Jeopardy! Game Takes a Dramatic Turn After Back-to-Back Daily Doubles

After yesterday’s unusually difficult game filled with triple stumpers, Greg Monson, a videographer from Portland, Oregon, emerged victorious on Jeopardy! with $8,700. Now, he’s hoping to hold on to his title for a second day as he faces two new challengers: Dan Perkey, a brewer originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Kendra Kendell, a payroll analyst originally from Aurora, Colorado.

The first round offered a fun Yacht Rock theme, featuring the categories named for songs in the genre, including “Africa” (a reference to the Toto song), “This is ‘It’” (a reference to the Kenny Loggins jam), “Sailing” (Christopher Cross), “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” (England Dan & John Ford Coley), “What a Fool Believes” (The Doobie Brothers), and “Yacht Rock,” appealing to the soft rock aficionados in the audience.

Monson started off the game with “Yacht Rock” for $1,000: “A litmus test — if the song has smooth vocals by this Doobie Brother as heard on ‘You Belong to Me,’ it’s Yacht Rock.” Perkey buzzed in, and with the correct answer of Michael McDonald, he was the first on the board.

Monson found the game’s first Daily Double under “Africa” for $800, but since the game was just beginning, he bet the max of $1,000 on the clue: “This nationally named portion of the Sahara extends eastward into Egypt.” He answered incorrectly with “What is the Sudanese Sahara?” putting him in the hole early in the game. The correct answer was the Libyan Desert.

By the end of the first round, Perkey was in a comfy lead with $5,400, while Monson was in second place with $1,800 and Kendell was in third with -$1,200.

Double Jeopardy gave Kendell the chance to make a comeback, and she started with the category “A Look at Historical Americans” for $400. With a visual clue, “Here she is with her literal partner in crime; she was only 23 when she was escorted not so gently from our plane of existence,” Kendell was able to guess “Bonnie Parker” and begin her redemption arc.

Monson found both Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy, on the 14th and 15th clues of the round, turning the game around in his favor. The first Daily Double of the round was hiding under “Mammals” for $1,600. Betting $4,000, he faced the clue: “The name of this largest New World cat is said to come from an indigenous word meaning ‘he who kills with one leap.’” He responded with the correct answer: “What is a jaguar?”

Then, under “Journalism” for $1,200, Monson found the final DD. Faced with the clue: “‘Report of the Office of the Sec. of Defense Vietnam Task Force’ was the true name of these published in 1971 in several newspapers,” he correctly answered, “What are the Pentagon Papers?” Monson added another $4,000 to his total,completely changing the course of the game.

By the end of Double Jeopardy, the game had flipped back to Monson thanks to those back-to-back Daily Doubles, which gave him an $8,000 boost. Kendell also finished strong, mounting a comeback of her own in the second round.

In the category of “1990s Nonfiction Bestsellers,” the Final Jeopardy clue was, “This word began the titles of 2 bestsellers from the same man, one of the books is set in Alaska, the other in Nepal.”

Unlike yesterday’s game, all three contestants got the correct answer of “Into,” as in Jon Krakauer’s books, 1996’s Into the Wild and 1997’s Into Thin Air. Perkey wagered $9,000 and brought his total to $18,000, while Kendell bet $10,400 and brought her tally to $20,800.

Did Monson keep his title?

Monson bet $9,000, bringing his total to $22,600, just $200 short of a runaway game. With a two-day take of $31,300, Monson will return on Monday to defend his title.

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