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Returning champs, a crowded calendar.
Season 40 brings back the returning-champions idea with real money on the table, but its year-long air window overlaps five other seasons — the busiest calendar any tournament entry in this canon has run.
A rhythm worth tracking.
Thirteen episodes run from July 2018 into July 2019, five of them a Champs Throwdown tournament bringing back returning champions to compete for fifty thousand dollars. The bracket runs through October and November, folded into an otherwise standard season that also shares its calendar with Seasons 37 through 39 and stretches into Season 41 and Season 42's own windows. The locked basket and three-round structure hold steady across both the tournament and the standard hours.
The #14 slot.
Slot #14 of 62 in the Chopped Editor's Canon. Season 40 gives the returning-champions idea its highest stakes yet, a $50,000 prize on the line across four qualifying battles and a finale, folded into the middle of an otherwise ordinary season. That's real substance, on par with anything Season 45 or Season 43 offer. What pushes Season 40 to the back of this trio is the calendar: the season's own year-long run touches five other seasons at various points, more than either of the tournament seasons ranked just above it. The tournament itself never falters — the bracket builds cleanly, the standard hours around it hold the format's usual shape — but this is the busiest release window any bracket season here has had to share.
4 moments, no spoilers.
- Champs Throwdown · four battles and a finale
Returning champions face off across four qualifying battles before a finale settles the $50,000 prize. Watch the bracket run through October and November inside an otherwise standard season.
- The standard hours · the format's usual shape
Eight regular episodes carry the rest of the season, the ordinary closed-door premise unchanged. Watch them as the season's tether back to the format everywhere else in this canon.
- Basket reveal · steady on both sides
The four-ingredient rule holds in the tournament and the standard hours alike. Watch the reveal for that same constraint no matter the stakes.
- Season close · a year-long overlap
Season 40 closes out in July 2019, nearly a full year after it began, its calendar overlapping several neighboring seasons throughout. Watch this run as the busiest tournament season the format has produced.