Sometimes, Jeopardy! has a legacy contestant, meaning someone in a person’s family has competed on the game show before, but most of the time it is a parent and child. This time, though, it was two sisters — twins, to be exact.
Dan Moren, an author and podcast host from Somerville, Massachusetts, returned for his third game on Friday, May 9, after accumulating a two-day total of $33,500. He faced off against Zach Dickstein, from Chicago, Illinois, and Kara Peruccio, from Bangor, Maine. Peruccio revealed that not only does she have a twin, but her twin also competed on Jeopardy! 12 years prior.
During the interview round, host Ken Jennings said that Kara, a university professor, was “not the first Peruccio” to appear on the Alex Trebek stage.
“No, my twin sister, who is 23 minutes younger, was on, I think in 2013,” she said. “We threw a watch party for her, where the bar bill was more than she ended up winning for second place.”
Jennings cracked up and said that tradition can continue for her game. “I mean booze prices have gone up, but…”
“You’ve got something to play for today,” he said.
The game started with two Triple Stumpers, leaving everyone at $0. However, only four questions in, Moren found the first Daily Double. With only $600 in his bank, he wagered the allotted amount of $1,000. In “Signs & Symbols,” the clue read, “From Latin for ‘apple with many seeds,’ this fruit is a symbol of fertility in many cultures.” “What is pomegranate?” he answered correctly, bringing his total to $1,600.
By the end of the round, Moren maintained the lead with $6,800. Peruccio had $2,200. Dickstein wasn’t too far behind with $2,000.
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Only three questions into Double Jeopardy, Moren, who writes science fiction and fantasy novels, found the first Daily Double of the round. With $8,400 in his bank, he played it safe by only wagering $2,000. In “Words About Words,” the clue was, “Watergate helped popularize this term for a bad word; it plus ‘deleted’ replaced curse words in White House transcripts.” He answered, “What is redacted?” but was wrong. Moren lost $2,000, bringing his total to $6,400. The correct answer was expletive. He maintained the lead by $2,200.
Peruccio gave Moren a run for his money when she took the lead towards the end of the round by answering almost all of the questions in the category “Property Watching.” Moren kept answering questions wrong, and he was down to $6,000. Meanwhile, Peruccio had $9,400.
Moren found the third and final DD to try and redeem himself. With $7,200 in his bank, he wagered $1,500. In “The 1913 Armory Show,” the clue was “10 years after his death, this well-traveled painter from Paris was at the Armory Show in spirit with his ‘Faa Iheihe.’” “Who is Renoir?” he answered incorrectly. The right answer was Paul Gauguin. He dropped down to $5,700, still giving Peruccio the lead.
She ended the round with $12,200. Moren had $5,700. Dickstein, a cafe manager and cyclist, was ineligible to compete in Final Jeopardy as his total was -$1,200.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Literary Narrators.” The clue read, “This work has 10 main narrators, seven of them women, including Fiammetta and Lauretta.” Peruccio was done writing so fast that fans barely saw her write down an answer. Moren took a bit longer. He wrote “What is Inferno?” which was wrong. The reigning champion wagered $5,600, giving him a final total of $100. Peruccio answered correctly with “What is The Decameron?” She wagered $200, ending with $12,400.
This made her the night’s champion, ending Moren’s reign. “You don’t have to worry about your bar bill,” Jennings said at the end of the show. She beat her sister, who went home with the second-place prize of $3,000. Peruccio will be back on Monday, May 12, for her second game against two new opponents.
Peruccio is an assistant professor in both the Department of History and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program, according to the University of Maine’s website.
“I grew up watching Jeopardy! with my family,” she told the outlet. “When we were very little, my twin sister and I would dance in front of the TV to the music during Final Jeopardy. We also had a Jeopardy! CD-ROM game, and it got pretty cutthroat; there was some body-checking to get to the mouse first to answer. I really enjoy trivia, so trying out for Jeopardy! was a no-brainer!”
“My twin sister Caitlin was a contestant back in 2013. After she got on, I was extra motivated to keep auditioning when I remembered to do it!”
Kara auditioned for the College Tournament when she was an undergraduate, but didn’t get picked. She then took the online qualifying test in 2011. Peruccio was selected, but was teaching English in Turkey and was unable to return to tape. The champion tried out again in 2020, but the show focused on local contestants due to Covid-19 constraints. In September 2024, she finally got the call and was able to tape.
“I auditioned on Thursday, September 5, 2024,” Peruccio said. “I almost missed the audition because the email went into my spam folder! Luckily, it all worked out. They called me in early February 2025, and I flew out to Los Angeles in March.”
“After my sister taped her episode, she and my mom (who went with her) wouldn’t tell the rest of our family how she did!” she ended. “Neither of them could make the trip out to L.A. with me, and so I’ve been giving them a taste of their own medicine! Only my little sister knows how I’ve done. On the whole, I think I’ve been pretty successful at dodging questions about how I did.”