Scott Riccardi of New Jersey extends 'Jeopardy!' streak to 15; cracks Top 10 on money list
Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville and 2021 Rutgers graduate, began his winning streak on July 3 and has career earnings of $430,910.
He is now in eighth place on the all-time regular-season highest money winnings list and one more win would tie him for 10th on the consecutive wins list, according to the "Jeopardy!" website.
On the Wednesday, July 23 show, he defeated fellow New Jerseyan, Gerri Budd, an adjunct professor and small business owner from Nutley, and Andrew Crowley, a freelance writer from Henderson, Nevada.
As he has done of late, Riccardi had a commanding lead entering Final Jeopardy (more than triple the next closet competitor in this game).
The Final Jeopary was: "Opened in 1902, it's 87 feet in width on the 22nd Street side & less than 7 feet wide at its narrowest point on 23rd Street."
Both Riccardi and Budd knew the New York City Final Jeopardy answer: "What is the Flatiron Building?"
The final money totals were: Riccardi with $40,008, Crowley $9,000 and Budd $6,300.
Riccardi is by far the winningest contestant on this season of the long-running game show.
According to the show's Tournament of Champions tracker, Riccardi's streak has him ahead of eight-time champ Laura Faddah on this season's leaderboard. The season began Sept. 9, 2024 and three other contestants have reached the six-game threshold.
He also has already qualified for the Season 41 Tournament of Champions. The annual competition is generally reserved for contestants who earn at least five "Jeopardy!" wins, although the show may invite champions with fewer victories if there are not enough five-game winners.
Staff writer Kyle Morel contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ's Scott Riccardi extends 'Jeopardy!' streak to 15 games
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Did 'Jeopardy!' champion lose on purpose? Scott Riccardi speaks out
This "Jeopardy!" champion is speaking out about the shocking end of his 16-game winning streak. Who is … Scott Riccardi? On July 25, the engineer from New Jersey lost on the game show after 16 consecutive wins due to a surprising miss on Final Jeopardy! Riccardi subsequently took to Reddit to explain what happened, after some on social media who'd claimed he lost on purpose. The clue that Riccardi answered wrong was in the category of 20th Century Names. "According to one obituary, in 1935 he owned 13 magazines, 8 radio stations, 2 movie companies & $56 million in real estate," it read. The correct response was William Randolph Hearst, but Riccardi incorrectly guessed "Who is Howard Hughes?" Riccardi was in the lead going into Final Jeopardy!, but his opponents both gave the correct response, including Jonathan Hugendubler, who came from behind with the win after wagering $9,601. Some "Jeopardy!" fans expressed surprise that Riccardi didn't respond correctly. As is often the case when a winning streak ends, there were even claims that he threw the game because he was tired of being on the show. "Does anyone think he lost on purpose because he didn't want to come back next season?" one commenter on Instagram read. Did Scott Riccardi's 'Jeopardy' winning streak continue? But on the "Jeopardy!" Reddit, Riccardi chimed in to explain the thought process behind his answer. "My mind unfortunately went straight to Howard Hughes, mostly due to overestimating the importance of the movie companies part of the clue; any previous FJs that had come to mind immediately had worked out, so I trusted my initial response on this," he wrote. Ken Jennings on 'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions, 'misogynistic' Mayim Bialik critics Riccardi continued that Hearst "wasn't on my mind at all," adding that "several information near-misses and a poor understanding of the timeline in the clue really piled up to prevent me from getting what I now understand to be a very gettable clue." Some defended Riccardi by arguing the clue was worded in a confusing way and could have been read to mean that the obituary was written in 1935, which would rule out Hearst. Hugendubler appeared as surprised as anyone by his win, with host Ken Jennings remarking, "He can't believe it!" A visibly stunned Hugendubler immediately walked over and shared a hug with Riccardi, who finished his run on the show with a hefty $455,000 in winnings. Riccardi, who will return in the "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions now ranks number eight on the game show's all-time leaderboard in terms of highest winnings in regular-season play. With $2,520,700, Jennings, who competed on "Jeopardy!" in 2004 before becoming the show's host, remains number one.
USA Today
2 days ago
- USA Today
Did 'Jeopardy!' champion lose on purpose? Scott Riccardi speaks out.
This "Jeopardy!" champion is speaking out about the shocking end of his 16-game winning streak. Who is … Scott Riccardi? On July 25, the engineer from New Jersey lost on the game show after 16 consecutive wins due to a surprising miss on Final Jeopardy! Riccardi subsequently took to Reddit to explain what happened, after some on social media who'd claimed he lost on purpose. The clue that Riccardi answered wrong was in the category of 20th Century Names. "According to one obituary, in 1935 he owned 13 magazines, 8 radio stations, 2 movie companies & $56 million in real estate," it read. The correct response was William Randolph Hearst, but Riccardi incorrectly guessed "Who is Howard Hughes?" Riccardi was in the lead going into Final Jeopardy!, but his opponents both gave the correct response, including Jonathan Hugendubler, who came from behind with the win after wagering $9,601. Some "Jeopardy!" fans expressed surprise that Riccardi didn't respond correctly. As is often the case when a winning streak ends, there were even claims that he threw the game because he was tired of being on the show. "Does anyone think he lost on purpose because he didn't want to come back next season?" one commenter on Instagram read. Did Scott Riccardi's 'Jeopardy' winning streak continue? But on the "Jeopardy!" Reddit, Riccardi chimed in to explain the thought process behind his answer. "My mind unfortunately went straight to Howard Hughes, mostly due to overestimating the importance of the movie companies part of the clue; any previous FJs that had come to mind immediately had worked out, so I trusted my initial response on this," he wrote. Ken Jennings on 'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions, 'misogynistic' Mayim Bialik critics Riccardi continued that Hearst "wasn't on my mind at all," adding that "several information near-misses and a poor understanding of the timeline in the clue really piled up to prevent me from getting what I now understand to be a very gettable clue." Some defended Riccardi by arguing the clue was worded in a confusing way and could have been read to mean that the obituary was written in 1935, which would rule out Hearst. Hugendubler appeared as surprised as anyone by his win, with host Ken Jennings remarking, "He can't believe it!" A visibly stunned Hugendubler immediately walked over and shared a hug with Riccardi, who finished his run on the show with a hefty $455,000 in winnings. Riccardi, who will return in the "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions now ranks number eight on the game show's all-time leaderboard in terms of highest winnings in regular-season play. With $2,520,700, Jennings, who competed on "Jeopardy!" in 2004 before becoming the show's host, remains number one.
The Hill
3 days ago
- The Hill
‘Jeopardy!' host Ken Jennings weighs his future on hit game show
'Jeopardy!'s' Ken Jennings has no plans to step down from his 'incredibly fun job' as host of the long running game show. Jennings, 51, spoke to TV Insider to promote his upcoming appearance on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,' where he discussed his future on the show. 'Traditionally, it's not a job you retire from. I didn't know at the time, but now that I have a few years under my belt, I think I understand why Alex wanted to do it,' Jennings said in the interview. 'It's just such an incredibly fun job.' 'I really feel very lucky that I'm still part of the 'Jeopardy!' family after all these years. And I have, I have no plans to hang it up,' he added. 'Jeopardy!' hired Ken Jennings in 2021 Jennings took over as one of the hosts of 'Jeopardy!' in 2021, following longtime host Alex Trebek's death from pancreatic cancer. Trebek hosted the show from 1984 until his death in 2020. Jenning split co-hosting duties alongside 'The Big Bang Theory' actress Mayim Bialik, until 2023 when Bialik was fired in 2023. Executive Producer Michael Davies previously said that Bialik was let go because the show needed more consistency and that 'Ken really won the job,' according to People. Jennings first appeared on 'Jeopardy!' as a contestant in 2004, winning a record 74 consecutive games. He also ranks as the top player who earned the highest winnings during a regular season, and the second highest earner of all time (including tournaments), with $4.3 million in winnings which includes tournaments.
