‘Jeopardy!’: Did Giant Slayer Jonathan Hugendubler Win Season 42 Premiere?

Spoiler Alert

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[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Jeopardy! Season 42 Episode 1.]

A new season of Jeopardy! has finally begun, and the first episode of Season 42 kicked off with the return of Jonathan Hugendubler, who took down super champion Scott Riccardi during the last season finale.

Hugendubler, from Baltimore, Maryland, played against Caroline Paul, from Washington, D.C., and Josh Jackson, from Pasadena, California, on Monday, September 8.

Hugendubler, a trivia host and adjunct professor, ended Season 41 with a total of $23,601 after correctly answering Final Jeopardy. Now, he’s back to try and add to his total.

The beginning of the game did not start well for Jackson, an urban planner. He answered two clues wrong, putting him in the negatives. Paul, an HR specialist, answered the clues correctly, giving her $400. However, Hugendubler finally buzzed in on the third clue and gave the right answer, tying him with Paul.

Jackson got out of the hole by the first commercial break and was only $200 behind Hugedubler. However, Paul had the lead with $4,600.

When the game show came back from commercial, Hugendubler nearly doubled his total but still was not in the lead by the time Jackson found the Daily Double. With $2,000 in his bank, he made it a True Daily Double and wagered all of it. If he got it correct, it would put him in second. If not, he would remain in third and lose everything.

In “Biology,” the clue read, “‘By means of’ this 2-word process was fit enough to survive as a subtitle for Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species.’” Jackson’s eyes got wide, and he hesitated before answering, “What is Natural Selection?” He was correct and doubled up to $4,000.

By the end of the round, Paul remained in first place with $5,600. Jackson had $4,400. Hugendubler was in third with $3,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Hugendubler quickly took the lead after only three clues. He remained in the lead until he found the first Daily Double of the round. He made it a true Daily Double and wagered all of his $10,600. In “African History,” the clue read, “1896’s Battle of Adwa saw an Ethiopian Army defeat an attempt by this European country to take control of it.” “What is Italy?” he answered correctly. This put him in a huge lead with $21,200.

Two clues later, he found the second Daily Double. With $22,800, he wagered $3,000. In “That Adds Up,” the clue was “Barnard, Wellesley & 5 other schools banded together as these a century ago to address the need to fund women’s colleges.” Hugendubler answered correctly with “What are the seven sisters?” He added $3,000, giving him $25,800.

Although Paul and Jackson both answered a lot of clues correctly after the DD, they could not catch up to Hugendubler. He ended the round with $29,800. Paul had $7,200. Jackson was in third with $5,200.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Famous Names.” The clue was “On June 12, 1942, she wrote, ‘I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone.’”

Two of the contestants answered correctly with “Who is Anne Frank?” Jackson got it right and wagered $426, giving him a final total of $5,626. Paul was wrong with “Who is Queen Elizabeth?” She wagered $1,000, dropping to $6,200. Hugendubler also answered Anne Frank and wagered $10,200. His wager made host Ken Jennings say “Wow” as his total moved to $40,000.

This gave him a two-day total of $63,601. He will be back on Tuesday, September 9, for game three against two new opponents.

If you missed tonight’s episode, you can stream it on Hulu and Peacock, starting tomorrow.

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