Jeopardy! season 42 game 72 recap: Second Chance Tournament Game 2 ends after a triple miss
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Jeopardy! (Image via jeopardy.com)The second game of Jeopardy! Season 42’s Second Chance Tournament, Game 2, concluded on December 16, 2025, with none of the three contestants correctly answering the Final Jeopardy! question.
The category was “International Geography,” and the clue asked: Today a state 309,000 square miles in area, on its founding it occupied half a continent.
The three players battling it out were Dave Widmayer, a trivia host from Portland, Oregon; Evan Argyle, a data scientist from Salt Lake City, Utah; and Ivanna Lopez, a librarian originally from Tampa, Florida.
There were lots of Daily Doubles and quite a few triple stumpers in the game, and after Final Jeopardy!, Dave Widmayer was the victor and went on to the tournament finals.
Second Chance Tournament Game 2 highlights of Jeopardy! Season 42
Jeopardy! round overview
Round 1 included six categories: Second Chancery, In Memoriam 2025, Something’s “Off”, Walking, Winter, and Wonderland.
Dave Widmayer located the Daily Double in the category Wonderland under the $800 clue on the 10th pick. At that point, he had $200.
A reversal in the round increased his score to $2,200, putting him in the lead with $400 more than Evan Argyle in second place.
Dave wagered his entire total and responded incorrectly with “odder.” By the end of Round 1, Evan was leading with $4,400, Ivanna was second with $4,000, and Dave was third with $2,600.
All clues in the round were revealed.
Double Jeopardy! round highlights
Round 2 featured categories: British History, You’ll Need Some Intelligence, Vamping It Up on TV, Science, That’s a Real Myth-Conception, and Before & After.
Dave found the first Daily Double in Science under the $1,200 clue on the 7th pick, while in last place with $4,200.
He bet all and responded correctly. Ivanna located the final Daily Double in Before & After under the $1,200 clue with 10 clues remaining.
Leading with $11,200, she wagered $4,200 and answered correctly. Ivanna finished the round with $15,400, Dave followed with $14,000, and Evan held $7,600.
Triple stumpers and reversals
Jeopardy! Season 42’s Second Chance Tournament Game 2 included several triple stumpers. One occurred in Winter for $800: the Norwegian skater who competed in the first Winter Olympics in 1924.
Another appeared in That’s a Real Myth-Conception for $2,000: identifying the subject of a John Keats poem starting with “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.”
A reversal also occurred in the Jeopardy! round in Winter ($1,000), where the clue referenced the Feast of the Epiphany, initially rejected and later accepted after review.
Final Jeopardy! and game outcome
The Final Jeopardy! category was International Geography. None of the three contestants answered correctly.
The correct response was What is New South Wales? The state was originally the Colony of New South Wales, established in 1788, occupying approximately 1,584,998 square miles across mainland Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.
Evan Argyle replied with Mongolia and lost $5,001 to end with $2,599. Dave Widmayer countered with California and lost $1,401 to finish with $12,599.
Ivanna Lopez leaked a bit of the Vatican, losing $14,600 and ending with $800. Dave Widmayer’s score propelled him to the finals of the Second Chance Tournament.
Daily Box Scores for the game were released at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, completing coverage of Game 2.
Stay tuned for more updates.
TOPICS: Jeopardy! season 42, Hulu, Peacock, Jeopardy!, Jeopardy! new episode