Jeopardy! Recap, Winner & Final Answer Thursday January 25, 2024

In the latest episode of Jeopardy!’s Champions Wildcard tournament, three contestants battled it out to secure a spot in the next round. Alec Chao, a management & program analyst from Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Connor Sears, a copy editor from Queens, New York; and Johanna Stoberock, an adjunct professor & fiction writer from Walla Walla, Washington were today’s players.

The categories for this intense game included “Start Talking,” where the answers required mentioning Shakespeare characters. Other categories tested their knowledge on drinking vessels (“Drinking Vessels”), words spelled both forwards and backwards (“Backwords & Forewords”), famous highways and landmarks (“Highways & Byways”), historical figures’ achievements (“On My Historic CV”), and pop songs with questionable science references (“Questionable Science in Pop Songs”).

During the first round (Jeopardy!), Alec made an impressive move by wagering $2,000 on the category “Highways & Byways.” The question revolved around important landmarks along a pioneer route—the Oregon Trail—where Chimney Rock in Nebraska and Fort Hall on Snake River were significant stops.

By the end of the first break after completing one round of play, Johanna had accumulated $1,000 while Connor found himself at -$800. However, it was Alec who stood out with his lead of $3,200.

Heading into Double Jeopardy!, all three contestants seemed determined to turn things around. Categories such as “Moments of Inspiration” allowed them to showcase their knowledge about inspirational events or ideas. They also encountered questions about whirled capitals (wordplay based on capital cities), feast days observed in Christianity but varying dates each year due to being movable feasts like Corpus Christi and Whitsunday), popular nicknames associated with various figures throughout history (such as King Æthelred II nicknamed “Unready” signifying bad advice instead of unpreparedness), and people who are also the names of places.

During Double Jeopardy!, Alec had a second chance at making an impressive wager. In the category “Nicknames,” he bet $2,400 on correctly answering that King Æthelred II’s nickname of “Unready” actually meant “badly advised” in Anglo-Saxon, contrary to popular misconception.

At the end of Double Jeopardy!, Johanna had accrued $7,600 while Connor was close behind with $14,600. However, it was Alec once again who held the lead with $15,400.

As they moved into Final Jeopardy!, all three contestants were given their last opportunity to secure a spot in the next round. The category for this decisive question was “Classic Literature.” The players were tasked with identifying a work from 1869 that centered around the Decembrists—a group of veterans mainly serving in the Napoleonic Wars—and had an intended sequel. Only Alec answered correctly by providing Leo Tolstoy’s monumental novel “What is War and Peace?”

Ultimately, two out of three players stumbled during Final Jeopardy!—Johanna and Connor both failed to come up with correct responses—while Alec solidified his victory by answering accurately. With a significant gain of $13,801 from his wager on Final Jeopardy!, Alec finished with an outstanding score of $29,201.

In summary:
– Johanna ended up with $1,399,
– Connor secured second place at $13,799,
– And our champion for today is Alec Chao moving forward to represent his previous win on another episode!

Jeopardy! continues its thrilling tournament as we eagerly anticipate which talented contestant will rise above their competition next time.