‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After Jamie Ding Rival’s ‘Crazy’ Decision

Did a Jeopardy! contestant’s crazy decision cost 28-time champion Jamie Ding the win? Find out what decision they made that had fans cracking up.

Ding, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, entered his 29th game with a total of $774,601. He is currently No. 5 for highest winnings in regular game play and No. 8 for highest winnings of all time, including tournaments. Can he climb the leaderboard even more?

On April 22, the law student and bureaucrat played against Ruey Yen, from Los Angeles, California, and Suzanne Perla Blank, from Queens, New York. When Yen was introduced, his occupations were listed as baseball usher, sports blogger, and physicist, in that order.

Fans thought it was crazy that the game show contestant listed the sports-related jobs ahead of the scientific job. “It seems crazy to list a physicist behind a baseball usher in terms of occupation,” a Reddit user said.

“I imagine it was for comedic effect. I certainly got a kick out of it,” another replied.

“I also laughed. I have no idea what type of physicist he is/what industry, but as a jaded research scientist, I respect his choice,” a third commented. Warning: Spoilers for the April 22 episode of Jeopardy! ahead.

Ding had $1,400 after correctly answering the first two clues. He then found the Daily Double on clue three. He wagered all of his money.

The clue in “Familiar Phrases” was “This phrase meaning a commotion over something little predates the Shakespeare title.” “Uh… What is much ado about nothing?” he answered. Ding doubled up to $2,800. He had a lead of $6,400 by the first 15 clues.

During the interviews, host Ken Jennings said that Yen was the first-ever baseball usher/physicist they’ve had on the show. Yen revealed that he was put on the fast track to be on the game show after he was spotted at Jeopardy! bar trivia.

By the end of the round, Ding had $9,800. Yen was in second place with $4,400. Blank, a retired stay-at-home mom, had $1,400.

In Double Jeopardy, Blank found the first DD on clue one. With only $1,400 in her bank, she wagered the allotted $2,000.

The clue in “Victorian Times” read, “Around 1867, this British surgeon developed an antiseptic to kill bacteria, dropping surgical mortality from 45 to 15%.”

“Who was Lister?” she answered. This gave her $3,400.

Blank found the last DD on clue 27. She had $5,000 and bet $4,900. In “Do Not Pick This Category,” the clue was “Your behavior is this 3-word phrase meaning unacceptable; it originally referred to a type of fenced-in area.”

“I have no idea,” she responded.

“That’s a shame,” Jennings said. The correct response was beyond the pale. Blank dropped down to $100 after drawing a blank.

Ding ended the round with $20,200. Blank remained at $100. Yen was in second place with $7,600.

The Final Jeopardy category was “20th Century Phrases.” The clue was “Before this 2-word term came to mean a type of mysterious object, trapshooters used it to refer to their targets.” The correct response was flying saucer, which none of the contestants wrote down.

Blank’s response was “What is a black hole?” She wagered $100 and ended with $0. Yen didn’t have a response. He wagered $2,400, giving him $5,200.

Ding’s response was “What is…clay pigeon?” He wagered $1,199, ending him with $19,001. His 29-day total was $793,602. Ding will return on Thursday for his 30th game, where he will try to reach $800,000.

Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock