Today’s contestants were Jayaker Kolli, a medical student from Austin, Texas; Luke Hemphill, a family business owner from Poulsbo, Washington; and Drew “Survivor” Basile, a graduate student from Birmingham, Michigan. Drew entered the game as a six-day champion with total winnings of $111,601.
The Jeopardy! categories for the day were: INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE, SCIENCE, WHOSE WHAT?, IT STARTS WITH “Y”, YOU SAY YOU WANT AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, and WE ALL WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD. The first Daily Double was in the INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE category, where Drew wagered $1,000 and dropped to $3,600. The clue was about the 2023 romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” inspired by one of Shakespeare’s comedies. The correct response was “What is Much Ado About Nothing?”
At the first break, the scores were: Drew $2,600, Luke $1,800, and Jayaker $4,600.
As the game progressed into Double Jeopardy!, new categories were introduced: HISTORIANS, WORLD CITIES, GETTING ARTY, THE U.S. SENATE, HALLS OF FAME, and CROSSWORD CLUES: ANTONYMS. Jayaker, who had a strong start, missed the second Daily Double in the HISTORIANS category, losing $2,000. The clue was about a historical figure, the Lionheart, and the correct response was “Who is Plantagenet?”
However, Drew took advantage of the third Daily Double in the GETTING ARTY category, wagering $4,000 and extending his lead. The clue was about a French term for a specific type of artistic design, and the correct response was “What is bas-relief?”
Heading into Final Jeopardy!, the scores were: Drew $19,000, Jayaker $7,800, and Luke $7,800. The category for the final clue was BUSINESSMEN, with “After joining the army at 16, in 1906, for a brief stint, he received a much higher honorary rank from the Gov. of his state 29 years later” and only Jayaker responded correctly with “Who was Col. Sanders?”, finishing with a total of $7,800. Drew wagered $1,000, bringing his total winnings to $18,000 for the day and a seven-day total of $129,601. Luke finished in third place with $800.
