Death Valley

Inspiration has been a bit slow coming to me so far this year. I guess notable deaths featured in tribute obituaries have not inspired. But, there can be Jeopardy, especially when you get a double-digit day champion. The quiz heads are tunning in daily.

As anyone who might be watching the game show, or have been one of the few who actually read what I write, you will know that Alan Remsen from Memphis Tennessee has reached the 10-game plateau.

Adam Remsen, however, is headed into Death Valley where 10+ game winners go to die. Nearly 40% of Jeopardy champions who have reached a 10-game streak have been knocked out by their 20th game. Of course that means that 60% have gone on to prevail past 20 games.

However, he has cleared the 10-game hump, which like a mortality table, assigns you a better probability of reaching the next age once you've reached the one you're currently in.

Being out in California and extending his winning streak, Adam likely has had to go shopping for clothes. Once you've been selected to appear as a contestant, the Jeopardy producers tell you to bring a change of change in case you advance to what will be a totally new day to the viewing audience, but will really be another game held on the same day. They tape a week's worth of shows games in one swoop. It's got to be a bit intense for those who advance.

Adam looked especially dapper for his 10th game. He may have gone shopping.

Viewers have wondered if Adam Remsen's green shirt on Jeopardy June 25, 2026, was a homage to his pet turtle. Proving, there is nothing that can't be speculated on.

ChatGPT:

There is no public evidence that Adam Remsen's green tortoise-pattern shirt on the June 25, 2026, episode of Jeopardy! was intended as a homage to his pet turtle.

Viewers noticed the distinctive green shirt with its turtle-shell-like pattern, and some fans have speculated that it might have been a nod to his pet turtle. However, I could not find any interview, social media post, or statement from Remsen or the show confirming that interpretation.

So the most accurate answer is:

• It may have resembled a turtle shell, which naturally led to the speculation.
• There is no confirmed connection between the shirt and his pet turtle.

If Remsen comments about it in a post-game interview or on social media, that would settle the question, but as of today no such confirmation has been made public.

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It might take owning a turtle for a pet to be a contestant as accomplished as Adam Remsen.

I would guess Polymarket is not taking wagers on Adam, since these games were taped more than a month ago. Someone knows the result. Certainly Adam.  A shame. Another thing you could bet on.

Talk to me ChapGPT:

What percentage of multi-game Jeopardy winners lose after their 10th game and before their 20thIf you mean contestants who reached at least 10 consecutive wins, the answer is:

• About 36% have lost after winning their 10th game but before reaching 20 wins.

Here's the breakdown through June 2026:

Final streak	Number of champions
Exactly 10 wins	5
11–19 wins	8
20+ wins	8
Total 10+ game champions	21

Those who lost after their 10th game but before their 20th are the 11–19 win champions:

• 11 wins: 2
• 12 wins: 2
• 13 wins: 1
• 16 wins: 1
• 19 wins: 2

Total = 8 champions.

So the percentage is:

• 8 ÷ 21 ≈ 38.1%

If instead you include the five contestants who lost in their 10th game as "after reaching 10 wins" (i.e., they had already become 10-game champions), then:

• Lost in 10th–19th games: 13 of 21
• 13 ÷ 21 ≈ 61.9%

The distinction is whether "after their 10th game" means:

• Strictly after winning Game 10 (Games 11–19): 38.1%, or
• Any loss before reaching 20 wins, including a loss in Game 10: 61.9%.

If your intent was "champions who won their 10th game and then eventually lost before winning their 20th," the correct figure is 38.1%

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It doesn't really matter to me if this is really AI or not. It is amazing. I don't know who I've thrown out of work popularizing ChatGPT, but it is fucking amazing. As for myself, a former fraud detection specialist for health insurers, I wonder if I was still working and not enjoying retirement at 77, if I'd still have a job. Right now it doesn't matter.

You might think I've got nothing else to do. But that's not true. Okay, 7:00 in New York is Jeopardy, followed not by Wheel of Fortune, but dinner. FIFA World Cup soccer fills the day, as does thoroughbred racing. The Mets aren't worth being tuned in under any circumstances. So, we follow multi-day champions to see if anyone will be the next Jamie Ding, or James Holzhauer, and the Yankees, who have the best chance of giving NYC another parade.

I know not tonight's result. It's in the can, so it can't be bet on with Polymarket, but here is what Adam, and the two others will have to get past if they have any chance of either keeping the first podium position, or ascending into it.

U.S. Landmarks 

Norwegian Arne Peterssen [double s] was the last person to pass through this location, which was then closed in 1954.

I will admit I didn't know the answer. My lame New Yorker guess was the Statue of Liberty's torch. That is not as lame as some might think, however. I distinctly remember that as a kid, although I never visited what was then called Bedloe's Island, the torch was once upon a time accessible. Turns out that stopped in 1916. (I do not remember 1916. That was the year after my father was born.)

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Yes. People still go inside the Statue of Liberty, but access depends on which part you want to visit:

• Pedestal: Open to visitors with a pedestal ticket.
• Crown: Also open, but you need a special crown ticket. Only a limited number are available each day, so they often sell out months in advance. Visitors climb 162 narrow steps from the top of the pedestal to reach the crown—there's no elevator for that section.
• Torch: The torch has been closed to the public since 1916 after the Black Tom explosion damaged the monument. It has never reopened for public access.

1916. People have been trying to blow stuff up  for years. 

1916 – The Black Tom explosion: German agents sabotaged a nearby munitions depot on Black Tom Island during World War I. The explosion damaged the Statue of Liberty, particularly the torch, but the monument itself was not the intended target.

Black Tom Island?  A small island off the Jersey coast near Jersey City. The Statue of Liberty is in New Jersey waters, and remained lite when there were New York City blackouts.

Okay Adam. Do you know the answer? Do any of the others know the answer?

Oh boy. They sure did. All three of them.

Adam is again resplendent in his green shirt, game 10, sartorial splendor. This owes to the fact that they tape multiple games on the same day.  The taping is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, five shows each day; three in the morning, two after lunch. It's got to be arduous for those that advance.

Adam's opponents are Kristin Warner, attorney from Fairport, NY; Clay Stallworth, pediatrician from August, Georgia.

Adam plowed through these two like tanks headed to Poland. They never stood a chance. Adam enters Final with $38,000; Karin with $9,200; Clay with $8,200. The fat lady is expected to sing.

Bets? It doesn't matter, only that Adam bets $12,000. The answer that all got? Ellis Island.

Why I didn't think of that is beyond me. I knew the Statue of Liberty torch would be wrong, but I didn't pick up on a key part of the clue: "pass through." Knowing the year would have helped too. Immigrants "passed through" Ellis Island, which if you really know New York was added to by landfill from digging out the subways, much like Battery Park City was created by building the original twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Ellis Island is what my father's parents passed through at the turn of the 19th century.

What is it about immortalizing someone's name with an event? There's the urban legend that in 1886 Steve Brodie lumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and survived. It's an unproven event, and now best remembered as too good not to be true.

Ellis was added to with landfill from subway excavations. Prior to Ellis, it was known as Gibbet Island, and was where they hung a few pirates in the 18th century.

Adam's $12,000 bet is added to his game earnings, making an even $50,000 to his accumulated $228,806, brining his total to $278,806.

Ken ha told us that he asked  Adam what he was going to spend his money on, and Adam said he'd like to take his wife and son to Japan, a place he's already visited. (My father visited Japan, but it was 1945 and he was in an Army uniform.)

With Adam's U.S. game show notoriety building, he might meet the Emperor. 

And what did Adam (Donald Rumsfeld) look like on winning his 11th game?

Adam, U D 1 so far.

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