Maureen O'Neil's 'Jeopardy!' win streak ends. Here's how she'll spend her winnings.

RYE — Rye Beach’s Maureen O’Neil, winner of four dramatic “Jeopardy!” matches in a row heading into Friday night’s contest, lost out on her bid to tack on another victory.

O’Neil had won $58,200 over her first four wins, showcasing her knowledge in categories ranging from sports to performing arts to literature and more.

However, O’Neil’s winning ways came to a close in Friday’s show, as the Seacoast executive assistant finished the “Double Jeopardy!” round with a negative score, automatically disqualifying her from participating in “Final Jeopardy!” and ending her successful run.

“That ends the round and I’m afraid, Maureen, your reign as a four-game ‘Jeopardy!’ champion is over,” said Ken Jennings, host of the show who won a yet-to-be-broken record 74 straight games as a 2004 “Jeopardy!” contestant.

Day 1: Rye Beach woman wins 'Jeopardy!' knocking off four-game champion

Day 2: Maureen O'Neil of Rye Beach wins on 'Jeopardy!' again. A coincidental final clue was key.

Day 3: 'Jeopardy!' win streak hits 3: Maureen O'Neil of Rye Beach makes daring wager

Day 4: Rye Beach's Maureen O'Neil gets 4th 'Jeopardy!' win with dramatic finish

O’Neil’s first victory, in the episode which aired Monday night, showed her narrowly beating out Pittsburgh homemaker Margaret Shelton, who entered having won her previous four games and close to $80,000.

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Competing against California contestants Laura Dera, a hotel assistant manager from Studio City, and Los Angeles bar owner Matt Glassman, O’Neil ended the opening round of Friday's match neck and neck with her opponents.

Answering clues under categories about artists, foods you “munch” and women named “Anne,” O’Neil finished the round in third place with $3,000 total, not far from Glassman’s $3,400 and Dera’s $3,200.

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“The closest game one can imagine,” Jennings stated.

In the “Double Jeopardy!” round, though, O’Neil’s game was plagued by a string of incorrect answers under numerous categories. With clues to topics about 17th century happenings, British literature, 6-letter world capitals and music of the 2000’s, among others, O’Neil buzzed in and gave the wrong answer five times, chipping away at her game total.

The second round ultimately ended with O’Neil’s score of -$2,600, therefore ousting her from the game and making the “Final Jeopardy!” round a two-person race.

The final clue stated: “This U.S. politician asked for a multicolored pennant for a parade; demand increased after his death in 1978.”

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The answer, which only Glassman correctly guessed, was, “Who is Harvey Milk?”

Glassman won the game with a final score of $8,900, while Dera bet her entire show earnings on her incorrect answer and dropped to $0 for the episode, though that was still enough to take second place over O’Neil.

Despite the loss to end her week of otherwise successful play, multiple silver linings exist for O’Neil. After obtaining close to $60,000 in cash winnings from her four victories, she is also one of the quiz show’s 14 former contestants eligible to compete in an upcoming “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.”

“You’re going to be taking home our third place prize and with four wins you are pretty well-positioned for the ‘Tournament of Champions,’” Jennings told O'Neil before her exit.

To be eligible for the tournament, players must have winning streaks of at least four games since January 2021. Besides O’Neil, other players eligible for the tournament include Shelton, Jaskaran Singh, winner of the inaugural "Jeopardy! National College Championship" this year, and Amy Schneider, whose magical run of 40 straight “Jeopardy!” victories ended earlier this winter.

How will O'Neil spend her 'Jeopardy!' winnings?

Speaking with each of the three show contestants on Friday night, Jennings asked O’Neil what she plans to do with her hefty “Jeopardy!” winnings.

A trip to Europe is in the works, she revealed.

“I will be traveling to Greece and sailing around and looking at the sky and the ocean with friends and having a great time,” O’Neil said. “It’s a trip we’ve been looking forward to, and we’re ready to pull the trigger on it now.”

Information: jeopardy.com

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Rye Beach's Maureen O'Neil's Jeopardy! winning streak comes to an end