[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, February 23, episode of Jeopardy!]
Ok, tournament haters, take a sigh of relief. Regular Jeopardy! is back. After Andrew He was crowned the 2026 JIT winner on February 20, the game show returned to its regularly scheduled programming. Current champion Trey Hart hasn’t been on TV since December 12. Did he win game number two?
Hart, from Petaluma, California, played against Katie Pach, from Chicago, Illinois, and Zach Johnson-Dunlop on February 23. Hart, a grant writer, beat out four-day champion Will Riley during his first game when he won with $24,100.
“Following a 10-week post-season that brought us new breakout stars, the return of Jeopardy! greats, and some epic wins and losses, we are back to regular gameplay here on the Alex Trebek Stage,” host Ken Jennings said at the start of the game. “We’ll see if the long hiatus helps or hurts Trey Hart.”
Pach, a marketing coordinator, had the lead of $2,200 when she found the Daily Double on clue 10. She wagered $1,200 in “From the Greek.” The clue read, “This word for a release of emotions comes from Greek for ‘to purge’ or ‘to cleanse.’”
“What is to vent?” Pach answered after a long time. Catharsis was the correct response, so she dropped down to $1,000, but still had the lead.
Hart had the lead of $1,800 by the first break. Pach and Johnson-Dunlop, a lighting technician, both had $1,600.
Johnson-Dunlop ended the round in the lead with $2,000. Hart had $1,400. Pach was in third place with $600.
In Double Jeopardy, the first DD wasn’t found until clue 13 by Johnson-Dunlop. He was in second place with $3,600 and wagered $3,000. In “The Religious Rite,” the clue was “Omiki is this, imbibed at Shinto ceremonies after it has been offered to the gods.” “What is Sake?” he answered correctly, giving him $6,600.
Pach found the second DD on clue 20. She was in third place with $1,000 and wagered the entire pot on “Airports.” The clue read, “Her name is on the world’s busiest airport named for a woman.”
“Who is Indira Gandhi?” she answered for the New Delhi airport. This gave her an additional $2,000.
Johnson-Dunlop had the lead with $10,600 by the end of the round. Hart had $10,200. Pach was in third place with $4,000.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “18th Century America.” The clue was “South Carolina’s 2nd-biggest cash crop in the mid-to-late 1700s was this inedible one named for a land far to the east.” None of the game show contestants correctly answered indigo.
Pach’s response was “What is tobacco?” but crossed it out and wrote “in,” starting to write indigo. She wagered $4,000, ending with $0. Hart’s answer was “What is cotton?” He wagered $0, leaving him with $10,200. Johnson-Dunlop’s response was “What is Ceylon tea?” He wagered $10,000, making his final total $600.
Hart won his second game and will return on Tuesday for game three against two new opponents.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
