‘Jeopardy!’: Did Reigning Champ Will Riley Win Game 5?

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[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, December 12, episode of Jeopardy!]

Did four-day champion Will Riley win a full week of Jeopardy!? The engineer went for win number five on the last day of regular game play before tournaments begin on Monday. Will he return in the new year?

Riley, from Houston, Texas, returned for his fifth game with a four-day total of $77,403. He played against Madelyn Dawson, from Staten Island, New York, and Trey Hart, from Petaluma, California, on Friday.

The beginning of the game didn’t start well for Riley as he was in the negatives on the first few clues. But he quickly climbed into first place when he found the Daily Double on clue 15.

He wagered $5 out of his $3,800 in “Seafood.” The clue was “This seafood stew gets its name from Provençal words for ‘boil’ & ‘lower.'”

“What is etouffée?” he answered incorrectly, taking him down to $3,795. The correct response was Bouillabaisse.

However, by the end of the round, Riley lost the lead. Hart, a grant writer, had the lead with $6,800. Riley was in second with $4,795. Dawson, a writer and editor, was in third place with $1,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Dawson found the first DD on clue two. She had $1,800 and wagered $1,700 in “Novels.” The clue was “In a Dickens novel, the ownership of this title place is gambled away to Quilp.”

“What is Bleek House?” she answered incorrectly. Dawson dropped down to $100 since the correct response was The Old Curiosity Shop.

Riley and Hart battled for first place throughout the round. Hart had the lead of $14,400 when he found the second DD on clue 21. He wagered $4,000 in “Bodies of Water.” The clue read, “In the 1830s sea lampreys invaded this Great Lake, though Niagara Falls kept them from further incursion for a while.”

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Hart correctly answered with “What is Lake Ontario?” giving him a huge lead with $18,400. Riley had $9,995 at the time.

By the end of the round, Hart ended with $19,600. Riley had $10,395. Dawson remained in third with $900.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “TV History.” The clue read, “A 1964 review of this TV special, still played today, mentions ‘trials as an outcast’ & ‘the songs of Johnny Marks.'” The correct response was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and only one of the game show contestants got it right.

Riley’s response was “What is beats me?” He wagered $0, ending with $10,395. Dawson’s answer was “This was fun.” She wagered $750, leaving her with $150. Hart had the correct response and wagered $4,500. This made him the night’s winner with $24,100.

Hart defeated Riley, ending his streak, but fans won’t see him until next year for game two. However, host Ken Jennings said that Will Riley will most likely turn up in next year’s postseason. The Second Chance Tournament begins on Monday, December 15.