I think doing well on Jeopardy comes down to three things: having a solid educational foundation, beefing that up with quality preparation, and simply getting lucky with categories. As I’ve mentioned before, my smarty pants mother appeared on “The Greatest Game Show of All Time” many moons ago. For the most part, the categories didn’t go my mother’s way, plus she swore that another contestant was being called on despite buzzing in too soon. (I guess buzzer skills is the fourth criteria for success.) All that to say, many factors come to play in the game. On Monday night’s show, the trivia gods definitely favored one contestant, when the Final Jeopardy clue ended up being about a woman she’s related to and named for! Um, what is KISMET?!
The clue that host Ken Jennings read out during the final round was: “In 1896, the Vassar-educated wife of this man wrote, ‘Thousands of dollars may be paid for a copy of Shakespeare.'”
[Emily] Croke wrote down “Folger,” which was the correct answer. When asked about her answer, Croke noted that the woman referred to in the clue Jennings gave had been her “great, great, great-aunt Emily.”
In a clip shared to the official Jeopardy! Instagram account, a stunned Jennings, 51, could be seen asking the contestant, “Emily Folger, the one we mentioned in the clue is the person you, Emily Croke, are named for?”
Croke nodded her head multiple times and said, “Yes,” to which Jennings responded, “Wow.”
She ended up winning the game thanks to the final clue, ending her run with a total of $13,201, and is set to return to see if she can continue her winning streak.
“Just her luck! Emily has a familial tie to her Final Jeopardy! clue,” the account captioned the video.
Several people on Instagram noted how serendipitous it was that she was the contestant that received the clue. One person wrote that the incident was “the most amazing coincidence in the history of Jeopardy!”
Another said, “How fitting! That’s so lucky AND she played so well.” One person commented that there was “nothing wrong here.” They continued, “Good for her for knowing that! That’s how you win trivia, know things others don’t.”
However, others in the comment section felt that the woman’s connection to the final clue gave her an unfair advantage over her other contestants. One said that the contest was “rigged,” while another said it was “not fair” and that she should be “disqualified.”
Another replied: “How is anyone not a family member supposed to deduce the correct reply? What am I missing? Is the library at Vassar named for Folger, I wonder.”
“How is anyone not a family member supposed to deduce the correct reply?” According to that thinking, the Jeopardy writers (or at least one) had to be family, too. “What am I missing?” A particular page of American history that transpired in the Gilded Age through to the Great Depression, the fruits of which live on today in our Nation’s capital. “Is the library at Vassar named for Folger, I wonder.” No need to wonder, it is not. As referenced in the clue, the woman quoted — Emily Folger — graduated from Vassar (in 1879), and later earned a master’s degree there in 1896 for which she wrote a thesis titled, “On the True Text of Shakespeare.” She and Henry Clay Folger married in 1885, and together the Folgers proved to be partners in life, love, and literature, collecting anything and everything Shakespeare they could get their hands on. Their dream was to house the collection in a public library on Capitol Hill in DC, which finally came to pass in 1932. Today, the Folger Shakespeare Library is the world’s largest collection of the Bard’s works, including very rare, early printings.
Was it serendipitous that Emily Croke, great great great descendent of Emily Folger, happened to get that clue for Final Jeopardy? Oh yeah. Was it a skewed clue that no one other than family could have answered correctly? Methinks the Instagram commenter doth protest too much. Instead I’d like to direct your attention to another Insta comment: “If she was that sure on the answer to that question, then why didn’t she wager all of her money????” Facepalming as I exit, pursued by a bear.
I finally watched this Jeopardy episode and I don't think it was rigged at all it was just a wild coincidence! pic.twitter.com/OLH3swBDIm
— celebitchy (@celebitchy) June 27, 2025
My take away is that it is a weird final jeopardy question! I suppose they were all Shakespeare fans?, but still…
That is a very, very weird final clue. So weird, in fact, it’s a wonder they allowed just a last name to be accepted. It’s not a particularly interesting quote, not particularly well-known (if at all), it’s truly bizarre.
My dad dvr’s jeopardy and then we catch up together when I visit. Which means we are so behind! Like we’re maybe in April but I look forward to this ep. Agree with the 3 thing needed for jeopardy success but would add a fourth…being good on the buzzer. Sometimes you can see all the contestants know the answer but it’s about who is quick on the buzzer. Past contestants have talked about practicing with some sort of clicking device.
Yeah, whenever I hear anyone talking about their time on Jeopardy!–more often than one might think–they always talk about that danged buzzer! They would have won but for the buzzer!
It’s a hard question, but not a totally obscure reference; I’ve heard of Folger Shakespeare more than once, and I’m not related to the family! Always assumed it was a particular version/printing of a Shakespeare work – as in, The Folger Shakespeare – and I suspect that’s where I’ve seen it, on copy(ies) of his plays. Didn’t realize it was the name of a library (founded by people named Folger).
The Folger has a lovely theater too. I know about Folger because I lived in DC and it’s a fairly well-known landmark.
If you live in DC you know about the Folger Shakespeare museum. It also puts on really nice shows. They opened up a new space inside. It’s really cool.
My ex had a collection of Shakespeare from the Folger Shakespeare Library. It was a common textbook at our university at the time.