Jeopardy! is back. Season 43 kicked off with returning champion Matthew Riggle trying to win his third game against two new opponents. The game ended with a risky final wager and a shocking result.
Riggle, from Madison, Alabama, entered the September 14 game with a two-day total of $64,400. On the premiere, the community college math instructor played against Emily Mayo, from Brooklyn, New York, and Bryan Lee, from Falls Church, Virginia. WARNING: This post contains spoilers about the Monday, September 14 episode of Jeopardy!.
Both Riggle and Lee, a climate financial strategist, were tied with $1,000 when Lee found the Daily Double on clue three. He wagered all of his money in “Opera.”
The clue read, “This Ethiopian princess sings a duet with Radames at an Opera’s end, ‘The fatal stone now closes over me.'” He answered correctly with “Who is Aida?” This gave him the lead with $2,000.
However, Lee didn’t keep the lead for long, as Riggle answered the next $1,000 clue correctly, tying them up. By the first 15 clues, Lee retook the lead with $7,000.
Riggle had $3,200. Mayo, a Broadway ads project manager, got on the board og clue 25 with a Brooklyn-related clue with $400.
By the end of the round, Lee had $8,000. Riggle was in second place with $6,800. Mayo had $1,600.
Jeopardy! – Season 43 – Show #9616 – Airdate 091426
Sony Pictures
In Double Jeopardy, Lee found the first DD on clue seven. He had $12,000 and wagered $4,000. The clue in “Historic Days of the Week” was “Recently, it opened on Wednesday, but the famous ‘Long’ one opened on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 1640.”
“What is… long…?” he answered before time ran out. The correct answer was Long Parliament. Lee dropped to $8,000, making it a tighter game. Riggle had $5,600.
Riggle had $6,800 when he found the last DD on clue 10. He wagered all of his money in “Colleges You Could Apply to in 1895.”
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The clue was “Chartered in 1800, this Vermont school is in a town named for its location between 2 others.” “What is Middleborough?” he answered. The correct response was Middlebury, so Riggled dropped to $0.
By the end of the round, Riggle made his way back to second place with $12,000. Lee had $15,600. Mayo was in third place with $4,000.
“Transportation” was the Final Jeopardy category. The clue read, “Bearing the name of an arthropod genus, this iconic vehicle first sold after WWII was designed by Italian engineer Corradino D’Ascanio.”
Mayo responded with “What is a beetle?” She was incorrect and wagered all of her money, leaving her with $0.
Riggle’s response of “What is spider?” was not correct either. He wagered $3,999, giving him $8,001.
“What is a VW bug?” Lee answered incorrectly. The correct response was the Vespa, Italian for wasp. Lee wagered $8,401, giving him s final total of $7,199.
By a miracle, Riggle won his third game. The game show contestant had a three-day total of $72,401 and will return on Tuesday for game four.
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