What To Know
- Harrison Whitaker appeared on his eighth Jeopardy! game.
- None of the contestants correctly answered the Final Jeopardy clue about a “literary Garbo”.
- Viewers noted that Whitaker appeared less confident and faced tougher competition.
[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, November 20, episode of Jeopardy!]
Is this the end for Harrison Whitaker on Jeopardy!? The contestant sent a farewell message at the end of the game following a stunning ending.
Whitaker, from Terre Haute, Indiana, returned for his eighth game on November 20 with a total of $208,201. The researcher played against Kara Brown, from Seattle, Washington, and Blythe Roberson, from Brooklyn, New York.
The beginning of the game had two triple stumpers and Brown, a payroll manager, and Roberson, a writer, in the negatives when Whitaker found the Daily Double. He had $3,600 and wagered $2,600.
In “Anniversaries,” the clue read, “For the 40th anniversary of her death, she was on a 100-zloty coin; for the 50th, a 100-franc coin.” “Who was Marie Curie?” he answered correctly, giving him $6,200.
By the first commercial break, Brown got out of the negatives with $1,800. Whitaker had the same score, and Roberson had -$200. During the interviews, Whitaker revealed that his love of Jeopardy! started in high school French class. He would sit in a corner with a group of people who would ask him Jeopardy! questions until he got one wrong, and his teacher turned a blind eye to it.
Whitaker led the round with $9,200 at the end. Roberson finally answered a clue right and had $200. Brown was in second place with $1,400.
In Double Jeopardy, Brown found the first Daily Double. She had $5,800 and wagered $3,000 in “Settle Down.” The clue read, “The first chapter of this man’s Bible book says, ‘so they took’ him, ‘and cast him… into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.’” “Who is Job?” she answered incorrectly. Brown dropped down to $2,800. The correct response was Jonah.
She also found the second DD a few clues later. Still at $2,800, Brown made it a true Daily Double. In “Appropriately Named Places,” the clue was “This Down Under state is bounded by the Timor Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean & a whole lotta desert.” She guessed with “What is Western Australia?” and was correct. Brown doubled to $5,600, compared to Whitaker’s $13,600.
At the end of the round, Whitaker had the lead with $16,400. Brown was in second place with $11,200. Roberson had $3,000.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Women Authors.” The clue was “In her 2016 New York Times obituary, this author was said to have ‘gained a reputation as a literary Garbo.’” None of the game show contestants wrote Harper Lee, which was the correct response.
Roberson wrote, “Who is Alice Monroe?” She wagered $3,000 and ended with $0. Brown responded, “Who is Wolfe?” She wagered $5,201, which gave her $5,999.
Whitaker was not sure if Brown had the right response and what she wagered, so he didn’t know if he was going to win since it wasn’t a runaway. He wrote, “Who is Well, it’s been fun?” That was obviously wrong, so he dropped down to $10,399 after wagering $6,001. But that was enough for him to win.
He had an eight-day total of $218,600. Whitaker will return on Friday for his ninth game after a scare and a stunning ending.
“Hard to tell if Harrison is losing his footing on the buzzer or if his opponents are just getting better,” a Reddit user said.
“Does feel like he’s had his confidence shaken these past few episodes,” replied another.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock