When Harrison Whitaker's
remarkable Jeopardy run ended on December 1st I told my readers that
barring the arrival of a new Jeopardy champion my next article would be in
regard to the Second Chance Tournament that will begin on Monday. I knew that
there was a possibility of at least one new champion coming but I honestly expected
nothing.
Instead in the last two weeks
Jeopardy fans have seen not one but two players who will be in next year's
Jeopardy postseason in some form. And it actually started the day after
Harrison was defeated.
Libby Jones had won back to back
games with over $70,000 in earnings. Then on Wednesday when her opponents was
announced he had a last name any Jeopardy fan knew: Lalonde. As in Ray Lalonde
who just three years ago became won thirteen games and just over $386,000. Here was Ron Lalonde who very clearly
resembled Ray. When Ken Jennings pointed that out in the interview Ron
confirmed that he was Ray's identical twin.
Now to be clear the resemblance
was uncanny and Ray had mentioned having a brother but in three years I had
forgotten that detail. When Ken actually asked the question: "How do we
know you're not Ray in disguise?" Ron's answer was: "Ray's in the
audience." Cut to the audience with Ray Lalonde sitting right there.
Even the non-long time Jeopardy
viewer thought: "Holy Shit! Has this become a soap opera?" To be fair
in the over forty years history of Jeopardy we've seen countless permutations
of relatives. This past year Isaac Hirsch
finalist in the 2025 Tournament of Champions and semi-finalist in the Jeopardy
Masters reminded us that he is the son of Steve Hirsch who appeared on the show
in its second season. I've heard of sisters, cousins and husbands and wives but
an identical twin brother? That's a new one to me. Obviously I now had to root
for Ron to win and he did on Wednesday defeating Libby, who will almost
certainly be back for Champions Wildcard next year around this time.
Ron was good but not nearly at the level of Ray. It is true he did manage
to win the next two victories in runaways and he was able to respond correctly
on twenty to twenty two responses per game but he also got the next two Final Jeopardys
incorrect. In truth I thought he would be lucky to win five games at most.
And on Monday he got off to a
fast start in the Jeopardy round but he ran into a player who was slightly
better Will Riley. It didn't help his cause that halfway through Double
Jeopardy he found the second Daily Double in THAT SEEMS FAIR. In second place
he bet $4000:
"These 2 words, one with an
extra two letters, can be a promise of opportunity vs. the same outcome."
Ron was stumped and so was I. The words were equity and equality. Ray
gave 21 correct responses that day and 5 incorrect ones and that one Daily
Double made the difference as going into Final Jeopardy he was trailing Will.
The category was AROUND THE USA.
"A geological survey published in 1883 said this landmark was 'regular in
its operations' that 'occur…frequently."
Ron wrote down: "What is Old
Faithful?" That was correct but its clear he knew the game was up because
below it he wrote: "I had fun." He bet just $1199 and he was clearly
hoping Will would make a mistake. Will did not and he became the new champion.
We'll get back to Will
momentarily but first let's deal with Ron. Now Ron has only won $52,501 in
three games. As any Jeopardy fan knows three wins has been more than enough to
get a Jeopardy winner into the Tournament of Champions in their own right most
of the time in the last two seasons. At the very least he will likely be
extended an invitation to Champions Wild Card next year.
That said I'm relatively sure
that barring a plethora of multi game winners (which we can't rule out of
course) Ron won't have to bother with the rigamarole that other Champions Wild
Card players who have only won three games have had to deal with since it was
created at the started of Season 40. Because come on: the story is just too
good for the producers to pass up on. This is the identical twin brother of
one of the greatest Jeopardy super-champions of all time. The fans are going to
want to see if he can do better than Ray in the Tournament of Champions. I want
to see it. I know I'm all for rules and order and against the lowering of the
standards of entrants into the Tournament of Champions and have been for the
last four years. But I am not immune to the idea of wanting to see certain
players back again when it makes for a good story. To be clear I would be
feeling differently if Ron had only won one or two games or even lost. I would
have expected him to get invited back in the Second Chance Tournament because
that would have been just as good a story. I will stand behind Ron coming back
in the Tournament of Champions in 2027 with no questions asked, certainly not
by me.
To be fair the man who unseated
him Will Riley is going to be in the Tournament of Champions in 2027 without
having to go throw any contortions. He has already proven so by winning the
next three games in all the ways Jeopardy champions can. And in his case it
took more luck than Ray was allowed particularly on Wednesday.
Facing off against Chelsea Carter
and Eddie Kass it honestly seemed it should have been Eddie's day. However
Eddie fell victim to the first Daily Double in the Jeopardy round which cost
him a chance at the lead and lost
another $1800 on the second. In Double Jeopardy Will and Eddie kept going back
and forth for the lead and each got a Daily Double incorrect. The two were
actually tied but Eddie broke it with a $1600 clue in my new favorite category (though
not the contestants): MAKE YOUR OWN WES ANDERSON MOVIE TITLE. I can't resist so
let me give you the $1600 clue:
"The + 'Citizen Kane'
director + high-in-the forest apple juice brand + book of maps. "What is The
Orson Welles Tree Top Atlas?" Tell the truth: you're already wondering who
Tilda Swinton would play in that film.
That clue gave Eddie $13,800 to
Will's $12,200 while Chelsea was at $4400. Will would later tell us that he
discussed wagering strategies with his brother in Final Jeopardy and it clearly
paid off.
The Final Jeopardy category was
RUSSIAN LITERARY WORKS. "The son of a former serf buys this title area for
90,000 rubles above the mortgage." Chelsea was the only one who knew the
correct work: "What is The Cherry Orchard?" She bet all but a
dollar to put her at $8799. Will couldn't come up with a response and he
wagered $3399. That put him at $8801 in second place.
Eddie wrote down: "What is
the Gulag?" He wagered $11,000 which left with $2800 and gave Will a win
that Ken told us in the next game he would use to pay off his student loans.
But Will's luck came to an end
tonight against Trey Hart and Madeline Dawson. Will started strong but Trey
managed to take a lead halfway through the Jeopardy round and never
relinquished it. Will gave 20 correct responses but gave 8 incorrect ones; by
contrast Trey gave 23 correct responses but got only three wrong and went into
Double Jeopardy with $19,600 to Will's $10,395 (he lost a big $5 on a Daily
Double) and Madelyn's $900.
The Final Jeopardy category was
TV HISTORY. "A 1964 review of this TV special, still played today,
mentions 'trials as an outcast' & 'the songs of Johnny Marks'. Neither Madelyn
nor Will could come up with a correct response but Trey did: "What is Rudolph
The Red-Nosed Reindeer?" (As Ken mentioned many people will be
watching this special this month.) Trey gained $4500 to make him the new champion
with $24,100 as Will's run ended with four wins and an impressive $77,403. Ken
hedged the idea that we would see Will in next year's postseason but according
to Jeopardy Archive it is a done deal and any reasonable viewer would agree: it
is more money then Bryce Wargin and Ashley Chan won in four games during last
season and we will be seeing them in the Tournament of Champions in just a few
weeks.
So for the 2027 Tournament of
Champions three slots filled, only eighteen to go. Next week we'll focus on the
2026 Tournament of Champions and I will be back on Wednesday with the results
of the first group of semifinals for the Second Chance Tournament. I keep my
promises.
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