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‘Jeopardy!’ winner Nikole Villanueva from Cedar Rapids
She will face 2 new contestants Thursday

Jul. 7, 2021 6:33 pm, Updated: Jul. 8, 2021 6:28 pm
Nikole Villanueva of Cedar Rapids (right) won Wednesday's episode of "Jeopardy!" She is shown with guest host Dr. Sanjay Gupta. (Courtesy of Jeopardy Productions)
“Jeopardy” clue: This Cedar Rapids resident unseated seven-day “Jeopardy!” champ Courtney Shah on Wednesday’s episode.
Correct response: “Who is Nikole Villanueva?”
Both Villanueva and Shah answered the Final Jeopardy clue correctly Wednesday in the Rock Bands category, coming up with “Who is U2?” for this statement: “In 2017, this band whose singer goes by a nickname became the first to have No. 1 albums in the U.S. in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.”
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Villanueva, in second place with $11,800 going into the final round, wagered $11,500 and ended up with the day’s high total of $23,300, which is hers to keep.
Shah, who entered the competition with a seven-day total of $118,558, was in third place going into Wednesday’s final round with $6,200. She wagered just $800, upping her tally to $7,000. However, a second-place finish means she’ll add just $2,000 to her overall “Jeopardy!” winnings.
Still, guest host Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Shah, a community college instructor from Portland, Ore., will return for the Tournament of Champions at a later date.
Keshav Shah (no relation noted to Courtney Shah), a graduate student from Atlanta, was in the lead with $12,200, but he guessed the Police in the final round. His $11,401 wager left him with $799. As the third-place finisher, however, he leaves with $1,000.
Villanueva, described as a direct service provider who met her husband in a trivia chat room, got off to a winning start, running the Toys and Games category in the first round. She continued to do well throughout the show and will face two new opponents on Thursday’s episode.
New “Jeopardy!” episodes air at 4 p.m. on NBC affiliate KWWL-TV.
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