‘Jeopardy!’: Ken Jennings Stunned by Contestant’s Jaw-Dropping Win
Spoiler Alert
[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, July 21, episode of Jeopardy!]
It’s the final week of Jeopardy! for Season 41, and a contestant has been on a major winning streak. Scott Riccardi came into the week having won 12 games, making him the super-champion of the season with $312,501 so far. So could he win lucky number 13, or did someone else beat him out? What was to follow was so jaw-dropping that even Ken Jennings went “Whoa!”
Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, New Jersey, played against Anna Ciamporcero, from Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Jeff Hague, from Carmel, Indiana, on Monday, July 21.
Host Ken Jennings said at the beginning of the episode that there are only 13 Jeopardy! players who have earned more wins than Riccardi. “He’s certainly experiencing something special on the Alex Trebek stage,” the host said.
The game didn’t start off too well for Riccardi, an engineer. He answered the first clue wrong, putting him in the negatives. The other two contestants correctly answered a handful of clues. However, by the first commercial break, Riccardi was back on his luck and led by $2,000 with $4,000.
Hauge, a firefighter, found the first Daily Double. He was in second with $3,400 and wagered $2,000, which would put him in the lead if he got it right. In “Women,” the clue read, “This fashion house whose name is a female first name has mainly been led by women, like Stella McCartney & now Chemena Kamali.” Hauge answered with “What is Donna Karen?” which was incorrect, and dropped down to $1,400. The correct response was Chloé.
By the end of the round, Riccardi led with $5,400. Hauge had $2,200. Ciamporcero, a stay-at-home mom, was in third with $400.
In Double Jeopardy, Riccardi found the first DD on clue two. With the lead at $5,800, he wagered $4,000. In “A Year-O With a Zero In It,” the clue was “The war of this started in its alliterative way in 1701 after Charles II had to go & die all childless & stuff.” “What is Spanish succession?” he answered correctly, giving him $9,800.
All three game show contestants answered clues correctly between the first and second DD, but Riccardi found the last one. He had $13,800 in his bank and wagered $4,000 again. In “Nonfiction,” the clue was “This memoir begins with a relative from Nairobi breaking the news about a fatal car accident.” “What is Dreams From My Father?” Riccardi answered correctly, which meant he had $17,800.
The reigning champion continued to answer clue after clue correctly in a jaw-dropping display. His opponents got a few answers in towards the end of the round, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to him. Riccardi ended with $35,400. Ciamporcero moved to second with $4,800. Hauge had $4,600.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Mythological Places.” The clue read, “A 17th c. English trаnslation of the ‘Aeneid’ rhymes ‘my soul remains’ & ‘perpetual pains’ with this 2-word place.” The correct response was “What is Elysian Plains?” and only one contestant got it right.
Hauge did not give an answer. He wagered $4,400, leaving him with $200. Cipamporcero answered, “What is ??” She wagered $1,800, dropping down to $3,000. Riccardi had the correct response. He wagered $15,000, which made Ken Jennings go “Whoa!” This gave Riccardi a total of $50,400. He had a 13-day total of $362,901. This moves him into 13th place for all-time winnings, above Adriana Harmeyer, according to The Jeopardy! Fan website. Riccardi will return for his fourteenth game on Tuesday.
“Scott is getting better and better,” a Reddit user said.
“What a payday. Great work, Scott!” wrote another.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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L
👏🏽👏🏽 Yes, he's a super brainiac but I am not looking forward to his dreadfully boring, egocentric interviews, which most likely will only continue to get worse and more self-glorifying and "look-what-I-did"...😴🙄😴🥱 It is public knowledge and understandable that multiple game winning contestants have disclosed how challenging it is to continue to come up with interesting topics for the interviews, so, dear Lord, please turn Scott's interview anecdotes into, well, anything but what they have been.🤭💆♂️🙏🏽
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B
He’s doing just fine !!!
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O
You want him to have all those brains and personality?? I have plenty of personality but…….
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L
Guilty as charged.🤭
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C
LET GOD LEAD
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L
YES! BTW, there was a glimpse of hope in Friday's cheesecake story. 😅
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G
Someone sounds a little bit envious.
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L
Not what it sounds like, not envious at all, just impressed and bored. Alas, I can now only hope for evolvement when TOC comes around. 🤭
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P
I don't know why Ken Jennings is so surprised especially with that wager in Final Jeopardy. He did the same thing. He would just answer question after question, a lot of his final Jeopardy questions were runaways cuz he was so far ahead Etc.
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P
Not a fan of the super savants! Boring! Hadn’t been a close contest since he began. Just an opinion!
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O
So much fun watching someone so gifted
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C
Like every TV games show, I think that is fixed, by giving the answer to one player.Some people are smart, but winning all the doubles jeopardy and missing maybe one or two that is a joke.
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O
Agree 100% guest!
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G
He's getting greedy and is in it for the money. He got the title and standing. His greed will catch up to him
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G
Why is it greed and not about competitiveness?? It IS a great competition..he deserves the prize!!!
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G
Who wouldn't want to win much as they can. He is a good competitor. Best of luck Scott
Break records
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C
That is just a mean, terrible thing to post! Let Scott play the game the way he wants to play it. I sure would like to see how you play the game!
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C
Of course he's in it for the money, everyone is. That's what game shows are about. That's why the prize is MONEY.
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O
Ridiculous thought
He’s not likeable particularly but he’s great to watch someone so brilliant
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O
The show became boring. And Scott is boring. Something is rigged.
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O
Tell that to Ken Jennings, Matt Amodio, James Holzhauer, Brad Rudder, etc! There's lots of highly intelligent people out there, and obviously skeptics!!!!
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O
The producers really ruined Jeopardy when they let automatons blow everyone away night after night. This latest wonderboy is making the show unwatchable. I'll be back when he finally loses.
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O
Listen brother To be the man, you gotta beat the man!
The stylin', profilin', limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin' n' dealin' son of a gun!"
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O
That’s mean spirited and unfair
It’s fun to watch someone bright
He doesn’t have your charming outgoing gifted and glorious personality!!!
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C
Despite a moderately slow start, Scott bounced back, earning much more in Double Jeopardy! So far, he has performed well in various categories including those pertaining to Art & Literature; unexpectedly, he performed weaker in the Shakespeare category. Anyway, his overall stat appear to be the best this season, including a few games with 30+ correct responses, with 39 as his highest. He's now one of my picks for TOC finalists. Regarding regular season, he could possibly finish this season and return in the fall, or a new champion will emerge by Friday.
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