[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, December 17 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! viewers have been in for a categorically thrilling matchup on Tuesday evening, as Ashley Chan received an actual run for her cash from each challengers in her fourth win. Followers have been particularly impressed by Jasmine Zhou, backing her for Second Likelihood regardless of a flawed Closing Jeopardy wager that, contemplating the reigning champ’s technique to this point, wasn’t one of the best guess.
Chan, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas, entered with a mixed whole of $46,500 after an all-out runaway final episode. The primary feminine three-day champ of Season 41 and since Adriana Harmeyer six months in the past, she ditched her ruffled-shoulder outfits however not her momentum. Chan confronted Zhou, an ASIC engineer from Woodland, California, and Jordan Carr Peterson (good name on utilizing the center identify), a professor from Knoxville, Tennessee.
Within the Jeopardy! spherical, Chan got here out swinging as typical, however Zhou swung again, acing the “Swap a Vowel” Each day Double as “quark and quirk,” to guide into the break. Talking of quirky, the published returned with Zhou telling an absolute hoot of an anectdote involving driving a truck 5 ft through the use of a laptop computer. She prolonged her result in end with $7,200, Chan with $5,200, Peterson with $3,000.
In Double Jeopardy!, the lighthearted but aggressive nature of the match continued as Chan discovered the second Each day Double from second place. She regained the lead by nabbing the “From The AFI Catalogue” clue as “Sundown Boulevard” for $3,000. All three gamers upped their scores, with Chan discovering the final Each day Double and portray on one other $3000 by understanding the “Artwork Class” clue was “Put up Impressionism.” Whereas the Each day Doubles made the distinction, given how properly everybody performed, this was no runaway. Chan entered Closing Jeopardy with $18,800, Zhou with $15,600, and Peterson $10,200. “Ashley nonetheless has the lead however take a look at that, three nice scores,” Ken Jennings remarked.
All of it hinged on the “Fictional Characters” clue, “Wearing white in her first scene, this play character says her identify means “white woods”” The proper response was “Who’s: Blanche DuBois?”
Peterson received it and added $1,800, Zhou was additionally right wagered $5,000 to have $20,600 and the lead “not less than for the second,” as Jennings put it.
All of it got here right down to Chan, and the host constructed suspense by mentioning she had not gotten a Closing clue right to this point. She was right, nonetheless, including $2,100 to outlive the scare and win with a mere $300 over Zhou and $20,900.
Followers flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, praising it as a “unbelievable recreation” however noting that if Zhou had gone all-in, particularly contemplating Chan has wagered small in Closing all of her run, she would have gained as an alternative.
“That was a unbelievable recreation! I ponder if Jasmine might be a possible competitor for the SCT,” one fan wrote.
“Agreed,” wrote one other. “Jasmine put up some STIFF competitors and was daring along with her one DD, though that class was epic fail for all three up till then. I preferred her humorousness, too. Hope we see her once more.”
“Jasmine was nice!! Want she guess extra within the closing,” wrote a 3rd.
“For the second time throughout her run, Ashley didn’t guess sufficient to cowl a doable double-up by the second place participant,” famous a fourth. “It seems her technique was to close out third place if right, and she or he guess slightly bit additional, which allowed her to edge out Jasmine.”
“Ashley might have a future, appears to be getting stronger as she goes. That is her first time getting Closing! Enjoyable run to this point,” wrote a fifth.
“An important recreation,” wrote a sixth. “Beloved that swap a vowel class and daring DD wager. I’m sure Jasmine might be thought of for SC competitors. Ashley is a unbelievable participant, although I’m not sure how she decides how a lot to wager for DDs or if she likes making true day by day doubles. I assume we’ll discover out in her subsequent look.”
Certainly, Jennings even opened yesterday’s recreation by saying that Chan had not guess to cowl on Friday’s match (this week’s episode of Inside Jeopardy! podcast was titled “What’s An Unconventional Wager?”). So Zhao ought to have been conscious of, and capitalized on, Chan’s small Closing wagers. Whereas she probably didn’t hearken to the podcast two months prematurely, it was introduced on-stage earlier within the tape day!
What did you consider the thriller match? Do you assume Jasmine Zhou is the primary shoo-in for the 2026 Second Likelihood Competitors, given the 2025 postseason cutoff is up? Can Ashley Chan stick with it? Tell us within the feedback part under!