Generally, Jeopardy! has a legacy contestant, that means somebody in an individual’s household has competed on the recreation present earlier than, however more often than not it’s a guardian and little one. This time, although, it was two sisters — twins, to be actual.
Dan Moren, an writer and podcast host from Somerville, Massachusetts, returned for his third recreation on Friday, Might 9, after accumulating a two-day whole of $33,500. He confronted off towards Zach Dickstein, from Chicago, Illinois, and Kara Peruccio, from Bangor, Maine. Peruccio revealed that not solely does she have a twin, however her twin additionally competed on Jeopardy! 12 years prior.
In the course of the interview spherical, host Ken Jennings stated that Kara, a college professor, was “not the primary Peruccio” to look on the Alex Trebek stage.
“No, my twin sister, who’s 23 minutes youthful, was on, I feel in 2013,” she stated. “We threw a watch get together for her, the place the bar invoice was greater than she ended up profitable for second place.”
Jennings cracked up and stated that custom can proceed for her recreation. “I imply booze costs have gone up, however…”
“You’ve received one thing to play for right this moment,” he stated.
The sport began with two Triple Stumpers, leaving everybody at $0. Nevertheless, solely 4 questions in, Moren discovered the primary Every day Double. With solely $600 in his financial institution, he wagered the allotted quantity of $1,000. In “Indicators & Symbols,” the clue learn, “From Latin for ‘apple with many seeds,’ this fruit is an emblem of fertility in lots of cultures.” “What’s pomegranate?” he answered accurately, bringing his whole to $1,600.
By the tip of the spherical, Moren maintained the lead with $6,800. Peruccio had $2,200. Dickstein wasn’t too far behind with $2,000.
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Solely three questions into Double Jeopardy, Moren, who writes science fiction and fantasy novels, discovered the primary Every day Double of the spherical. With $8,400 in his financial institution, he performed it protected by solely wagering $2,000. In “Phrases About Phrases,” the clue was, “Watergate helped popularize this time period for a foul phrase; it plus ‘deleted’ changed curse phrases in White Home transcripts.” He answered, “What’s redacted?” however was mistaken. Moren misplaced $2,000, bringing his whole to $6,400. The proper reply was expletive. He maintained the lead by $2,200.
Peruccio gave Moren a run for his cash when she took the lead in direction of the tip of the spherical by answering nearly the entire questions within the class “Property Watching.” Moren saved answering questions mistaken, and he was all the way down to $6,000. In the meantime, Peruccio had $9,400.
Moren discovered the third and closing DD to try to redeem himself. With $7,200 in his financial institution, he wagered $1,500. In “The 1913 Armory Present,” the clue was “10 years after his demise, this well-traveled painter from Paris was on the Armory Present in spirit together with his ‘Faa Iheihe.’” “Who’s Renoir?” he answered incorrectly. The precise reply was Paul Gauguin. He dropped all the way down to $5,700, nonetheless giving Peruccio the lead.
She ended the spherical with $12,200. Moren had $5,700. Dickstein, a restaurant supervisor and bicycle owner, was ineligible to compete in Ultimate Jeopardy as his whole was -$1,200.
The class for Ultimate Jeopardy was “Literary Narrators.” The clue learn, “This work has 10 essential narrators, seven of them girls, together with Fiammetta and Lauretta.” Peruccio was accomplished writing so quick that followers barely noticed her write down a solution. Moren took a bit longer. He wrote “What’s Inferno?” which was mistaken. The reigning champion wagered $5,600, giving him a closing whole of $100. Peruccio answered accurately with “What’s The Decameron?” She wagered $200, ending with $12,400.
This made her the evening’s champion, ending Moren’s reign. “You don’t have to fret about your bar invoice,” Jennings stated on the finish of the present. She beat her sister, who went house with the second-place prize of $3,000. Peruccio can be again on Monday, Might 12, for her second recreation towards two new opponents.
Peruccio is an assistant professor in each the Division of Historical past and the Girls’s, Gender, and Sexuality Research program, in line with the College of Maine’s web site.
“I grew up watching Jeopardy! with my household,” she instructed the outlet. “After we have been little or no, my twin sister and I’d dance in entrance of the TV to the music throughout Ultimate Jeopardy. We additionally had a Jeopardy! CD-ROM recreation, and it received fairly cutthroat; there was some body-checking to get to the mouse first to reply. I actually take pleasure in trivia, so making an attempt out for Jeopardy! was a no brainer!”
“My twin sister Caitlin was a contestant again in 2013. After she received on, I used to be further motivated to maintain auditioning after I remembered to do it!”
Kara auditioned for the School Event when she was an undergraduate, however didn’t get picked. She then took the web qualifying check in 2011. Peruccio was chosen, however was educating English in Turkey and was unable to return to tape. The champion tried out once more in 2020, however the present targeted on native contestants because of Covid-19 constraints. In September 2024, she lastly received the decision and was capable of tape.
“I auditioned on Thursday, September 5, 2024,” Peruccio stated. “I nearly missed the audition as a result of the e-mail went into my spam folder! Fortunately, all of it labored out. They referred to as me in early February 2025, and I flew out to Los Angeles in March.”
“After my sister taped her episode, she and my mother (who went along with her) wouldn’t inform the remainder of our household how she did!” she ended. “Neither of them may make the journey out to L.A. with me, and so I’ve been giving them a style of their very own medication! Solely my little sister is aware of how I’ve accomplished. On the entire, I feel I’ve been fairly profitable at dodging questions on how I did.”