
Clue: This Jeopardy! contestant from Nova Scotia is on a hot streak
Early on in her Jeopardy! winning streak, upon being introduced by the host as hailing from Canada, Mattea Roach explained how her family thought it was “very important” that she mention she’s from Halifax.
Over the course of the following two weeks, we’ve learned a lot more about the 23-year old tutor now based in Toronto, from her love of Talking Heads to having a card game strategy book signed by Bill Gates.
Her 16-day earnings total (and counting) of US$368,981 currently ranks her 10th all-time on the game show (not including earnings from tournaments).
According to data compiled by the website The Jeopardy! Fan, she’s been first on the buzzer nearly half the time, and correctly answered Final Jeopardy! two-thirds of the time. Roach often has an insurmountable lead by the time she reaches the final round of wagers, thanks to correctly answering more than 92 per cent of the time. On one occasion, she was the only person on stage for the final clue—a Jeopardy! rarity.
Here’s a look at every Final Jeopardy! round since her debut appearance. Check back daily to keep track of Roach’s historic win streak.

Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $18,000; Kathleen $16,000; Camron $2,200 Category: Classic games Mattea’s wager: $14,001 Clue: Reuben Klamer, who passed away in 2021 at age 99, developed this game relatable to “literally everyone on Earth.”Mattea’s response: What is Life? (Correct.) Winnings: $32,001
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea: $28,800; Vernon: $2,200; Lana: $2,200 Category: Small countries Wager: $10,000 Clue:French, Italian and Swiss nationals make up about half of its population of 38,000.Response: What is Monaco? (Correct.) Winnings: $38,800 (Two-day total: $70,801)
READ: What answer eluded Jeopardy’s winningest female contestant?
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $16,400; Reagan $11,600; Mike $1,800 Category: Inventions Wager: $6,801 Clue:Patented in 1955, it did not go over well in the high-end fashion world, but the then-new aerospace industry found it very useful.Response: What is nylon? (Incorrect*.) Correct response: What is velcro? Winnings: $9,599 (Three-day total: $80,400) *All contestants answered incorrectly
Friday, April 8, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $22,200; Abigail $3,600; Tom $400 Category: 19th-century literature Wager: $2,000 Clue:The Strand Union Workhouse, whose rules prohibited second helpings of food, inspired a setting in this 1838 novel.Response: What is Oliver Twist? (Correct.) Winnings: $24,200 (Four-day total: $104,600.)
Monday, April 11, 2022
Scores going into Final: Michael $12,600; Mattea $10,200*; Vanessa $2,600 Category: Words of the year Wager: $2,400 Clue:Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2021 was this three-letter one, short for a word that goes back to the Latin for “cow.”Response: What is vax? (Correct.)Winnings: $12,600 (Five-day total: $117,200.) *First time not in the lead heading into Final Jeopardy! Michael wagered $8,000. His response: “What is bov?”
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $25,400; Leah $7,800; Zhe $5,800 Category: Geographic terms Wager: $5,400 Clue:The 1964 article that gave this term its current use noted the “menace that haunts the Atlantic off our southeastern coast.”Response: What is the Bermuda Triangle? (Correct.) Winnings: $30,800 (Six-day total: $148,000)
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $20,400; Adam $10,200; Rachel $8,000 Category: History Wager: $1 Clue:Intimately familiar with World War I, Churchill considered this war from some 150 years before the “first World War.”Response: What is the Seven Years’ War? (Correct.)Winnings: $20,401 (Seven-day total: $168,401)

Thursday, April 14, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $19,400; Kristen $3,000; Joe $2,400 Category: Women in British history Wager: $2,000 Clue: The orphaned future Queen Elizabeth I was devoted to this stepmother who died two days before Elizabeth’s 15th birthday.Response: Who is Jane Seymour? (Incorrect.) Correct response: Who is Catherine Parr? Winnings: $14,400 (eight-day total: $182,801)
RELATED: Alex Trebek reinvented the role of game-show host with ’accessible sophistication’
Friday, April 15, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $21,800; Katie $14,000; Allan $10,000 Category: Academy Award winners Wager: $6,281 Clue: In 2019 he won his first competitive Oscar, 36 years after a Student Academy Award for a film about a Brooklyn barbershop.Response: Who is Spike Lee? (Correct.) Winnings: $28,001 (Nine-day total: $210,802)

Monday, April 18, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $20,800; Sarah $12,400; Caitlin $9,800 Category: World literature Wager: $4,001 Clue: Befitting the title, Antoine Galland, the first Western translator of this collection, worked on it only “after dinner.”Response: What is The Midnight’s Child? (Incorrect.) Correct response: What is The Thousand and One Nights? Winnings: $16,799 (10-day total: $227,601)
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $17,400; Josh $8,600; Tina $7,000 Category: Countries of Africa Wager: $119 Clue: Old maps depicting what’s now this 125,000-square-mile country labelled the area with the French word for “teeth.”Response: What is Mali? (Incorrect.) Correct response: What is Côte d’Ivoire? Winnings: $17,281 (11-day total: $244,882)

Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $21,400; Loni -$600; Sean -$1,600 Category: On the internet Wager: $5,000 Clue: This website launched in 2015 with three offerings, from James Patterson, Dustin Hoffman and Serena Williams.Response: What is MasterClass? (Correct.) Winnings: $26,400 (12-day total: $271,282)
Thursday, April 21, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $20,000; Alex $12,600; Meghan $4,000 Category: Films of the 1950s Wager: $5,201 Clue: The title character of this film has the same name as the Roman goddess of the dawn.Response: What is Sabrina? (Incorrect.) Correct response: What is Sleeping Beauty? Winnings: $14,799 (13-day total: $286,081)
Friday, April 22, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $26,000; Claire $2,800; Anna $1,600 Category: Historic Names Wager: $8,000 Clue: DNA from 2 living descendants of Anne of York was used to identify the remains of this man.Response: Who is Richard III? (Correct.) Winnings: $34,000 (14-day total: $320,081)
Monday, April 25, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $27,200; Jessie $10,200; Michael $5,000 Category: Names in American History Wager: $5,500 Clue: Capable of freighting about 180 tons of cargo, in 1624 it was in disrepair & appraised at a total value of 128 pounds.Response: What is the Mayflower? (Correct.) Winnings: $32,700 (15-day total: $352,781)
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Scores going into Final: Mattea $23,200; Reya $5,000; Nicky -$800 Category: African surnames Wager: $7,000 Clue: Adetokunbo, “the crown has returned from overseas”, is fitting for the Adetokunbo family who left Nigeria for this country in 1991.Response: What is the United Kingdom? (Incorrect.) Correct response: What is Greece? Winnings: $16,200 (16-day total: $368,981)
Mattea Roach will look to keep her winning streak going on Wednesday night. Check back here to keep tracking her performance.
Get the Best of Maclean’s straight to your inbox.
Sign up for news, commentary and analysis. Join 60,000+ Canadian readers.