‘Jeopardy!’: Ken Jennings Reacts as Jamie Ding Aims for All-Time Top 5

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Another contestant is aiming to be one of the greatest of all-time on Jeopardy!. Jamie Ding reached the top five contestants on the Leaderboard of Legends on Tuesday, tying with Mattea Roach.

As Ding, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, tries to break into the top five on his own, host Ken Jennings commented on his 24th game total. On April 15, the law student and bureaucrat entered with a 23-day total of $644,00.

He played against Bill Page, from Morton Grove, Illinois, and Kim Elliott, from Sunnyvale, California. Warning: Spoilers for the April 15 episode of Jeopardy! ahead.

By clue four, Elliott, a writer, gave Ding a run for his money as she tied him with $2,200. However, by clue nine, Ding had the lead again when he found the Daily Double.

With $2,600 in his bank, he wagered all of his money in “A Fine Romance.” The clue read, “On April 5, 1953, the Atlanta Daily World announced the engagement of this pair who met in Boston.”

“Uh, who are Elizabeth and Phillip?” he answered incorrectly. This brought him down to $0 and third place. The correct response was “Who are Coretta Scott & Martin Luther King?”

He brought his total back up to $2,000 by the first 15 clues. However, Elliott was in the lead with $2,200 by the first break.

Ding ended the round in the lead with $5,800. Elliott had $2,200. Page, a volunteer docent, was in third place with $1,400.

In Double Jeopardy, Ding had a huge lead of $20,200 when he found the first DD on clue 18. He wagered $4,800 in “Leveling Up.”

The clue was “In 1826, this city became a state capital, taking over for Murfreesboro.” He answered wrong once again with “What is Little Rock?”

The correct response was Nashville, so Ding dropped down to $15,400. He still had an $11,000 lead.

Ding then found the last DD on clue 19. From his $15,400, he wagered $2,600. In “Tough One-Syllable Words,” the clue was “It can refer to an accident, or part of a whale tail.”

“What is a fluke?” he answered correctly. That was correct, so the super champion went back up to $18,000.

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Ding ended the round with $22,400. Page had $6,600. Elliott ended with $4,600.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Notable Americans.” The clue read, “In 1909 she joined the Socialist Party & later published Out of the Dark, her writings ‘On Physical & Social Vision.'” All three game show contestants correctly answered with “Who is Helen Keller?”

Elliott wagered $4,599, ending her with $9,199. Page wagered $2,601, making his final total $9,201. Ding’s wager was $600, making his total $23,000.

“He has a 24-day total of $667,000, or in other words, two-thirds of the way to $1 million,” Ken Jennings said. “Will he get there? Join us tomorrow.”

Ding still has $100,000 to go to move up to fourth place, but he doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock