“I got recognized for the first time at the coffee shop yesterday,†Victoria Groce says, laughing. “The barista brought over my drink and said, ‘I know it already happened, but good luck tonight.’†It was a great day to have a DeuxMoi moment: Groce won Jeopardy!’s inaugural Invitational Tournament on April 9, leaving Amy Schneider and Andrew He in the rear view of her cat-eye glasses. If you didn’t know Groce’s name until the tournament, which reunited over two dozen well-known contestants, we’ll forgive you and blame the passage of time. Groce first appeared on the show back in 2005 when she put an end to David Madden’s historic-win streak; despite losing the next game, she became steadily omnipresent in the quiz community in the ensuing years, culminating in her 2022 hiring on The Chase, ABC’s fast-paced quiztravaganza. Like Kacey Musgraves on Nashville Star, Groce simply became more famous after she left her debut stage.
Groce is now $100,000 richer and has a spot guaranteed in the upcoming Jeopardy! Masters tournament, where she’ll compete against her friend and Chase colleague James Holzhauer. We’ll take “Fun Rivalries†for $1,000.
You’re nicknamed “the Queen†on The Chase. What should be your Jeopardy! nickname?
Jeez, I’m not prepared for this line of questioning. You can’t nickname yourself, can you? I feel like it’s against the rules. My sister did start calling me “Vickipedia†after the episodes taped. Maybe that could work.
When the tournament was announced, you posted online, “no one is more surprised this happened than I am.†How so?
I won one game. They were inviting 27 people out of 40 years of the show. When I got the call, they said, “You’re a giant-killer and that was a big deal.†Realistically, I’m sure it was because of The Chase.
Michael Davies has expressed interest in getting people who played Jeopardy! a while ago and have potentially become better players in the interim to come back. A lot of people are interested in finding a way to return, especially those who played as teens and college students. You’re a completely different person when you play as an adult. I don’t feel a lot of continuity between myself then and now. I’m sure I’m similar in a lot of ways, but I was very disorganized and had a hard time sticking to things then.
Having not played behind a lectern in nearly two decades, did you come in feeling at a disadvantage?
Oh, yes. The buzzer is so critical. If you can’t get in, that’s it for you. Sorry, you’re done. We’ve all seen people play Jeopardy! who have deep sets of knowledge but they just can’t get in. I had no way of knowing if that would or wouldn’t be me. There’s a book called Secrets of the Buzzer that I read. One of my friends who’s trying out for the show lent me the buzzer he got for training, so I did train my fingers a bit. But the amount of rhythm games I’ve played in my life is somewhat disturbing. They’re catnip for me. I’ve played a ton of Rock Band and Dance Dance Revolution.
Is there a correlation between Rock Band users and Jeopardy! champions?
Genuinely I think there is. The skill is similar in so many ways. It’s not the same physical motion, but it’s exactly the same combination of anticipation and very precise timing. If you can master “Pretend We’re Dead,†by L7, you’ll master the buzzer. A friend of mine also got me into Cytus. It’s a combination of wacky Japanese postapocalyptic soap opera and a rhythm game. That’s what I was playing in the lead-up to the tournament.
You made your first appearance on the show in 2005, which was an interesting era in its history: You were post–Ken Jennings, but before the reign of super-champions and sportsification began to pick up. When you returned for this tournament, was Jeopardy! still recognizable from what you remembered?
The Jeopardy! I appeared on, not really. But I wasn’t unfamiliar with how it was being played now. I’ve had some good friends become contestants over the years. For example, at the time I played, it was unusual to go from bottom to top. It wasn’t unheard of or revolutionary, but it was uncommon, especially when people grabbed the Daily Doubles. Players are more likely to do that now, for good reason. If you’re going to leave something on the board, you’d rather it be a low-value clue than a high-value clue.
There’s also more willingness for players to be very aggressive on Daily Doubles, which I credit to James Holzhauer. If somebody had bet five digits on a Daily Double when I was on in 2005, it would’ve been hugely shocking. I remember betting $7,800 on mine, and at the time, I believe, it was the biggest Daily Double for the entire season. Alex Trebek was like, “Oh!†And then you look at this Invitational Tournament and a five-digit wager is normal. People who are statistically minded will at least consider the big bet if they’re ahead.
The Chase has become an incubator of sorts for the best Jeopardy! players after their runs. You, Ken, James, and Buzzy Cohen have all been involved. How does your brain work differently for that show?
The Chase is two games in one that require very different skills. My husband likes to compare it to chess-boxing. You’ve got your multiple-choice questions and they can get very obscure. A lot of that skill is getting inside the writers’ heads and figuring out what the right answer in a multiple choice would be. And then you have the rapid-fire speed quiz at the end, which gets a bit closer to Jeopardy!. They’re transferable skills. What’s most helpful with the “final chase†stuff is the speed of it. If you can figure out the answer to a Jeopardy! question right away and anticipate when you’re going to buzz in, you’re in much better shape than if you’re thinking the whole time.
Do you think Jeopardy! would benefit from having more “quiz†professionals and personalities as contestants, or is it actually a detriment?
You’re going to get vastly different opinions on this. It depends on what the players want out of the experience. Having three really skillful and evenly matched contestants is what makes for exciting games. It’s more important than having one person who’s otherworldly in talent. I like seeing people slug it out with good strategy and not have a ton of mistakes. That’s more enjoyable as a viewer. But there are people who really love to watch somebody who can win 20 or 30 games in a row.
You’re going to be competing against your fellow “chaser†James in the Jeopardy! Masters tournament. Will you be reciprocating his signature trash talk?
He may try to trash-talk me, but I probably won’t trash-talk back. You may have figured out that’s not my style. I’m very much a mom. Imagine your mom trying to come for James Holzhauer. It just doesn’t work.
I had very limited time to prepare, because I got called for the Invitational about three weeks before it taped, which was the same for everyone. You can’t become a whole different player in that amount of time. You can absolutely train yourself into being a frightening Jeopardy! player, but it takes more than a few weeks. You’re looking at a couple of years. I’ve been trying to work on wordplay stuff mostly. I’m hoping that if I can buzz in on more wordplay and fact clues that I wouldn’t have gotten without study, I’ll be pleased with myself. That’s not unrealistic for the amount of time I have.
What’s the one category you would wipe the board clean with?
You would have a very hard time stumping me on cookbooks. I collect them. I’m a really avid cook, so I buy and check many out from the library. I’d say I read five for every one I own.