Who is Kate Brody? ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant with surprising connection to the game show secures win
On Thursday night’s episode of ‘Jeopardy!’, Greg Shahade, who cut short champion Jamie Ding’s winning streak at 31, met his own end after just three games. The chess master from Philadelphia started Thursday night’s episode with a total of $74,602. For his fourth game, he faced off against two Los Angeles natives, Kate Brody and Derek Kaufman. While Kaufman is an attorney, Brody is an author whose debut novel, ‘Rabbit Hole,’ was published in January 2024. Notably, this is not Brody’s first brush with the beloved show, as she was previously part of a clue during a December 2024 episode. In the ‘Animal Expressions’ category, the clue for $200 was, ‘In a 2024 thriller by Kate Brody, a woman investigates her sister’s murder & falls down this proverbial place, the book’s title.’ Brody holds a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from New York University. Her work has appeared in renowned publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Lit Hub.
Shahade started the episode in the lead, but Brody soon caught up with him. She wagered all of her $2,600 on the Daily Double clue: ‘Pushkin survived exile but not his brother-in-law’s pistol; a monument in this then-capital marks the site of their 1837 duel’ and answered correctly with ‘What is Saint Petersburg?’ Brody’s total reached $5,200, while Shahade was much ahead with $9,400. At the end of the first round, Shahade was in the first place with $10,000, with Brody trailing behind with $5,400, and Kaufman with $1,000.
In a major twist, Brody surpassed Shahade in Double Jeopardy, in which the first three clues were from ‘Johnny Gilbert: No.1 Hit Machine.’ After finding the Daily Double on clue 14, Brody wagered $5,000. In the ‘Common Bonds’ category, the clue was ‘Knives, minds, Cheddar cheese,’ and she answered correctly, ‘What are things that are sharp?’ This took her total to $20,000, while Shahade remained at $12,400. She found the last Daily Double on clue 18, from the ‘Political Subdivisions’ category. The clue was ‘The Ninth is the largest & easternmost one of these districts in the city of New Orleans.’ Her response, ‘What are parishes?” was incorrect. At the end of the second round, after getting another Johnny Gilbert singing clue right, Brody had $22,000, while Shahade had $13,200, and Kaufman had only $1,400.
For the final round of ‘Jeopardy!,’ the category was ‘Sports and the Movies.’ Host Ken Jennings read the clue, ‘In 2026, a New Year’s Day college football game featured these 2 team names that are both Gene Hackman movie titles.’ All three contestants failed to write the correct answer, which was ‘What are Hoosiers & Crimson Tide?’ Kaufman was partially right when he wrote, ‘What are Hoosiers and Rams?’ Since he wagered $1,300, he was left with $100 and finished last. Shahade’s answer was ‘What are Crimson Tide + Fighting Irish,’ and he bet $10,000, bringing his final total down to $3,200. Brody’s answer, ‘What is Patriots + Jets?’ was wrong, and she lost $4,401. However, she won the game by a wide margin as her final total was $17,599. She will return on Friday night for game two.
