Jeopardy! returning champ and sports anchor Aaron Levine scored a three-peat thanks to his win on Wednesday. Then on Thursday (October 30), the former Dream Job contestant was back at the podium, aiming for a fourth victory to boost his three-day total of $48,999 and a possible spot in the coveted Tournament of Champions. Would he succeed?
Joining Levine on the stage were Elana Beame, a Jewish engagement educator, and Christopher Tillman, a pastor, each eager to dethrone the reigning champ.
Levine kicked off the game by selecting the category “Spaced Out” for $800: “Recent research suggests that collapsars, rare types of these events, produce most of the universe’s heavy elements.” The clue turned into a Triple Stumper after Beame buzzed in with the incorrect response, “What are black holes?” The correct answer: supernovas.
The trio then faced two more Triple Stumpers in a row, both from the “Polynesia” category. It wasn’t until the fourth question in the category of “Amazing NFL Feats” for $800 with the clue, “Playing for this team, Dan Marino was the first QB to throw for 5,000 yards & 40 TDs in a season.” Levine correctly answered with “What are the Dolphins?” that a contestant was finally on the board.
The contestants had another Triple Stumper in the eighth clue in the category of “Spaced Out” for $800, as no one was able to correctly answer, “Charged particles from the solar wind colliding with atoms in the atmosphere create these impressive effects.” Tillman answered with “What are boreali?” The correct answer, however, was auroras.
By the time of the ad break, Levine was in the lead with $3,200, with Beame in second with $800 and Tillman in third with $600.
During the getting-to-know-you segment, Tillman revealed his boy band roots, sharing that they stemmed from a trip to New York and a taping of MTV’s TRL. Beame talked about her dream of moving to Los Angeles to “be on every game show possible.” While she didn’t name the show she’d already appeared on—and won big—she hinted at it by saying it required her to wear a costume. Jeopardy! marks her second game show appearance so far.
Returning champ Levine shared a heartwarming story about his “most prized possession”: an envelope containing the handwritten lyrics to “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin, a gift from his father that continues to inspire him to be the kind of dad his father was to him.
The Daily Double was discovered by Levine late in the game, hiding under “Polynesia” for $1,000. After wagering $1,800, the clue was, “One of the most widely spoken of Polynesian languages is this one heard in Apia & Pago Pago.” With the incorrect answer of “What is English?” Levine’s new total was $2,000. The correct answer was Samoan.
A final first-round Triple Stumper was found under “Jeans” for $600. “Nothing came between then 15-year-old Brooke Shields & this brand in an ad that caused a stir,” the clue read. No one guessed the correct answer, “What are Calvins?”
By the end of the first round, Levine was in the lead with $3,000, while Tillman moved to second with $4,000 and Beame with $1,000.
The second Daily Double was discovered by Levine under “Pope-Pourri” for $1,200, which caused host Ken Jennings to comment: “Now, Aaron, up against a Baptist pastor and a Jewish educator, you’re the only player who has any pope trivia correct so far.” After wagering a true Daily Double with $3,800 on the clue, “Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte, a ward of Pope Julius III, was something called a cardinal nephew, a title that gave us this ‘ism,’” Levine’s correct answer of “What is nepotism?” raised his tally to $7,600.
Levine found the third Daily Double in the category of “5-Syllable Words” for $2,000. Against his total of $10,400, Levin only wagered $100, as he was not very confident in the category. With the clue, “Adjective describing the space between Andromeda $ the Milky Way, for example,” Levine guessed incorrectly, “What is interspacial?” Luckily, his low wager didn’t affect his lead, which was at $10,300. The right answer was intergalactic.
Heading into Final Jeopardy, Levine was in the lead with $13,100, while Tillman had $8,000 and Beame with $2,200.
The Final Jeopardy category was “Historic Homes” with this clue: “This residence, praised in a July 4, 1936 speech for reflecting the owner’s talents as a farmer, lawyer, mechanic, scientist, and architect, remains a symbol of innovation and independence.” The answer was, “What is Monticello?” in reference to the lifelong home of Thomas Jefferson. The Founding Father designed Monticello himself, which was filled with his inventions, including a dumbwaiter for wine and a prototype copying machine.
Beame responded with “What is… :)?” but wagered only $200, bringing her total to $2,000. Tillman went all in on his correct response, boosting his score to $16,000 and pulling ahead of Levine. But did the returning champ have the right answer?
Levine wrote “What is Lee?,” which was incorrect, dropping him by $3,000 to a final total of $10,100, placing him in second and crowning Christopher Tillman the new Jeopardy! champion.
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