DANGER! champion Grant DeYoung continued his winning ways with an important fourth victory and a total of $81,203 on Monday night.
Grant defeated Greg Meller and Ivvone Zhou by just $1 in a Final Jeopardy round that left him and many fans in awe.
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After spending the weekend as Jeopardy! champ, the supermarket clerk from Prescott, Arizona, was back for more.
After Danger! round, Grant came in last place after several misses after the break with $2,600, Gregg had $5,400 (and the first Daily Double) and Ivvone had $3,000.
In Double Jeopardy!, Gregg found both Daily Doubles quite late, adding $1,000 in one but losing $6,000 in the rest.
Grant entered Final Jeopardy with a rare statistic of 18 correct answers and 11 incorrect answers.
He narrowly led with $8,200, Ivvone had $7,000 and Gregg had $6,800.
Ken Jennings commented, “We’ve got a really close game here, folks.”
The clue about “The Theatre” was: “Of the 14 roles in the production of this play that opened on Broadway on October 28, 2004, none were played by women.”
Gregg messed up with an unfinished answer and went all in, giving up any chance of a possible triple win with $0.
Ivvone correctly answered, “12 Angry Men” and also bet everything to get $14,000 and the momentary lead.
Tensions were high and Ken admitted: “Grant needs to get it right.”
Grant revealed he was correct and bet $5,801 for $14,001 and a minimal win.
He pumped his fists up and down the podium and was on the verge of tears when Ken declared, “He’ll play another day!”
‘YAY FOR CONCESSION!’
Fans took to social media, praising the defending champion for surviving the scare and unofficially punching his ticket to the next Tournament of Champions.
“Yay for Grant. That means, being at least a four-day champion, he’ll probably go to ToC,” wrote one Redditor.
“Grant is amazing. I love how emotional each victory makes him; he seems like a genuine guy,” wrote another.
A third fan highlighted that the champion is hitting big shots and making a lot of mistakes, which makes his victories exciting to watch.
“Grant is playing very aggressively, with 18 correct answers and 11 incorrect ones. It’s certainly fun to watch!” they wrote.
“I really like this guy…” wrote a fourth.
Five-day champion Alison Betts appeared on Reddit to take a bow.
“Yay Grant,” she wrote. “I’ve been enjoying the brotherhood on the ToC tracker, but Grant is definitely cool enough to join the club. Also, can we talk about his 100% FJ rate?! So impressive.”
Grant will try for his fifth win tomorrow, May 21 episode, which would tie him with Alison and Dr. Amy Hummel for the longest streak this season.
SITTING CHAMPION
Grant has been going strong since defeating three-day champion Will Newton last week.
However, fans haven’t stopped clamoring about how Grant competes sitting in a chair instead of standing.
Grant is seated in a black swivel chair with silver arms and full back support, adjusted to the same height as his standing opponents.
“Why do some competitors sit on chairs and others stand? Just out of curiosity, no complaints,” a Redditor previously asked.
Grant responded on Reddit, sharing that he has “arthritis in his back,” and the producers gave him a chair so he could perform to the best of his ability.
“They give it if you ask,” he wrote.
“I have arthritis in my back which makes it very difficult to sit still for so long.
“I wouldn’t expect every Jeopardy! contestant to reveal why they need one, but I don’t mind saying mine.”
Another user asked: “Do they let you work at the supermarket? (That’s great if they do, I’m just wondering).
Grant joked, “Better yet, they let me walk and be in continuous motion, but Jeopardy hasn’t figured that out yet.”
Other users theorized that he was sitting down because of his height – which isn’t the case, even though he is tall at 6ft.
Grant explained, “Indirectly, you’re not wrong, I’m too tall for my own good!”
While his height isn’t the reason he sits down, it is the reason he can’t spin 360 degrees in his chair to celebrate wins.
“A good idea, but my knees keep hitting the podium and I’d probably give them a good slap if I tried (I don’t think being 6’4″ looks that dramatic in the chair).”
‘SOMETHING WE ALWAYS OFFER’
Producers also talked about the policy for Grant or anyone else who needs to compete while sitting on Monday.
It’s rare to see a contestant seated, and the choice wasn’t addressed on stage or mentioned on the show’s website.
“Fans have noticed that Grant is sitting in a chair during his games,” Sarah Whitcomb Foss said on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.
“This is something we always offer to competitors.
“We don’t ask why; It’s none of our business,” she added.
“If you want a chair, we’ll give it to you.”
Fans may remember 2024 Tournament of Champions finalist Troy Meyer sitting in on their games.
Troy started sitting in the middle of his initial run the year before.
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GENIUS GRANT
Meanwhile, although Grant has funny trivia stories, like being able to pick up tall items in his supermarket, his gameplay is no joke.
He went four out of four on Final Jeopardy, a strength that proved decisive for champions like Ray LaLonde.
Speaking of super champions, Grant often says “What is” when selecting tracks, a page from Matt Amodio’s book.
Grant confirmed on Reddit that the decision to say “what is” was no accident.
“This was a blatant copycat move on my part to try to eliminate the potential for wrong answers. It didn’t work,” he previously joked.
On the Inside Jeopardy podcast, former champion Buzzy Cohen also joked that yes, Grant “looks like Weird Al.”
Grant instantly caught fans’ attention with a whirlwind Q&A story about a car accident during his first game.
Grant’s fourth win couldn’t have come at a better time either.
There have been a number of three-day champions who have failed to clear the hurdle this month.
As yet another social media user surmised: “I’m constantly amazed at people in regular jobs who have this kind of knowledge. He played it brilliantly.”
Danger! airs at 7pm ET on ABC – check your local listings.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
