Season 42 of Jeopardy! came to an end after the July 24 game. One contestant had a big win and wrote “I love you” during their final response. Find out who they were saying it to and who won the game.
Matthew Riggle, from Madison, Alabama, won his first game on Thursday with a total of $48,001. On July 24, the community college math instructor played against Sophia Suazo, from Plainview, New York, and Devin Weinburg, from Denver, Colorado. Warning: Spoilers for the July 24 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!
Suazo, a licensing manager, had the lead with $2,200 when Weinburg, a lawyer, found the Daily Double on clue nine. Riggle had $0. Weinburg had $1,600 and wagered all of his money.
The clue in “I’m Outta Here” read, “Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz was the 1st Fortune 200 exec to resign -via tweet; he wrote this type of poem suited to the medium.” “What is a haiku?” he answered correctly. That gave Weinburg the lead with $3,200. He kept the lead throughout the first 15 clues.
By the end of the round, Weinburg had the lead with $9,800. Suazo had $3,400. Riggle was in third place with $1,400.
In Double Jeopardy, Riggle found the first DD on clue one. He wagered the allotted $2,000. The clue in “U.S. Geography” was: “West Mitten Butte & The Three Sisters are rock formations in this valley, a famed movie location within the Navajo Nation.”
He hesitated for a bit before correctly answering, “What is Monument Valley?” This brought him up to $3,400.
Then on clue three, Riggle found the last DD. With $4,600 in his bank, he wagered all of his money.
In “Science Grab Bag,” the clue read, “This family name for some primates comes from the Latin for ‘man.’” “What are hominids?” Riggle answered correctly. This gave him the lead with $9,200.
Riggle continued to dominate the round, ending with $21,600. Weinburg had $13,400. Suaz was in third place with $7,000.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Pop Culture Nicknames.” The clue read, “This star, director & writer who won an Oscar for his 1996 film was called ‘the hillbilly Orson Welles’ by Robert Duvall.” None of the game show contestants had the correct response of Billy Bob Thornton.
Suazo answered, “Who is Clint Eastwood?” She wagered all of her money, ending with $0. Weinburg’s response was, “Who is Pacino?” He wagered $10,000, leaving him with $3,400.
Riggle responded, “Who is I love you, Angela?” He wagered $5,201, making his total $16,399. This gave him a two-day total of $64,400. Angela is his fiancée, whom he is marrying in August. During the interviews, Riggle explained that now that he has a good chunk of change, he is going to use it to go on a really nice honeymoon since she took time out of wedding planning to help him study.
Riggle will return for this third game in September.
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