Former Register reporter dominates on 'Jeopardy!'

SANDUSKY — Susan McMillan absolutely crushed the competition during her debut performance on "Jeopardy!" The former Sandusky resident cruised to victory, scoring $35,600, which included a successful $10,000 wager on the Final Jeopardy! question. The episode's second-highest finisher had $201. Now known as a "Jeopardy!" champion, McMillan — who resides in Portland, Maine, works as an Arabic translator and serves in the Army Reserves — returns Monday (7:30 p.m. on CBS affiliates) for a title defense. In a Register news story, which printed Thursday and previewed her appearance, McMillan spoke about appearing on America's highest-rated syndicated game show. "When you're at home, watching the game, you see the stage, the lectern and that big game board of monitors, and you see the contestants picking questions in categories," McMillan said. "But I was actually there, choosing where to go on the board. It was so thrilling." From 2008 to 2011, McMillan reported for the Register, primarily covering education. Her husband, Jason Singer, also worked at the newspaper as a fellow journalist. During their free time, and for many years, McMillan and Singer watch "Jeopardy!" But, this past year, when McMillan aced an audition test and stood a chance to appear on TV, they began meticulously breaking down each 30-minute episode. Beyond simply knowing answers to questions, they studied player tendencies and picked up on some little-known trends. "You learn a lot by rewatching the episodes," McMillan said. "You see certain topics come up all the time. And I noticed people tend to avoid categories that are about things like opera, ballet and classical music. I said, 'OK, let me just learn a little bit more about those topics, and I can have an advantage.'" As luck would have it, "opera settings" was one of the categories during Friday's episode.