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Who won Jeopardy! tonight? A changed answer decides Tristan Williams' fate after 10-game streak

Tristan Williams goes against Allegra Rosenberg and Chris D’Angelo in his 11th game

Tristan Williams played his 11th consecutive game on Wednesday's episode of 'Jeopardy!' Similar to his last few bouts, this one also went down to the wire. He faced off against Allegra Rosenberg, from Skokie, Illinois, and Chris D’Angelo from Washington, D.C. D'Angelo proved to be a massive thorn in Williams' side throughout the game as they both vied for the top spot in every round. Ultimately, their fate came down to the Final Jeopardy round, and one changed answer decided whether the super champ would continue his victory parade or go back home. 

The opening round went to D'Angelo, who knocked it out of the park in the first 10 clues. He had $3,600 in his kitty by that point, while Williams followed closely behind with $2,600. The superchampion found a 'Daily Double' in clue 11. Fans were ecstatic, hoping Williams would turn the tables with DD just like he had many times before. The DD came from the category 'Bible People in the Quran.' The clue read,  “A tafsir, or commentary, says this royal ‘set forth from her country and reached Jerusalem.'” Williams answered with, “Who is Esther?” The correct answer was, "the Queen of Sheba." This reduced $1,000 from Williams' winnings, as that was the amount he wagered against the DD. At the end of the first round, D'Angelo stood at $8,000, Williams grabbed the second spot with $4,400, and the third spot went to Rosenberg with $2,000. 

The Double Jeopardy round began, and Williams started his counterattack. By clue 16, Williams had bridged the gap between him and D'Angelo by a lot. He climbed up to $12,000 behind D'Angelo's $13,600.  The superchampion found a way to speed past D'Angelo when he found a DD on clue 17. The Data Scientist bet $3,500 on the clue from the category 'We’ve Got Your Back.' The clue read,  “From Greek for narrowing the spinal this occurs when the space inside the backbone is too small for the nerves, & ouch.” He responded with “What is compression?” The DD curse did not leave him, as this one also turned out to be wrong. The correct answer was "spinal stenosis," and his winnings were reduced to $8,500. 

Rosenberg remained in third place throughout the proceedings. The writer got the chance to make a glorious comeback when she detected the last DD on clue 21. The DD belonged to the category  “‘Ora’ Framing,” and its clue read, “Alexander Hamilton said of this quadrennial institution that, while it might not be perfect, it was 'at least excellent.'” At that point, she was at $5,200 and decided to bet $5,000. If she gave the correct answer, then her winnings would increase to $10,000, and put her ahead of Williams' $9,700. Unfortunately, Rosenberg had no response. The correct answer was “the electoral college,” and this reduced her earnings to $200.  Things remained uncertain without a winner in sight, right until the Final Jeopardy round.

D’Angelo had  $12,800, while Williams had $9,700 in his kitty entering the round. This meant that with some smart wagers, things could go either way. The Final Jeopardy question was from the category 'The 20th Century,' and its clue read, “51 days after this event, Edward Teller said the United States had lost 'a battle more important & greater than Pearl Harbor.'” Rosenberg responded, “What is Hiroshima + Nagasaki?” which was wrong. Williams responded with “What Fall of Saigon?” which was also wrong, and after a wager of $3,101, he was left with $6,599. D'Angelo bet $6,601 on this Final Jeopardy and initially responded with “What is the Tet Offensive?” which was wrong. However, he changed his answer to “What is the Sputnik Launch?” which proved to be correct. This was a huge stroke of luck for the Washington native, because had he not changed the answer, his wager would have put him behind Williams in the standings.

This uncanny situation makes Williams the first superchampion in the history of the game to not get an eleventh win. D'Angelo is now the new champion and will come back to defend his title on Thursday's episode of 'Jeopardy!'