While in complete control of my own destiny, I got bounced out of the first round of my Champions Wildcard Tournament on a Final Jeopardy question that I would guess correctly probably 9 days out of 10. I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. What the heck happened?

Since the moment I stepped off stage, I’ve been trying to piece together how exactly I got my Final Jeopardy wrong. I felt confident about The Catholic Church as a category, and considering the question was really more about European history, it should have been well within my wheelhouse. How the heck did I get it wrong? Unfortunately, I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I think I’m pretty close.

To set the stage, I had a very slow start to my match. For a while, it felt like I was going to get left in the dust by the other two competitors, but I somehow fought my way back in to the mix and even into first place at the end of Double Jeopardy. I’m going to try to recreate what happened in my head from this point on.

Time for Final Jeopardy

When Ken tells you the Final Jeopardy category, you get a lot of time to think on it and make your wager. I spend that time trying to recall to the front of mind any random Catholic facts I can think of. Which Pope called the First Crusade? Who were the most famous Catholic theologians? Who were the modern popes? What are Papal treaties called? In some cases, I’m struggling to recall, and getting frustrated.

Then, after we confirm our wagers, the cameras start to roll and the Final Jeopardy clue pops on screen. I read the clue as I normally do, scanning it quickly and ignoring Ken’s voice.

I immediately think, “this is not a slam dunk.” I swallow the panicked “uh oh”. I’m going to have to think this one through and hopefully come up with an answer before time runs out.

Immediately, “annulled” has me thinking Henry VIII of England. I’m not sure if the date makes sense, but maybe? But his marriage to Catherine of Aragon wasn’t annulled, which is what led to the English Reformation. I rule that out. (Present-day Alan realizes the English Reformation was definitely after the Protestant Reformation which I knew to be in the 1500s, but I didn’t have enough time to think this through onstage.)

I see “Isabelle” and I think of Queen Isabella of Castile, who financed Columbus’s voyage. I know her daughter’s name was Joanna and that Joanna had a tumultuous life. But she was an important figure because her son, Charles V, became ruler over most of Europe. I think I remember Joanna’s marriage being unhappy, which resonates with the word “annulled”. But the date seems wrong. I’m pretty sure Joanna was more of a 16th century figure — after Columbus’s voyage. Nonetheless, I’m kind of locked-in on this idea.

Joan of Arc crosses my mind, but something about “annulled” throws me off her trail. She definitely wasn’t married. I know she was burned at the stake, but in my head, I’m not sure the church had anything to do with it. I think it was the English.

I’m not particularly convinced by any of these ideas, so my answer is going to be an educated guess. I write down “Joanna”. I’ve gotta tell ya, it is not fun writing a Final Jeopardy answer down you’re not sure about.

Pens down

In my very first final Jeopardy, I realized the correct answer after the music stopped. This time, I don’t recall regretting my answer yet.

The music ends, and Ken goes to Kate, who is in 3rd place. She wrote “Joan of Arc” and Ken confirms that she’s right. My heart drops, because if Kate’s right, then I’m wrong, and with Kate’s wager and mine, the only question is whether I lost to Kate or Dennis.

Now, I regret my answer.

Dennis’s correct answer and wager puts him ahead of Kate. But in the opening round of the Champions Wildcard Tournament, both losing contestants get $5000, so this isn’t important to me. Now to await my fate as Ken Jennings reads my incorrect answer and how much money I’m going to drop.

“HOLD!”

The producer halts filming. The audience gasps, but I know exactly what’s happening. They are considering whether to give me credit for “Joanna”, since it’s so close to “Joan”. All of this will be cut from the broadcast, but probably close to 10 minutes passes with all 3 of us at our podiums, while the staff frantically call and research. Ken walks towards the audience, explains that a review is happening, and does an impromptu round of Q&A to keep them entertained.

I can’t believe it. It’s possible I might win, despite being dead wrong. But the Jeopardy judges are notoriously particular on Final Jeopardy. I feel it’s maybe a 15% chance they gave it to me, so my hopes aren’t very high. I try not to look at my wife and brother in the audience. It would be impossible to convey anything meaningful to them about what’s going on. The minutes crawl.

I see the producers looking like they have come to a consensus, but some more time is spent doing a retake of Ken’s commentary from Dennis’s answer so they smoothly edit what was about to happen with what happened before the cut.

Finally, Ken reveals my answer, and says, “I’m sorry, we can’t accept that. We would have taken Joan, Jean, or Jeanne.” At last, I am put out of my misery.

What the heck happened?

The right answer was in my head, but I didn’t pick it. It’s harder to accept than if it had been a question I just didn’t know. I spent much of the next couple days trying to figure out how I could have gotten this clue so badly wrong.

• Fundamentally, I overthought it. Final Jeopardy’s are hard, but usually not obscure. I should have known Queen Joanna was a little too obscure. I doubt many other contestants know of Queen Joanna, so a lot of people are going to get the question right because their number of potential guesses is limited. Sometimes it pays to know less, or at least to think as though you do.
• I let my mind fixate on the wrong details. “Isabelle”. “Annulled”. This threw me off.
• I treated Final Jeopardy like a normal clue. On standard clues, you only have a few seconds to think. I scan the clue and try to come up with an answer. I should have taken a completely different approach — listen to the clue read and take my time before starting my mental search. Maybe I would have internalized the gestalt of the clue, rather than the key words.
• My brain was fried from trying to prethink the answer, during the minutes when I only knew the category. Especially because I was trying hard to recall things that weren’t coming to mind, I frazzled myself going into Final Jeopardy. I would have benefitted by trying to stay loose and having faith in my ability to figure out the answer to the actual clue, rather than dozens of imagined clues.
• My brain was fried from the game. Although I went into Final Jeopardy with the lead, it was not an easy game. I just managed to claw my way back after feeling like I couldn’t buzz in to save my life. That stress was definitely still with me. I was able to keep myself from pure panic, but I was still in a mode where my brain wasn’t at its best. While the stress is just part of the game, I could have managed it better.

Win some, lose some

It’s a little hard to be kind to myself when winning would have guaranteed me another $5k, extended my Jeopardy resurgence, and brought me so much pride. But since thinking this through, I’ve paid closer attention to other contestants who have made costly mistakes, and I’m much more sympathetic to them—and myself. Better players than me have fumbled the bag.

It all goes to show, Jeopardy is not just about what you know. It’s about being able to control your own brain in real time to maximize your chance to score. That’s true of the regular game play, and it’s true in a different way in Final Jeopardy.