Sarah Gillis returned for her second Jeopardy! game after she took down “Machine” and five-day champion Ben Ganger. Her one-day total is $7,300. Did she win another game and go on another streak like Ganger did, or did another contestant take her down? One of them made an unusual move in Final Jeopardy that gave them to win.
Gillis, a mortgage loan processor from Asbury Park, New Jersey, played against Dan Moren, from Sommerville, Massachusetts, and Michelle Tsai, originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, on Wednesday, May 7.
Moren is an author and podcaster. He has written five books including The Galactic Cold War series. The game show contestant also writes regularly for Six Colors, which provides daily coverage of Apple, other technology companies, and the intersection of technology and culture. He is also the host of the podcasts Clockwise, The Rebound, and Inconceivable!, which is a game show with trivia.
Gillis, who sings in a choir, was also playing against a woman who has been on TV before. According to Tsai’s Instagram bio, she represented Slytherin in the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses, so she is no stranger to trivia shows. She also shared that she moved to New York, where she is a professor, tutor, and performer.
Tsai, who has two pet birds, shared a photo of herself on Jeopardy!. “Hi! I’m going to be on Jeopardy!! This is a dream come true 🙂 Tune in May 7 on your local time and station to see me play 💕,” she wrote on Instagram.
The game didn’t start off well for Gillis. She was in the negatives for the first part of it. Tsai even beat her in a question about New Jersey, where she is from.
Tsai found the first Daily Double of the game, and she made it a true one by wagering all of her $4,600. The clue in “They almost tore it down,” read, “In 1944 a G.I. almost ordered artillery to destroy this Tuscan landmark suspected of being an observation post.” “What is the Duomo?” she answered incorrectly. The correct answer was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. She dropped down to $0.
By the end of the round, Tsai almost took back the lead with $3,200. However, the lead went to Moren, who had $3,800. Gillis trailed with $1,200.
In Double Jeopardy, Gillis quickly moved up to second place by answering multiple questions correctly. With $6,400 in her bank, she found the second DD of the game. In “Cities around the world,” the clue was, “Malaysia’s oldest city, it shares its name with a nearby strait.” She didn’t know the answer, so she dropped down to $4,000, putting her back in third place.
Two questions later, Moren found the last DD of the game. He was in second place with $6,200 and wagered $3,000. In “All the Way from L to M,” the clue read, “In 1894, one of these impasses on the Mississippi River stretched for nearly 7 miles & took 150 lumberjacks to break up.” Moren correctly answered, “What is logjam?” giving him the lead with $9,200.
Tsai quickly took the lead as she answered five questions in a row correctly. But, with only three correct questions after her, Moren took back the lead. He ended the round with $17,200. Tsai was in second with $13,600. The reigning champion, Gillis, trailed with $1,200.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “The Grammys.” The clue read, “Best New Artist at the 7th annual Grammys, this band would be nominated the next 6 years but not again until the 39th and 67th events.”
Gillis answered incorrectly with “Who is the Marine Marching Band?” She wagered all of her money, dropping her down to $0. Tsai answered, “Who is Bruce Springsteen?” which was also incorrect. She wagered $5,000, and ended with $8,600. The question was a triple stumper as Moren answered with “Who are The Rolling Stones?” and the correct answer was The Beatles. He wagered $0, giving him $17,200, making him the night’s winner.
Jeopardy Fan‘s Andy Saunders described Moren’s final wager as a “very rare” one. Moren will be back on Thursday, May 8, to face off against two new opponents.
“How on earth did all three of them miss that Final? The most obvious guess was correct!” a Reddit user asked.
“Screaming at FJ being a triple stumper,” wrote another.
“Holy cow, some wild FJ wagers and stuff,” added a third.
