Jeopardy! Masters kicked off with two quarterfinal games featuring six Jeopardy! champions. Here’s how it went down.
The winner of the tournament receives $500,000, the Masters trophy, the glory of winning, and $100,000 for their charity. The matches consist of points until the finals. WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the August 25 episodes of Jeopardy! Masters.
Long Nguyen, from Las Vegas, Nevada, Paolo Pasco, from San Diego, California, and Andrew He, from San Francisco, California, played the first game. On clue eight, Pasco, a puzzle writer, found the Daily Double.
He had the lead with 800 points and wagered the allotted 1,000 in “Transparent.” The clue was “In 1928, German Firm Rohm & Haas introduced acrylic glass & in 1933 they trademarked this transparent wonder.”
“What is Pyrex?” Pasco, who won the Tournament of Champions, answered incorrectly. The correct response was plexiglass, so he dropped down to -200 points.
However, by the end of the round, Pasco retook the lead with 5,400 points. He, a stay-at-home dad, had 1,400. Nguyen, a retired engineer, was in third place with -400 points.
In Double Jeopardy, Pasco found the first DD on clue five. He had 9,800 points and wagered 4,500 in “Found in Mistranslation,” read, “In part from Arabic, it’s an engraved stone or object meant to protect against disease.”
“What is a talisman?” he answered correctly. This gave Pasco 14,300 points.
On clue eight, Nguyen, the Second Chance Tournament winner, found the second DD. He had 400 points and wagered 2,000 in “Places to Visit.” The clue was “This national park, located between Alamogordo & Las Cruces, is filled with Dunes of Gypsum.”
“What is White Sands?” he answered with uncertainty. He was correct and moved to second place with 2,400 points.
By the end of the round, Pasco maintained the lead with 18,300 points. Nguyen had 6,800 points. He, the 2026 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament winner, was in third place with 2,200 points.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Medicine.” The clue read, “Arne Larsson received the first of these Oct. 8, 1958 & eventually about 25 more as he outlived his physicians.”
He wrote, “What is?” The dad wagered zero points, leaving him with 2,200. Nguyen’s response was “What are…?” He wagered 2,000, leaving him with 4,800 points.
Pasco wrote “What is artificial heart?” which was wrong. The correct response was pacemaker. He wagered 625 points, making his final total 17,675.
Pasco received three match points. Nguyen received one. He ended with zero points. The men will be back in later quarterfinal games.
Disney/Christopher Willard
The second game consisted of the 2025 Masters finalists — Yogesh Raut, Juveria Zaheer, and Victoria Groce. Raut returned to defend his title.
Groce, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, found the Daily Double on clue nine. She had 2,800 points and was tied with Raut, from Vancouver, Washington. The author and speaker wagered all of her points in “Initials, to Roman Numerals, to Numbers.”
The clue read, “For the Italian-born woman who wrote, ‘It is necessary that the child teach himself, & then the success is great.’” “What is 2000 (MM)?” This gave her the lead with 5,600 points.
By the end of the round, Groce was in first place with 9,600 points. Raut, a specialist in applied cognition, had 5,400 points. Zaheer, from Whitby, Ontario, was in third place with 2,200 points.
In Double Jeopardy, Zaheer, a psychiatrist, found the first DD on clue seven. She had 3,000 points and wagered all of the points.
The clue in “Unsilent ‘P’ Science” was “It’s the P in a PET scan, an imaging technique useful for studying structures of the heart & the brain.” “What is a positron?” Zaheer answered correctly.
This gave her 6,000 points, moving her to second place. Raut had 5,400 points.
Zaheer found the last DD on clue 12 in “Museums & Collections.” She had 4,400 points and wagered all of them.
The clue read, “In Bogota, you’ll find the Museo del this 3-letter Palabra (what kings & conquistadors thirsted over).” “What’s Oro?” she answered correctly. She had 8,800 points, moving her back to second place.
Groce ended the round with 24,800. Zaheer had 12,400 points. Raut was in third place with 8,600 points.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Ancient Lands.” The clue read, “Zarathustra means camel owner & he was ‘the sage of’ this ancient land of what’s now North Afghanistan & South Tajikistan.”
Raut wrote, “What is Bactria?” He was correct and wagered 3,801, giving him 12,401. Zaheer’s response was “What is tumird?” She wagered 4,801, giving her 7,599 points.
Groce also had the correct response. She wagered one point, making her total 24,801.
Groce received three match points. Raut got one. Zaheer received zero.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Tune in tomorrow to see the third quarterfinal game and see the winners from these matches face off.
Jeopardy Masters, Season 4, Tuesdays through Fridays, until September 8, 8/7c, ABC
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
