‘Jeopardy!’: Returning Champ in East Coast Showdown

‘Jeopardy!’: Returning Champ Faces Regional Rivals in East Coast Showdown

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Wednesday, July 9, episode of Jeopardy!]

Two would-be winners from the Big Apple decided it was time to take a swing at the boy from the Garden State, as Rahul Kak, a law student from Brooklyn, and Sarah Mulligan, a lawyer from New York, faced off against returning Jeopardy! champ Scott Riccardi, whose four-day cash winnings totaled an impressive $132,402.

Host Ken Jennings recapped yesterday’s thrilling game, when Riccardi was given a run for his money by Scott Puma, who racked up 23 correct responses to Riccardi’s 24. A Riccardi win today would mark his fifth consecutive victory and earn him a spot in the Tournament of Champions.

Right off the bat, Riccardi found the Daily Double, hidden under “American History” for $600. With no money yet in his bank, he wagered the maximum allowed of $1,000 on the clue: “Around 1870, unbranded strays gained this moniker from the name of a Texas rancher negligent in marking his calves.” Riccardi incorrectly answered, “What is a mustang?” starting him off on the wrong foot with -$1,000. The correct response was, “What is a maverick?”

Riccardi got out of the red with the “American History” clue: “In 1865, Mary Surratt was executed by the U.S. government; in 1953, she became the next woman to suffer that fate.” His correct response, “Who is Ethel Rosenberg?” brought him back to $0.

By the time the game went to a commercial break, it was a close match as Riccardi and Mulligan were tied at $1,200, with Kak close behind at $800.

During the contestant interviews, Kak revealed that being on Jeopardy! wasn’t even the most exciting part of his day. “I’m actually going to a Beyoncé concert later,” he said, then offered Jennings an invite: “If you want to come, you can.”

“That’s nice! I’m going to wear this! Is that okay?” Jennings asked, referring to his hosting attire.

“Yeah. I have a cowboy hat in my trunk, so I’ll give that to you,” Kak joked.

The round continued with Mulligan picking first, but it wasn’t as fast-paced as previous days. Mulligan pulled ahead of both Kak and Riccardi thanks to the “Number, Please” category and the clue: “Number of points a team gets for a safety in the NFL.” Riccardi incorrectly guessed three, dropping his total from $2,200 to $1,600, while Kak mistakenly answered one, bringing his score down to -$600. Mulligan correctly responded with two, raising her total to $2,400.

Next, all three contestants missed a Game of Thrones clue in the “We Are Literary Family” category. The $200 clue read: “George R.R. Martin wrote, one in this family, ‘always pays his debts… I think I will try and sleep. Wake me if we’re about to die.’” The correct response was “Who are the Lannisters?”

The first round was marked by several missed opportunities to gain ground, keeping scores low for much of the game, until the final stretch, when things finally heated up. By the time the trio entered Double Jeopardy!, Riccardi had reclaimed the lead with $3,800, followed by Mulligan with $2,600, and Kak in third with -$200.

Riccardi discovered the first of the round’s Daily Doubles in the “Earth Science” category for $600. He wagered $4,000 of his $6,600 on the clue, “On a global scale, this process of heat transfer sees warm air rise and cold air sink, driving much of weather and climate.” With his answer of “What is convection?,” Riccardi’s new total rose to $10,600, putting him well ahead of his competitors.

He quickly found the next Daily Double under the “Take a Long Walk” category for $1,600, on which he wagered $5,000. “Very few have walked the entire length of this route that runs 19,000 miles from Argentina to Alaska via the perilous Darien Gap.” Scott answered, “What is the Pacific Coast Highway?,” an incorrect response that dropped his total to $5,600, losing ground to Mulligan, who held second place with $2,600, as the game became a nail-biter for the Tournament of Champions hopeful. The correct answer was the Pan-American Highway.

Much like the first round, Double Jeopardy! was marred by numerous missed questions that went unanswered, leaving a lot of money on the board. As a result, the totals entering Final Jeopardy! were not as high as in previous games. Riccardi led heading into Final Jeopardy! with $12,000, followed by Mulligan with $5,400, and Kak in third with $3,800.

With the category “Ancient Builders,” the trio’s Final Jeopardy! clue was: “A 2nd-century inscription in Northern England records that the gods imposed ‘the necessity of keeping intact the empire’ on this man.”

Kak gave the most honest (and hilarious) answer with, “Who is… I don’t know!” He wagered $1,601 and dropped to $2,199. Mulligan gave a similar response with, “Who…” She was in good humor as she lost $2,201, ending with a total of $3,199.

Luckily, returning champ Riccardi nailed the answer with “Who is Hadrian?,” adding a modest $500 to his total and finishing with $12,500. With a five-day total of $144,902, Riccardi secured his spot in the Tournament of Champions, and, of course, the chance to raise his earnings the next day.

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