recaps

Season 26

Saturday night’s alright for fighting

Published Modified

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Jeopardy! Masters Standings

(Quarterfinal Final Standings)

1) Victoria Groce, 15 points, 5 wins, 172 correct responses, $126,000 Coryat Score, $121,000 earned before Final Jeopardy
2) Yogesh Raut, 12 points, 3 wins, 106 correct responses, $69,000 Coryat Score, $69,800 earned before Final Jeopardy
3) Paolo Pasco, 8 points, 1 win, 94 correct responses, $62,400 Coryat Score, $71,400 earned before Final Jeopardy
4) Andrew He, 5 points, 1 win, 89 correct responses, $53,000 Coryat Score, $50,400 earned before Final Jeopardy
5) Long Nguyen, 5 points, 1 win, 68 correct responses, $40,200 Coryat Score, $45,200 earned before Final Jeopardy
6) Juveria Zaheer, 3 points, 1 win, 86 correct responses, $60,600 Coryat Score, $68,400 earned before Final Jeopardy

Upcoming Encore Presentations

September 3: S42 E114 (February 12, 2026)
September 4: S42 E115 (February 13, 2026)
September 5-6: S41 E144 (March 27, 2025)
September 7: S42 E116 (February 16, 2026)
September 8: S42 E117 (February 17, 2026)
September 9: S42 E118 (February 18, 2026)
September 10: S42 E119 (February 19, 2026)
September 11: S42 E120 (February 20, 2026)
September 12-13: S41 E145 (March 28, 2025)
September 19-20: S42 E173 (May 6, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Andrew He $534,365
17. Scott Riccardi $533,000
18. Jerome Vered $499,102
19. Julia Collins $495,767
20. Austin Rogers $493,000
21. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
22. Ben Ingram $449,201
23. Paolo Pasco $448,717
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

I was driving around with my sister “Peaches” yesterday (not her real name of course) and listening to music on the radio. As we drove, I wondered if she had read about my plan on this blog, and knew, then, that I was not following it as originally written: You might remember that I had given up listening to music on the radio in favor of anything more educational, while I am preparing to be on Jeopardy! someday. I decided a weekend or two ago that I would tweak the plan to allow me to still listen to music on the weekends, in the hopes that this will increase compliance long-term.
It turns out Peaches hadn’t read about it, but she has some opinions about it – She thinks it is too much! I tried to explain to her that I am far from ready for the show and I don’t learn what I need to learn if I’m passive about it. She seems to think that I am learning enough without specifically studying for the show, and that I will not have any fun by, for example, not listening to music anymore.
Later, on the way to the movies with my family, Peaches said she wanted me to put a poll on this blog, with three choices: Is my plan adequate, inadequate, or “overboard”? Incidentally, my mom agreed with Peaches! I tried to make my case by telling them about a category on the show last week, Presidential Math, where two presidents and an operation are given, and the contestants are to give the correct number. For example: “Obama divided by Madison.”* I thought this category was ridiculously difficult. I told them that, had I been on the show that day, I’d might as well have put my signalling device down for the whole category, because I am clueless about it right now and will be until I study presidents for the show.
I invited Peaches to keep track of her own score using the Coryat method that I used last week, in an attempt to prove that, even though she is a very bright girl and shines in a classroom and on the job, her scores will not be great because the information on the show needs to be studied in order to succeed on it. She said ‘no way,’ and that she doesn’t see how her scores will prove my case.
Anyway, I agreed to do the poll. I’ll leave it up for two weeks. I’d also love to read your comments about this, even after the two weeks are up!
Since I am at my parents’, I got to watch last night’s episode of Jeopardy! (It’s on available on Saturday nights where I live.) Erik Nelson was the returning champion last night, and his challengers were Mengmeng Zhang and Melissa Noble. I swept the category You Just Have to “Ask.” At the end of the Jeopardy round, Erik led with 5400, Mengmeng had 4000, and Melissa had 2600. Melissa’s game took a turn for the worse in the Double Jeopardy round, with misses on clues like these triple-stumpers:
In Thar He Blows: “From 1967 to 1992, this Doc was in and trumpeting himself as the bandleader of “The Tonight Show.”*
And in Birth of a President: “November 2, 1865 in Corsica (now Blooming Grove), Ohio.”* (I have to admit I guessed the same thing she did.)
Mengmeng, too, faltered when he lost 3500 on this Daily Double in Population-pourri with only two clues remaining: “Of cities in titles of Shakespeare’s plays, this Mediterranean capital has the highest population.”* Erik, meanwhile, gained 3000 on his Daily Double in Birth of a President: “June 12, 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts.”* At the end of Double Jeopardy, then, Erik had 18000, Mengmeng had 12900, and Melissa had 1000. The Final Jeopardy category was Award Namesakes: “His ‘A Little Pretty Pocket-Book” from 1744 was one of the first books published specifically for children.”* I had this narrowed down to two, and both of those names were guessed by the contestants. Erik, who wagered 7801, and Melissa, who wagered 999, got it right, making Erik a two-day champion.

*11 (44/4), Doc Severinsen, Warren Harding, Athens, George H.W. Bush, Newbery

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