Leesburg Public Library adult services librarian Robert Voyles competed valiantly during the July 11 episode of "Jeopardy!"
Not an easy feat considering he was up against one of the longest reigning champions, Isaac Hirsch, who was on a seven-game winning streak.
"The whole experience was surreal from the beginning," Voyles said. "From getting the call to watching it air on TV."
The Daily Commercial caught up with Voyles after the episode aired. He shared that the "Jeopardy!" appearance "was a bucket list experience" that he can now cross off, and he praises his opponents Liz McKenna and Isaac Hirsch as "highly intelligent competitors."
More about the local TV contestant:Answer: Leesburg librarian Robert Voyles. Question: Who's appearing on "Jeopardy!" this week?
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Quick synopsis (some spoilers)
The categories in the first round included “More Than One Meaning,” “Let’s Go to the Concert Hall,” “Occupational Potpourri,” “Women in Government,” and “1980s Amateur Wrestling.”
At the first break, reigning champion Isaac Hirsch already had $4,200, while Voyles and Liz McKenna were tied at $400 each. He answered six questions correctly. After the second round, Voyles got up to $5,800.
The Eustis resident got six out of seven clues right during the game. The following earned him the most dollars per correct response:
Category: "B" & "B"$2,000 Clue: This Arabic slang word means "my love" or "my darling."Voyles' correct response: "What is habibi?"
Category: No. 1 Albums by People Who Aren't Taylor Swift$1,200 Clue: In 2019, Taylor named this ex-Beatle whose many No. 1s include 1982's "Tug of War" as her second biggest influence, after her cats.Voyles' correct response: "Who is McCartney?"
Category: Occupational Potpourri$1,000 Clue: Smith is the USA's most common occupational surname; second is this, a job that's literally a grind.Voyles' correct response: "What is Miller?"
Category: Heir$800 Clue: When he was assassinated in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the heir to this empire.Voyles' correct response: What is the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
The final Jeopardy category was "Countries of the World." Host Ken Jennings included in his clue it was a nation, where the name of a former capital city means "lakes" in Portuguese (Lagos). Hirsch, who already had $18,400 points was the only contestant to answer correctly.
The contestants would have had to come up with the question, "Where is Nigeria?"
McKenna didn’t have a response. She lost $102 and finished with $1,098. Voyles wrote "Where is Brazil?," which cost him $3,399 and left him with $2,401. Hirsch added $1,600 and won the game with $20,000.
After the July 11 episode, the then seven-game champion's total was $161,388.Hirsch, a customer support team lead from Burbank, now has an eight-day total of $195,389.
"Isaac is a worthy Jeopardy! champion, and I can't wait to root for him in the next Tournament of Champions," Voyles said.
Voyles won a $3,000 second-place prize. Does he have plans for how to spend it?
"Nothing in mind yet. It's a good sum to just help supplement my budget for typical life expenses. Nothing glamorous planned," he said.
He's from Lindenhurst and proud of it
Some Facebook users on Leesburg groups posted comments conveying disappointment that Voyles wasn't introduced as a resident of Lake County.
"I do not live in Leesburg even though it is a great community to work in," he clarified.
"When I originally applied, I was still living in New York. During the pre-filming process, my location information wasn't updated. When addressed, they stated I can have it say 'originally from Lindenhurst' as it is my hometown. I chose to keep that as that is where I have spent 30 years of my life fostering personal and professional roots compared to my three years living in Eustis. I'm sorry some viewers were disappointed that I chose to honor the community that made me who I am and with which I have familial roots stretching back over a century. I have much love for my newly adopted community here in Lake County."
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