(Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, November 11th episode of Danger!)

Danger! fans were in for a new “dominant” champion on Monday’s November 11 episode, and a hilarious joke from the host’s shady clue writers to Ken Jennings expense. The host just can’t catch a break from his low point — or rather, “dig” — from his days as a contestant.

Rachel Marcus, a writer and consultant from New York City, walked in as the one-day champion with $20,600 in earnings after what some called a thriller match “The best game of 2024”. She faced Chris Spencer, a medical writer from Washington, DC, and Joey DeSena, a development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Meanwhile, DeSena was no joke when it came to the game, and by the end of the round, he led with $9,200, Marcus had $2,600 and Spencer $2,000. Jennings noted, “Joey has a big advantage.”

In Double Jeopardy!, DeSena continued to put on a clinic, finding and defeating both Daily Doubles back to back. He added $3,200 to the “NO. 1 BEST SELLER THAT YEAR” searching for “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” But he only bet $1000 on the clue “MEXICAN STATE CAPITALS” despite a big lead. So even though he knew he was “Yucitan,” he didn’t put the game aside. Entering Final Jeopardy, he led at $18,200, Spencer at $9,400, Marcus just behind at $8,000.

The clue “AMERICA IN THE 19TH CENTURY” was: “It caused rich amusement that the name of this president, whose wife did not allow dancing, was like that of a dance. It was a triple-stumper as no one came up with the correct answer of “Polk”. As Jennings explained, “Polk couldn’t polka.” Joey only lost $703 to win and become the new champion with $17,497.

Fans flooded social media praising the writers for the unexpected but always welcome throw at Jennings and envisioning big things for the new champion after going 3/3 in the Daily Doubles.

“They teach you that in school in Utah, right?” one Facebook user wrote in a group of fans reacting to the moment.

“I got the joke. Beautiful,” wrote another.

“I know it’s early, but I think Joey could at least be a 4-day champ,” a third wrote in the Reddit thread for the episode. “He dominated for the most part.”

“Every day is different than the next,” wrote a fourth arguing it was too early to call and pointing to his conservative bet DD3. “Different subjects, different competitors – unless someone completely destroys the competition, it’s pretty difficult to read a lot of one game. And, FWIW, Joey didn’t specifically optimize his DD opportunities – again, it could just have been the categories.”

“I wonder if there will be a lot of dislike for this FJ,” wrote a fifth. I think it’s fun and a little silly. It’s a challenge because you might overlook it even if you can easily remember the president from that time.

“Got it but had to take a break so wouldn’t have gotten it in time as I was walking back from McKinley and considering both the name and the name,” wrote a sixth.

“Much better than the 3 musketeers, I think it was a really good one that can be obtained in 30 seconds honestly,” another wrote.

What do you think about the game? Does Joey DeSena have the makings of a multi-day champion? And did you get the Ken Jennings “hoe/rake” reference? Let us know in the comments section below!