‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Breaks Record, Reacts After ‘Insane’ Win

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What To Know

Allegra Kuney, a Ph.D. candidate from New Jersey, broke the Season 43 Jeopardy! record with a dramatic win and a two-day total of $65,001.
Despite trailing earlier in the game, Kuney surged ahead in Double Jeopardy and secured victory with a bold $17,001 wager on the correct Final Jeopardy response, “Pong.”
Host Ken Jennings highlighted Kuney’s wager as the largest correct response bet of the season, calling her performance an impressive comeback.

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, November 6, episode of Jeopardy!]

A Jeopardy! contestant broke a record for Season 43. They reacted after an insane win in game one.

“Following a very convincing win in yesterday’s game, I asked our new champion, Allegra Kuney, how she was feeling,” host Ken Jennings said at the beginning of the game. “She said, ‘It feels insane. In a good way.”

Allegra Kuney, from New Brunswick, New Jersey, returned for her second game on Thursday, November 6. After winning $26,600 on Wednesday, the Ph.D. candidate faced off against Molly Murray, from New York, New York, and Alan Pyke, from Middletown, Connecticut, for game two.

Kuney was in second place by the first commercial break, with a pretty even playing field for all of the contestants. The reigning champion revealed during the interviews that she was called to participate in the Teen Tournament, but her summer camp wouldn’t let her leave.

Kuney found the Daily Double in the round. She was $200 away from the lead and wagered $2,000 out of her $4,000. In “Following the Equator,” the clue read, “Uhuru is the summit of this peak that’s about 200 miles south of the equator.” “What is Popacontempital?” She was wrong and dropped down to $2,000. The correct response was Kilimanjaro.

By the end of the round, Murray, a professor, was in the lead with $5,400. Pyke, a communications director, was in second place with $3,600. Kuney had $3,400.

In Double Jeopardy, Murray maintained the lead with $11,000 when she found the first DD. She wagered $1,200 in “Great Brits.” The clue read, “Watching the ceremony from London via TV, this 88-year-old was made an honorary U.S. Citizen in 1963.” She made a guess of “Who is Winston Churchill?” which was correct. She moved up to $12,200.

She also found the second one a few clues later. With the lead of $14,200, she wagered $5,000. In “1940s Literature,” the clue was “The title of this Mexico-set Malcolm Lowry novel refers to both Popocatepetl & Iztaccihuatl.” “What is Under The Volcano?” she answered, which was correct. This gave her a total of $19,200.

However, by the end of the round, Kuney took the lead with $21,400. Murray had $19,200. Pyke only had $4,400.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Fun & Games.” The clue read, “A 2022 article titled this ‘At 50: The Video Game ‘That Changed The World’ also said ‘it may be ‘the most boring…game of all time’.” The correct response was Pong.

Pyke wrote “What is Pong?” but crossed it out and began to write something else, but didn’t complete an answer. He wagered $3,581, giving him a final total of $819. Murray had the right response and wagered $8,000, making her final total $27,200. Kuney had the correct response and wagered $17,001, making her final total $38,401.

“Our biggest wager on a correct response this season,” Jennings said. She had a two-day total of $65,001 and will return on Friday for game three. “What a comeback! What a game,” the host said.

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