Best Final Jeopardy Answer Ever

February 13, 2013

Comments

It came during last night’s episode of the show’s ongoing Teen Tournament:

UPDATE (James Joyner): Deadspin’s Barry Petchesky, himself a former Jeopardy! contestant, points out, “Leonard Cooper, Jeopardy Folk Hero, Still Could Have Lost When He Wrote ‘I Just Won $75,000.’”

As it turns out, Nilai wagered $7,000, and Leonard nothing. Had Nilai gotten the answer correct, he would have had $19,000 (Day 1) and $21,400 (Day 2), for a total of $40,400. That’s $400 more than Leonard ended up with ($3,000 and $37,000 for a total of $40,000). Had Nilai bet more, he could have won by thousands.

When Leonard wrote down his wonderful answer, he had no idea Nilai was going to get it wrong. Nilai blanked, but Leonard was a hair’s breadth from finishing second—smartass answer or no.

Thankfully for Leonard, it all worked out.

9 responses to “Best Final Jeopardy Answer Ever”

jpmeyer

February 13, 2013 at 7:29 pm

No.

The best Final Jeopardy answer ever was about 15 years ago during an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy.

The question was something like “This man lived in Sherwood Forest with his band of Merry Men.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabar answered with “Who is Sir Robin of Loxley?”
swbarnes2

February 13, 2013 at 7:59 pm

Did you watch the one where the teen who was in the lead lost because he bet every single dime on final Jeopardy?

I think the winning kid above only got to play because that bonehead threw away his spot in the semis.
rodney dill

February 13, 2013 at 9:34 pm

I hadn’t done the math but I kind of thought that he could still lose, at the point he wrote that he’d won.

His gutsy move was $18.000 daily double bet he made just to be in the running. (I think he only had $3000 from day one.
the Q

February 14, 2013 at 2:40 pm

What was the final Jeopardy “answer”?

Some guy in Normandy refers to ?
rodney dill

February 14, 2013 at 6:27 pm

@the Q: Eisenhower
thanh nguyen

February 15, 2013 at 12:55 am

@rodney dill: Eisenhower was never in Normandy during the WW2, at least not to my knowledge.
thanh nguyen

February 15, 2013 at 1:15 am

@jpmeyer: I don’t get why “sir robin of loxley” is the best answer. Isn’t it even correct at all in the first place. It’s either Robin Hood or Sir Robert of Loxley but not both. The best moment on Jeopardy, however, is from SNL where “Sean Connery” intentionally asked Alex for “the penis mightier” category instead of “the pen is mightier”.
rodney dill

February 15, 2013 at 9:42 am

@thanh nguyen: …then Leonard wasn’t right about that part either. The category was military men, the answer was some quote said by the military mant ( I don’t remember it right now). The right question who, Who is Eisenhower?

That is what I thought ‘the Q’ was probably looking for. I didn’t give a second thought as to the accuracy of Leonard’s comment.
thanh nguyen

February 15, 2013 at 12:32 pm

@rodney dill: OK, I see. Yeah, Eisenhower was the one who said: “the eyes of the world are upon you” to the invading troops somewhere along the English coast opposite Normandy I suppose.