RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
We report now on a major upset in "Jeopardy!" Contestant Amy Schneider's 40-game win streak ended last night. It all came down to Final Jeopardy, with this clue.
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KEN JENNINGS: The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H. It's also one of the 10 most populous. Thirty seconds. Good luck.
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AMY SCHNEIDER: It wasn't coming to me. It wasn't coming to me. The clock was ticking. I was like, oh, no, this really is - might be it.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
That's the voice of Amy Schneider there. The clues stumped her in the end. The correct answer, by the way - by which, of course, I mean, a question - was, what is Bangladesh? Her opponent, Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, did get the answer and was crowned the new champion.
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JENNINGS: Amy Schneider, congratulations. What a run. Thank you for the two months you spent with us. It was very special. It was remarkable.
(APPLAUSE)
SCHNEIDER: Sad for it to be over, but at the same time, there's definitely a feeling of, you know, relief. You know, for one thing, that I don't have any more secrets to keep is really nice. That's - you know, kind of weighs on you a little bit.
MARTIN: Yes, because the show tapes months in advance, right? So Schneider had to keep her wins under wraps. Meanwhile, she was shuttling back and forth between her home in Oakland and Los Angeles, where "Jeopardy!" is taped, all while juggling her day job as a software engineer.
SCHNEIDER: It's really, absolutely dominated the last few months of my life but, you know, in a fun way.
INSKEEP: Because she won over $1 million playing "Jeopardy!" And she's got the second-most consecutive wins in the history of the show, behind only Ken Jennings, of course. She is also the first openly trans contestant to qualify for the show's Tournament of Champions.
SCHNEIDER: To be part of its history, to be part of, you know, the story of "Jeopardy!" is just amazing. It's something I'll be proud of forever.
INSKEEP: "Jeopardy!" contestant Amy Schneider.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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