‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After MLK Triple Stumper Decides Game

Spoiler Alert

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[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, June 17, episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy! ended in another Triple Stumper on Tuesday, June 17. The final question determined the winner after a nail-biting close game.

Sarah Cox, from Austin, Texas, returned for her second game with a one-day total of $15,050. She faced off against Stefany Meyer (not the author), from Burke, Virginia, and Dan Hopkins, from Hanover, New Hampshire.

Cox, a chief of staff, found the first Daily Double early in the game. She was tied for second with $800 and wagered up to $1,000. In “2-Word Responses,” the clue read, “Pregnant ladies know this other term for vitamin B9.” Cox answered correctly with “What is Folic Acid?” giving her the lead with $1,800.

By the end of the round, Cox led with $7,600. Hopkins, a teacher, was in second with $3,400. Meyer, a data analyst, had $1,400.

Double Jeopardy was met with a lot of Triple Stumpers. The first DD wasn’t found until clue 13 by Hopkins. He was in second with $7,400, only $200 away from Cox. He wagered $2,000. In “Old to the OED,” the clue read, “In the olden days, this ‘d’ word just meant a discourse or dissertation; now it means more of an angry rant.” Hopkins answered correctly with a diatribe and took the lead with $9,400.

Two clues later, he found the last DD. He wagered $3,000. In “You Can’t A Fjord it,” the clue was “The Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland is thought to be the birthplace of this object that tragically entered history in 1912.” He took a big lead with $12,400 after answering, “What is the iceberg that sank the Titanic?”

Cox, the reigning champion, moved down to third by the end of the game with $8,000. Meyer had $10,600. Hopkins was in the lead with $16,000.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “The 1960s.” “Following the Baptist Church bombing in 1963, MLK telegrammed him that the blood of 4 girls ‘is on your hands,’” was the clue. The correct response was George Wallace, which none of the game show contestants wrote.

Cox answered, “Who is J.E, Hoover?” She wagered $7,000, giving her a final total of $1,000. Meyer’s answer was “Who is JFK?” She wagered $2,000 to give her a final total of $9,600. Hopkins’ answer was “Who is John F Kennedy?” He wagered $5,201, to give him a final total of $10,799.

Hopkins was the night’s winner and will be back on Wednesday, June 18, to face off against two new opponents. Fans reacted to the final clue.

“I’m very shocked that today’s Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper,” a Reddit user said.

“I can understand guessing Hoover if you can’t think of anything better, but the idea that MLK would telegram JFK something so openly antagonistic makes zero sense to me,” replied another.

“With a triple miss on a Final where I feel like you had to know it (I’m sure there were people who guessed correctly, but I can think of way too many candidates), we’ve had only 183 correct in Final,” added a third.

“I got the Final Jeopardy on a guess, but I wonder if sharing the state in the clue would have helped,” said one last fan.

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