Vero Beach woman defends 'Jeopardy!' crown on episode to air on Fourth of July

VERO BEACH — It could have been a disaster of biblical proportions if Eleanor Dixon of Vero Beach had flubbed her "Daily Double" clue on "Jeopardy!"

Instead, Dixon's response, "Who are the Philistines?" to the clue about the people who stole the Ark of God, won her a $2,018 bid on the show and paved her path to victory in Friday night's episode.

"I was happy to get a biblical category," said Dixon, 59, a freelance technical editor who has raised three children with her husband in Vero Beach.  "I know my Bible inside and out."

Dixon's second episode airs at 7:30 p.m. today on WPBF-Channel 25.

For the rest of the clues she answered correctly, Dixon credited the time she's spent the last several years on trivia websites. She had also been applying online the last few years for the game show.

Dixon had been wondering if all the trivia had been a waste of time until she was contacted by the producers of the show in April, when she received a two-week notice to fly to California to be a contestant.

The trivia time directly helped her answer the "Final Jeopardy" clue about French Guiana.

"A year ago, I wouldn't have known the answer to that one," Dixon said.

While a Bible-based question propelled her to her win, there's one she missed that she regrets. Dixon missed a $2,000 clue about sextons, who look after churches. It's a title used in Anglican churches, such as Christ Church in Vero Beach. That's where Dixon attends, and she ran into her church's sexton there Sunday morning, by chance.

"It's been good to celebrate with my church family," as well as being able to laugh about missing that sexton clue, Dixon said.

Some church members crowded into the Dixons' home Friday for the watch party. About 48 people watched the show with her there, and several others, part of the Vero Beach Rowing Club, held a watch party as well. Dixon is a member of the club.

If the $2,018 bid for the "Daily Double" seemed precise, Dixon said that yes, it was intentional. The wager represented the last year the Villanova Wildcats college basketball team won the national championship. Two of the couple's three children, Chris Dixon and Genevieve Dixon, are Villanova graduates.

"When we were filming, the basketball coach, Jay Wright, had just retired," Dixon said.

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Dixon is not able to reveal how many more episodes she competed on. The shows were recorded in April.

But she's already looking ahead to a busy week beyond "Jeopardy!" Dixon has a role in the Vero Beach Theatre Guild's production of "Footloose," which premieres Friday.

"Hopefully I'll have my voice back by then," she said. She lost a bit of it at Friday's watch party.

Whether you're interested in competing on "Jeopardy!" or just shouting the answers from your couch, Dixon's advice is to pay close attention to the wording of the clues.

"It's not just about knowing the facts," she said. "Sometimes it's about knowing about how they phrased the clue."

Lamaur Stancil is the Treasure Coast regional economy reporter covering business and industries, including retail, tourism and hospitality. Contact him at 321-987-7179 or lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com and follow him at Lamaur Stancil on Facebook and @TCPalmLStancil on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Eleanor Dixon, Vero Beach 'Jeopardy!' contestant, defends title July 4