Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tuesday January 21: “A Lorelei-ous Victory”

Jeopardy! Ken Jennings

Another Wildcard face-off, another nail-biting finish. Tonight’s Jeopardy! saw Will Yancey, a history lecturer from Texas, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (or, more accurately, from the meticulously calculated wager of Evan Dorey) with a Final Jeopardy! wager that would make even Kenny Rogers proud.

Going into the final round, Evan, a data analytics director from Toronto, seemed poised for a runaway win, sitting pretty with $32,400. Will trailed with a respectable $26,000, while Jay, a government relations manager from Illinois, languished with $2,800 – not enough for a realistic shot at the win, but enough to avoid complete humiliation.

The Final Jeopardy! category, “Mythology,” offered a glimmer of hope for Will, and the clue itself – about the hidden treasure of the Nibelung – proved right in his wheelhouse. Will correctly identified the Rhine-adjacent Lorelei Rock as the mythical hiding place, doubling his score to $52,000. Evan, alas, stumbled, incorrectly guessing “the Rhine,” a response so geographically broad it suggested perhaps a bit too much pre-game celebrating of his seemingly insurmountable lead. His wager, a hefty $20,000, plummeted him to a second-place $12,400 finish.

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While Will’s knowledge of obscure Germanic mythology sealed the deal, his earlier gameplay wasn’t without its wobbles. A misguided $1,000 wager on a Daily Double about state animals (specifically, the shared but distinct grizzly bear status of Montana and California) briefly set him back. He recovered nicely, however, strategically navigating the Double Jeopardy! round, including a savvy $10,000 wager on a Bible clue about John the Baptist that highlighted his knowledge of New Testament trivia.

Evan, for his part, displayed impressive command of various categories, demonstrating particular strength in “Before & After” and racking up a hefty $13,400 on a Daily Double about Bahrain’s etymology. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to overcome his Final Jeopardy! misstep. As for Jay, he’ll likely rue the day he encountered those Daily Doubles, his negative scores throughout much of the game serving as a testament to the perils of aggressive wagering when one’s knowledge base proves, shall we say, less than encyclopedic.

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Jeopardy! airs weekdays in syndication. Check local listings.

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