[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, May 20, episode of Jeopardy!]
The newest Jeopardy! champion has spoken out after their big win in defeating two-day champion Mitch Loflin. The contestant had a huge lead going into the final to give him an almost guaranteed win after a low score throughout the first round.
Loflin, from Long Beach, California, returned for his third game with a two-day total of $35,700 after a reversal from the judges put him on top. He faced off against two new opponents — Wendy Poosh, from Des Moines, Iowa, and Brendan Liaw, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada — on Tuesday, May 20. Loflin had a coach through his Jeopardy! journey as he revealed that his father-in-law was a three-day Jeopardy! champion. Could he tie that winning streak?
Well, the game did not start well for the contestants as both Loflin, a set decoration coordinator, and Liaw, a stay-at-home son, were in the negatives after answering questions wrong. Poosh, a floor manager, led the game with $2,600. (Later, during the interview break, Liaw explained his “occupation” more thoroughly. He said that he recently graduated from college and is currently looking for a job. However, he’s afraid that he’s going to get called a loiterer pretty soon.)
Poosh found the first Daily Double of the game on clue 10. She made it a true Daily Double, wagering all of her money. In “At the Cemetary,” the clue read, “This burial place for the indigent & unidentified takes its name from the Bible.” “What is a potter’s field?” she answered correctly, bringing her up to $5,200.
By the first commercial break, all three game show contestants were out of the red, but Poosh still had a wide lead. At the end of the round, she still led with $6,200. The reigning champion had $2,400. Liaw trailed with $1,600.
However, in Double Jeopardy, Liaw answered the first three questions correctly and surpassed Poosh with $6,400. Loflin had an opportunity to make a less wide lead when he found the first DD of the round. With $3,600 in his bank, he made it a true Daily Double. In “Geometry,” the clue read, “This geometric figure has 2 congruent & parallel polygons as its bases; its optical counterpart is more loosely defined.” “What is a prism?” he answered correctly, bringing him up to $7,200.
He was only $200 behind Poosh and $800 behind Liaw. But, two questions later, Poosh found the last DD. She had the lead with $8,600, so she only wagered $100. In “A + (Director’s Name) + (Word for a Movie),” the clue was “Wonka is ‘a Paul King’ this 10-letter word for a sweet creation.” Poosh answered correctly with “What is confection?” giving her $8,700.
Liaw quickly took the lead by answering higher-valued questions correctly. He ended the round with $19,200. Loflin had $12,400. Poosh was in third with $11,900.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “NFL Geography.” “Looks like Wendy’s two favorite categories,” host Ken Jennings joked after he saw her face, which was scrunched up.
The clue was, “It’s the state with the lowest population density that’s home to an NFL team.” Everyone was incorrect on the answer, which was Nevada, so it all came down to wagers. Poosh answered with Colorado. She wagered $8,100, giving her a final total of $3,800. Loflin’s answer was Indiana. He wagered $6,180 to end with $6,220. Liaw answered with Minnesota. He wagered $5,601 to give him $13,599 and the win.
Liaw will be back on Wednesday to face off against two new contestants for his second game. He spoke out on Instagram about his time on the show. “Well uh, I did a thing. The Thing really. Finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of questioning answers on national television. That’s right, I’ll be on this little old show called #Jeopardy! (or, as it’s more commonly called by my friends – Brendan Liaw: What Does He Know? Does He Know Things?? Let’s Find Out!*)” he wrote.
“You may have some questions like: Did I have fun? Well, yes! Did I make awkward small talk with a personal hero of mine? Almost certainly! Am I using too many exclamation marks? Yeah!!! But you may never see me this excited ever again, so you better enjoy it pal. I can’t remember if I won because I blacked out, so tune in with me on Tuesday, May 20th to catch two boys from Cascadia hang out/see how I did! *If you get this reference you may be eligible for monetary compensation.”
He also spoke out on Reddit. “Overall thoughts: Mitch and Wendy were the two people I definitely did not want to play against. they both seemed super at ease and zen in the green room and both did well in the rehearsals. I was probably a little too trigger happy, hence the higher incorrect response count – it’s something I really struggle with having played reach for the top in high school (early incorrect responses are not penalized and old habits die hard). I really did luck out with the DJ! board (though I think I would have had an even better time with yesterday’s game),” Liaw wrote.
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