‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Dubbed a ‘Beast’ After High-Scoring Thriller

The reigning Jeopardy! champion tried to win their second game after taking down three-day champion Brendan Liaw. However, their competitors during their second game were very competitive and one got dubbed a “beast.”

Jim Carpenter, from Charlotte, Vermont, had a one-day total of $25,601. The retired music professor and conductor got lucky during his first game when Liaw got both Daily Doubles incorrect dropping his total to the negatives. On Monday, May 26, Carpenter played against Judith Friedman, from Los Angeles, California, and Miles Tepper, from Pacific Grove, California.

The Daily Double was found on the fourth question by Friedman, a software engineer. She wagered everything she had, which was $1,600. The clue in “Name Changers” read, “This U.S. president was born with the surname Blythe; he later took the name of his stepfather.” Friedman answered incorrectly with “Teddy Roosevelt.” The correct answer was “William Jefferson Blythe,” who host Ken Jennings explained was actually Bill Clinton. Friedman dropped down to $0, putting her in third place.

However, she retook the lead by the first commercial break with $4,400. The reigning champion had $3,400. Tepper, a graduate student, only had $400.

During the interviews, Tepper revealed that his grandmother was on Jeopardy! and that he read clues from her game during her funeral.

By the end of the round, Carpenter answered another five questions correctly, for a total of 10, to take the lead by the end of the round with $6,600. Frieman was not too far behind with $5,000. Tepper was still in third with $2,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Friedman found both DDs on two consecutive clues. The first was clue 14 in the category “You Seem Distant.” She wagered $5,000 from her available total of $9,400. The clue, in which she answered “the Mexican-American war” was “In July 1846 the Mormon Battalion was formed for this war, but they were in Iowa, so they marched about 2,000 miles to San Diego.” Friedman’s answer was correct, giving her $14,400 and the lead. Carpenter had $9,600.

Friedman then found the last DD of the game on clue 15. She wagered $5,000 again, after saying the amount “felt lucky.” “It worked last time,” Jennings said.

In “It Happened One Leap Year,” the clue was “The USA’s first public telegraph line opened for business in 1844 with the dispatch of this 4-word biblical message.” She answered “What hath God wrought,” which was correct, making her total $19,400.

After her lucky DD finds, Tepper picked up 11 correct responses to make sure Carpenter didn’t have a runaway win. The totals by the end were Friedman— $23,000, Tepper — $16,000, and Carpenter — $13,000.

In Final Jeopardy, the category was “Unesco World Heritages.” Only Friedman and Carpenter got the answer right, which was Yellowstone. Tepper did not give an answer, only writing “What is…?” The clue was “The first 12 sites added to the list in 1978 included Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado & this site 500 miles to the north.”

Friedman wagered $9,001, giving her a final total of $32,001. Carpenter wagered $12,000, ending him with $25,000, not quite enough to take home another win. Since Tepper got it wrong and he wagered $10,001, he dropped down to $5,999. This made Friedman the new winner. She will be back on Tuesday, May 27 for game two against two new opponents.

Reddit users were impressed by the high scores and how Friedman played like a “beast.” “All three contestants played well. Been a while since contestants entered the final with a combined $52,000!” one wrote.

“I love games like this with 3 smart players and relatively few triple stumpers. All of them impressed me,” said another. The game only had five Triple Stumpers.

“Judith was a beast. And Miles played a great game as well and might have done well enough with 17 correct and $16k Coryat to get a Second Chance invite,” added a third.

“Judith kicked a**, and I’m always appreciative of a good poker face during the FJ reveal,” said one Reddit user.

“Wow, Judith crushed it. Glad she went big on those Daily Doubles, that made all the difference,” said one last fan.

 

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