‘Jeopardy!’ Invitational Tournament: Was a Champion Crowned After Game Two?

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, February 19, episode of Jeopardy!]

It only takes two wins to be crowned the winner of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. With Andrew He already up one game and his impressive gameplay in this tournament, did he sweep game two, or did one of his opponents get a win?

He, from Concord, California, played against Roger Craig, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and Long Nguyen, from Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 18. The first JIT contestant to win two games is crowned the champion, takes home $150,000, and a spot in the upcoming Jeopardy! Masters.

The first two clues in the round were Triple Stumpers. Although Craig, an applied scientist, and He, a stay-at-home dad, got a few clues right after that, they quickly dropped into the negatives.

Craig got back on the board, but it was Nguyen, a retired engineer, who found the Daily Double on clue 11. He had the lead with $2,400 and wagered it all. In “Across The Liberal Arts,” the clue read, “Psychology: Before graduating from the University of Zurich in 1912, he got the nickname Klecks, or ‘Inkblot.’” He correctly answered with “Who is Rorschach?” giving him $4,800.

Nguyen kept the lead through the rest of the round with $6,600. Craig had $2,000. He was in third place with $400.

In Double Jeopardy, Nguyen found the first DD on clue three with $8,200 in his bank. He bet it all again. In “All Over The Country,” the clue was “The extinct volcano Ilyas Dag is near the westernmost part of Turkey, while this volcanic massif is near the easternmost part.” Nguyen answered correctly with “What is Mount Ararat?” which gave him $16,400.

He found the last DD on clue eight. He had $2,400 and wagered it all in “Putting the ‘Double’ in Double Jeopardy.” The clue was, “An article in the journal Nature was titled this ‘and the Wronged Heroine’, about Rosalind Franklin.”

The game show contestant answered, “What is a Double Helix?” which was right, giving him $4,800. Although He had a significant rise in his score, it wasn’t enough to take first by the end of the round. He ended with $12,800. Craig had $5,200. Nguyen was in first place with $21,600.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “World of First Names.” The clue read, “Like an English-language one, this German first name of a physicist of sound & a 1930s film director means ‘serious.’”

Only two of the contestants got the right answer. Craig wrote, “What is I hope Long writes Ernst!?” He was wrong and wagered $0, ending him with $5,200. He had the correct response of “What is Henrich?” He wagered $12,733, leaving him with $67. Nguyen also had the right response and wagered $4,001, giving him $17,599 to end.

Nguyen won game two, which gives both Nguyen and He one win each. Find out if the tournament will end on February 20 or if Craig wins his first game and it continues to next week.

Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock

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