‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Reveals Secret to Their Runaway Win

Spoiler Alert

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[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Wednesday, October 1, episode of Jeopardy!]

A Jeopardy! contestant has spoken out on their secret to a runaway win. Reigning champion, Curtis Bogetti, won on Tuesday after he made a huge Daily Double wager that caused his win. Bogetti, from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, had a one-day total of $30,001 when, on October 1, he faced off against James Thajudeen, from San Jose, California, and Lisa Mueller, from Rochester, Minnesota.

Mueller, an anthropologist, took an early lead in the first round before finding the Daily Double. She wagered $1,000 out of her $3,200. In “It Happened in Philly,” the clue read, “In 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft these, which would get adopted on Nov. 15, 1777.” Mueller knew it was the Articles of Confederation and took the lead with $4,200.

She picked up another seven clues, totaling 13 by the end of the round, with $6,800. Bogetti, a Ph.D. candidate, had $3,400. Thajudeen, a librarian, wasn’t too far behind with $3,000.

In Double Jeopardy, Thajudeen found the first DD on clue one. He made it a true Daily Double and wagered all of his money. In “World Heritage Sites,” the clue was “Renowned for its biodiversity, the Socotra Archipelago is aka this other World Heritage Site ‘of the Indian Ocean.’”

“What is Atlantis?” Thajudeen answered.

“Sorry, no, because of all the unusual endemic species there, it’s the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean,” host Ken Jennings said. Thajudeen dropped down to $0.

Bogetti then went on to answer the next clue and found the second DD on clue three. He also made it a true Daily Double with $5,400. In “The Patience of Job,” the clue read, “Profession of Carleton Watkins, using a ton of gear carried by a dozen mules; his work in the 1860s helped get Yosemite protected.”

“What is a mountaineer?” Bogetti answered.

“Sorry. No,” Jennings said. “He was a photographer.”

“Both of you had a tough time with those Daily Doubles,” he added. “Which is good news for Lisa.”

Mueller took a wide lead as she answered a handful of clues correctly after the second DD. By the end of the round, she had $17,600. Thajudeen had $7,600. Bogetti was in third with $6,800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Words From World War II.” The clue read, “As they lived below the surface of daily life, Jews who hid in Berlin in WWII were called human these, a German-derived word.” None of the contestants got U-boats.

Bogetti answered, “What is IDK?” He wagered $799, and ended with $6,001. Thajudeen’s response was, “What is Moles?” He wagered $4,400, giving him a final total of $3,200. Mueller’s response was, “What is I love you Kai!” She wagered $0, giving her a total of $17,600, making her the night’s winner.

In an article with her local newspaper, Mueller spoke out about her win and how she did it. Mueller has watched the game show with her family for years, according to the Post Bulletin. “When I was little, it was like Wheel of Fortune and then Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek. So, just sitting with my family and watching it,” she told the outlet. Mueller continued the tradition with her husband and children, and they encouraged her to take the AnyTime test.

Although they would watch the game show and quiz each other for fun, it turned into good preparation for her time as a contestant. One thing that she practiced was her buzzer speed. Mueller used a spring-loaded toilet paper rod as her pretend buzzer.

“A lot of people who have been on Jeopardy! will say … a lot of it is about the buzzer,” she said. “Once you get to that point where you’re going to get on the show, most of those people know a lot of the answers. It’s not a question of knowledge so much as can you hit the buzzer at the right time?”

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