Liam Starnes returned to Jeopardy! for his sixth game, but there was some drama attached to the game as his fellow competitors made mistakes that cost them the win.
The reigning champion from Barrington, Illinois, faced off against Simon Liebling, from Philadelphia and Jenn Gardner, from Houston on Friday, April 25. Starnes, an undergraduate student, had a five-day total of $103,002 and hoped to increase that during his sixth game.
At the beginning of the game, Starnes got a question right about a bartender, despite being only 20 years old. He has answered questions about alcohol all week, which shocked host Ken Jennings.
Starnes led early in the game and got even more of a lead when he found the first Daily Double of the game. He had $3,000 and made it a true Daily Double. The clue read, “A true power behind the throne, this church official helped make France the strongest nation in Europe on behalf of Louis XIII.” Starnes answered, “Who was Cardinal Richelieu?” which was correct. He doubled to $6,000.
By the first commercial break, Starnes had $9,000. Liebling, a resident physician, had $1,600. Gardner, a nonprofit arts administrator, had $0, after being in the negatives for most of the round.
During the interviews, Jennings brought up Starnes’ Jeopardy!-themed birthday party once again. It ended with a game of Wii Jeopardy!, where he scored $259,000. However, he saw the questions before he played. Starnes doesn’t think he could get that amount during one game of actual Jeopardy!.
Starnes led the round with $11,000. Liebling had $3,200. Gardner finally got on the board with $800.
In Double Jeopardy, a pronunciation mistake cost Gardner the right answer. “You might say that the reason clownfish like to make homes in these flowery cnidarians is a no-brainer,” the clue read. “What is a sea a-ne-no-me?” she answered, mispronouncing the correct answer. Starnes then buzzed in and said, “What is a sea anemone?” which was the right way to say it. This brought him to $13,000, and Gardner to $800.
Starnes answered the first DD of the round. With $12,600 in his bank, he wagered $6,000. Even if he got it wrong, he still would have been in the lead by a lot. The clue was “Topeka, Illinois, lies about 100 miles north of this metro area with a population of 2.8 million.” “What is St. Louis?” he answered correctly, giving him a total of $18,600.
Two questions later, Liebling found the second DD. He had $3,600 but only wagered $1,000. “This jelly-like creature named for its resemblance to a fighting ship is made up of many brainless polyps,” was the clue. “What is (Portuguese) man o’ war?” he answered correctly. He should have gone all in on the wager to not give Starnes such a wide lead going into Final Jeopardy. Liebling’s score raised to $4,600 instead of $7,200. There were still a lot of clues left in the round.
Gardner answered many questions in a row correctly and surpassed Liebling. Liebling would have been in second place by a few thousand dollars if he made a different wager on the DD. He ended the round with $7,800. Gardner had $8,800. Starnes had a massive lead with $20,600.
“Liam’s total will remain out of reach in Final Jeopardy,” Jennings said. The category for the final question was “1990s Bestsellers.” The clue was “In this 1995 book, Pilgrim is taken to Tom, whose job it is to utter secrets ‘softly into pricked and troubled ears.’”
Liebling wrote “What is The Poisonwood Bible?” which was incorrect. He wagered $1,001 to end with $6,799. Gardner was also wrong when she wrote, “What is The Da Vinci Code?” After wagering $6,900, Gardner left with $1,900. Starnes was also incorrect with “What is A Clockwork Orange?” The correct answer was The Horse Whisperer. Starnes wagered $18, so his final total was $20,582.
Starnes’ six-day total is $123,584. He will be back on Monday, April 28, and face two new opponents for his seventh game.
Reddit users commented on Liebling and Gardner’s risky mistakes that cost them the game. “Simon should have risked it all in that DD and they should have been going for those 2000 clues earlier knowing the game was getting out of reach. I can’t wait to see how Liam stacks up against some veteran players,” one fan said.
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome knowing their FJ responses, but that was definitely the heads-up play,” a Reddit user replied.
“That Daily Double wager was risky,” said another.