Roslyn Heights resident Zach Wissner-Gross competed Wednesday night on “Jeopardy!,” ending the competition with $7,200.
Wissner-Gross, 38, is vice president of math education at Amplify, a Brooklyn-based company that assists educators in developing programs for their students. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics and biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University.
During his interview, Wissner-Gross told Jeopardy host Ken Jennings that he had undergone back surgery a couple of years ago. Before he went under, being very nervous, he told his wife to give him a really hard math question once he awoke. If he could answer it, then she would know he had come out of the anesthesia.
When she asked him, he said he yelled at her “that’s impossible!” and fell right back to sleep. When he awakened an hour later, he still had the question in his head and told her the correct answer.
He competed against reigning two-time winner Melissa Klapper, a professor from Merion Station, Pa., and fellow challenger Karen Morris, a veterinary student from Christiansburg, Va.
Jeopardy is divided into three rounds. The first two rounds are Jeopardy! And Double Jeopardy!, which both consist of six categories with five answer clues each. Clues ascend by a dollar amount ranging from $200-$1,000. The first contestant to buzz in gets to answer the clue first.
Final Jeopardy is the final round, which poses a singular question from a category for all contestants to answer.
The Jeopardy! Round featured the categories of “Possessive Lit,” “Long-Lived Critters,” “Around The House,” “4-Letter Sports Terms,” “Apply The Rainbow Color” and “At ‘Last.’”
Wissner-Gross’ first correct answer was in response to the clue “Having a leg up on life, one of these pink birds named Greater got to 83 living at Adelaide Zoo,” the $800 clue from the “Long-lived critters” category. He responded with “What is a flamingo?”
During the round, Wissner-Gross correctly guessed nine clues, missing answers to just two.
Wissner-Gross was trailing behind his fellow contestants after the first round with $2,000. Morris was in the lead with $6,200 and Klapper was behind with $3,500.
The Double Jeopardy Round featured categories of “1963,” “Making Music,” “Move That T From Front To Back,” “Resilience,” “Plateaus” and “Hans, Solo.”
Wissner-Gross answered 15 clues correctly and two incorrectly during this round.
He trailed behind the other contestants with $7,200 going into the Final Jeopardy!. Morris had $11,400 and Klapper had $8,700.
The Final Jeopardy! question “He served with an airman named Yohannan in World War II & despite what readers might think, he said he enjoyed his service,” came from the category “American novelists.” The question referred to Joseph Heller, author of “Catch-22.”
Wissner-Gross answered correctly with “Who is Heller?” but did not wager any money and ended the game with $7,200.
Klapper defeated Wissner-Gross and Morris, continuing her winning streak. She ended with a three-day total earning of $59,100. Klapper was defeated the following night by Alec Chao, ending her streak.
