‘Jeopardy!’: Did ‘Stay-at-Home Son’ Brendan Liaw Get a Three-Peat?

Spoiler Alert

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[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, May 22, episode of Jeopardy!]

Brendan Liaw was on a hot streak and returned for this third game of Jeopardy! after racking up a two-day total of $38,798. Did he win this game or did the stay-at-home-son go back to living on his parents’ couch?

Liaw, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, played against Angela Mustapha, from Conway, Arkansas, and Matt Askins, from Chandler, Arizona, on Thursday, May 22. He finally got a Final Jeopardy question correct after fans pointed out that he was 0 for two.

Unlike Wednesday’s game, there were a lot more Triple Stumpers, with seven just in the first round. Liaw picked up six questions correctly by the first commercial break to give him a wide lead of $3,600.

The Daily Double was found on the first question back. Askins, an aerospace engineer, found it and wagered $1,000 despite having only $400 in his bank. In the category “Last Lines of the Children’s Book,” the clue read, “‘But he never knew that it really was his own bunny, come back to look at the child who had first helped him to be real.’” Askins answered “What is the Velveteen Rabbit?” which was correct. He still sat in third place with $1,400.

By the end of the round, Liaw led with $5,000. Mustapha, a library specialist, had $1,800. Askins trailed with $1,200. The round had seven incorrect answers.

In Double Jeopardy, Askins tried to get into second place when he wagered $4,000 and made it a true Daily Double. However, he got it wrong and dropped down to $0. In “Creatures of the Earth,” the clue was, “Structures called osteoderms throughout this mammal’s body protect it from predators.” “What is a porcupine?” he answered. The correct answer was an armadillo.

Eleven questions later, Liaw found the last DD of the game. He had $15,400 in his bank and wagered $2,400. In “Outdoor Art,” the clue read, “Shepard Fairey used a 1967 photo of this athlete to create a 7-story mural outside a Louisville YMCA.” “Who was Muhammed Ali?” Liaw answered correctly. This brought him to $17,800. Mustapha was way behind in second with $5,800.

This round had five Triple Stumpers and two incorrect answers, including a DD. It was far different from the “almost perfect” game played the day before. Liaw had a runaway win with $19,800. Mustapha had $9,400. Askins was still in third with $2,800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Born & Died.” The clue was “He was born in Fürth, Germany in 1923, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, & passed away in Connecticut in 2023.” Only Liaw got it correct. Askins answered, “Who is Sadat?” He wagered $0 and ended with $2,800. Mustapha’s answer was “Who is Wiesel?” She wagered $600, so her final total was $8,800. Liaw answered with “Who is Kissinger?” That was right so he added $800 to his total, giving him a final total of $20,600.

Liaw spoke out on Reddit about his DD and Final Jeopardy answer. “Kudos to Matt for going all in on the DD. I think Ken [Jennings] asked afterward if Matt felt he needed to wager aggressively to try and beat me and Matt said yes. So big respect to him for the confidence to go for it. Looking at my DD wager now, almost certainly should have wagered more but I think I didn’t feel great about the category for whatever reason at the time,” he wrote.

“Kissinger came to me pretty quickly and I begrudgingly wrote his name down – I think it was the ‘born in Germany’ and year of the Nobel Prize that got me to Kissinger.” Kissinger was an American diplomat and Secretary of State under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford whose actions and policies sparked criticism. Others were shocked that two of the contestants got the final question wrong.

“Brendan has reallly done well especially considering his shaky start! I feel like he will be around for a while, and he’s got a likable personality so far, so that’s great,” one Reddit user said.

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