I thought the same thing - no penalty for guessing wildly and getting it wrong. may as well give it a shot.
Maybe they were dispirited, and just wanted to get it over with.
So you’re suggesting that she should have involved “The Slaughter Rule?” I say, “No mercy, no quarter.”
It’s kind of embarrassing to be the only one playing Final Jeopardy, 30 seconds of the camera just pointed at you. But that’s just me.
Is there any place to look up how many times two players have finished in the red? I’ve never seen it happen before.
And I absolutely don’t think Mattea should have gone easy on them.
According to the box score on the Jeopardy website, the last time two players finished in the red was on October 13, 2020:
But I cannot find anywhere that tells me how many times it has happened, or when.
Not as embarrassing as winding up in the red.
There have been games in which ALL the players wound up in the red.
What do they do then?
No one wins. I’ve seen it happen, but it was a celebrity game not “regular” Jeopardy.
That wasn’t all that long ago, I was watching then, and I have no memory of it. Yesterday’s game was the “first” time I’d seen it.
I think my brain doesn’t put anything of Jeopardy! in the permanent file. That’s how I can watch reruns and enjoy them, because I don’t remember the clues.
I also don’t remember most of the players. So when I watch I say, “Are you sure we didn’t miss this game? None of these people look familiar.” And it turns out, one is a five-time champion or something. That’s why I can’t give descriptions of people to the police. 
No FJ, then three new players the next day.
Thanks, folks. That must be an awfully rare occurrence, but Panache’s answer makes sense.
In other news, I saw that
Mattea won again. That’s 13 in a row. Alex gave her a run for her money tonight, but he blew it in FJ. So did Mattea, but she retained her conservative betting style, and remained champion.
I must say, she’s practically front-page news here in Canada. Major newspapers have stories on her, she’s being sought for interviews on news shows, and has done a few, and so on. Even the University of Toronto has sent out a notice to all its alumni (I’m one) telling us all about fellow U of T grad Mattea and her success on Jeopardy. She may not be news in the US, but she sure is here.
I remember that 2020 single-player finish. That was the first time I saw it.
I may write and propose marriage to Mattea Roach. She may already be getting a ton of offers, so I had better try and get in early. I’ve not yet discussed this with the wife though.
Is bigamy legal in Thailand, and if so, is the permission of the existing wife/wives required?
I hate to break it to you, but she’s not into guys.
How strict is Jeopardy about not revealing the results before the show airs. I saw one TV interview with Mattea where the way she paused and said “what is it now” before saying which game she had “recently” won strongly implied that she had more wins to air.
Jeopardy tends to try to keep those things under wraps, though I know that the game Ken Jennings lost his original run on back in 2004 leaked.
Certainly contestants themselves have to sign various papers, including an agreement that they won’t give away anything about the game before it airs (you’re not even supposed to reveal what your categories were). As a contestant, you agree that giving away such information would constitute “permanent and irreparable harm to the producers.”
I don’t know if they’ve gone back to having studio audiences yet. But in the days when there was a studio audience, they would ask the audience members to keep quiet about it. But if someone who was in the studio audience the day a long-running champion loses decided to tell a few friends, and the word got around, I’m not sure how they could prevent it, or even necessarily track down the source of the leak.
From Tuesday’s episode - does everybody have to be “quirky”? Every contestant had some exaggerated mannerism.
After 15 days I’m beginning to get annoyed with Mattea’s “over explaining”. I hope this doesn’t become the new norm.
This (and her hand waving) has annoyed me since her first game. But not enough to prevent me from liking her.