Who won Jeopardy! tonight? March 17, 2023, Friday

Players from the March 17 episode
Players from the March 17 episode (Image via Jeopardy)

Jeopardy! Season 39 returned with a brand new episode on Friday, March 17, 2023, featuring a returning champion and two new players.

The returning champion was Stephen Webb, who had won eight consecutive games and banked a total amount of $184,881. He also earned his spot in the Tournament of Champions 2023.

Hailing from Longmont, Colarado, the data scientist returned in the latest episode to play his ninth game. His opponents included Kelly Barry, a marketing communications specialist from Seattle, Washington, and Mark Bernstein, a retired solution architect from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The game show tests the players' knowledge through questions related to a wide range of topics, including general knowledge, history, trends, and many more.


Today's Jeopardy! winner is Kelly Barry

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New player Kelly Barry gave a tough competition to 8-day winner Stephen Webb in the March 17 episode.

In the first round, the categories included “City Of The Premiere, Shoe Know It, TV, You Say!, “Tri” Me, Out & About The Universe, Speak Your Truth.”

After winning eight games, Stephen seemed a bit tired. He gave multiple wrong answers and was unable to beat Kelly in the buzzer war. The returning champion gave 11 correct and five incorrect answers. Kelly, on the other hand, gave only eight correct answers, but most of them were high-valued. She took the lead in the first round, while another new player, Mark Bernstein, landed in third place after missing the Daily Double. He delivered four correct and one incorrect answer.

The scores of the players going into the second round were Kelly at $5,200, Stephen at $3,000, and Mark at $800.

In the second round of the Ken Jennings-hosted episode, the categories were “The Caribbean, Songs From Movies, Etymology, Irish Authors, Shape Up, Ship Out.”

The Double Jeopardy round came with two Daily Doubles. Mark picked both but answered only one correctly. He remained in third place, while Stephen and Kelly’s ranks interchanged. Kelly lost points due to a couple of high-value incorrect answers. This gave Stephen a little push to grab the first position on the scoreboard.

The scores of the players in the second round were Stephen at $12,600, Kelly at $11,600, and Mark at $4,000.

In the Final Jeopardy round, Stephen's reign came to an end after winning eight games consecutively. His and Mark’s final answers were incorrect and thus their scores went below the $5,000 mark. Kelly was the only player to give the correct response to the final round question.

Hence, Kelly Barry won Jeopardy! today.

Kelly Barry: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)
Kelly Barry: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)

Final Jeopardy! results today

In the March 17 episode, the category for the final question/clue was “Statehood,” and the clue read:

“Congress relented in 1890 after this prospective state said it would wait 100 years rather than come in without the women.”

The answer to the final question was “Wyoming.”

Only Kelly gave the correct answer, while Mark wrote “Wisconsin” and Stephen guessed “Colorado.”

Take a look at the final results of the March 17 episode:

Kelly Barry: $11,600 + $3,000 = $14,600 (What is Wyoming?) (1-day total: $14,600)

Mark Bernstein: $4,000 – $2,000 = $2,000 (What is Wisconsin?)

Stephen Webb: $12,600 – $10,601 = $1,999 (What is Colorado?)

With today’s win, Kelly became the one-day champion who defeated the 8-day champion Stephen. Although the latter will no longer appear in season 39, he will participate in the Tournament of Champions 2023.


Meanwhile, Kelly will return next week for a new episode, airing on Monday, March 20, 2023.

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