Caleb Groen secured his spot in the Tournament of Champions on Wednesday when he won his fifth Jeopardy! game. On Thursday, a contestant had the biggest payout of the season. Did Groen, a law and policy student, continue his streak, or did someone else beat him out?
Groen, from Thousand Oaks, California, entered the July 9 game with a five-day total of $103,200. For game six, he played against Anthony Kim, from Whitestone, New York, and Sarah Lynch, from Austin, Texas. Warning: Spoilers for the July 9 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!
Kim, a warehouse supervisor, pulled himself out of the negatives when he found the Daily Double on clue six. He had $0 and wagered the allotted $1,000.
The clue in “Homophones” read, “To compare, or an organism combining a fungus & an alga.” “What is… moss and… mass, hmm?” he answered incorrectly. Kim dropped down to -$1,000 since the correct response was liken/lichen.
Kim was still in the negatives for the first 15 clues. Groen had the lead with $4,600. During the interviews, Lynch, a tax examiner, revealed that her mom played on Jeopardy! 10 years ago and placed in second.
Groen ended the round with $5,600. Kim had $800. Lynch was in third place with -$400.
Lynch got on the board in Double Jeopardy when she answered two clues in “Women in Music” correctly. Groen found the first DD on clue seven. He had $8,000 and wagered $5,000.
In “Alternate History Books,” the clue was “In a novel by E.B. Lomax, this man who helped lead the Arab revolt against the Ottomans survives his motorcycle crash but with no memories.” Groen moved up to $13,000 when he correctly answered: “Who is Lawrence of Arabia?”
Except for two Triple Stumpers, Groen answered every clue between seven and 17 correct, giving him $25,800. He found the last DD on clue 17, wagering $9,000.
The clue in “Ranks & Titles” read, “These 2 titles that went largely out of use in 1917 & 1918 both derive from ‘Caesar.’” “What are czar and kaiser?” Groen answered. This gave him $34,800.
“Wow,” host Ken Jennings said.
By the end of the round, Groen ended with $39,600. Kim had $5,600. Lynch was in third place with -$800. This made her ineligible to compete in Final Jeopardy.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Alliterative Literature.” The clue was “This collection begins with a poem not by the credited author but by his rival Ben Jonson, commenting on an engraving.”
Both of the game show contestants had the correct response of “Who is First Folio?” Kim wagered $0, leaving him with $5,600. Groen made a big wager of $20,400. This gave him a total of $60,000.
“Hello,” Jennings said. “That is our biggest payday of the season, besting even Jamie Ding. What a game!”
Groen had a six-day total of $163,200 and will return on Friday for his seventh game. “Great game by Caleb,” a Reddit user said.
“Caleb scored a BIG one! What a game,” another wrote.
“‘Our best payday this season, besting even Jamie Ding!’ Ken Jennings just inadvertently sparked an unexpected rivalry for the TOC…” one last fan said.
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