Defeating a 12-day Jeopardy! champion is no small feat. Sam Ryan took down Caleb Groen during his 13th game and is trying to keep his streak going. Did the giant killer win again?
Ryan, from Kansas City, Missouri, entered the game with a one-day total of $23,000. On July 21, he played against Grace Biermann, from Valparaiso, Indiana, and Joey Sisk, from Cape Carteret, North Carolina. Warning: Spoilers for the July 21 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!
Biermann, a writer and librarian, was in the lead with $3,400 when she found the Daily Double on clue 12. She wagered $1,400 in “Assemble!”
The clue read, “Cardinals assemble! Specifically, to elect a new pope during one of these, from the Latin for ‘with a key.’” “What is a conclave?” she answered correctly. This gave Biermann $4,800.
By the first commercial break, Biermann still had the lead with $6,800, which was $5,000 ahead of Ryan, a regulatory consultant. Biermann ended the round with $7,600. Ryan had $4,200. Sisk, an analytics engineer, was in third place with $3,000.
Sisk was still in third place when he found the first DD in Double Jeopardy on clue seven. He had $4,200 and wagered $2,000.
The clue in “Narrator of the Novel” read, “The Remarque-able Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier who witnesses the horrors of war.” “What is All Quiet on the Western Front?” he answered correctly. This gave Sisk $6,200.
Biermann had $19,200 when she found the final DD on clue 23. She wagered $10,000 in “Beyond the Sea.”
The clue was “The Fourth Amendment shields privacy by barring this pair of unreasonable actions.” “What are search and seizure?” she answered correctly. This gave Biermann $29,200.
She ended with $30,000. Ryan had $8,600. Sisk was in third place with $7,400.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “The 20th Century.” The clue read, “Turning points in this event were the U.S. Navy boarding the Marucla & a cargo ship called the Kislovodsk altering its course.” All three game show contestants correctly responded with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Sisk wagered $1,300, giving him $8,700. Ryan’s wager was $6,201, giving him $14,801.
Biermann wagered $2,000, making her final total $32,000. She won the game and will return on Wednesday for game two.
“All respect to Grace for the big DD wager at the end. Fully on board to root for her going forward!” a Reddit user said.
“D**n. Way to go, Grace!” another commented.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Peacock and Hulu