[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, December 5 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy!’s bolo-tie-boasting Stevie Ruiz appeared dressed for achievement to win a 3rd sport on Thursday. So it got here as a shock when he was handily defeated by newcomer Dave Bond. Many followers have been left questioning the standard of the Last Jeopardy clue and the champ’s clue choice technique, which seemingly induced his demise.
Ruiz entered with a two-day complete of $35,987, and Ken Jennings shared that the “spectacular” champ’s tie was a trivia prize that gave the impression to be paying off. He confronted Lisa DiLeo, a enterprise assist analyst from Garwood, New Jersey, and Bond, a retired grant author from West Henrietta, New York.
Within the Jeopardy! spherical, it was Bond who got here out swinging. After sharing that he proposed to his spouse in a bunny swimsuit, he dropped to $0 from a True Day by day Double. Nonetheless, he bounced again to narrowly lead with $2,600, whereas Ruiz and DiLeo had $2,000. It appeared like anybody’s sport, and based mostly on earlier exhibits, the champ would probably pull into second gear as soon as extra.
In Double Jeopardy!, DiLeo discovered the second Day by day Double however misplaced $2,000 on the “Leisure Hyphenates” clue, lacking “Counter-strike” (not a gamer!). From there, Ruiz and Bond battled it out, with the third Day by day Double nonetheless in play. As an alternative of attempting to find it, the champ caught to ending a class, leaving Bond to find it.
Bond did so underneath “Geographic Title Modifications.” With $7,600 to Ruiz’s $8,400, Bond shocked everybody by wagering $7,000. “Oh wow,” Jennings reacted. Bond nailed “Ho Chi Minh,” vaulting right into a commanding lead. By Last Jeopardy, it was a runaway: Bond had $25,200, Ruiz $12,000, and DiLeo $2,400.
The “Model Names” clue learn: “They’ve been described as having the distinctive scent of ‘barely earthy cleaning soap with pungent, leather-like clay undertones.’” DiLeo didn’t end a response, Ruiz guessed “Yankee Candle,” and Bond went with “Birkenstock,” prompting Jennings to joke that his Birkenstocks smelled totally different. It was a triple stumper—nobody received “Crayola.” Bond misplaced $200 however nonetheless gained with $25,000. “Fairly a haul!” Jennings concluded.
Followers flooded the Reddit thread for the episode shocked by Ruiz’ defeat as they noticed an extended streak from him, one saying his lack of Day by day Double looking “value him.”
“Dang I actually thought Stevie was gonna be right here for some time,” one Redditor wrote.
“Gonna be unhappy to see Stevie go. Only a few days in the past a few of us on the board have been complaining about all of the hip-hop/rapper Triple Stumpers as of late. And he got here in and made us neglect that for awhile. He wasn’t the hero deserved, however he was the one we would have liked,” wrote one other.
“Undecided why Stevie wasn’t attempting to find the final DD in spherical 2. Actually value him particularly contemplating how straightforward it was,” wrote a 3rd.
Others declaring Ruiz’ defeat introduced a much bigger situation: solely 20 of the 21-contestant enjoying area for the 2025 Event of Champions is crammed and the cut-off is tomorrow’s episode, that means producers have been left with an incomplete roster.
“All of us thought Stevie was going to win his third sport at the moment, so who takes the twenty first spot within the 2025 TOC?” wrote a fourth.
“My guess is that the twenty first will go to the Champions Wildcard 1st runner-up,” speculated a fifth. “That makes essentially the most sense to me!” agreed a fifth.
“Truly, my guess is that Lisa Ann Walter is definitely capable of return in time for the 2025 TOC after it was beforehand introduced that she can be unable to return for that TOC,” wrote one other on the Superstar Jeopardy! winner who needed to bow out of the ToC. They added, “As a result of I assume she determined to skip her manufacturing of Abbott Elementary so she might compete.”
Different followers within the thread took situation with the Last Jeopardy clue, pointing on the market was nothing within the clue or class to pin it on crayons.
“Actually weak FJ,” a further fan wrote. “No factual info to go on, simply another person’s description of a subjective sensory expertise?”
“I might not have made the connection with out the model, and even then I used to be questioning whether or not the corporate made a unique product I wasn’t conscious of,” agreed another.
A ultimate fan wrote, “I used to be considering Yankee Candle, as a result of from a clue-writing perspective, why would you describe the scent for a product that isn’t meant to be smelt? Crayons are for making one thing visible, and so far as I do know the scent isn’t a widely known function of them.”
What did you consider the sport and Last Jeopardy? Had been you anticipating Stevie Ruiz to maintain going? What is going to producers do with the ToC cutoff tomorrow and a spot unfilled (the postseason airing beginning on December 30)? How did nobody know Ohana means household? Tell us within the feedback part!
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