Current Champion
Nikolas Polsinelli, career statistics:
44 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,500
To win:
3 games: 64.111%
4: 41.102%
5: 26.351%
6: 16.894%
7: 10.831%
Avg. streak: 3.786 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)
Upcoming Encore Presentations
September 26-27: S42 E174 (May 7, 2026)
October 3-4: S42 E175 (May 8, 2026)
October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 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 $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 20, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Scientific Words) for Tuesday, January 20, 2026 (Season 42, Game 97):
A Nobel laureate coined this word “to avoid the repetition of the rather cumbersome phrase ‘mould broth filtrate'”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Allegra Kuney, a Ph.D. candidate from New Brunswick, New Jersey
Brendan Liaw, a law student & away-from-home son from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Andrew Hayes, a judicial law clerk originally from Tupelo, Mississippi
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
After all of the announcements yesterday, you could be excused for forgetting that there was in fact a game played yesterday on Jeopardy! as Tom Devlin became the first semifinalist in the 33rd Tournament of Champions. Today’s quarterfinalists are Andrew Hayes, Brendan Liaw, and Allegra Kuney. Playing off the fact that he was introduced as a “stay-at-home son” in his regular games, Brendan has elected to include “away-from-home son” in his introduction for this tournament.
In terms of those announcements: the 18-player field for the next Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, airing after this Tournament of Champions, was announced. Furthermore, the judges decided to revisit the Daily Double ruling against Stella Trout in the Champions Wildcard final, giving her a spot in the 2027 Tournament of Champions.
(Content continues below)
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2026? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Correct response: What is penicillin?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2026 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
Alexander Fleming, who shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his 1928 discovery of penicillin, the world’s first broadly effective antibiotic; in that year, he observed that the contamination of a culture of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria with Penicillium rubens killed the bacteria. However, due to the difficulty of being able to produce enough penicillin for general use, it took until World War II—and the importance of saving soliders’ lives—for mass production techniques to be perfected.
I thought this was a relatively straightforward Final Jeopardy clue, especially for the Tournament of Champions. I personally have known that penicillin comes from mold (and was discovered by a Nobel-winning scientist) since my days competing in high school—it would not surprise me whatsoever if this Final Jeopardy played 3/3 today.
In order to redesign our merchandise area to serve you better in 2026, all merchandise sales have been temporarily taken offline. Look for a return in late 2026! All previous orders will still be supported.
Game Recap:
Allegra Kuney picked up a dozen correct responses in Double Jeopardy as she took the lead for good on the last Daily Double. The $15,200 she picked up on the second board was enough to cement a runaway entering Final Jeopardy.
Unlike what some people so confidently predicted online earlier today, this Final Jeopardy was decidedly not a Triple Stumper—both Andrew and Brendan were correct. However, Allegra is a semifinalist thank to her runaway.
Scores going into Final:
Allegra $18,200
Brendan $8,000
Andrew $6,200
Tonight’s results:
Andrew $6,200 + $1,801 = $8,001 (What is penicillin?)
Brendan $8,000 + $1,337 = $9,337 (What’s penicillin)
Allegra $18,200 – $10 = $18,190 (What is agar?) (Semi-Finalist)
Chances of winning Tournament of Champions:
Scott Riccardi: 17.715%
Laura Faddah: 3.693%
Paolo Pasco: 14.279%
Tom Devlin: 13.275%
Allegra Kuney: 13.919%
Bryce Wargin: 2.359%
Cameron Berry: 3.374%
Ben Ganger: 4.318%
Ashley Chan: 2.279%
W. Kamau Bell: 1.592%
Alex DeFrank: 6.099%
Steven Olson: 4.976%
Josh Weikert: 2.025%
Matt Massie: 4.063%
Lisa Ann Walter: 1.137%
Mike Dawson: 2.220%
TJ Fisher: 2.677%
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s game being a runaway means that no wagering suggestions will be posted.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
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