Tuesday’s Jeopardy! match featured Jonathan Fox, a staffing capacity manager from Plymouth, Massachusetts; Kathleen Clark, an English teacher originally from Stamford, Connecticut; and returning champion Joey DeSena, a development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina. Joey began the game with a one-day total of $17,497, a decent lead-in for a potential multi-day champion run.
The first round saw a familiar mix of categories, including literary references, musical trivia, and a slightly eyebrow-raising category dedicated to the glories of gluten. Kathleen Clark, the English teacher, seemed like a sure bet for dominance in the “English Literature” category, but a surprisingly modest wager on a Daily Double about E.M. Forster’s “A Room with a View” left her trailing Joey and a surging Jonathan.
Double Jeopardy! brought categories like “U.S. History,” “Rivers of the World,” and the always-popular “Heist Films.” Joey found the first Daily Double in “U.S. History,” correctly identifying Senator Joseph McCarthy as the subject of a 1954 Senate censure, and confidently doubling his money. Jonathan, however, wasn’t far behind, snatching a substantial Daily Double in “Transportation” about monorails to put himself in a near tie with Joey. A tense back-and-forth ensued, with Jonathan’s late-game stumbles allowing Joey to maintain a slim lead going into Final Jeopardy!.
The final category, “Literary Monuments,” presented a straightforward, if slightly obscure, clue about a monument in Madrid. All three contestants correctly identified Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as the bronze figures accompanying the seated writer, but it was Joey’s strategic wager that sealed his victory, bringing his two-day total to a respectable $44,698. One can’t help but wonder, however, what might have been had Jonathan been a bit bolder with his Daily Double wagering.
A missed opportunity for Jonathan, perhaps, but a solid win for Joey. He’ll return tomorrow to face two new challengers, and one imagines he’ll be hoping for categories a bit less tilted towards English teachers and a bit more aligned with his engineering background.
Final scores: Joey $27,201, Kathleen $15,200, Jonathan $18,000.
Jeopardy! airs weeknights on ABC. Check your local listings.
