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Season 39 of Jeopardy! returned with a new episode on Thursday, February 2, 2023, featuring three players.
One of the contestants was one-day champion Patti Palmer, who returned to defend her win for the second time. With a one-day score of $32,200, the bookseller and retired teacher from Tulsa, Oklahoma, played against two new players — Matthew Marcus, a software developer from Portland, Oregon, and Anita Perala, a product management consultant from Jersey City, New Jersey.
Explaining the format of the game show, the official synopsis reads:
“A returning champion and two challengers test their buzzer skills and their knowledge in a wide range of academic and popular categories.”
The syndicated longest-running TV program airs from Monday through Friday.
Today's Jeopardy! winner is Matthew Marcus
Returning champion Patti Palmer won her first game in the February 1 episode after defeating three-day champion Jake DeArruda. In the latest episode, she failed to play exceptionally well as she ranked third in all rounds.
The categories for the first round of the February 2 episode included “Dwight Eisenhower, Art-Pourri, Seven Heaven, “B”+3, Toucan, Play That Game.”
Although Patti was the returning champion and was expected to thrive in her game, she was unable to beat the new players. With six correct and one incorrect answer, the Oklahoma bookseller landed in third place with a score of $2,200.
The top scorer in the first round was Matthew Marcus, who had a great time correctly answering 13 questions in this segment. Despite two incorrect responses, he topped the scoreboard, banking $6,600. New Jersey’s Anita Perala ended up in second place after finding the first Daily Double and correctly answering seven questions. She scored $4,000 in the first round.
In the second round of the Ken Jennings-hosted episode, the categories were “Big River, The Book’s Supporting Characters, Nobel-Winning Scientists, Word & Phrase Origins, Pop Music, Getting Close To The End.”
Patti tried to improve her scores after winning the Daily Double in the second round, but she was unable to surpass Matthew and Anita. The returning champion ranked third and banked $9,400. Anita, on the other hand, continued to correctly answer her attempted questions and didn’t give a single wrong answer. Her score going into the final round was $10,800.
The topper of the Double Jeopardy was Matthew, who doubled up $8,000 by winning a Daily Double and also gave the highest number of correct answers in this round, banking $32,200.
In the Final Jeopardy round, all three players gave the correct answer. Anita and Patti were not far behind each other as their score difference was $401. While Patti ended up in third place, Anita ranked second. The top scorer was Matthew, who finished up his first game with a score of over $40,000.
Hence, Matthew Marcus won Jeopardy! today.
Final Jeopardy! results today
The final question of the February 2 episode was under the category, “Mythology.” The clue for the final round read:
“Poseidon carried off the maiden Theophane & turned her into a ewe; their offspring was the source of this mythical object.”
The correct response to the final question/clue was Golden Fleece.
All three players delivered the correct answer to the final question. Take a look at the final results of the February 2 episode:
Matthew Marcus: $32,200 + $10,000 = $42,200 (What is the golden fleece) (1-day total: $42,200)
Anita Perala: $10,800 + $8,001 = $18,801 (What is the golden fleece?)
Patti Palmer: $9,400 + $9,000 = $18,400 (What is the golden fleece?)
With today’s win, Matthew became the one-day champion with a total score of $42,200. While his first game performance was commendable, only time will tell whether he will be able to play like Season 39 champions Cris Pannullo and Ray Lalonde.
Matthew will return for the next episode of Jeopardy!, which will air on Friday, February 3, 2023.
