha Graham?” when it was Twyla Tharp. He
dropped to zero but it was early.
Victoria
maintained her lead and then found the other Daily Double in ANAGRAMS OF EACH
OTHER. She had 12,600 points and had a slight lead. However, she only bet 400:
“3
Words: Synonym for a balcony, the provider of food at a function, and to go
over a drawing again.”
She
needed almost all the time available to come up with: “What are terrace,
caterer and retraced?” She earned that 400 points.
The
clues gave all three players a fair amount of trouble during Double Jeopardy
and as a result the final scores were relatively low but close: Victoria still
led with 15,800, Yogesh was next with 9000 and Roger had built back up to 5200.
The
Final Jeopardy category was BOOK TITLES: “The journey of the title of this 1878
novel is from Paris to ‘the vast tract of unenclosed wild known as Edgon Heath.’
All three players knew the correct book: “What is The Return of the Native?”
(I wrote down: Around the World in Eighty Days, thinking of Jules
Verne rather than Thomas Hardy.
Roger
bet almost everything, putting him at 10,199. Yogesh (who Ken noted took the
longest writing down his response) wagered 4600 points, putting him at 13,600.
Victoria’s response netted her 2201 points and gave her the win. She received 3
match points, Yogesh 1, Roger zero.
Interview
Segment: Asked by Ken about the clue that caused him long sleepless nights
Roger mentioned the Final Jeopardy in his original run that led to his defeat
about the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl. James Holzhauer it seems was
in a restaurant in New Orleans with that same headline and sent an email of
that to Roger. When Ken said that James said that he sees something on a wall
and says I’m gonna make Roger Craig feel bad, straight faced the former holder
of the one-day record for most money won said: “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
There were huge laughs for everybody.
Victoria
admitted she struggled with wordplay and entered this American Crossword Puzzle
tournament. She said when she was there everyone asked: “Do you know Ken? Ken
did really well?” She managed to solve everything clean.
Yogesh
said his goal this time was to find where the filmed the Coffee Chess YouTube
which he shouted out on previous appearances. They keep their location but he
has ‘detective skills’ and as soon as they found out he shouted them out, they
let him in. He mentioned “they did record the game I lost quite badly.”
Match
2: Juveria Zaheer vs Isaac Hirsch vs Matt Amodio
Juveria
got to the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round first. She had no money (it was
the third clue and no one had given a correct response) so she bet the 1000
points she could in THE COMEDY OF ERAS:
Richard
Sheridan’s 1775 Comedy ‘The Rivals’ features this characters known for her misuse
of words.”
Juveria knew it was Malaprop and got on the board.
The
clues were not easy for many of the players but Juveria held her lead for the
rest of the round finishing with 5800 points to Matt’s 2400 and Isaac’s 1800.
In
Double Jeopardy Juveria went on another run and had 13,000 points before Matt
managed to ring in again on an 800 point clue. Then he found the first Daily
Double in AROUND THE WORLD. He bet the 3200 points he had:
One
letter shorter than a European mountain range, these hills form ‘the backbone
of England.” Matt
figured it out: “What’s the Pennine?” (not the Apennine) and doubled his score.
Matt
stayed close and found the other Daily Double in WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT? At that
point he had 8400 points to Juveria’s 15,000. He decided yet again to bet
everything:
“Eponymously
named, it usually has 11 rows of capital letters and you read it from 20 feet
away.” Matt figured it out: “What’s
Snellen Chart?” (the eye chart) and he moved into the lead with 16,800.
Juveria
and Matt went back and forth for the lead: Juveria finished with 19,800 points
to Matt’s 18,000 while Isaac loomed as a spoiler with 5000.
The
Final Jeopardy category was COLONIAL AMERICA.
This
group formed in 1770, first to defend land grants in New England; later it would
assert independence for its region.
Isaac’s
response was revealed first: “What is Sons of Liberty?” That was incorrect.
However, it cost him just 10 points.
Matt
was next. He wrote down: “What are Green Mountain Boys?” That was correct. (I
wrote it down as well, thinking that this referring to the militia that was
formed in the state of Vermont.) Matt was cautious he bet 3000 points, putting
him in the lead with 21,000.
It
came down to Juveria. She had written down: What are the Sons of Liberty?” The
question was where would she finish. It cost her 6201. She dropped to second
and Matt got his first win of the 2025 Masters – and his first Masters win of
any kind since the semi-finals of the 2023 Masters. It was a remarkable
recovery and a deserving win.
Interview
Segment: Matt discussed that his next move as Jeopardy champion was to make an appearance
on ‘Shark Tank’ to join Shark Tank. In that sense Juveria said that one of her
friends like Survivor, so she wanted to go on The Traitors as a compromise.
(She fought Roger would be the best reality contestant. Isaac remained humble
saying that it was an honor to be on the stage and watch Juveria and Matt play “and
occasionally remember I’m here and answer clues.
JEOPARDY
LEADER BOARD AFTER MAY 20TH
VICTORIA
GROCE – 7 MATCH POINTS
YOGESH
ROUT – 7 MATCH POINTS
MATT
AMODIO – 5 MATCH POINTS
JUVERIA
ZAHEER – 4 MATCH POINTS
ROGER
CRAIG – 4 MATCH POINTS
ISAAC
HIRSCH – 3 MATCH POINTS
Obviously
this is a much closer tournament then in previous years. And as it was
announced by Ken at the end of last night’s games, things could change very quickly.
Victoria, Yogesh and Matt will face off in the first game tomorrow so the tie
for the lead may very well be broken – or it may change. Meanwhile the fight
for the fourth spot will change dramatically in the second game as Juveria,
Roger and Isaac will face off.
Wednesday’s
match will no doubt be pivotal and I’ll be back tomorrow with the results.
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