Harmeyer pulls out win in Final Jeopardy! nail biter

Into Final Jeopardy! on Friday, the game was as close as it's been with Adriana Harmeyer playing it. From the Purdue archivist standing on the left, the bankrolls read: $12,400, $10,200 and $12,800.

In first was Kaitlin Tarr, an aspiring ceramist from Denver, Colorado who had made much of her lead mowing down the "Another day in parasites" category in Double Jeopardy!

The final question came from "1960's America," and read:

"Helping draft an executive order in 1961, Hobart Taylor used the word "positive," but instead chose this alliterative phrase.

Third-place Susan Ayoob, a content strategist from San Francisco, California, went first. She scrawled a big question mark after taking a swing with all she had – a $10,200 wager.

Then it was up to Harmeyer, who had put her pen down early on. She answered "Affirmative action," and tried to distance herself as much as possible from the pack with an $8,100 wager. Host Ken Jennings announced that was correct, as Harmeyer gave a stiff nod. She wasn't out of the woods yet.

The camera panned to her rival, Tarr, who now trailed Harmeyer by $7,700. Tarr's face was joyless as an empty blue field with a miniature question mark revealed she had not thought of an answer. And, with her $410 wager, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Harmeyer took a deep breath and looked at Jennings as if she'd seen a ghost as she was announced as winner for the 13th time. Tarr clapped from two panels down.

Harmeyer moved to $299,000 in total winnings with the victory, knocking on the top 10 in all-time winnings in regular play.

She'll be back Monday at 7:30 on CBS.