[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, June 5, episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! contestant Joey Quismorio received actual about his psychological well being struggles whereas on the sport present. The contestant returned for his second recreation after a tricky last query decided the win throughout Wednesday’s recreation.
Quismorio, a product supervisor initially from San Antonio, had a one-day complete of $17,201. He returned on Thursday, June 5, to play in opposition to Sara Fuller, from Athens, Ohio, and Nikhil Joshi, from Montville, New Jersey.
The sport didn’t begin off properly for the reigning champion. As a substitute, Joshi, a veterinarian, was on a roll answering a lot of the clues appropriately. By the primary business break, Quismorio solely had $1,200 after answering three clues proper and one mistaken.
Fuller, a particular training instructor, discovered the Each day Double on clue 21. She was in second place with $2,800 and made it a real Each day Double. In “American Authors,” the clue learn, “This novelist died in 1851 & is buried a couple of quarter-mile stroll from the Baseball Corridor of Fame.” “Who’s Washington Irving?” she answered. That was the mistaken reply and Fuller dropped to $0. The proper response was James Cooper. This gave Quismorio a greater shot at successful as he was then in second place.
On the finish of the primary spherical, Joshi nonetheless led with $4,200. Quismorio had $1,600. Fuller caught up, however was nonetheless in third, with $1,000.
In Double Jeopardy, Quismorio had the lead for a lot of the spherical. He discovered the primary DD late within the recreation. With a $5,000 lead of $10,400, he wagered $2,000. In “Girls on Stamps,” the clue was, “One in all 2 girls honored within the American Choreographers Sequence of 2004.” He didn’t give a solution and dropped all the way down to $8,400. After host Ken Jennings mentioned the reply was Martha Graham or Agnes de Mille, Quismorio mentioned, “Ohhh!”
He discovered the final DD two clues later in “French Historical past.” Because the subsequent two clues after the primary one had been triple stumpers, the quantities had been the identical. He wagered $1,000. “On the French Revolutionary calendar, it’s the month the Reign of Terror ended (in 1794) & its chief’s goose was cooked,” was the clue. “What’s June?” he answered, which was mistaken, dropping him to $7,400. The proper response was Thermidor.
The totals on the finish of Double Jeopardy had been: Quismorio with $7,400, Fuller with $,1400, and Joshi with $5,400.
The class for Ultimate Jeopardy was “Model Names.” The clue was, “Based in 1972, this firm received its title from a time period which means ‘hit the goal’ within the board recreation Go.”
The reply was Atari, which turned out to be one other triple stumper. Fuller responded with, “What’s H&R Block?” She wagered $0 to finish up with $1,400. Joshi wrote, “What’s Nintendo?” He additionally wagered $0, to finish with $5,400. Quismorio’s response was, “What’s Samsung?” He wagered $3,401, giving him a last complete of $3,999. That left him in second place and Joshi the evening’s winner. Joshi will return on Friday in opposition to two new opponents.
Quismorio shared his expertise on Reddit and received candid about his psychological well being. “Hello once more, everybody, Joey right here – and large congrats to Nikhil! That FJ! wager completely caught me off guard. Tremendous sharp transfer, and properly performed throughout,” he wrote.
“As for me… yeah. Very tough recreation. I’m sorry for the way it turned out, particularly with these DJ! DDs and my complete fumble on FJ!. I understand how dangerous it regarded (I did the identical top-row choice s**t once more – however the boards this week have been robust as hell, and I wanted to recalibrate someway!), and belief me it was painful on my finish too. However since I’ve nonetheless received a mic for a sec, I wished to speak about why I believe I unraveled, not as an excuse, however as a result of I want I’d heard extra individuals speak about this earlier than I received on the present.”
“Psychological well being doesn’t come up lots in J! retrospectives (so far as I do know, no less than), but it surely actually ought to. My nervousness is dangerous by default. Being on that stage, with cameras in your face, a stay viewers, and the considered hundreds of thousands extra watching later pushed that baseline to the sting. And standing at first podium, recent off a recreation I didn’t totally really feel like I deserved to win made it worse. The self-doubt, the sensory overload, the impostor syndrome; all of it made my mind short-circuit. I might barely hear the clues, not to mention make sense of them,” he continued.
“Once more, I’m not saying this to excuse a foul recreation. I performed and carried out badly, full cease. However I do suppose it’s essential to say that J! isn’t nearly realizing stuff, it’s additionally about with the ability to entry that information whereas the lights and stress are attempting to interrupt you. And for anybody who offers with nervousness, imposter syndrome, or any form of govt dysfunction, that stage is usually a minefield. That doesn’t make you much less ready. Generally your thoughts simply s**ts the mattress, and that’s okay. I’m saying this as a result of I want I’d heard somebody say it earlier than I performed: feeling overwhelmed within the second doesn’t make you any much less worthy of being up there.”
“Regardless of all of it, I’m deeply grateful. The individuals I met, the kindness and camaraderie, the bizarre little moments within the inexperienced room: I wouldn’t commerce any of it. And I’m nonetheless proud that I made it there in any respect. In case you’re studying this and hoping to play someday, please understand it’s okay to return as you’re and present that up there. It’s okay to be human,” Quismorio ended.
Followers mentioned that he was “being too arduous on himself” and that he was “pure class!”
“On my TV, I didn’t see somebody who unraveled, I noticed somebody who solely misplaced as a result of he bumped into two robust DDs back-to-back,” one other mentioned.
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