‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Fans React to Victoria Groce’s ‘Insanely Good’ Game Play

The points have been wiped clean in the Jeopardy! Masters semifinals. Only four Masters remain , and only one will win. One contestant beat everyone else out of the water.

Victoria Groce , from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Paolo Pasco , from San Diego, California, and Yogesh Raut , from Vancouver, Washington played in the first game on September 3. Groce, a writer and speaker, dominated the beginning of the game by answering seven clues in a row correctly.

She found the Daily Double on clue 10. With 5,800 points, Groce wagered all of her points. In "We're Putting You O Blast" the clue read, "The center of its oblast, this celestial port of Northwest Russia was founded in 1584 near the monastery of St. Michael."

"What is archangels?" she answered correctly. This gave her a huge lead with 11,600 points.

By the end of the round, Groce had the lead with 14,800 points. Pasco, a puzzle writer, had 3,000. Raut, a specialist in applied cognition, was in third place with 2,200.

In Double Jeopardy, Groce found the first DD on clue four. She had 20,400 and wagered 6,000.

The clue in "Nonfiction" was "This 2005 memoir has the dedication 'This book is for John & for Quintana.'" "What is Time of Magical Thinking?" she answered incorrectly.

Unfortunately, the correct response was The Year of Magical Thinking, so Groce dropped to 14,400.

Groce then found the last DD on clue five. She wagered 1,600 points. In "Scientists," the clue read, "Her a-maize-ing discovery of transposons, or 'jumping genes', earned her a solo Nobel Prize in 1983."

"Who is McClintock?" she answered correctly. This gave her 16,000 points.

Groce had a runaway lead by the end of the round with 29,200. Pasco was in second place with 6,600. Raut had 3,800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was "The Name Game." The clue was "First in the news in the 1970s, her Amharic name is Dinkinesh, meaning 'You are marvelous.'"

Raut's response was "Who Lucy?" He was correct and wagered all of his points, giving him 7,600. Paso wrote, "Who is *check mark* make it to final?" Clearly, he was wrong. Pasco wagered 1,001, leaving him with 5,599.

Groce also had the right response. She wagered 5,367, giving her 34,567. Groce earned three points while Raut earned one. Pasco did not get any.

Disney/Christopher Willard

Groce and Raut returned in the next game. This time, they were facing Andrew He from San Francisco, California.

Groce found the Daily Double on clue one. Since she didn't have any points, she wagered the allotted 1,000.

In "Plays & Playwrights," the clue read, "In an absurdist play & allegory by Ionesco, the citizens of a small town transform into these animals until only one man remains."

"What's Rhinoceros?" she answered correctly, giving her 1,000 points. This game was a lot closer in the beginning than the first game. He, a stay-at-home dad, even took the lead halfway through.

By the end of the round, Groce led with 7,000 points. He had 6,400 points. Raut trailed with 4,800 points.

In Double Jeopardy, Groce found the first DD on clue nine. She was in second place with 8,600 points and wagered all of them.

The clue in "Where the 'L' Is It?" the clue read, "This French city on the Vienne River is known for its porcelain trinket boxes."

"What is Limoges?" Groce answered correctly. This gave her a huge lead of 17,200.

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On clue 12, she found the last one. She had 20,400 and wagered 400 points. The clue in "That Word is a Mouthful!" was "Writing about Napoleon is writing history; writing about writing about Napoleon is this."

"What is historiography?" she answered correctly. This gave her 20,800 points.

By the end of the round, Groce had the lead with 28,000. Raut was in second place with 12,800. He had 11,600.

"Novels of the 1960s" was the category for Final Jeopardy. The clue was "The title of this 1966 book refers to the shouts at an impending sale of a set of stamps at a mysterious auction."

"What is The Crying of Lot 49 ?" He wrote. That was the correct response. He wagered 4,000 points, giving him 15,600.

Raut also had the correct response. He wagered 10,401, making his total 23,201. Groce also had the correct response, wagering 282. This gave her 28,282.

Groce received three points, giving her six. Raut got one, moving his total to two. He had zero. Pasco also had zero.

Fans reacted to Groce's gameplay on Reddit . "My goodness, Victoria was a buzzsaw tonight. What a masterful performance," one said.

"Victoria is insanely good," another wrote.

"A good night for Victoria," a fan commented.

"Victoria is cooking!" another said.

"I don't know why they even have Victoria play. Just stick her in the finals and play for the other two spots," one last fan said.

The four Masters will return on Friday for two more semifinal games before the final on Tuesday.

Jeopardy! Masters , Tuesdays through Fridays, until September 8, 8/7c, ABC

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