‘Jeopardy’ contestant reveals she’s related to person in final clue

Now that’s some serious serendipity: A Jeopardy contestant revealed a surprising connection to her game-winning clue.

Denver native Emily Croke secured the championship on Monday night’s episode after she successfully answered a Final Jeopardy question that just so happened to be about one of her distant relatives, with whom she shares a name.

The clue read: “In 1896, the Vassar-educated wife of this man wrote, ‘Thousands of dollars may be paid for a copy of Shakespeare.’” The correct answer was Henry Clay Folger, with his wife mentioned in the text being Emily Folger. Or, as Croke called her in Jeopardy’s Instagram post on Tuesday, “my great-great-great-aunt, Emily.”

The post’s caption read: “Just her luck! Emily has a familial tie to her Final Jeopardy! clue.”

Fans of the series were similarly blown away by Croke’s connection to the clue in the post’s comment section, with one person calling it “the most amazing coincidence in the history of Jeopardy.”

Another added, “Her family was pulling for her *spooky voice* from beyond the grave. So cool!!”

“I don’t think that in the entire history of Jeopardy, that any clue before was accidentally written about a contestant’s family!!” A third commented. “The odds are astounding considering the longevity of the show and the probability of being on the show when the question is asked and the millions of applicants who apply to play!!!! We have a better chance of winning the lotteries!!!!”

Others, however, quickly raised concerns that the question unintentionally gave Croke an unfair advantage over her peers in the final category. She was the only competitor to answer the question correctly, winning the game with $13,201.

“Rigged,” one user wrote, with a second noting that they considered the clue to be a “conflict of interest.” And another joked, “The nepo babies are getting out of control.”

However, others found no problem with Croke’s victory. “Nothing wrong here. Good for her for knowing that!” one wrote. “That’s how you win trivia, know things others don’t. How many people don’t care to find out things about their family one or two generations back, let alone this far back!”

Watch Croke share her fun question connection in the clip above.