Who won Jeopardy! tonight? December 16, 2022, Friday

Jeopardy! Season 39 aired a new episode on Friday, December 16, 2022, featuring returning champion Ray Lalonde and two new players.

As per the show’s format, each episode consists of a returning winner who comes back to continue his winning streak. The player’s stint continues until a new player defeats the champion. The baton then passes to the new winner.

In the December 15 episode, Ray defeated three-day winner Sean McShane to become the one-day champion. In the latest episode, he returned to defend his win against two new players — Elizabeth Pontefract, a strategy consultant from Seattle, Washington, and Neal Gettling, a financial analyst from Chicago, Illinois.

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Today's Jeopardy! winner is Ray Lalonde

Ray Lalonde’s game had a rough start in the December 16 episode, but he soon recovered and scored the highest in the end.

The first round’s categories in the latest episode were “Time For Reading, Alaskan Geography, Music Icons, Mummies, “Tip”, The Scales.”

Ray’s performance in round 1 was decent as he gave 10 correct and three incorrect answers. He banked $4,800. The scoreboard was topped by new player Elizabeth Pontefract with zero incorrect answers, scoring $6,000. Neal Gettling, on the other hand, found the first Daily Double and wagered almost all his money. He lost the bet and landed in third place with a score of $0.

In the second round, the categories included “Christmas & Hanukkah, Ornaments Of Yore, That’s A Big Animal, 10-Letter Verbs, Invasions, TV & Movie Places.”

The Double Jeopardy round was a turning point in Ray’s total score. He owned the signaling device and delivered the highest number of correct answers. The returning champion’s total going into the final round was $23,600. Elizabeth’s position on the scoreboard fell down to the second place and her score was $8,800. Neal tried to recover from his round 1 score through a Daily Double, but history repeated and his score became $0 during the second round. In the end, Neal managed to slightly level up and thus his score going to the final round was $400.

In the Final Jeopardy round, Ray became the only player with the correct answer to the final question. His score skyrocketed, while Elizabeth’s move to wager almost all her money landed her in third place. With a difference of $93, Neal ranked second in the final round.

Hence, Ray Lalonde won Jeopardy! today.

Ray Lalonde: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)

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Final Jeopardy! results today

In the final round of the December 16 episode, the category was “Countries of the World,” and the final clue read:

“It’s home to 58 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, more than any other country; the sites include a volcano & a lagoon.”

The correct answer to the final question was “Italy.”

Only Ray gave the correct response, while Neal wrote “Indonesia” and Elizabeth guessed “Turkey.” Take a look at the final results of the December 16 episode:

Ray Lalonde: $23,600 + $4,400 = $28,000 (What is Italy?) (2-day total: $60,600)

Neal Gettling: $400 – $207 = $193 (What is Indonesia?)

Elizabeth Pontefract: $8,800 – $8,700 = $100 (What is Turkey?)

With today’s win, Ray became the two-day winner of season 39. Only time will tell whether he will be able to win his third game. So far, a few players have achieved high scores and earned a spot in the Tournament of Champions. Cris Pannullo and Luigi de Guzman are among the champions.

Meanwhile, two-day winner Ray will return to the game show next week to defend his win against two new players.

Hosted by Ken Jennings, the next episode of Jeopardy! Season 39 will air on Monday, December 19, 2022.