ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

‘Jeopardy' fans couldn't believe after contestant wins final clue linked to her famous relative

Emily Croke coincidentally got the question related to her great-great aunt, Emily Folger.
PUBLISHED JUL 1, 2025
Screenshots showing the clue and the reaction of the host and the contestant on Jeopardy! (Cover image source: Instagram/Jeopardy)
Screenshots showing the clue and the reaction of the host and the contestant on Jeopardy! (Cover image source: Instagram/Jeopardy)

“Jeopardy!” contestants are supposed to have knowledge about history, pop culture, and famous personalities, but sometimes games can get a bit more personal. A player named Emily Croke left the host Ken Jennings and fans shocked, after revealing that Emily Folger, whose name she had to guess in the Final Jeopardy, wasn't just her great-great aunt but her namesake as well. Fans took to social media to express their amazement at the coincidence.

Screenshots showing the reactions of the host and the player (Image sourcce: Instagram/Jeopardy)
Screenshots showing the reactions of the host and the player (Image sourcce: Instagram/Jeopardy)

Croke faced off against two other competitors to become the champion of the day. At the very end of the rounds, the prompt for the Final Jeopardy read,  “In 1895, the Vassar-educated wife of this man wrote, ‘Thousands of dollars may be paid for a copy of Shakespeare.'” While the other players took their time, Croke looked confident as she wrote down her answer, as “Folger." When the responses were revealed, Croke won the round, becoming the new champion.



 

As usual, Jennings asked her about the decision to write down Folger as the answer in the last round. Croke then revealed that the woman referred to in the clue the host gave her was about her “great, great, great-aunt Emily.”

“Emily Folger, the one we mentioned in the clue, is the person you, Emily Croke, are named after?” a stunned Jennings asked. Croke confirmed that it was her relative, leaving the host in shock as he said, "Wow!" As it turns out, Croke's great-great aunt was the co-founder of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, according to its official website. The library is the largest collection of the playwright's works in the world, and Folger created the institution alongside her husband, Henry Clay Folger, who was also the chairman of the Standard Oil company.

Screenshot showing the contestant making the revelation (Image source: Instagram/Jeopardy)
Screenshot showing the contestant making the revelation (Image source: Instagram/Jeopardy)

Thanks to the familiar final clue, Croke ended up winning the game and was crowned champion with a total of $13,201. The show posted the clip on the great coincidence on social media, and fans across the world were baffled by the incident as well. "What are the odds of that happening?" a fan called @johntozziphotography asked. "Ancestral power right there! You just saw it in her smile! So cool!" another viewer named @__themagixinthe_detours18113 commented.


 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Jeopardy! (@jeopardy)


 

The discussion reached Reddit, where fans continued the bewilderment. "That's crazy. Can you imagine being there and out of nowhere one of your relatives is the answer to the clue smh," @JustGoodSense wrote in a thread. 


Comment
byu/ZiggyPalffyLA from discussion
inJeopardy

 

Croke also chimed in, sharing more about her family and the clue that showed up on Final Jeopardy. "Oh wow, I didn't expect to see the footage of me in a total state of shock after the game! This is by far the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me, and I definitely did a triple-take reading the clue," she wrote in a comment. "Every time I see Vassar, I think of my grandmother, who is also named Emily. When I was growing up, she would tell me how her mother "made" her go to Vassar because Emily Folger had paid for my great-grandmother to attend Vassar. So reading the clue, I thought about my grandmother, then realized it was, in effect, about her!" @EmilyWasOnJeopardy added.

More on Market Realist:

'Jeopardy' viewers were quick to find out this contestant is the sister of a famous TV personality

Macaulay Culkin nearly had a huge win on 'Celebrity Jeopardy' but $1 made all the difference

TV icon Ken Jennings reveals his dream 'Celebrity Jeopardy' contestant: 'She seems very smart...'

RELATED TOPICS JEOPARDY
MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Apart from acing clues on Jeopardy!, Levine has a long list of TV accolades.
2 hours ago
The TikTok creator was shocked to find out how generous Home Depot is.
5 hours ago
Harvey wasn't impressed with what the show's audience had to say about him.
5 hours ago
The owner of the model Marklin Puritan boat promised never to put it in her swimming pool again.
6 hours ago
The contestant, Abi McLaughlin, entertained the viewers throughout the night with her gameplay.
6 hours ago
The contestant, Stephen James, couldn't stop yelling and giggling after his big win.
11 hours ago
Harvey had a hard time roasting the players who kept coming up with smart answers.
12 hours ago
The video showed how the new tech takes even more time to unlock doors.
1 day ago
Harvey later regretted clapping for the controversial answer, being a married man.
1 day ago
Harvey was very invested in the game and reacted to every answer with enthusiasm.
1 day ago
The creator's simple hack can make sure that people avoid splurging too much on groceries.
2 days ago
The contestant's answer wasn't the only one that made the host crack up.
2 days ago
The company received multiple complaints from customers finding wiry pieces of metal in the product.
3 days ago
The survey results were nothing like any of them had anticipated.
3 days ago
The soon to be birthday girl, Ja-Juana fell into temptation and lost the big prize.
3 days ago
The player, Gary got too excited and almost tore down the prize board off the roof.
4 days ago
The player, Megan Zandrowicz, walked away with a fantastic $65,000 from the show.
4 days ago
In the end, the guest regretted using the beautiful Mettlach Cameo Platter for her parties.
4 days ago
The contestant Mary, won a trip to Vancouver as a perfect birthday present.
6 days ago
The player was in for another heartbreak after she failed to solve the puzzle.
6 days ago