‘Jeopardy!’ Champions Wildcard Unveils First Finals Winner
This… Is… Jeopardy!
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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, October 19, 2023 episode of Jeopardy!]
The culmination of Jeopardy!‘s Champions Wildcard finals has arrived as players Josh Saak, Lucy Ricketts, and Sam Stapleton faced off once again on the Alex Trebek stage for a shot at $100,000 as well as a spot in the Tournament of Champions.
As viewers will recall, the three players competed in Wednesday’s game, with Lucy pulling in $14,200, Josh raking in $25,200, and Sam scoring $15,200. In this new game, their goal was to increase their score by earning more in this second game for the largest combined total which would then earn them the $100,000 finals prize.
(Credit: Jeopardy!, Inc.)
When it came to book designer and freelance illustrator Lucy, traffic engineer Josh, and college consultant Sam, they all put their best foot forward in the competition, but there was one clear winner by the end of it all.
By the time Final Jeopardy arrived, Sam’s score was just $5,000, Lucy’s was $11,600, and Josh’s was an impressive $22,000. While these scores are notable, they wouldn’t be added to their Day 1 scores until Final Jeopardy was tallied. The category was “Names,” with the clue reading, “The name Jennifer is an alteration of this name that in early Welsh literature belonged to the ‘First Lady of the Island.'”
The correct answer was “Guinevere,” which only Lucy answered correctly. While she wagered $5,500, adding to her score for a Day 2 total of $17,100. By combining that with her Day 1 earnings, Lucy finished with $31,300, but it wasn’t enough to edge out Josh whose two-day combined score totaled $47,200 as he didn’t bet any money toward his Final Jeopardy answer.
Sam didn’t bet any money either, but his combined score of $20,200 was the third-place score, landing him behind Lucy and Josh. Because it was the finals, no one walked away empty-handed. As the winner, Josh earned $100,000, with Lucy taking $50,000, and Sam earning $25,000.
What did you think of the outcome of Jeopardy!‘s Champions Wildcard’s first round of finals? Let us know in the comment section, below, and stay tuned to see how the Championship continues to unfold.
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