Who won Jeopardy! tonight? Thursday, May 18, 2023

Ben Chan returns to compete with new challengers (Image via jeopardy.com)
Ben Chan returns to compete with new challengers (Image via jeopardy.com)

Game 179 of Jeopardy! season 39 aired on KABC-TV on Thursday, May 18. The episode featured three competitors trying to win the game by answering some tough knowledge-based questions and earning money through the same. Ben Chan returned as the six-day reigning winner, with total earnings of $182,000.

Ben is a philosophy professor from Green Bay, Wisconsin. His challengers were John Groves, a legislative technical specialist originally from Forteau, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and Kristen Beck, a physician from Seattle, Washington.


Today’s Jeopardy! winner is Ben Chan

Ben Chan once again led the entire game, even answering the final question, and in doing so, continued his excellent winning streak. Despite not betting any money in the last round, Chan was able to win the game by a huge margin.

The categories under the first round were On A Visit To The State Capital, Restaurants, Magazines, The Arts, The World Of Hanna-Barbera, and Before & Actor.

Ben did not win the daily double in this round but was able to answer many questions, leading the game by $6000 prize money. In total, he gave 16 correct and one incorrect response. Kristen gave three right answers, with one incorrect response.

The score after the round was Ben at $7800, John at $1600, and Kristen at $1000.

The categories under the Double Jeopardy! round were International Movies?, Flags Of Spanish-Speaking Nations, Organizations, It All Starts With “U” and History Repeats Itself.

Ben found both the daily doubles in the round and led the game with a huge score. He gave 34 correct answers, apart from the daily double, with just one incorrect answer. The challengers did not get a chance to answer many questions. Kristen and John gave seven and nine correct responses, with one incorrect answer each.

The scores after the Double Jeopardy! round was Ben at $31,000, Kristen at $4600, and John at $4400.

John and Ben both gave the right answer to the final question. With such a huge margin, Chan did not even need to win any money in the round, given that his score was at $31,000.

Hence, Ben Chan won Jeopardy! today.

Ben Chan: Tonight's Winner (Image via jeopardy.com)
Ben Chan: Tonight's Winner (Image via jeopardy.com)

Final Jeopardy! results today

The final question of game 179 of Jeopardy! was under the category Billboard No. 1 Hits. The final clue read:

"Billy Joel said, “I think the one time I didn’t write the music” before the lyrics was for this 1989 hit, “and I think it shows.”"

The correct answer to the question was:

“What is We Didn’t Start The Fire?”

Ben and Kristen got the question right and the latter earned $201 in the round. Ben did not bet any money on his response. Kristen lost $199 against the wrong answer, Uptown Girl.

The final score of the game was:

Ben Chan: $31,000 + $0 = $31,000 (What is We Didn’t Start The Fire!?) (7-day total: $213,000)

John Groves: $4,400 + $201 = $4,601 (What is “We Didn’t Start the Fire”?)

Kristen Beck: $4,600 – $199 = $4,401 (What is Uptown Girl?)

With the win, Ben became a seven-day winner and has already reached the Tournament of Champions. He might be seen in other shows of the franchise soon.


Ben Chan will be seen playing against Erica Johnson and Chris Hammer in the next episode of Jeopardy!, which airs on Friday, May 19.

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