‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Rian Robertson Speaks Out After Dramatic Game

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Jeopardy! champion Rian Robertson spoke out after his dramatic fifth game. Find out if the returning champion made it to the Tournament of Champions.

Robertson, from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, entered his fifth game with a four-day total of $64,101. During his fifth game, the software developer played against John Edwards, from Brooklyn, New York, and Anne Damtoft, from Silver Spring, Maryland. Warning: Spoilers for the Wednesday, October 7, episode of Jeopardy! ahead!

Robertson pulled himself out of the red and then found the Daily Double on clue 10. He had $1,000 and wagered all of his money.

The clue in “Travel Writing” was “In the cross-country memoir, ‘Travels With Charley,’ Steinbeck calls this west coast landmark ‘ the great arch hung from filaments.” “What is the Golden Gate Bridge?” he guessed, but got it correct. This gave him $2,000, putting him in second place.

By the end of the round, Edwards, an editor, had $5,600. Robertson was in second place with $3,600. Damtoft was in third place with $3,000.

In Double Jeopardy, Damtoft, a library support coordinator, found the first Daily Double on clue one. She wagered all of her money in “Say the Word.”

The clue was “This word for a daring fighter comes from the sound a sword makes when it strikes a shield.” “What is a swashbuckler?” she answered correctly. This moved her to first place with $6,000.

Edwards found the last DD on clue 14. He had a big lead of $12,800, compared to Damtoft’s $6,800. Edwards wagered $6,000 in “Lampoons and Such.”

The clue read, “TCM says Airplane! is this ‘(no pun intended)’ on movies like ‘Zero Hour!'” “What is a takeoff?” he answered correctly. This gave him $18,800.

“Very impressive,” host Ken Jennings said.

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At the end of the round, Edwards had a huge lead of $20,400. Damtoft’s total was $15,600. Robertson was in third place with $6,800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Television.” The clue read, “Ronald Galotti, a publisher for Vogue & Vanity Fair in the 1990s, inspired a main love interest on this series that debuted in 1998.” All three game show contestants correctly answered with “What is Sex and the City?” 

Robertson wagered $4,001, giving him $10,801. Damtoft’s final total was $20,401, after she wagered $4,801. Edwards wagered $10,801, giving him a final total of $31,201.

Edwards will return for his second game on Thursday. Robertson did not make it to the Tournament of Champions. He spoke out on Reddit after the game.

Talking to a previous Jeopardy! champion, Robertson asked Justin Robbins, “Did you find your brain a bit scrambled on the 3rd game? ‘Cuz I sure did, and I feel like that must be the most challenging scenario for a taping day.”

“A little, but I think in my case that was more the double jeopardy being very difficult for me and Kristin being so fast on the buzzer giving me no quarter. Of course, I hadn’t come into the day having already played twice. I’d imagine it’s draining, even if you have time between games! But it does make a lot of sense that Wednesday would be the hardest physically,” Robbins replied.

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