Caleb Groen has already broken the record for the highest payout of Season 42 of Jeopardy!. As he climbs the leaderboard, he is also trying to get seeded into the Tournament of Champions.
Being seeded in a tournament means the contestant doesn’t have to play in the first few rounds and automatically advances to a later round, giving them a greater chance of advancing and winning. If he wins his 12th game on July 17, the law and policy student will surpass Adam Remsen and be seeded into the top three spots for the next TOC.
On Friday, Groen played against Andy Strange, from Erlanger, Kentucky, and Angharad Rebholz, from Hopewell, New Jersey. The champion entered the game with an 11-day total of $332,167. Warning: Spoilers for the July 17 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!
Groen found the Daily Double on clue seven when he had $4,000. He wagered $3,000 in “Colorful Phrases.” The clue read, “Jack London’s ‘John Barleycorn’ tells of a drinker who sees ‘blue mice’ & these, significantly larger.”
“Oh. What is white fang?” he answered incorrectly. The correct response was pink elephants. Groen dropped down to $1,000, but still had the lead since his opponents had $800 and $0. By the first 15 clues, Groen grew back up to $2,800.
Groen had $6,800 by the end of the round. Rebholz, a middle school teacher, was in second place with $2,800. Strange, a project test engineer, had $400.
When it came time for Double Jeopardy, Groen had $8,000 when he found the first DD on clue three. He wagered $3,000 in “World Cities.”
The clue was “It’s the African capital where locals shouted ‘Ali, bomaye’ before a heavyweight bout in 1974.” Groen closed his eyes and guessed, “What is Lasaka?” He was wrong, so he dropped down to $5,000. The correct response was Kinshasa.”
Strange found the second DD on clue 14. He had $6,800 compared to Groen’s $13,800. Strange wagered $4,000 in “In Between.”
The clue was “Henry VIII is buried next to this wife who came between Anne Boleyn & Anne of Cleves.” He hesitated before answering, “Who is Jane Seymour?” Since Strange was right, he moved up to $10,800, putting a smaller gap between him and Groen.
Groen dominated the rest of the round, ending with $24,200. Strange had $12,400. Rebholz was in third place with $1,600.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Movie Music.” The clue read, “The main theme heard in this movie uses a motif that’s an alternating pattern of an E & an F, gradually becoming insistent.” All three game show contestants correctly answered with Jaws.
Rebholz wagered $600, ending with $2,200. Strange’s wager of $$12,000, gave him $24,400. Groen wagered only $601, making his total $24,801.
This gave Groen a 12-day total of $346,968. According to The Jeopardy Fan, he now took the third-seeded spot in the TOC. Groen is also only $2,633 from surpassing Adriana Harmeyer for spot number 16 on the All-Time Winnings, Regular Play list.
“Caleb almost blitzed the board for the runaway near the end. Nice try from Andy. That might be one of the easiest FJs I’ve seen yet,” a Reddit user said.
“That was a nail-biter. Caleb survived!” said another fan.
“Caleb now bumps Adam Remsen out of the third seed spot for this year’s TOC, which is insane given that Adam already had impressive earnings for his run. What a rollercoaster of emotions for that spot,” a third added.
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