‘Jeopardy!’ Player Admits To Scenario She ‘Didn’t Want’ After Final Jeopardy Nailbiter
ABC
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the October 15 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! players get to size up their tape day group in the greenroom and during their practice game, and contestant Zoe Grobman was correct in predicting her opponents on Tuesday, October 15, came to play, much like she did.
The therapist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania went up against two-day champ Eamonn Campbell, a lawyer originally from Manchester, Vermont, and Rishabh Wuppalapati, an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania from Vernon Hills, Illinois.
Entering with winnings of $43,200, Eamonn led by the end of the first break with $4,600, while Zoe had $600 after dropping to $0 on a True Daily Double looking for “Mandela,” and Rishabh trailed with $200.
By the end of the Jeopardy! round, Eamonn held on to his lead with $6,600, Rishabh — showcasing a dance called “The Snangle” for Ken Jennings during the (up close!) interviews — gained momentum with $3,400, and Zoe had $600.
In Double Jeopardy!, the game’s true form took shape: it was a memorably even matchup. Rishabh got the second Daily Double as “Cortez,” and the short end of a strict ruling from Jennings attempting to change a response. Zoe (sitting while competing) mounted a huge comeback, nearly doubling up on the last Daily Double with “Domestication,” bolstered by some gets in a Talking Heads video category (fun!).
Going into Final Jeopardy, the scores were wildly close as Rishabh led with $15,600, Zoe was in second with $11,100 and Eamonn had $9,800, everyone in, or close to, five figures.
The “Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speeches” was “He talked of a “new Attorney General” 4 times, the end of a “long dark night for America” & “a gentle Quaker mother.” The correct response was “Who Is: Richard Nixon?”
Turning first to Eammon, Jennings remarked he was “shaking his head;” he was indeed incorrect with “John Quincy Adams,” going all-in (forcing himself to be right to win a-la Gino Montoya) and dropping to $0. Zoe was correct, adding $8,501 giving her a mighty $19,601. And in a final twist, Rishabh was also correct, prevailing with an excitable hand motion to become the new champion with $22,201.
Zoe took to the Reddit thread for the episode to discuss her close second-place finish and the pitfalls of the performance. She plainly stated that her opponents were the two players she didn’t want to be pitted against from the day.
“Hey Y’all, Zoe here,” she began. “I haven’t watched the episode yet (did I win?), but I’m going to be busy with a watch party tonight so I wanted to just chime in with my thoughts and memories from my game.
“After watching everyone play the practice games I knew there were two players I really didn’t want to face: Eamonn and Rishabh. This was only further cemented during the first game when Rishabh was getting all the answers in the green room. So of course I faced both of them..” she continued.
“Studying buzzer technique – shoutout to Fritz Holznagel’s book – was the most valuable thing I did, although I had to adjust his recommended stance to account for sitting in a chair,” she added.
“Studying content on the other hand did not end up having any value. I studied a lot of topics but nothing came up in the game. In fact, the Pavlov of “Nonsense Poet = Lear” that somehow didn’t come true this time made it so that studying actually hurt me, which will be a fun joke to tell.” She called the Mandela miss her “personal H&R Block.”
“I thought I might have actually done something incredible and pulled off a come from behind victory, but alas it was not to be. Overall I’m about as proud of my performance as it is possible to be without winning.”
She concluded: “I pulled off a major turnaround in Double Jeopardy with around a $10k swing against two very strong opponents, and I managed to beat the returning champion. I’m proud of my Jeopardy! Silver Medal!”
Another fan put it: “What an awesome game! Really loved all three contestants today. Eamonn was a strong champ, Zoe’s comeback was a delight, and Rishabh’s visible excitement was infectious. Great game for all of them!”
What did you think of the anyone’s-game Jeopardy! match? Should Zoe be considered for Second Chance? And was that Shirley Jackson “Lottery” over-valued at $1000? Let us know in the comments section below.
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