‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Speaks Out After ‘Nail-Biting’ Game

[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Wednesday, March 26, episode of Jeopardy!]

It all came down to the final wager on Jeopardy! after a nail-biting game in which one contestant tried to continue their winning streak.

Josh Weiker, from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, returned for his fourth game on Wednesday, March 26. The politics professor has a three-day total of $54,001. He played against Melanie Hirsch, from Silver Spring, Maryland, and John Rindone, from Brooklyn, New York.

The game started off with Weikert answering a question about an Amendment, which host Ken Jennings said was “right up his alley.” Hirsch, a lawyer, then gave Weikert a run for his money when she correctly answered six questions in a row and took the lead. Rindone, a policy advisor, answered two questions but got one wrong, putting him in the negatives.

Weikert found the first Daily Double of the game. He made it a true one, wagering all of his money — $1,800. The clue in “From their New York Times Obituary” read, “1977: ‘Dead of heart attack in Paris’. ‘Most exciting Opera singer of her time.'” “Who is Melba?” he answered. Jennings told him that is was “Maria Callas,” so he dropped down to $0.

During the interview round, Hirsch revealed that she did musical theater in law school in New York. She played Dorothy in “The Wizard of Laws.” Rindone shared that like previous host Alex Trebek, his family has been affected by pancreatic cancer. He left fans with two things: there is hope and know the signs of the disease. Weikert was tired of going to school when he was 18, so he joined the Army Reserve.

By the end of the first round, Hirsch had a substantial lead with $6,800. Weikert was in second with $2,400. Rindone had $200.

In Double Jeopardy, Hirsch continued to dominate the round. After answering a handful of questions correctly, she found the first DD of the round. She had $11,200 and bet $3,500. The clue read, “North Carolina chose as its state fossil the teeth of this giant prehistoric shark.” She hesitated before answering, “What is the Ancient Great White Shark?” That wasn’t correct, so she dropped down to $7,700 but maintained first place. The correct answer was “megalodon.”

Hirsch found the second DD and had a chance to redeem herself. With $10,100, she wagered $2,500. The clue read, “Stage direction in this Shaw play based on a Roman story mention a huge thorn in a paw.” She did not answer and said that she “didn’t know it.” Jennings told her that the correct answer was “Androcles and the Lion.” She dropped to $7,600, still in first place.

Weikert was in the lead at one point. By the last question, Hirsch caught up to him, both with $12,000. However, Weikert incorrectly answered the final question, dropping to $11,600. Hirsch was only $400 ahead of Weikert and had the lead going into Final Jeopardy. In total, she had 23 correct and three incorrect for a total of $12,000. Weikert answered 19 correct and three incorrect, with a total of $11,600. Rindone answered five correctly and two incorrectly and had a total of $2,600.

The Final Jeopardy question category was “Seafaring Brits.” The clue read, “In 1804, an officer of HMS warrior formally charged this captain with ‘calling me rascal, scoundrel, & shaking his fist in my face.” Rindone answered with “Who is Nelson?” which was incorrect. He wagered $1,600, giving him a final total of $1,000. Weikert also answered Nelson and wagered $6,399, giving him a final total of $5,201. Hirsch answered the same. It all came down to her wager for the win. She wagered $11,202, giving her a total of $799. The correct response was, “Who is Captain Bligh?”

Weikert became a four-day champion with $59,202. He will face off against two new contestants on Thursday, March 27.

“That was a nail-biter of a match, down to the last clue. Way to go, Josh!” a Reddit user said.

Hirsch spoke out after her loss on the platform. “Hi, everyone! Obviously, I’d have preferred to have won, but I’m still so happy to have had this experience–and if I’m going to lose, for it to be to a really nice multi-day champion like Josh. And I’m tickled with this board, notwithstanding my bad luck on the DDs: I got three clues thanks to my children (two kids’ books and archaeopteryx), a movie set in my hometown (Bull Durham), the country where I studied abroad in college (Sri Lanka), and two sneaky theater questions hiding in other categories (Gogo and Damn Yankees),” she wrote.

“As for FJ: I’d joked with my husband that Mutiny on the Bounty comes up all the time and had made sure to study it. Even so, Bligh wasn’t close to the tip of my tongue in those short 30 seconds, and I’m not kicking myself at all. And I blame this sub for my cover bet, since if not for learning wagering strategy like you taught me, I probably would have followed my naturally more risk-averse instincts! (Just kidding, I’d do the same thing if I could do it again. You all taught me well.) My only regret is that I forgot to write in a shout-out to my kids (and my poor beloved CFPB) in my final answer.”

“This whole experience has been a delight, bringing some much-needed joy to what has otherwise been a dark time in my professional life, as described in my previous post. I’m grateful to this community for helping me along the way, and for reconnecting me with my tape day cohort!” she ended.

Hirsch explained that her episode aired on the same week that a federal judge was expected to decide if her agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will continue to exist.

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