‘Jeopardy!’: Incredibly Tight Game All Comes Down to Math

[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, April 21, episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy! came down to a tight game after one contestant calculated exactly how much they would need to win. They won by only $100 after the final round.

Liam Starnes, from Barrington, Illinois, faced off against Bob Callen, from Lexington, Kentucky, and Maja Vlajnic, from Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Monday, April 21. Starnes returned for his second game after fans praised him for his first performance.

Host Ken Jennings started off the game by saying that he found out Starnes was born during his initial Jeopardy! run 20 years ago. “Wow. That was a blow,” he said. “And now that I feel like an extremely old man, let’s welcome our new challengers.” Jennings introduced Callen and Vlajnic before starting the game.

The first question was a Triple Stumper. “‘The Beef State’, it’s home to more cattle than people, with its 6 million cows outnumbering humans 3 to 1,” the clue read. The answer was Nebraska.

Before the first commercial break, Starnes, an undergraduate student, was in third place, after being the only one to answer a question wrong. Vlajnic, a senior data and policy specialist, led after correctly answering six questions.

Callen, a librarian, told Jennings that he gets mistaken for author Stephen King, especially in the 1980s when he had a book jacket picture that looked like him. “I kind of see it,” Jennings said. Callen said that he signed someone’s book in a bookstore one time when they thought he was the author.

Starnes revealed he had a Jeopardy!-themed birthday party when he was a kid. Vlajnic took up knitting during Covid-19 and is now part of a big knitting community online.

Starnes found the first Daily Double of the game. With $3,200 in his bank, he only wagered $5. The clue read, “He and TV co-star Bryan Cranston had more than a chemical bond and he made Bryan godfather to his son Rydin.” “Who is Paul Rudd?” he answered incorrectly. The right answer was Aaron Paul. His total dropped to $3,195, still keeping him in third place.

By the end of the round, Vlajnic was in the lead with $5,800. Callen had $4,800. Starnes trailed with $3,195.

In Double Jeopardy, Starnes found the first DD of the round. This time, he made it a true Daily Double and wagered all of his money ($3,395). The clue read, “In 1970, Biafra, a breakaway land of the Igbo people, capitulated to this country’s central government, ending a civil war.” “What is Nigeria?” Starnes answered, which was correct. He was in the lead with $6,790.

Callen found the second DD. With $11,200 in his bank, he wagered $1,200. The clue read, “In 1922, Virginia Woolf recorded being bored by this new novel her friend ‘Tom’ Eliot thought was ‘on a par with War and Peace.” “What is Ulysses?” he answered correctly, giving him a total of $12,400 and the lead.

Despite answering one question wrong, Starnes moved to second place with $12,790. Callen was in the lead with $15,200. Vlajnic had $10,200.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “The Western Hemisphere.” The clue read, “This country has 2 capitals, is bounded by 5 other countries & has 37 official languages.” Vlajnic answered with “What is Bolivia?” after originally having Brazil. Bolivia was the correct answer. She wagered $10,100, giving her a final total of $20,300. Starnes also answered with Bolivia. He wagered $7,611, giving him a final total of $20,401, only $101 more than Vlajnic. Callen had the lead, but he answered with Brazil, dropping him down to $4,819, after wagering $10,381.

After being in last for most of the game, Starnes became a two-day Jeopardy! champion with a total of $52,802. He will be back on Tuesday, April 22, to face two new opponents.

“This was a really good game all round. Hope Liam makes the Tournament of Champions, he’s a very smart dude and as a younger person myself it’s nice to see people within my age range doing well on Jeopardy!” a Reddit user said.