In the Thursday June 6 episode of Jeopardy!, the stage welcomed three new contestants, each bringing their unique backgrounds and expertise to the game. They were:
Shira Gluck, a rabbi from Jersey City, New Jersey, Benjamin Nelson, a theater producer with roots in Sturgis, South Dakota, and Adriana Harmeyer, an archivist from West Lafayette, Indiana. Harmeyer stepped onto the set as a six-day champion, already boasting impressive winnings of $136,100.
The episode kicked off with a diverse range of categories, including “Historic Telegrams,” “I Got a Beef with You,” “Playing with Movie Dolls,” “Travel & Tourism,” “One Letter Says It All,” and “Animal Planet.” The contestants dove into the game, with the first Daily Double appearing in the “Historic Telegrams” category, costing Shira Gluck $600 of her initial score.
As the first round progressed, a close competition emerged, with Adriana Harmeyer taking the lead at the first break with $1,000. Benjamin Nelson and Shira Gluck trailed closely behind with $1,200 each.
Entering Double Jeopardy!, the game intensified with new categories: “4-Letter World Cities,” “Hard Stuff,” “Women in the Bible,” “Music of the ’60s,” “Literary Terms,” and “Double ‘R’ Words.” Benjamin Nelson started strong, doubling his score to $4,800 with a correct response to the first clue, tying him with Adriana Harmeyer for the lead.
The second Daily Double, worth $1,600, appeared in the “4-Letter World Cities” category, and the third, valued at $2,000, tested the contestants’ knowledge of “Literary Terms.” Unfortunately for Shira Gluck, her wager of $2,500 on the third Daily Double did not pay off, allowing Adriana Harmeyer to extend her advantage even further.
As the game progressed towards Final Jeopardy!, Adriana Harmeyer maintained a solid lead with $18,800, followed by Shira Gluck at $8,900 and Benjamin Nelson at $8,000. The Final Jeopardy! Category, U.S. History, presented a challenging clue with “challenged in a courtroom that same year, 1925’s Butler Act in Tennessee outlawed this activity and wasn’t repealed until 1967”
Only Adriana Harmeyer answered correctly with “What is the teaching of evolution?”, adding $800 to her total and bringing her seven-day winnings to a remarkable $155,700. Benjamin Nelson and Shira Gluck concluded the game with final scores of $7,099 and $6,000, respectively.
