Season 3 of Jeopardy! Masters got off to an exciting start with three of the best contestants the game show has ever seen. Brad Rutter, the highest-winning Jeopardy! contestant of all time, the 2024 Masters champion Victoria Groce, from Macon, Georgia, and the 2024 Tournament of Champions winner Yogesh Raut competed against each other in the first round.
“Welcome to our third annual Jeopardy! Masters. This year we are featuring our biggest field ever. So, that means the stakes are higher and the competition will be as tough as it gets here on the Alex Trebek Stage,” host Ken Jennings started off the show.
When Jennings introduced the contestants, he said that he was meeting Rutter, an actor, for the first time on opposite sides of the podium. “I know you’re thrilled to see me, Ken,” Rutter said. “Always a delight, Brad,” Jennings replied.
Raut, from Springfield, Illinois, had an early lead. By the time he found the Daily Double, he already had $5,800. He made it a true Daily Double and wagered it all. The clue was “4 cantons surround this 44-square-mile body of water in central Switzerland.” The blogger thought about the answer for a few seconds before saying “What is Lake Lucerne?” that was correct and he doubled up to $11,600.
The Jeopardy! experts left all of the $200 questions for last and blew through them. Only one question was answered incorrectly and it was by Rutter. At the end of the round, Raut still led with $15,400. Groce, the reigning champion, had $3,800. Rutter, from Los Angeles, trailed with $1,000. Jennings said that Raut had the best Jeopardy! round in Masters history.
During the interview round, Rutter said that he has been staying sharp, even though fans can’t tell because he hasn’t been quick on the buzzer. “Any other goals for the tournament?” Jennings asked him. “I think I want to make fun of you some,” he replied. “Fair enough. That’s why I’m here,” Jennings said. “I’m always looking for opportunities,” Rutter responded. “I’m sure I will give you many. It’s great to see you again, Brad,” the host said.
Raut, the 2024 Masters runner-up, said that he feels Groce should have won way more money than him because she works “so much harder.” Groce shared that coming back as the returning champion feels like she has “a little bit of a target on her back.”
In Double Jeopardy, there were five Triple Stumpers, with Groce and Rutter each answering one wrong. The contestants did the same this round and started at the bottom of the categories. Groce found the first DD of the round in “Poetry-Pourri.” With $5,000 in her bank, she wagered all of her money. “In Yeats’ The Second Coming, the line ‘the centre cannot hold,’ is preceded by these 3 words, later a novel title” was the clue. “What is Things Fall Apart?” she answered correctly, doubling up to $10,000.
Raut found the second DD. With $22,600, he played it safe and only wagered $5,000. “A pair of bones in the mouth have this name, like that in a hill of Rome” the clue read. “What is Palatine?” he answered correctly, making his total $27,600.
Raut continued to dominate the round with a score of $30,800. Rutter had $6,200. Groce was in second with $14,000. The category for Final Jeopardy was “Europe.” The clue read, “Words meaning ‘water’s edge’ are one suggested etymology of this city, once capital of the providence of Aquitania.”
Rutter waited until the last second to respond and wrote down, “What is Go Birds?” He was obviously wrong and wagered $4,022, giving him a final total of $2,178. Groce wrote, “What is Bordeaux?” which was correct. She wagered $0, keeping her $14,000. Raut answered wrong with “What is Glasgow?” He also wagered $0, giving him $30,800, and the first winner of this year’s tournament.
Raut received three match points. Groce got one. Rutter left with zero. But, they will also be back in later rounds.
For the second game, Juveria Zaheer, a psychiatrist, from Ontario, Canada, played against Roger Craig, an applied scientist, from Arlington, Virginia, and Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher, from New York, New York. These three contestants played in the most recent Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.
Amodio, the 2024 JIT winner, found the Daily Double two questions in. With only $1,000 in his bank, he wagered all of it. “A lord in Oscar Wilde’s ‘an ideal husband’ talks of making a this, meaning a full confession, ‘of the whole affair’” was the clue. “What’s heart?” Amodio answered, but the correct answer was breast. He dropped down to $0, giving everyone an even playing field.
These three champs did the same as the first three and started at the bottom of the categories. Zaheer, 2024 Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard contestant, answered one question, but got it wrong, putting her in the negatives. However, she quickly got on the board by answering multiple questions correctly in a row.
In the first round, there was one Triple Stumper, and two incorrect answers, both by Zaheer. This game was more on an even playing field than the first. Amodio led with $5,000. Craig, the 2011 ToC winner, had $4,400. Zaheer trailed with $2,800.
During the interview round, Jennings asked Craig if he had stage fright by this tournament because the last time he played was against him and Rutter. Craig said that he doesn’t have any “Brad PTSD.” “We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I feel nervous every time I see Brad,” Jennings admitted. Amodio is the only person to be in all three Masters Tournaments and he said he is “filling some big shoes.” Zaheer’s daughter did a presentation on her in school and only cared about her Jeopardy! run and not her career.
In Double Jeopardy, Craig found the first DD. With $4,400 in his bank, he wagered it all. The clue read, “From Greek for ‘Swift,’ this word first appeared in a 1967 paper called ‘Possibility of Faster-Than-Light Particles.’” “What is the tachyon?” he answered correctly, doubling to $8,800, and taking the lead.
He found the second DD just a few questions later. He only wagered $6,000, out of $9,600. The clue was “Using prefixes now associated with gender, the Romans ID’d these 2 main areas of ‘Gaul’ on either side of a mountain range.” “What are cis-alpine and trans-alpine?” Craig answered correctly. This gave him a wide lead of $15,600.
The round had five Triple Stumpers. Craig led with $15,200. Amodio had $10,600. Zaheer trailed with $8,000. The category for Final Jeopardy was “World Literature.” The clue read, “A follow-up to an earlier work, this 1671 effort references eventual triumphs written off in the Book of Job & the Gospels.”
Zaheer wrote “What is Paradise Regained?” which was correct. She wagered $8,000, giving her $16,000. Amodio answered the same and wagered $5,401, giving him $16,001. Craig also had the correct answer. He wagered $6,001, giving him a final total of $21,201, making him the winner.
He received three points. Amodio got one, and Zaheer received zero, but they are not out yet. They will return for another game. Raut and Craig both have three points, but Raut is in first because he had the most correct responses. Groce and Amodio are tied with one with Groce in third, and Zaheer and Rutter both have zero, with Zaheer in fifth and Rutter in last.
Jeopardy! Masters, Wednesdays, 9/8c, ABC, next day on Hulu
