‘Jeopardy!’ Season 43 Premiere Ends in a Stunning Final Jeopardy! Turn

Matthew Riggle began Jeopardy! Season 43 with a major opportunity: win his third consecutive game and return for another appearance as champion. By the end of the premiere, he had survived a dramatic comeback, a costly Daily Double miss and a Final Jeopardy! where none of the three contestants came up with the correct response.

Yet Riggle still walked away with the victory.

The community college math instructor from Madison, Alabama, entered the September 14 premiere with $64,400 in two-day winnings. His challengers were Bryan Lee, a climate financial strategist from Falls Church, Virginia, and Emily Mayo, a Broadway ads project manager from Brooklyn, New York. The official Jeopardy! lineup confirms Riggle returned as champion for the Season 43 premiere.

Bryan Lee Takes an Early Lead

The game started with Riggle and Lee tied at $1,000 when Lee uncovered the first Daily Double on clue three.

The category was “Opera,” and Lee wagered his entire score on a clue about an Ethiopian princess who sings a duet with Radamès at the end of an opera.

He correctly identified Aida and doubled his score to $2,000.

Riggle immediately responded with a correct $1,000 clue, pulling the two contestants level again. Lee eventually regained control, reaching $7,000 after the first 15 clues.

Riggle had $3,200 at that point, while Mayo finally got on the board with a $400 response to a clue connected to Brooklyn.

By the end of the opening round, Lee had established a clear lead with $8,000. Riggle followed with $6,800, and Mayo had $1,600.

Riggle’s Costly Daily Double

The advantage shifted during Double Jeopardy!, but not without another dramatic swing.

Lee found the first Daily Double on clue seven with $12,000 on the board. He wagered $4,000 on “Historic Days of the Week.”

The clue referenced the famous “Long” institution that opened on Tuesday, November 3, 1640. Lee began to give his response but ran out of time before completing it.

The correct answer was Long Parliament.

Lee fell to $8,000, bringing Riggle closer at $5,600.

Then came Riggle’s opportunity.

With $6,800, he found the final Daily Double on clue 10 and decided to wager everything in “Colleges You Could Apply to in 1895.”

The clue described a Vermont school chartered in 1800 and located in a town named for its position between two others.

Riggle answered Middleborough, but the correct response was Middlebury.

The all-in wager wiped out his entire score.

It looked as though the returning champion might have handed the game to Lee.

Instead, Riggle fought his way back.

Three Contestants Enter Final Jeopardy! With Everything to Lose

By the end of Double Jeopardy!, Lee remained in first place with $15,600. Riggle had recovered to $12,000, while Mayo finished with $4,000.

That set up a particularly interesting Final Jeopardy! because the game was still within reach for Riggle.

The category was “Transportation.”

The clue asked:

“Bearing the name of an arthropod genus, this iconic vehicle first sold after WWII was designed by Italian engineer Corradino D’Ascanio.”

The correct response was the Vespa, a name derived from the Italian word for wasp.

But none of the three contestants got there.

Mayo answered “What is a beetle?” and wagered all $4,000, leaving her with nothing.

Riggle wrote “What is spider?” and wagered $3,999. His incorrect response reduced his $12,000 to $8,001.

Lee also missed, responding “What is a VW bug?” He had the biggest score going into Final Jeopardy!, but his $8,401 wager brought him down to $7,199.

And that changed the entire game.

Riggle Pulls Off the Comeback

Despite being in second place entering Final Jeopardy!, Riggle emerged as the winner because his wager left him with more money than Lee after both contestants missed the clue.

His final score was $8,001, compared with Lee’s $7,199 and Mayo’s $0.

The victory pushed Riggle’s three-day total to $72,401 and secured his return for another game on Tuesday.

The result was particularly dramatic given how close Lee came to winning. He had controlled much of the game, led heading into Final Jeopardy!, and finished with a substantial advantage over Riggle before the wagers were revealed.

Instead, the returning champion survived another major swing and opened Season 43 with his third consecutive victory.

Riggle will return for Game 4 on September 15, continuing his run as the first returning champion of the new season.