ADRIANA Harmeyer clinched a staggering 14th win on Jeopardy! on Monday, leaving fans spellbound and speculating what it might take for her to finally lose.

Once again, an opponent put up a fierce fight only to falter with a Final Jeopardy! wagering misfire, which blew his odds at victory.

Adriana Harmeyer and Ty Patton were neck and neck in her latest close callCredit: Jeopardy

Both were correct, but fans pointed out that Ty Patton made a ‘huge bet and gave up any chance to win’Credit: Jeopardy

His oversized wager meant that he’d have lost to Adriana Harmeyer regardlessCredit: Jeopardy
Ken Jennings began the match by praising Adriana’s lengthy stay, noting that only ten players “in the show’s history” have had longer streaks.

Despite her record, Adriana faced her closest call yet in the previous episode, trailing into Final Jeopardy!, which Ken suggested might be a “sign of vulnerability.”

With that, the West Lafayette, Indiana archivist took on Ty Patton and Kelsey Kaunisviita Vockrodt.

In the Jeopardy! round, Ty grabbed the first Daily Double immediately, while Adriana pulled ahead after rocking a Bon Jovi category.

She finished the round with $7,000, Ty with $2,800, and Kelsey at -$600.

In Double Jeopardy!, Adriana gained $3,000 on the second Daily Double for “Marathon Man,” and new dad Ty made things interesting by finding the last Daily Double.

In a game-changing move, Ty nearly doubled his score from a distant second place to $10,100, correctly responding with “NFL Players Association.”

This made for a “much tighter game,” as Ken noted, heading into Final Jeopardy! with Adriana leading at $16,200, Ty at $13,400, and Kelsey at $2,200.

The Final Jeopardy! category was “2 LAST NAMES, SAME FIRST LETTER,” with the clue: “Born 344 years apart, they are the 2 real people mentioned by name in the titles of 1990s Best Picture Oscar winners.”

Kelsey was incorrect, only getting the “Schindler” part right and wagered $0.

Ty answered correctly with “Shakespeare and Schindler” and wagered $13,399 (all but $1), bringing his total to $26,799 and taking the lead.

With the pressure on, Adriana also answered correctly and added $10,800 to win with $27,000.

“That is just barely enough!” Ken declared as Adriana beamed at her incredible 14-day total of $326,000.

‘GAVE UP ANY CHANCE TO WIN’

Fans took to social media, praising Adriana for her 14th consecutive win—quite the feat—while pointing out Ty’s flawed final wager.

Much like Friday’s frontrunner, Ty’s non-cover bet wasn’t the best strategy, as it was so large that he “gave up any chance to win” if he were incorrect even if Adriana had also been incorrect.

“Ty gave it a hell of a fight. Well done to him! And of course, congrats to Adriana for keeping her streak alive,” one Redditor posted.

Another wrote, “The player in a close second position made a huge bet and gave up any chance to win if incorrect on FJ.”

Ty acknowledged this, writing in the Reddit game thread, “Oh … and my FJ wager … I know. Knew it as I was doing it. I have about 1,000 words typed out about what I was thinking if anyone’s interested. Wrote it the day I taped because I knew future me would not be pleased.”

A third fan replied, “So close! You almost beat Adriana. Good game.”

Others speculated on what it would take for Adriana to lose at this point.

“At this rate, it will take one really good challenger plus an absolute killer of a FJ clue to take Adriana out.”

Another wrote, “I still stand by my opinion that it’s gonna take either two really good challengers at their best or for her to be down going into a really easy FJ clue for her to go down.”

One more remarked, “Adriana’s refusal to hunt for DDs is ultimately going to be what knocks her out.

“She had this game handsomely in the bag until Ty grabbed $5,000 on DD3. It ended up way closer than it had to be. Had anyone else found DD2, the game might have ended differently.”

The unflappable Adriana will go for her 15th win on Tuesday’s episode, leaving more and more power players in her dust.

PLAYING IT OLD-SCHOOL

Adriana has been on a roll since May 31, 2024, and is now Season 40’s first super-champion.

Fans are going wild, as it’s been nearly two years since there’s been a 10-plus-day winner, the previous being 13-day champ Ray LaLonde in January 2023.

Adriana’s 14th win means she’s outplayed Ray and now has the longest streak since 21-day champ Cris Pannullo in fall 2022.

However, Adriana plays nothing like Cris, who went a vicious 48 for 49 on Daily Doubles.

Adriana has an old-school strategy that sets her apart from all other streakers in the post-Holzhauer era.

She is a rare, top-down player who refuses to hunt for Daily Doubles.

Instead, she’s only found 14 of the 39 hidden clues in her streak, and she doesn’t bounce across the board to find them.

This lets the other contestants find the Daily Doubles and fall on their swords by missing them with big bets.

“Adriana is a sneaky ice-cold player. She’s not DD-hunting that much and not very aggressive with her wagering, but by the end of DJ, she has a runaway game!” one fan recently wrote on Reddit.

“Just pure buzzer skill and huge knowledge base. I hope she continues her streak, I would love to see how far she can take this!”

On the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, staffers also talked about Adriana’s refreshing, old-school style.

“Yeah, we haven’t really had someone who’s played as straight-ahead. I know Alex [Trebek] would have loved a player like Adriana.”

The other qualifiers for the next Tournament of Champions (all female) are five-day winners Alison Betts and Dr. Amy Hummel and Celebrity Jeopardy!’s Lisa Ann Walter.

That said, with four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde will likely join in as well.

LIFE MADE FOR JEOPARDY!

Adriana works as an archivist at Purdue University in Indiana, where she preserves historic materials and teaches.

She’s married to her supportive husband Neal, whom she bonded with in 2013 over a love of learning. He’s been in the audience for her run, and they share a son.

Her Q&A stories have shed light on her Jeopardy! journey, in which she’s shared how intensely she’s been preparing for this moment all her life.

She honed her chops on a ’90s CD-ROM version of Jeopardy! starting when she was seven. She only stopped playing after the disc broke in half.

She also read an entire “gently used” World Encyclopedia collection – as a child.

She recalled “disappointing” failure to make the cut as a Teen Week contestant, though the wait certainly is paying off.

She also credited her late grandmother, whose necklace she’s been wearing, with getting her into Jeopardy! as they watched religiously.

During her 12th win, she shared that her dream for her earnings is to become a librarian, which made Ken laugh because it’s just so…Jeopardy.

‘WRONG’ ABOUT STEREOTYPE

In a new interview on Monday, the West Virginia native blasted the stereotype surrounding her home state and revealed why she doesn’t like watching the show.

Adriana spoke to The Parthenon about the Appalachian stereotypes surrounding education and ability she faces.

“They’re wrong, like, they’re completely wrong. I personally don’t see any reason to let things stop me,” she said.

“There are excellent people everywhere, and I hope that more people will try to do things that they’re interested in.”

“I didn’t quite realize until it started airing how many people were gonna be rooting for me,” she said.

“The response I’ve gotten has been so much stronger and more positive than I ever imagined.”

Jeopardy! airs at 7 pm Eastern on ABC – check your local listings.

Ty admitted on Reddit that he wrote a 1000-word essay about his wager woes and ‘future me would not be pleased’Credit: Jeopardy

Jeopardy! champ Adriana Harmeyer is rising the all-time ranks with the longest run in nearly 2 yearsCredit: Jeopardy

Fans think Ken Jennings will keep kicking it with her until we get ‘two really good challengers’ – others say her ‘refusal to hunt for DDs will knock her ou