In his “Jeopardy!” debut, Pittsburgher Daniel Moore showed off his seriously strong smarts in winning Friday night’s airing of the popular game show.

Things didn’t start off so well for Moore, as he missed his first answer. But after that, Moore put on a clinic.

The 38-year-old contract compliance analyst blew past the $5,000 mark early on, which seemed to impress host Ken Jennings. He correctly nailed both of his Daily Doubles, earning him $29,000 heading into Final Jeopardy.

Moore missed the Final Jeopardy answer and both of his competitors — two-day champ Ittai Sopher and Allison Madson — got it right. However, Moore had built up such a lead by then that they were unable to catch him. Moore finished the game off with $25,000. And another appearance on Monday’s show.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey took to Twitter to celebrate Moore’s win. Turns out, Moore works in the mayor’s Office of Business Diversity.

Comma Unity join me in congratulating Daniel Moore, Contract Compliance Analyst in the Office of Business Diversity. for a great 1st win on the game show Jeopardy!!! ???????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/EGctBtrWFo

— Ed Gainey (@gainey_ed) July 15, 2023

Many others on social media were singing Moore’s praises during and after the episode.

Redditor dennoit wrote about meeting Moore during a practice round for the show, calling him “a stone cold shark.” But dennoit also wrote that Moore was “the nicest guy and we talked a lot backstage and during lunch. I’m excited to see how far he goes!”

Fellow Redditor grandmamimma pointed out that with his “lightning-quick buzzer timing, Daniel looks like a contender for the final ToC berth.”

Over on Twitter, several users were just as impressed.

Daniel is really impressive. I haven’t watched new episodes of #Jeopardy in a while but now I’ll definitely tune in to see how far he goes. I hope this is the first of many wins and he sticks around a while.

— CristalWrite ???? (@cristal_write) July 15, 2023

I am loving Daniel’s vibe, nerdy with a bank of jeopardy worthy knowledge. #Jeopardy

— Ann (@anndwill) July 14, 2023

OMG….it’s the Daniel show???? #Jeopardy

— MTM???? (@MTM130) July 14, 2023

Where’s the sign-up sheet for the Daniel fan club? #Jeopardy

— Stephanie G (@sfsteph) July 15, 2023

Daniel makes the game exciting. #jeopardy pic.twitter.com/XEvpbg2iTX

— Kathy McParland (@jkmcfam) July 14, 2023

Daniel just might be a genius because there is no other explanation for this stellar performance. #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/23G2bEhcAV

— Mario (@MarioTravels) July 14, 2023

If you missed the show, take a look at how well Moore did.

“Jeopardy!” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. on WPXI.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---