Here’s the clue: He’s an Alaska resident, a longtime “Jeopardy!” fan, and won the game on Oct. 13 after decades of training.
If you said: Who is Ron Clarke? – you’d be correct.
Clarke traveled from Chickaloon to Los Angeles this past summer to compete in the television quiz show.
He grew up watching “Jeopardy!,” and he’s been auditioning to be on it since 1989.
That year, when Clarke was living in Juneau, the show’s crew came to Alaska to recruit players. He recalled taking a written test at the university and waiting to hear if he made it.
“They came back out and said, ‘Okay, we’ve got the scores here. They are’ — and they read the first name and it wasn’t me,” he said. “And they read the second name and it wasn’t me, and they got to the third name — ‘And our third and final contestant is Ronald. Ronald Roper.’ I was like ‘no, no, no!’”
Since then, he’s applied to be on the show many times, he said, taking the online test over and over.
After finally making it on the show, Clarke said it was a wonderful experience. The Los Angeles trip started with a visit to longtime show host Alex Trebek’s Hollywood Star.
Then, Clarke went to the studio to play “Jeopardy!” For most of the game, he was behind. But in the final jeopardy round, his wager and correct answer boosted him into a tie with the first place competitor, who started the episode on a three-game winning streak.
It all came down to a tiebreaker question, which is rare. After host Ken Jennings read the clue, Clarke buzzed in first.
“Ron,” Jennings said.
“Who’s Condoleezza Rice?” Clarke said.
“Condoleezza Rice is correct,” Jennings said. “And Ron Clarke is today’s Jeopardy! champion. Wow, what a finish!”
Clarke won $18,000. He went on to play the next game.
“Did not win that one,” he said. “But once a Jeopardy champion, always a Jeopardy champion.”
Clarke says he plans to keep watching the show, now that he’s seen behind the curtain.
