Final Jeopardy: Poets (6-11-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (6/11/2026) in the category “Poets” was:
The concept of Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner was born when Edmund Spenser expressly asked to be buried near him
New champ Katelyn Mueller-McLean, an accessibility audio producer from San Francisco, CA, won $3,400 yesterday, after a final clue that no one got. In Game 2, she’s up against: Danya Granado, a college administrator orig. from Aurora, CO; and Matt Wheeler, an associate registrar & songwriter from Mount Joy, PA.
Round 1 Categories: La La Land – Frozen – Mamma Mia! – West Side Stories – Bedknobs & Broomsticks – Movie Musicals
Katelyn found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “West Side Stories” under the $800 on the 17th pick of the round. She was in the lead with $2,000, $400 more than Danya and Matt who were tied in second place. Katelyn bet $2,000 but came up empty so she was WRONG.
A former Army man, James Jones set this novel in Hawaii just before & during the Pearl Harbor attack show
Matt finished in the lead with $2,200. Danya was in second place with $600. Katelyn was last with $400. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: “W”here It Happened – Landscape Art – 3 Little Words – Birds – The Same Name Game – Unpleasant People
Katelyn got the first Daily Double in “3 Little Words” under the $1,600 clue on the first pick of the round. She was in last place with $400 now, $1,800 less than Matt’s lead. Katelyn bet $2,000 and guessed “at face value”. That was WRONG.
When you believe in something without evidence, you take this, a phrase associated with Kierkegaard show
Katelyn got the last Daily Double in “Unpleasant People” under the $1,600 clue on the 20th pick of the round. In second place with $3,200, she had $5,400 less than Matt’s lead. Katelyn bet $1,000 and drew a blank so she was WRONG.
This word for a grumpy old man starts with a grumpy 3-letter word for his dog show
Matt finished in the lead with a runaway $11,400. Katelyn was in second place with $4,600. Danya was last with $2,200. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS GEOFFREY CHAUCER?
Prior to Geoffrey Chaucer’s death, Westminster Abbey was mainly used as a burial site for monarchs and abbots. When Chaucer died in 1400, he was entitled to be buried in Westminster Abbey primarily because he was an official tenant of the Abbey’s grounds. He had also been a member of Richard II’s inner circle, and was related by marriage to the royal family. Famed as a writer as well, Chaucer, was a great inspiration to Edmund Spenser, of “Faerie Queene” fame. Spenser did not consider himself Chaucer’s equal, but as this epitaph puts it “Here close to Chaucer lies Spenser; nearest to him in genius, so nearest to him in burial.” Spenser’s request to be buried next to Chaucer was honored and the Poets’ Corner tradition was born.
Attendees at Spenser’s funeral were reportedly Ben Jonson, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. Jonson and Beaumont were buried in Poets’ Corner. Shakespeare has a memorial there, but he was buried in his hometown, Avon-upon-Stratford. Fletcher was buried at Southwark.
Danya thought it was Shelley. She lost $2,100 and finished with $100.
Katelyn went with Eliot. She stood pat on her $4,600.
Matt got it right. He bet $2,100 and won the game with $13,500. Matt Wheeler is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
WEST SIDE STORIES ($1000) Set on an island north of Puget Sound, this wintry David Guterson novel finds a Japanese-American man accused of murder
“W”HERE IT HAPPENED ($2000) This U.S. island got world-famous in December 1941 when civilians & Marines held out for weeks against Japanese invaders
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “1960s BRITISH NOVELS”
The author of this novel said of the last chapter left off U.S. editions, “My young thuggish protagonist grows up” show
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES TO THE SHOW OR COMPLAINTS, PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO JEOPARDY!
We may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made from Amazon.com links at no cost to our visitors. Learn more: Affiliate Disclosure.
Third straight underwhelming game. Props to Matt for knowing Final and running up a decent score without benefit of a DD. But I cringed when he said Greenland ruled Iceland. I knew the first DD but got unnecessarily sidetracked on James Michener instead of Jones. Definitely knew the third one. I had my good and bad moments throughout. Couldn’t think of the right poet so just went with Will Shakespeare.
Way, way too many wrong answers and stumpers. Some I thought would be knowable: the Guterson novel; the Chief Bromden author (who hasn’t read that or seen the movie?); Satine 2001 flick; the W village; the blue portrait artist. A quick $4800 there. Strong players would know all of those.
The More Clues on page 2 link did not work but the numeral did.
And “Les Miserables” wasn’t going to make the cut after “Les Mis” was ruled incorrect.
I got a kick out of Greenland, though. He was probably on the trail of the right response and that popped out.
My buddy Howard said what I was thinking. The only exception I might mount, though, is Matt coming to life in the DJ! round, and getting Final. That broke the streak of 2 days of “cooler” champions (my way of referring to champions that seem to “cool off” the game, vs “heaters”). Peter himself, several days ago, looked tired. Anyways, Katelynn didn’t seem to have the “deep well” of knowledge that other, stronger champs have shown in the past (and shall again, like King Arthur, coming back from Avalon).
As to Final, I said “John Milton”, my default.
All I have to say is darn those daily doubles to Katelyn. She missed all three daily doubles and it gave Matt a runaway victory.
Once again, we just can’t catch a break with not only wanting to see a female repeat champion, but also, wanting to see someone go from winning a small amount of money 1 day, after bad luck with FJ!, to winning a big amount of money the next day. That’ll happen someday. Today’s not that day.