Victoria Groce, who is from Point Breeze, emerged victorious in the “Jeopardy!” Invitational Tournament on Tuesday night. She secured the grand prize of $100,000 and earned a spot in the “Jeopardy!” Masters Tournament, which is set to be aired on ABC in May.
Groce, who competes in trivia quiz teams regularly, first appeared on “Jeopardy!” back in 2005, but more recently she participated as one of “the chasers” on the third season of ABC’s “The Chase.”
Groce expressed her nerves about being able to buzz in upon her return to “Jeopardy!” on Tuesday, stating, “It had just been so long and I figured everyone [else] had more recent experience than I did.”
However, by her second Invitational Tournament game, Groce felt like she had the buzzer under control.
Reflecting on the finals, Groce mentioned, “In episode one of the finals I had that locked until the very last clue and then I lost the game. Then 10 minutes later you’re up there taping the next episode. That would have been the easiest time for things to fall apart if I had let that get into my head.”
Growing up as a musician, Groce learned the importance of moving on from mistakes while playing choral accompaniment. She and her trivia teammates also embrace the concept of “strategic goldfish brain” in such situations.
“It’s the ability to forget things when it is to your advantage to do so,” she said. “You’re always gonna make mistakes – I missed a couple of gettable Daily Doubles in the third game — but the important thing is to just keep going.”
The phrase “Hi Nora!” that Groce included with her Final Jeopardy answers was a message to her daughter, who was unable to attend the Invitational Tournament taping due to her studies at Chatham University.
Since her victory in the Invitational Tournament, which was filmed at the end of February, Groce has been preparing for “Jeopardy!” Masters, where she will compete against James Holzhauer, Mattea Roach, Matt Amodio, Yogesh Raut and another player who has yet to be named.
“The biggest thing I’ve been doing is a huge number of word puzzles because that was the thing I struggled with most was the word play categories,” Groce said. “I go to a coffee shop pretty much every day and spend an hour, an hour-and-a-half doing crosswords and word puzzles like anagrams, because that’s the sort of thing that they ask and I’m not as good at, so I’m trying to improve as much as I can over the limited time that I have.”
Marvel designer at IUP
Indiana University of Pennsylvania will welcome back 1988 graduate and former Allison Park resident Susan Burig, who is a graphic designer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She will give a free presentation at 6 p.m. Thursday in Sprowls Hall’s McVitty Auditorium.
Burig’s work includes Marvel’s Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and the Netflix movie “The Pale Blue Eye,” which was filmed in Pittsburgh.
Thurston to visit
Baratunde Thurston, host of PBS’s “America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston,” will be welcomed by WQED Multimedia in Pittsburgh to share his outdoor experiences at 7 p.m. on April 23 at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland.
Sign up to attend for no cost (or to purchase a $100 pass for a VIP reception pre-show at 6 p.m.) at https://wqedevents.ticketbud.com/baratunde-thurston-live-.
‘Donkey Hodie’ game
In honor of April being Autism Acceptance Month, Fred Rogers Productions, based in Pittsburgh, will unveil a new complimentary game, “Cousin Hodie Playdate,” based on the PBS Kids series “Donkey Hodie.”
The game, which assists players in recognizing their own emotions and the emotions of their peers, will be accessible at pbskids.org and on the PBS Kids games app starting April 12.
Kept/canceled
ABC has approved a third season of “Will Trent.”
For the 2024-25 TV season, CBS has extended all of its “FBI” series and will continue with the original “FBI” at least until the 2026-27 TV season.
NBC has axed its “Quantum Leap” sequel series after two seasons.
Channel surfing
Viewers may have observed a new meteorologist on KDKA-TV but Ashton Altieri is not a new employee; he’s a freelance worker filling in. … Pat Sajak’s final episode of “Wheel of Fortune” before he retires will air on June 7 (7 p.m., WPXI-TV). … Kit Harrington tells Entertainment Weekly HBO has put on hold its proposed Jon Snow-focused “Game of Thrones” sequel series.
