On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, Jeopardy! featured three contestants: Kristen Robinson, a history instructor from St. Joseph, Michigan; Ben Gagne-Maynard, an education consultant from Madison, Wisconsin; and Will Weiss, a technical program manager from Islip, New York. Will Weiss, the one-day champion, had previously accumulated winnings of $14,000.
The Single Jeopardy! categories were diverse, including Geography, Holy Something!, Books for Kids, Names in the Dictionary, The Environment, and TV Reruns. The first Daily Double (DD1) appeared in the Geography category, with the clue: “In its own language, the official name of this landlocked country of Transcaucasia is Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun.” Ben Gagne-Maynard responded with Armenia, but unfortunately, his answer was incorrect, resulting in a loss of $800. At the first break, Will Weiss led with $2,200, followed by Ben with $600 and Kristen with $400.
As the game progressed into Double Jeopardy!, the categories became more challenging: Presidential Election Losers, Filmanthropy, Ends in “Eau”, Amazing Animals, The Dead Sea Scrolls, and A Few Colorful Words. Will Weiss maintained his lead, entering this round with $4,800, while Ben and Kristen had $2,000 each. The second Daily Double (DD2) was found in the Presidential Election Losers category, where Ben incorrectly guessed the answer, losing $3,000 from his score of $3,600. The third Daily Double (DD3) was in the Filmanthropy category, and Will’s incorrect response cost him $800, leaving him with a total of $10,000.
Remarkably, for the second consecutive game, all three Daily Doubles were missed. Will Weiss secured a runaway victory with a modest score of $13,600, while Ben Gagne-Maynard and Kristen Robinson finished with $5,000 and $4,400, respectively.
In the Final Jeopardy! round, the category was World Borders, and the clue was: “After Canada & the U.S., these 2 countries share the longest land border at more than 4,700 miles.” None of the contestants provided the correct response, which was Russia and Kazakhstan. Will Weiss maintained his lead, winning the game with a final score of $13,600 and a two-day total of $27,600. Ben Gagne-Maynard and Kristen Robinson finished with $1,199 and $0, respectively.
The correct responses to the Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy! were: DD1 – Armenia, DD2 – William Jennings Bryan, DD3 – Black Panther, and FJ – Russia and Kazakhstan.
