It took him 21 years to get on ‘Jeopardy!’ Now he’s on a big winning streak

It took Chris D’Angelo 21 years to get on “Jeopardy!” And now that he’s finally made it to the Alex Trebek Stage, he’s making the two-decade wait worth the while.

Chris D’Angelo ‘Jeopardy!’ winning streak continues

So far D’Angelo, who is described on the show as a content manager from Washington, D.C., is on a six-game winning streak with just over $124,000. His impressive “Jeopardy!” run started on May 20 with a victory over 10-game champ Tristan Williams.

During his first game, D’Angelo shared that his sister, Jen D’Angelo, is an Emmy Award-winning TV and movie writer who wrote the screenplay for the 2023 Hulu film “Quiz Lady,” starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh. He told “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings the film — which won an Emmy for outstanding television movie in 2024 — is “partially inspired” by his efforts to get on the show.

“Are you telling me you’re the real live Quiz Lady?” Jennings responded. “She (Awkwafina) did very well in that movie, so we’ll see what happens today.”

Now, D’Angelo has officially secured a spot in the show’s prestigious Tournament of Champions alongside other standout players this season, including Williams and 31-game champ Jamie Ding. He’ll go for his seventh win on Thursday.

Here are 15 clues D’Angelo has missed during his run, per “Jeopardy!” archives. Can you answer them? (All answers are at the bottom of the article. Feel free to share how many you got right in the comments section.)

1. National Spelling Bee winning words: “Future ‘Teen Jeopardy!’ champ Amanda Goad won the Bee with this word, Aristotle’s school, or a hall for public lectures.”
2. Thank you, Rob Reiner: “For this numerical phrase from ‘Spinal Tap,’ referenced in the OED as an idiom meaning ‘to an extreme... degree.’”
3. “B”angers: “This 2020 song was such a monster hit that it’s said to have landed The Weeknd a Super Bowl halftime gig.”
4. Archaeology: “In the Sahara, a depiction of two life-sized giraffes is the largest animal one of these objects, from Greek for ‘rock’ and carving.”
5. 13-letter words: “An event that occurs every four years happens this adverbial way.”
6. Overseas territories: “The vineyards of Pico Island in this Portuguese archipelago are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
7. Famous lines from literature: “Both the first line and the last line of this 1859 novel begin with ‘It.’”
8. Some advice: “Derek Jeter told this man, ‘Don’t bounce it, they’ll boo you,’ before a 2001 ceremonial first pitch.”
9. Science vocabulary: “Containing an extra neutron, deuterium is also called ‘heavy’ this.”
10. Business notables: “Fred Smith lost around $30 million after founding this Memphis co. in 1971, but Fred’s blackjack winnings in Vegas kept it flying.”
11. The dye is cast: “The colors in this Hindu festival can be in water form, poured from buckets or squirted from water guns.”
12. Sports venues: “Surface material laid down in 1909 gave a landmark venue this nickname; a 36-inch strip remains today.”
13. The great days of jazz: “NYC’s first racially integrated nightclub Cafe Society opened in 1938, and this singer hooked audiences with ‘Strange Fruit.’”
14. The great days of jazz: “They lie thick on the ground in Nov. and in the record bins as a song recorded by the likes of Chet Baker and Cannonball Adderley.”
15. “Ora” farming: “If you can’t say something nice, go ahead and say something insulting, or this synonym.”

Answers: (1: lyceum; 2. (these go) to 11; 3. “Blinding Lights”; 4. a petroglyph; 5. quadrennially; 6. the Azores; 7. “A Tale of Two Cities”; 8. George W. Bush; 9. heavy hydrogen; 10. FedEx; 11. Holi; 12. The Brickyard; 13. Billie Holiday; 14. “Autumn Leaves”; 15. pejorative)