Who won Jeopardy! tonight? September 22, 2022, Thursday

Jeopardy! Season 39 aired a new episode on Thursday, September 22, 2022, featuring one-day winner Martha Bath.

Martha defeated three-day champion Emmett Stanton, a freelance writer from Baltimore, in the September 21 episode.

Emmett took home $84,600, which is the total amount he won by playing four games on the show. He was the second contestant in the competition series to have a winning streak lasting more than a day. Prior to him, Luigi de Guzman won five games.

In the latest episode, Martha, a retired CPA from Seattle, Washington, competed against two new players. Her competitors were Michael Menkhus, a data analyst from Kansas City, Missouri, and Lynda Tsuboi, a communications specialist from New York, New York.

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Today’s Jeopardy! winner, Michael Menkhus

While Martha Bath managed to defeat Emmett Stanton in the previous episode, her luck ran out in her second game. New player Michael Menkhus defeated her on Thursday’s episode.

The categories in the first round were Better Moments In History, Children’s Books, Farming, Must Be Nice, Movie Title References, and Change One Letter Word Pairs.

Returning champion Martha took the lead in the round by correctly answering 18 questions and banking $7,200. Michael was not far behind as he earned $5,000 by giving 16 correct answers. Lynda Tsuboi, on the other hand, delivered eight correct answers and two incorrect responses to earn $2,000.

In the second round, the categories were Geography Via Kokomo, In My Autobiography, Humans In Space, Old Fashioned, Beyonce Songs, and Sounds Just Like An Animal.

Michael impressed viewers with his game in the Double Jeopardy round. Despite initially losing $4,000, he managed to bank triple the amount he lost. His total score going into the final round was $18,600. Meanwhile, Martha banked $15,600, and Lynda made $3,200.

The Final Jeopardy round of the latest episode was less difficult than in the previous episodes. All three players delivered the right answer. Martha could have won Thursday’s game but lost because Michael wagered $2,101 higher than her bet. Lynda landed in third place.

Thus, Michael Menkhus won Jeopardy! today.

Michael Menkhus: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)

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Final Jeopardy! results today

The category for the final round of the September 22 episode was “Pop Culture.” The final question was in the form of a clue. It read:

“In 2011 Leland, Mississippi, where Jim Henson grew up, honored Henson & his Muppets by renaming a bridge this, also a song title.”

The correct answer to the final clue was Rainbow Connection.

All three players delivered the correct answer. They knew that Leland, Mississippi honored the creator of the Muppets, Jim Henson, by renaming a bridge Rainbow Connection. The name was later turned into the song title for the 1979 film, The Muppet Movie.

Here's a look at the final results of Thursday’s game:

Michael Menkhus: $18,600 + $12,601 = $31,201 (What is the Rainbow Connection?) (1-day total: $31,201)

Martha Bath: $15,600 + $10,500 = $26,100 (What is the Rainbow Connection?)

Lynda Tsuboi: $3,200 + $2,200 = $5,400 (What is Rainbow Connection?)

By defeating Martha in the latest episode, Michael became a one-day champion on Jeopardy!. He will return to defend his win against two new players in the next episode.

Ken Jennings has been hosting the show since the premiere of Season 39. Earlier, the producers announced that the latest season would be hosted by both Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik. The latter will be seen as the host of Celebrity Jeopardy! every Sunday on ABC at 8.00 PM ET.

The next episode of Jeopardy! Season 39 will air on Friday, September 23, 2022.