Who won Jeopardy! tonight? December 2, 2022, Friday

Jeopardy! Season 39 aired a brand new episode on Friday, December 2, 2022, featuring three players.

One of the contestants was Cris Pannullo, the 19-day champion returning to play his 20th game. Until Thursday’s game, he had banked $666,744 and became the first-highest scorer of the latest season.

In one of the episodes, host Ken Jennings asked the returning champion about his plans to spend the money he earned on the show.

Cris quipped:

“In this economy, Ken. I'm just throwing it all under my mattress. The hard part is going to be getting it all flat so I'm not laying on a lumpy mattress, but with some time I'll get it done.”

In the December 2 episode, Cris played against two new participants — Josh Gregor, a teacher from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Ilana Freedman, an occupational therapy assistant from New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Today's Jeopardy! winner is Cris Pannullo

Cris Pannullo, a customer success operations manager from Ocean City, New Jersey, continued to prove his talent in the December 2 episode.

In the latest episode, the categories for the first round were “Historic Quotations, Body Language, Fizz-ics, African Lakes & Rivers, Hit The Spot, NFL Teams By Home Stadium.”

It was Cris’ game today as he gave the maximum number of correct answers, including the first Daily Double. He correctly answered 17 questions and banked $12,400 in round 1. Ilana Freedman scored $3,800 after giving six correct answers. Josh Gregor delivered seven correct and three incorrect answers, scoring $2,000.

In the second round, the categories included “It’s Epic, Their ’80s No. 1 Album, Word History, Honorary U.S. Citizens, Old Technology, Micro Fish.”

Cris was unstoppable in the December 2 episode, especially when it came to picking Daily Doubles. His total score went up to $35,900, while his competitors were struggling to cross the $10,000 mark. However, Ilana ended up in second place, scoring $11,000. But Josh’s total came down to $1,200 due to a few incorrect answers.

After a long time, fans got to see a triple win in the Final Jeopardy round. All three players gave the correct answer to the final question. Both Josh and Ilana held back while wagering the amount. Cris topped the scoreboard, leaving Ilana in second and Josh in third place.

Hence, Cris Pannullo won Jeopardy! today.

Cris Pannullo: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)

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Final Jeopardy! results today

In the December 2 episode, the category for the final round was “World Capital.” The clue read:

“Among its nicknames are the “City of Classical Music” &, possibly in honor of a famous resident from 1860 to 1938, the “City of Dreams”.”

The correct answer was "Vienna, Austria."

The category has been a part of the final round a lot of times, thus, it seemed easy for today’s players. All three contestants gave the correct answer.

Take a look at the final results of the December 2 episode:

Cris Pannullo: $35,900 + $8,221 = $44,121 (What is Vienna) (20-day total: $710,865)

Ilana Freedman: $11,000 + $0 = $11,000 (What is Vienna?)

Josh Gregor: $1,200 + $128 = $1,328 (What is Vienna?)

With today’s win, Cris became the 20-day winner of Jeopardy! Season 39. He had earlier broken the record of the previous season’s third-highest scorer, Mattea Roach ($570,983) and is not far away from season 38’s second-highest scorer Matt Amodio ($1,528,601).

Cris has also advanced to the Tournament of Champions 2023. He will return for his 21st game against new players next week.

The next episode will air on Monday, December 5, 2022.