‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Admits to Buzzer Speed Failure

On February 17, 27 Jeopardy! greats competed for a spot in the finals of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. Now, it’s down to three for the first game of the finals, and one of them blamed their buzzer speed for their loss.

Matt Amodio from New York, New York; Roger Craig from Arlington, Virginia; and Junveria Zaheer from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, competed against each other on Wednesday, March 5.

Craig, an applied scientist, and Amodio, a mathematician, were indeed fast on the buzzers. They rang in on almost every question. Zaheer, a psychiatrist, rang in on a few and answered them correctly, but her downfalls were in the Daily Doubles. “A powerful punch, it’s likely named for the agricultural practice of cutting dried grass,” the question read. “What is roundhouse?” she answered incorrectly, losing $3,400 and going down to $0.

The round got worse for her after that. She was -$1,000 in the hole while the men dominated the round. At the end of the first round, Craig was in the lead with $5,200. Amodio was in second with $4,600. Zaheer was still in last place with -$600.

Amodio found the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy!, giving him a huge lead. He made it a true DD and wagered all of his money. “Connected to the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Strait of Bonifacio separates these 2 islands,” the question read. “What are Corsica and Sardinia?” he answered, which was correct, giving him a total of $13,200.

From there, he was on a roll, gaining a substantial lead. Craig found the second DD in the round. “The D.O.J. states that elements of this paired crime involve the ‘intent to facilitate the commission of a crime by another,’” the question read. “What is aiding and abetting?” Craig correctly answered. This brought his total to $19,200, only $5,000 away from Amodio.

However, it was Amodio who led the competition going into Final Jeopardy!. He had $30,000. Craig stood at $22,800. Zaheer only had $1,000.

The category for Final Jeopardy! was “Medieval Europeans.” Here’s the clue: “This mathematician of Pisa studied in Algeria & later wrote a book introducing Arabic numerals to a larger audience.” Zaheer answered correctly with “Who is Fibonacci?” but it still didn’t give her enough for the lead. She wagered $500, and that was her final total. Craig answered the same and wagered $7,597, giving him a final total of $30,397 and the current lead. Amodio, however, answered correctly as well. He wagered $15,601, bringing him to $45,601, and the night’s winner.

Amodio is now one win away from winning the whole competition. The first to two wins takes home $150,000 and a spot in Jeopardy! Masters. Game two of the finals will air on Thursday, March 6.

Zaheer opened up on Reddit about her opponents and how fast they are on the buzzer.

“Oh boy, hahahaha. Not my best game! Those guys are incredible on the buzzer, and I started pressing, getting earlier and earlier. And then managed to get in only on things I…didn’t know 😅 But! Tomorrow is another day, and I got to answer a Survivor question,” she wrote.

“Very fun to get to share a stage with two legends and my best friend, Ken Jennings.”