‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Jamie Ding in a Nail-Biter — Did He Keep His Title?

Jeopardy! Champ Jamie Ding returned to the Alex Trebek Stage for the sixth time as the trivia powerhouse looked to add another win to his already impressive run. With a five-day total of $131,802, Ding has already qualified for the next Tournament of Champions.

“For the second straight day, Jamie had the only correct response in Final Jeopardy,” said host Ken Jennings about Ding’s win on Thursday. “He survived with the win and is now a five-game champion, headed to the Tournament of Champions. It’s been a great week for Jamie, and I’m sure he’d like to end it on a high, but so would his challengers.”

On Friday, March 20, law student Ding took on challengers David Ley, an immersive theater director originally from Ithaca, New York, and Sinecio Morales, a student originally from Rockford, Illinois. Could they put a stop to his winning streak?

Ding started the first round with “Greek Numerals” for $800: “Getting into educational real estate around 387 B.C., he bought some land & started a school that would last until 529 A.D.” Morales attempted to answer with “Who is Aristotle?,” but after missing the clue, Ding answered correctly with “Who is Plato?,” giving him a good start.

Before the first break, Ding showed off his trivia chops, giving himself a nice head start with $3,600. His competitors trailed behind, with Ley in second at $1,400 and Morales at -$200.

During the chat segment, Ley talked about his time in Dubai, where he spent four years working and running a nightclub and stage variety show. Morales shared that he started a nonprofit ministry with his cousins, designed to be “for youth, by youth,” a program he is still involved with today. Meanwhile, champion Ding revealed he had hoped to be introduced on Jeopardy! as a “faceless bureaucrat,” but alas, had to go with “law student” instead.

After almost 2/3 of the board was uncovered, Ley finally found the Daily Double under “Roman Letters” for $400. Making it a true Daily Double, he bet his total take of $3,400 on the following clue: “Dearest Bo, We saw a statue of Oceanus atop a chariot pulled by sea horses while tossing a few coins at this iconic landmark.” With the correct answer, “What is the Trevi Fountain?,” Ley moved into first place.

By the end of the first round of Jeopardy!, Ley was in the lead with $7,000 while champion Ding was in second with $5,400. Morales maintained his third-place position with -$200.

In Double Jeopardy!, Morales started the round with the category, “6 Characters in Search of Their Authors” for $2,000, and he received the clue, “Stephen Dedalus.” With the correct answer, “Who is James Joyce?,” Morales was able to get into the black.

Staying in the category, he picked up the $1,800 clue of “Antonia Shimerda,” and again answered correctly, “Who is Willa Cather?,” bringing his total to $3,400. However, on the third clue in the same category, “Jonathan Harker,” champion Ding buzzed in with the right answer (“Who is Bram Stoker?”) and nabbed control of the board.

The first Daily Double of the round was found by Ley in the category “____ to ____” for $2,000: “To Ronald Reagan ‘the 9 most terrifying words in English were ‘I’m from the government, & I’m’ these 3.” Betting $3,800 against his $11,800, he answered correctly, “What is ‘here to help’?” and brought his total to $15,600.

Ding found the second Daily Double at clue #21 in the “Sci Op-Ed” category for $1,200. He bet $3,600 against his $13,000 on the clue, “25 years ago Neil deGrasse Tyson wrote an op-ed that compared real-life advances to the ones featured in this film from 1968.” With the answer, “What is 2001?,” Ding was back in the lead with $16,600, just $1,000 more than Ley.

At the end of the round, Ding was back on top with $19,400 while Ley was in second with $15,200, and Morales was in third after a stunning comeback, nabbing $10,200.

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In the category of “Jargon,” the Final Jeopardy clue was: “Former NFL QB Joe Theismann once joked that he had shouted this word over 10,000 times, but had no idea what it meant.” Morales wrote, “What is blue?,” a wrong answer that cost him everything, bringing his total to $0. Ley correctly answered, “What is hut? (Happy Bday Hunter),” and with a wager of $6,800, brought his total to $22,000, giving him the lead.

So, did Ding answer correctly and keep his champion standing?

Ding wrote, “What is HUT?” and, with a massive wager of $11,001, brought his total to $30,401, enough to hold onto his title and become a six-day champion, with a six-day total of $162,203.

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