Jeopardy! is in the midst of its latest tournament, the new-to-Season-40 Champions Wildcard, with dozens of former winners and near-winners returning to help populate the current season’s Tournament of Champions. As such, the competition has been as stiff as ever, and semifinalist Jilana Cotter can certainly speak to that, as she earned her victory thanks to an eventful Final Jeopardy round that featured an amusing (if juvenile) misspelling, a re-taped response from host Ken Jennings, and a math mistake that thankfully didn’t have an impact.
Upon entering the final round of the show, Cotter was out in front with $11,500, with Dave Pai close behind with $11,200, ahead of the third-place contestant Brian Adams, who trailed with $5,200. After each jotted down their wagers and guesses to the “Music & Literature” clue, Cotter was revealed to be the only one who answered correctly with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” so she’ll be facing off against another pair of hopefuls down the line. But let’s look at the hiccups that played out alongside her triumph.
