The 3-day curse is broken, but Grant DeYoung runs into the dreaded 4-day curse, falling one win short of a guaranteed TOC invite. But that's ok, as Amar Kakirde is here to pick up the slack and starts a 3-day run of his own, to be continued this week. The games barely matter this week as we are enthralled by Ellen Klages' "Scary Ham" story, one we liked so much that we break the "Final Jeopardy! Deep Dive" to go deep on that instead. Plus, it's a new entry in the "Response of the Year" category as all 3 players can't remember who fronted Van Halen, we learn Ken Jennings and Drew Carey share a birthday, and John finally gets to watch a Calgarian play the game.

And a quick programming note: our Masters recap will be coming out early next week with a VERY special guest. Get excited!

Source: Reactor Magazine: "The Scary Ham" by Ellen Klages.

Virginia Living: "The Ham Man" by Richard Ernsberger Jr.

Special thanks to the J-Archive and The Jeopardy! Fan.

This episode was produced by Producer Dan. Music by Nate Heller. Art by Max Wittert.