It looked like it was the end of the road for Tristan Williams during his eighth Jeopardy! game, but he had a shocking comeback after a failed Daily Double. Fans aren’t saying “So long, partner” to the Woody lookalike yet.
Williams, from Lincoln, Nebraska, was the only contestant to get the final cue right during his seventh game, giving him the win and $132,900. He played against Chayce Griffith, from Saline, Michigan, and Valerie Fulton, from Greenville, South Carolina, on May 15. Warning: Spoilers for the May 15 episode of Jeopardy! ahead.
By the first commercial break, Williams was in the lead with $4,000. On clue 16, he found the Daily Double. He wagered $3,000.
The clue in “Expressions From the Sporting World” was “Anything easy to answer, or more specifically, ‘what if the game is tied after the regulation 7 innings?’” Williams hesitated, and when prompted, he answered, “What is pop fly?”
“I’m afraid not,” host Ken Jennings said. The correct response was “a softball question.” He dropped to second place with $1,000.
Williams moved into first place by the end of the round with $3,200. Griffith, a professor of tree fruit physiology, had $3,000. Fulton, an attorney, was in third place with $1,400.
Griffith had the lead of $7,800 in Double Jeopardy when he found the DD on clue eight. He wagered $3,000 in “Peoples.”
The clue read, “Most indigenous Africans prefer Amazigh, meaning ‘free man,’ to this name derived from one the Romans used for foreigners.” “Who are the Berbers?” Griffith answered correctly. This gave him a wider lead with $10,800.
Williams found the second DD on clue 14. He had $6,000 compared to Griffith’s $12,000. Williams wagered $4,500 in “Let’s Talk About ‘X.’”
The clue was “Examples include silent scream & working vacation.” “What is an oxymoron?” he answered correctly. This brought Williams up to $10,500, making it a closer game.
The clue after the DD, Williams got it right and took the lead with $12,500. Griffith got the next clue wrong and dropped down to $10,000.
By the end of the round, Williams was in first place with $18,900. Griffith had $12,800. Fulton was in third place with $600.
“Play Characters” was the category for Final Jeopardy. The clue read, “This title character of a 1890 play is often called ‘the female Hamlet.’” Only one of the game show contestants had the correct response.
Fulton’s response was “What is No clue. So fun!” She was obviously wrong. Fulton dropped down to $1 after wagering $599. Griffith wrote,”Who is Ophelia?” He was wrong and wagered $8,000, giving him $4,800.
Williams had the correct response of “Who is Hedda Gabler?” He wagered $6,702, making his final total $25,601.
This gave Williams an eight-day total of $158,501. He will return on Monday for his ninth game.
“Congratulations, Tristan! Always a great comeback run in DJ,” a Reddit user said.
“Seemed like a mistake for Tristan to hold back that $1500 on the final DD, but he was able to overcome it with some impressive gets, including, of course, on Final,” another wrote.
“Nice comeback for Tristan to take #8. Chayce gave him a run for his money,” a third added.
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