It is one thing to reach super champ status on Jeopardy!, but it’s another to reach that level on your birthday. Tristan Williams did just that, and he spoke out about the experience.
Williams, a data scientist from Lincoln, Nebraska, won his tenth game on May 19. He racked up a total of $221,902 and will play his eleventh game on May 20. What did the super champion have to say about reaching this achievement?
“Wow. An actual Jeopardy super champ! It’s honestly pretty hard to believe this really happened, and I can’t say how unreal this felt to accomplish on what is my actual birthday. I mentioned that about the air date to Ken [Jennings] in the post-game chat once all was said and done,” he wrote on Reddit.
“This was a great pair of opponents, and obviously a thrilling match. Rose and I had been talking all day about crosswords – she’s a constructor, and we were both planning to go to the ACPT (American Crossword Puzzle Tournament) a month after filming. Given the run of Jeopardy champs from the crossworld (e.g. Paolo Pasco), I knew she could be dangerous and was right! We actually did meet up at the tournament later. To whoever posted about the J! contestants at the ACPT earlier this year, surprise! There was another super champ there who just couldn’t tell anyone.”
“Sunil had been the local alternate for the games the day before, and was one of the first people I’d talked to when I arrived Monday morning. We’d had a fun chat, and he was so welcoming and great to hang out with. Who would’ve guessed we’d be playing 7 games later? He got stuck between a rock and a hard place here,” he went on.
Williams said that he “got beaten up on the buzzer” early on in the game, but what helped him was answering the highest-value clues correctly. He went on to say that he was happy not to have found the third Daily Double because he wasn’t prepared to sing Christmas Carols onstage.
“After Ken’s (legendary?) comment about me being bad at Final 3 games ago, it was only fitting that getting to super champ meant I had to hit one to take #10. What a game,” the game show contestant wrote.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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