Who won Jeopardy! tonight? December 27, 2022, Tuesday

Ray Lalonde returned to Jeopardy! Season 39 on Tuesday, December 27, 2022, to defend his win after he became the 8-day champion.

In the game show, the returning champion will participate alongside two new players. All three will compete to score the highest and the winner will then return to the stage until another player defeats him.

If a player wins four games, he advances to the Tournament of Champions (ToC). Meanwhile, Ray has earned a spot in the ToC 2023.

In the December 27 episode, Ray played against two new contestants — Scott Handelman, a math and computer science teacher from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Maggie Frank-Hsu, a writer from San Diego, California.

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Today's Jeopardy! winner is Ray Lalonde

Ray Lalonde has become unstoppable as he became the 9-day champion after winning the December 27 episode.

In the first round, the categories included “Espionage Glossary, Rhyming Responses, World Of Beers, Historical Figures On Film, Fiction, Economy Of Movement.”

The game started with Ray struggling to find the first Daily Double. He found it after the first commercial break on the Ken Jennings-hosted show. Prior to that, Ray gave only three correct and one incorrect answer. Even after winning a Daily Double, he landed in second place with a total score of $4,200.

Scott Handelman and Maggie Frank-Hsu, on the other hand, played decently well. Both of them started pretty well, but Maggie couldn’t surpass Ray’s total in the end of round 1. She banked $3,800, while Scott took the lead in this round and scored $6,000.

In the second round, the categories were “Flyover Countries, Synonyms, Science, Album Covers, The Civil War, 'T’ Time.”

Players quickly found both the Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy round. The first went to Maggie, but she gave an incorrect answer and lost the bet. The second Daily Double was scored by Ray, who answered the question correctly and doubled up his wagering amount. He played tremendously well in round 2 as he took the lead and banked $27,800. Scott and Maggie’s scores didn’t cross the $10,000 mark. Scott came second and earned $9,200, while Maggie scored $3,600.

The Final Jeopardy round was lucky for all the players as they gave the correct answer to the final question. Ray’s second-round total had already given him the lead in today’s game. After winning the final round, his score skyrocketed and topped the scoreboard. Scott ended up in second place and Maggie in third.

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 December 27 episode, the final round was an easy match. The category for Final Jeopardy was “Children's books,” and the clue read:

“Its title character is told “By the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off…your eyes drop out & you get…shabby”

The correct answer to the final question was “The Velveteen Rabbit.”

All three players gave the correct response to the final clue. Take a look at the final results of the December 27 episode:

Ray Lalonde: $27,800 + $8,000 = $35,800 (What is the Velveteen Rabbit?) (9-day total: $255,100)

Scott Handelman: $9,200 + $1,999 = $11,199 (What is the Velveteen Rabbit?)

Maggie Frank-Hsu: $3,600 + $3,599 = $7,199 (What is the Velveteen Rabbit?)

Ray’s today’s win made him the 9-day champion with a total score of $255,100. He became the second-highest scorer of season 39 after 21-day Cris Pannullo, who is the top scorer.

The Ontario native will now return to the game show in the next episode, which will air on Wednesday, December 28, 2022.