‘Jeopardy!’ Second Chance Final Delivers Surprise Ending After Shocking Fumble

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, December 19, episode of Jeopardy!]

The final round for the two-part Second Chance Tournament on Friday saw the return of teacher Eugene Huang from Paramus, New Jersey, trivia host Dave Widmayer from Portland, Oregon, and filmmaker and educator Pete Johnston, originally from Alma, Michigan, as they vied for a spot in the Champions Wildcard.

The game kicked off with the category of “The 12 Days of Christmas in Cash” for $1,000, to which host Ken Jennings noted: “These are 2024 prices, as calculated by PNC Bank.” For the first clue, “This 11-piece band charged $3,715 for the gig, but that was cost-effective, as you got a group to back you for the tune,” Widmayer buzzed in with the correct answer, “What is 11 pipers piping?”

Widmayer then found the Daily Double as the second clue, hiding under “Historic Americans” for $800: “Mad that this president didn’t recognize the new USSR, diplomat William Bullitt Jr. teamed with Freud on a savage psycho-biography of him.” The contestant responded with, “Who is Truman?” It was a miss, as the answer was Woodrow Wilson.

Unlike yesterday’s game, part two of the final saw a few more misses and a Triple Stumper, as the trio battled it out. In the category of “Landform Ho!” for $1000, the clue, “The 350,000-square-mile Sohm, off Newfoundland, is N. Am.’s largest of the flat, very deep expanses of seafloor called abyssal these,” baffled all three players. Widmayer answered incorrectly with “What is shelf?” but the other two avoided the question. The answer was plain.

By the time of the first break, Widmayer was in the lead with $3,600, while Huang was in second with $2,200 and Johnston in third with $800.

On the 21st clue, the gang stumbled on another Triple Stumper under “Broadway” for $400, which was discovered by Johnston: “Nominated for 9 Tonys, this musical imagines what would have happened if one half of the star-crossed lovers survived & thrived.” Johnston answered “What’s Juliet?,” but he was missing the very important “&” from the title, which cost him (the correct answer: & Juliet).

By the end of the first round, Widmayer kept his lead with $6,600, Huang held on to second place with $3,200, and Johnston was in third place with $1,400.

In Double Jeopardy, Johnston kicked off the round with “Vocabulary” for $1,200: “From Sanskrit, this synonym for expert is used of political commentators like George Will & Jessica Tarlov.” Huang buzzed in with the correct answer, “What is a pundit?”‘

The round’s first DD was found by Widmayer under “Ye Olde Science” for $1,600. He wagered $5,000 on the clue: “The ancient Romans used this 2-word farming concept with a revolving ‘food, feed & fallow’ planting method.” Widmayer answered correctly with “What is crop rotation?”

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The second DD was discovered eight clues later by Johnston under “19th Century Women Writers” for $1,600. He wagered $2,000 on the clue: “An older sister wrote about this youngest one’s Tenant of Wildfell Hall, ‘The choice of subject was an entire mistake.'” Johnston was able to add to his total with the correct answer, “Who is Anne Brontë?”

The next question was a Triple Stumper for the trio in the same category for $2,000, as no one could answer, “The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood published poems by this sister to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who drew her likeness.” The answer was Christina Rossetti.

As the trio moved into Final Jeopardy, Widmayer was still in the lead with $20,000, Huang followed with $11,200, and Johnston had $13,400.

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In the category of “Movie Inspirations,” the question was: “A store’s mingling of displays of 2 different holidays inspired a poem & years later, a 1990s film with this name.”

Johnston answered correctly with, “What is The Nightmare Before Christmas? Hi Mom & Dad!!” He wagered $8,401, bringing his total to $26,800 and giving him the lead. Huang also answered correctly with “What is The Nightmare Before Christmas?,” adding $8,600 to his total, bringing his tally to $19,800. But did Widmayer get it?

In a surprise fumble, Widmayer answered, “What is The Nightmare Before Halloween? Go Birds!” With a wager of $13,400, his new total was now $11,599, giving him the third-place spot and making Pete Johnston the surprise Tournament champion, allowing him to advance to the 2026 Champions Wildcard tournament.

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