‘Jeopardy!’: Did Champ Bevin Blaber Sway Her Way to Another Win?

Spoiler Alert

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[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, June 20, episode of Jeopardy!]

Bevin Blaber might have had one of the lowest Final Jeopardy amounts in the history of the game show, but she is not giving up. After Jeopardy! fans criticized her for fidgeting and moving throughout the whole game, she came out with a shocking win of $600.

On Friday, June 20, Blaber, from Schenectady, New York, played against Liv Markham, from Darien, Connecticut, and Andrew Brigger from Roseville, Minnesota. Brigger tried to raise her total, but the other players were just too good.

During the introductions, Blaber swayed back and forth and nodded her head with a chuckle when her winning amount was announced. The game started out great for her as she answered numerous questions correctly. However, she dropped from the lead when she answered clue nine wrong.

By the first commercial break, Brigger, a social studies teacher, had the lead with $2,600. Blaber, a writer, was in second with $1,000. Markham, a localization producer, was in third with -$800.

When the game show came back, Brigger found the Daily Double. He had the lead with $2,800 and made it a true Daily Double. In “Miles Away,” the clue read, “It’s roughly 4,300 miles between this city in Iowa & the same-named battle site in Wallonia.” Brigger correctly answered with “What is Waterloo?” and doubled up to $5,600.

Markham got out of the red by the end of the round after correctly answering eight clues in a row. She ended with $1,000. The reigning champion had $1,800. Brigger had $5,600.

In Double Jeopardy, Markham found the first DD of the round on clue two. She moved into second with $2,200 and decided to wager $1,200. If she got it wrong, this would bring her back to third place, as Blaber had $1,800. In “5-Letter Words,” the clue read, “From Latin for shade or shadow, it’s the darkest part of a shadow, especially as seen during an eclipse.” She correctly answered with, “What is umbra?” giving her $3,400.

Three clues later, Brigger found the last DD. He had the lead with $6,400 and decided to make it another true Daily Double. In “Losing Veep Candidate,” the clue was “Can you raise the name of this U.S. senator from Virginia who ran with Hillary Clinton?” “Who is [Tim] Kaine?” Brigger answered correctly, giving him $12,800.

When Blaber remained in third throughout the round, her nerves seemed to ramp up, and she started to sway. Her momentum propelled her to second place by the end of the round with $5,400. Markham ended with $3,400. Brigger had a huge lead with $14,000.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Chemical Element Names.” The clue read, “Spanning the alphabet, they are the only two chemical element names that end with ‘c.’” All three Jeopardy! contestants got the answer right, which was “arsenic and zinc.”

Markham wagered $0, giving her a final total of $3,400. Blaber wagered $1,401, making her final total $6,801. Brigger wagered $2,000, ending his game with $16,000. He became the night’s winner and will return on Monday, June 23, for game two.

“Rough game, but it’s cool to see someone capitalize a lot on going all-in. Congrats, Andrew!” a Reddit user said.

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