Who won Jeopardy! tonight? December 9, 2022, Friday

Jeopardy! Season 39 returned to the late Alex Trebek stage with a brand new episode on Friday, December 9, 2022.

In the latest episode, the returning champion was one-day winner Sriram Krishnan, a consultant from Falls Church, Virginia, playing against Ellen LaBerge, a lawyer from Syracuse, New York, and Matthew Ott, an accountant originally from Boston, Massachusetts.

Sriram banked $21,800 after defeating Ron Cheung (one win) in the December 8 episode. He returned for his second game on Friday, but couldn’t start a winning streak. The Virginia native was the only player who incorrectly answered the final question in the latest episode.

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Today's Jeopardy! winner is Matthew Ott

While Sriram Krishnan failed to defend his win in the December 9 episode, new player Matthew Ott bagged a great victory.

The categories for the first round in the latest episode were “Places Named For People, Put In A Good Word, Table Talk, Song Title Titles, She Blinded Me, Science!”

Sriram had a decent start, but things didn’t go in his favor after he lost a Daily Double. It brought his total to zero, however, he recovered and banked $1,000 in round 1. Matthew and Ellen LaBerge, on the other hand, played wisely with no incorrect answers. Matthew took the lead by scoring $5,000, while Ellen landed in the second position with a score of $4,600.

In the second round, the categories included “History, Russian Writers, “P”otpourri, Company Name Origins, TV Final Episodes, State Postal Abbreviation Words.”

Sriram came out of the third-ranking and topped the scoreboard in the Double Jeopardy round. He got his Daily Double right, scoring $14,200 in round 1. Matthew, too, won a Daily Double and ended up in the second position, banking $11,600. Ellen, on the other hand, scored $7,800 and got three incorrect answers.

In the Final Jeopardy round, Ellen and Matthew gave the correct response to the final question. They wagered almost everything in the final round and luckily won the bet. However, Sriram’s final answer turned out to be incorrect, and his total score went down to four digits. He ended up at the bottom of the scoreboard, while Matthew was at the top and Ellen at second.

Hence, Matthew Ott won Jeopardy! today.

Matthew Ott: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)

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Final Jeopardy! results today

In the December 9 episode, the final round’s category was “1970s Movies.” The final question, in the form of a clue, read:

“A 1975 premiere of this comedy advertised free coconuts for the first thousand in the audience.”

The correct answer to the final clue was Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

While Matthew and Ellen gave the correct response, Sriram wrote, “Bananas.” Take a look at the final results of the December 9 episode:

Matthew Ott: $11,600 + $11,597 = $23,197 (What is Monty Python and the Holy Grail?) (1-day total: $23,197)

Ellen LaBerge: $7,800 + $7,000 = $14,800 (What is “Monty Python & the Holy Grail”?)

Sriram Krishnan: $14,200 – $10,000 = $4,200 (What is Bananas?)

With today’s win, Matthew became the one-day winner of the latest season. Since Cris Pannullo’s exit, none of the one-day champions have been able to begin a winning streak, as they were mostly defeated in their respective second games. Cris was the 21-day champion, who was defeated in the December 6 episode.

Meanwhile, Matthew will return to defend his win against two new players next week on the Ken Jennings-hosted show.

The next episode of Jeopardy! Season 39 will air on Monday, December 12, 2022.