[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, June 27, episode of Jeopardy!]
What is a dry spell? Jeopardy! has not seen a more than one-day champion since the beginning of June. Fans are wondering if anyone will break the one-day curse before the season ends in July. They think that the champion of Friday’s game might have a good shot at it.
Rocco Graziano, from Staten Island, New York, returned for his second game against Klay Frappier, from McHenry, North Dakota, and Michelle Arguelles, from Oakland, California, on Friday, June 27. Graziano went home with $17,200 after a Princess Diana triple stumper.
“Yesterday, for the 10th straight game, I crowned a new champion,” host Ken Jennings said at the beginning of the episode. “This time, it was Rocco Graziano. This appears to be the longest such streak we’ve had in over 20 years. A one-game winner isn’t necessarily a streak we love to see on the show, but today I’m guessing Klay and Michelle would really like to see it continue.”
The game started out with a triple stumper. The round went so badly that all of the contestants were in the negatives until the seventh question. Arguelles, a product marketing manager, was in the red until clue 12. She then found the Daily Double on clue 13 and tried to force a tie between her and Frappier, an accountant.
She had $600 in her bank and wagered the allotted $1,000. In “Palindromic Names,” the clue read, “Born in 1888, little Irene von Bismarck-Schönhausen called her famous grandfather ‘Opa’ this first name.” “What is Otto?” Arguelles answered correctly, giving her $1,600 and putting her in a tie for first.
During the interviews, Fraggier revealed that his town consists of 64 people and that he graduated with nine of them. By the end of the round, Arguelles was in the lead with $6,000. Frappier had $3,000. Graziano, a substitute teacher, trailed with $2,200.
In Double Jeopardy, it was a fight for first place between Frappier and Arguelles. Graziano lost points when he didn’t answer a clue in “Now It’s a Museum” in the form of a question. The clue read, “The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is now home to the New York City branch of the NMAI, National Museum of this.” Graziano said, “American Indian. What is the National Museum of the…?”
Ken Jennings responded, “No, sorry. I already ruled against you.” Frappier answered, “What is the American Indian?” He was correct and added $2,000 to his total. Jennings reminded Graziano that he had to answer in the form of a question.
The first DD of the round wasn’t found until clue 23. Frappier had the lead with $13,000. He wagered $1,000, which would have kept him in the lead even if he got it wrong. In “Get a Room,” the clue read, “Of the rooms where Professor Plum sometimes committed board game murders, it’s the one sometimes known as a greenhouse.” “What is… I’ve got nothing.” He dropped down to $12,000. The correct response was “The Conservatory.”
The second DD was found only two clues later by Graziano. He had $4,600 in his bank and wagered $3,000. In “Now It’s a Museum,” the clue read, “As its name suggests, it was once an administrative office for the Medicis; now it houses Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus.’” “What is the Uffizi Gallery?” he answered correctly. He moved up to $7,600, giving him a closer third-place total.
By the end of the round, it was a close game with Frappier in the lead at $12,000. Arguelles had $10,000. The reigning champion, Graziano, had $8,000, but Final Jeopardy can change everything.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Europe.” It wasn’t a triple stumper this time, with two of the contestants getting the right answer, so it all came down to wagers. The clue read, “The EU has 5 metropolitan regions of more than 5 million people; this city is the only one on the Mediterranean.”
Arguelles answered with “What is Athens?” She was wrong and wagered $8,000 to give her a total of $2,000. Both Frappier and Graziano answered correctly with Barcelona. Graziano added $6,000 to his total to give him $14,000. Frappier wagered $8,001, making his final total $20,001.
This made Frappier the 11th new champion in a row. He will be back on Monday, June 30, for game two against two new opponents.
Reddit users couldn’t help but wonder if Frappier will finally break the one-day curse. “At this point, I don’t think we’ll see a multi-day champion any time soon,” one of them wrote.
“…Says you as Klay maybe wins his second game on Monday… I’ll come back to this comment if he does LOL,” a fan responded.
“I think it’s just a random thing. No reason to think the streak will continue,” said another.
“Seeing 11 champs in 11 days makes me wonder how they’re gonna format Champions Wildcard for the next postseason. Could it (eventually) be enough to warrant TuneIn play-in games?” one asked.
“This is now 10 1-game champs in a row. I think the record is near 20 (like 17 or 18)… but even getting to double digits is pretty rare I think,” one last fan said.
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