‘Jeopardy!’: A contestant returns to the show and pulls off a spectacular win

‘Jeopardy!’: Daily Doubles Give One Player a Runaway Game

Spoiler Alert

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Grace Biermann returned to Jeopardy! for her second game after making a huge wager on her Daily Double that allowed her to win. This time, Daily Doubles played a factor again, but was it in favor of the librarian and writer, or against?

Biermann, from Valparaiso, Indiana, won $32,000 during her first game. On Wednesday, she played against Dean Zach, from Pearland, Texas, and Jennifer Canterbury, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Warning: Spoilers for the July 22 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!

The beginning of the round was filled with a lot of Triple Stumpers. All three game show contestants were in the $1,000 range until Zach, a creative writing graduate student, was on a roll and had $5,200 by the first 15 clues. During the interviews, Canterbury, a teacher, said that her husband, Tom, was on Jeopardy! in 2013 and told then-host Alex Trebek how they met.

Zach found the Daily Double on clue 16 and wagered all of his money, which shocked host Ken Jennings. The clue in “Birthstones” was “In Native American lore, this December birthstone was believed to be pieces that fell from the sky.”

“What is turquoise?” he answered correctly. This gave him $10,400.

“Wow!” Jennings said. “The risk paid off.”

By the end of the round, Zach had $13,000. Biermann was in second place with $2,400. Canterbury had $1,200.

When Zach found the first DD in Double Jeopardy on clue six, he had $17,600. Both of his opponents had $2,400. He wagered $10,000 in “Poetry in Motion Pictures.”

The clue read, “Featured in the trailer, 28 Years Later included a 1915 reading of ‘Boots’ by this British poet, about Boer War marchers.” Zach answered correctly with “What is Kipling?” This gave him a total of $27,600.

Biermann tried to catch up to Zach by answering multiple clues in a row correctly, but Zach still found the last DD. He had $30,800 compared to Biermann’s $14,400.

On clue 22, in “5 Sixths,” he wagered $2,000. The clue was “Elected in 1492, corrupt & worldly Pope Alexander VI was from this vastly powerful family.”

“Who are the Borgias?” Zach answered correctly. He extended his lead to $32,800.

By the end of the round, Zach finished with $36,000. Biermann had $14,400. Canterbury was in third place with $2,400.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Musical Pieces.” The clue read, “Words later applied to this 1867 piece include ‘Far from the Black Forest you hurry to the sea.’” None of the contestants correctly guessed The Blue Danube.

Canterbury wrote, “What is Happy annive?” She wagered $0, ending with $2,400. Biermann’s response was “What is La Marseillaise?” She wagered $14,399, leaving her with $1.

Zach answered, “What is “Erlkonig? B[illegible}?” He wagered $0, ending with $36,000. Zach was the new champion and will return on Thursday for game two.

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