‘Jeopardy!’ Player Speaks Out After Missing Final Question

Friday’s episode of Jeopardy! had it all come down to the final question, which caused a player to lose out over a simple mistake. Five-day champion Josh Weikert, from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, returned for his sixth game after beating the four-day curse, and faced off against two new contestants. One of his opponents lost the game after getting the final question wrong, and is now speaking out about the flub. Politics professor Weikert faced off against Revell Carr from Lexington, Kentucky, and Mike Budzinski from Chicago, Illinois.

Budzinski’s mistake in Final Jeopardy cost him the win at the last hurdle, which saw Weikert victorious once again. The clue read: “The ‘Hermit Nation’ & ‘The Land of the Morning Calm’ are nicknames for these two neighbors.” All three players answered the question incorrectly, as Carr wrote “Tibert and Nepal”; Budzinski wrote “Scotland and England”; and Weikert wrote “Nepal and Bhutan.” The answer was North Korea and South Korea.

On Reddit, Budzinski spoke about his Final Jeopardy answer. “Speaking of Final Jeopardy, I misread the clue,” he said. “Instead of ‘Land of the Morning Calm,’ I heard ‘Land of the Setting Sun,’ what I thought was a riff on Land of the Rising Sun. So I looked way west to the other side of Europe/Asia. Plus, Scottish people are king of hermits, right?”

Josh Weikert Is This Week’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Champion

Prior to Weikert’s Friday win, his five-day winnings totaled $80,202. Weikert’s win was not a smooth journey on Friday; he and his opponents got off to a rocky start, as Weikert and Budzinki incorrectly answered an $800 question. Carr failed to answer and remained at $0. However, once Weikert correctly answered a question about his city’s football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and rose to -$400, the game got back on track, with Weikert emerging as Friday’s Jeopardy! winner.

Weikert officially took the lead when he answered questions about geography and angels correctly. However, Carr, a fellow professor, proved to be Weikert’s worthy competitor when he found the first Daily Double of the game. Carr had $2,200 in the bank and wagered $1,200, while Weikert had $2,400, and Carr was set to close the $200 margin. However, Carr dropped to $1,000 after not knowing the answer to a clue related to fashion, in which host Ken Jennings told him the answer was “miniskirt.”

After Carr and Weikert faced off, Budzinski, a portfolio manager, had to face off against the five-day Jeopardy! champion. Budzinski was also a fierce competitor, as they traded leads back and forth after answering questions correctly. By the end of the round, Budzinski led the leaderboard with $4,000, while Weikert took second place with $3,600, and Carr trailed behind with $2,000. Weikert found the first and second DD in Double Jeopardy and wagered $2,000 both times with $10,000 in his bank. He answered both questions correctly and raised his bank to $14,400. By the end of the round, Weikert led with $21,600, while Budzinski came second with $7,600, and Carr still trailed behind with $1,200.

Weikert became the six-day champion after the Final Jeopardy despite dropping to $20,000. Budzinski ended the game with $6,600 after wagering $1,000 in Final Jeopardy, and Carr left with $100 after wagering $1,100. With a six-day total of $100,202, Weikert is set to face off against two new opponents on Monday, March 31.

Jeopardy! returns on Monday on ABC.

Source: Reddit