The Friday May 17 episode of Jeopardy! featured an exciting face-off between three contestants: Rachel Shelton, an attorney from Lexington, Kentucky; Nick Coombs, an auctioneer from Chicago, Illinois; and the two-day champion Grant DeYoung, a grocery clerk from Prescott, Arizona, who had already accumulated winnings of $46,401.
The first round presented a diverse range of categories, including “I’m a Fun Guy,” “Passports,” “Words from Film,” and “Enter the Literary Character.” Grant demonstrated his knowledge and strategy early on by successfully wagering $1,000 on a Daily Double question in the “Passports” category, doubling his score to $6,400. Going into the first break, the scores were close, with Grant at $1,800, Nick at $1,600, and Rachel leading with $2,600.
As the game progressed into Double Jeopardy!, the contestants navigated through categories such as “State Name Stuff,” “Cast Members in the Reboot,” and “Tough 6-Letter Words.” It was Rachel’s turn to make a bold move, wagering $7,000 on a Daily Double question in the “Chapters in Biographies” category, but unfortunately, she missed the answer and dropped to $0. Grant, on the other hand, continued his strong performance, finding and answering two Daily Doubles correctly, bringing his score to $19,800, just shy of a runaway.
Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Grant maintained a comfortable lead with $19,800, followed by Nick with $10,400, while Rachel trailed behind with $0. The category for the final round was “Book & Movie Title References,” and the clue referenced a 2001 book and its 2003 film adaptation, which formed a partial border between Boston, Chelsea, Medford, and Everett. Only Grant answered correctly with What is “Mystic River”?, adding $1,001 to his score, bringing his total winnings for the day to $20,801 and a three-day total of $67,202. Nick and Rachel finished with $999 and $0, respectively.
