‘Jeopardy!’ Ends in Drama With Major Implications for Tournament of Champions

Amanda Bell July 24, 2024, 7:30 pm

Neilesh Vinjamuri, Wendy Zaballos, and Davey Morrison on Jeopardy on July 24

As a three-day champion, Neilesh Vinjamuri was within striking distance of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions roster, but, just like the contestant he dethroned (Jay Fisher), he fell just short on Wednesday’s (July 24) episode.

Vinjamuri faced off against mechanical engineer Wendy Zaballos and actor-screenwriter Dave Morrison in his pursuit of a fourth win, coming in with a three-day total of $53,099.

Things got off to a good start for Vinjamuri, as he nabbed the first round’s Daily Double and got it right (knowing that Peru is the country bordered by both Ecuador and Bolivia). By the end of the round, he slightly led the pack with $6,200 to Zaballos’ $4,200 and Morrison’s $3,000.

Who's Qualified for the Next 'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions?

In the second round, things got even better for him, as both competitors were incorrect in the Daily Doubles. (Morrison did not know that Gilbert Stuart was the artist who made the George Washington portrait that appears on money, while Zaballos didn’t know that “onus” was the answer to the “4-letter Word” category clue “Sometimes preceding Probandi, this burden is on you.”) Worse, Morrison had a terrible time with the “Novel, Change a Letter” category, losing $4,800 and the potential to lead as a result. (Of those, his “Of Mice and Hens” guess was a bit of a heartbreaker, as he would’ve gotten it right if not for the mis-pluralization.)

Going into Final Jeopardy, Vinjamuri led with $15,400 over Morrison’s $12,800 and Zaballos’ $5,800. Unfortunately for him, the last clue of the game proved to be a stumper.

In the category “U.S. Place Names,” the clue read: “This name of a national forest means ‘fool’ & may be one of Apache group’s name for another group; it’s also a problematic TV character.”

Only Morrison the movie buff knew that the correct answer to this was “Tonto,” which meant he gained $2,700 while the others lost money. In the end, Morrison took the win with $15,500 to Vinjamuri’s $5,199 and Zaballos’ goose egg and ended Vinjamuri’s shot at the ToC.

“Davey’s errant ‘-s’ on that clue led to a 4,000 score swing between him and Neilesh (since Neilesh got the rebound)–if Davey had instead gotten it right, all else being equal, he would have had the lead going into FJ at 14,800 to Neilesh’s 13,400,” one fan observed on Reddit. “Fortunately for Davey, he was still able to win in FJ, because that would’ve been quite a bitter pill to swallow if ‘hens‘ had been the difference between winning and losing.”

Another wrote of his victory, “Congrats to Davey on today’s win, and on overcoming his tough encounters with the Novel Change A Letter category. He also would have won with his small wager on the FJ on a triple miss, though Wendy could have outscored him had he missed and she hadn’t. The joys of wagering math!”