Who won Jeopardy! tonight? December 22, 2022, Thursday

A brand new episode of Jeopardy! Season 39 was aired on Thursday, December 22, 2022. Two new players participated to compete against five-day winner Ray Lalonde.

The longest-running Emmy-winning series has been a popular game show for decades. It ran on NBC until 1975 and then stopped airing for a few years. In 1984, the show returned as a syndicated program and has since been running.

In the December 22 episode, host Ken Jennings welcomed back returning champion Ray, along with two new participants — Mitch Cutter, a salmon conservation associate from Boise, Idaho, and Kathy Boelter, an administrator from Sunnyvale, California.

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Today's Jeopardy! winner is Ray Lalonde

Since 21-day winner Cris Pannullo’s exit, none of the players have been able to surpass the five-day mark. Ray Lalonde, a scenic artist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, became the first to do so.

In the December 22 episode, the categories for the first round included “Technology History, Change The Vowel, A Bit Of Everything, We Come To This Place For…, Magic, Nicole Kidman Says.”

Ray started slow but soon caught up and ended up bagging first place in round 1. He correctly answered 14 questions, including a Daily Double, with zero incorrect responses, scoring $11,000. New player Mitch Cutter gave eight correct and two incorrect answers, banking $2,400. Another contender, Kathy Boelter, delivered six correct responses with zero incorrect answers and scored $4,200.

In the second round, the categories were “Climate, Big Battles, The Bottom 10, Atlantic Islands, There’s A Book In That Book, Crossword Clues ’N’.”

The Double Jeopardy round was a battle between Ray and Mitch. Although Ray won, Mitch was not far behind with his score. Ray banked $24,200, while Mitch scored $16,800, including a Daily Double. Kathy, too, found a Daily Double but was unable to give the correct answer. She lost her bet and ended in third place with a score of $5,200.

In the Final Jeopardy round, Ray and Mitch gave the correct response to the final question. While Ray took a risk to bet a whopping amount ($9,800), Mitch didn’t seem to take a risk and wagered $1,999. Both won their respective bets, making Ray the highest scorer of the final round. Kathy, on the other hand, scored almost all her money and, unfortunately, lost them in the final bet. She landed in third place again.

Hence, Ray Lalonde won Jeopardy! today.

Ray Lalonde: Tonight's winner (Image via @OneEclecticMom/Twitter)

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Final Jeopardy! results today

In the final round of the December 22 episode, the category was “Famous Names,” and the final question/clue read:

"In 2001 he published a book called ‘Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall’; in 2002, ‘Existencilism.’”

The correct answer to the final round’s clue was “Banksy.”

Only Mitch and Ray gave the correct response, while Kathy wrote “Bradbury.” The rankings of the players remained the same as they were in the first round.

Take a look at the final results of the December 22 episode:

Ray Lalonde: $24,200 + $9,800 = $34,000 (Who is Banksy?) (6-day total: $166,200)

Mitch Cutter: $16,800 + $1,999 = $18,799 (Who is Banksy?)

Kathy Boelter: $5,200 – $5,000 = $200 (Who is Brech Bradbury)

With today’s win, Ray became the six-day winner, banking $166,200 in total. He has also advanced to the Tournament of Champions 2023, which will also feature season 39 champions Cris Pannullo and Luigi de Guzman.

Meanwhile, Ray will return to defend his six-day win against two new players. Jeopardy! Season 39 will air the next episode on Friday, December 23, 2022.