Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 16, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Men of Religion) for Monday, February 16, 2026 (Season 42, Game 116):
A 1660 book quoted Mary, Queen of Scots as saying she feared this man’s prayers more than an army of men
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Alison Betts, a creative executive originally from San Jose, California
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Andrew He, a stay-at-home dad from Concord, California
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Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York, New York
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today sees semifinal #2 of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament between Matt Amodio, Andrew He, and Alison Betts. I’m expecting to see a spirited battle between the two Season 38 alumni, both rated significantly higher by the Unified Prediction Model. However, Alison very much has already shown in this tournament that anything can happen, and she is more than capable of finding herself in the finals.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is John Knox?
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.)
John Knox was a 16th-century Scottish religious leader best known today for leading the Reformation in Scotland and serving as the Protestant leader in Scotland in opposition to the Catholic Queen of Scotland at the time, Mary, Queen of Scots. His work ensured that, even after his death, Prebyterianism rather than Anglicanism became the dominant Christian denomination in Scotland.
While the specific wording of the quote is debated (explaining why there were no quotation marks in the clue), the general gist of the quote from Mary, explained in today’s Final Jeopardy clue, tells us how much the Catholic queen feared the Presbyterian leader.
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Game Recap:
Through 60 clues of this semifinal, it looked as if we would be pointing towards Andrew He’s Daily Double miss on a clue about the Carrara quarry in Italy as the major driving factor behind today’s outcome, as that was the ultimate reason behind Matt Amodio leading entering Final Jeopardy. (Alison Betts was in a distant third and it didn’t look like she’d get a repeat performance of her viral moment last week.)
Final Jeopardy proved difficult for our contestants, though, with nobody coming up with a correct response, as it came down to our wagers between Matt and Andrew. Andrew went for the small bet in this situation, hoping Matt would make the standard cover bet, and advanced to the finals when Matt’s standard cover bet of $8,001 was revealed. Andrew will be joining Roger Craig and one more in the finals that start Wednesday.
Scores going into Final:
Matt $19,200
Andrew $13,600
Alison $2,600
Tonight’s results:
Alison $2,600 – $0 = $2,600 (Who these guys definitely won’t bet it all)
Andrew $13,600 – $38 = $13,562 (Who else thinks the best season of Jeopardy was …) (Finalist)
Matt $19,200 – $8,001 = $11,199 (Who James I)
Chances of winning tournament:
Andrew He: 38.739%
Roger Craig: 38.075%
Long Nguyen: 10.806%
Drew Goins: 6.526%
Karen Farrell: 5.854%
Game Stats:
Andrew $19,600 Coryat, 22 correct, 3 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Matt $14,200 Coryat, 17 correct, 1 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Alison $3,600 Coryat, 7 correct, 1 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,400
Andy’s Thoughts:
- After the third semifinal at last year’s JIT, where this same Final Jeopardy betting situation came up, I know some strategic discussions certainly came up among some of the champions regarding whether or not the cover bet was the best decision from the lead in this situation. I guess when you’re Matt Amodio, you probably do need to put faith in yourself to get Final Jeopardy correct, though.
- The trivia league that Alison mentioned in her interview is QuIP, or “Quizzing In Progress”; it’s the same league that Veronica Vichit-Vadakan mentioned in her interview.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Matt $19,200 Andrew $13,600 Alison $2,600)
Matt: Your standard cover bet is $8,001 here—and as I alluded to above, you can never really fault a player betting on themself like this. That being said—especially because Andrew is likely well-versed in wagering strategy at this point—it might be worth a more conservative bet in this between-2/3-and 3/4 window. In that case, a bet between $2,801 and $3,199 both stays above Andrew if he bets less than $2,400, as well as still covers him if he bets $8,399 (the maximum he can bet while still keeping Alison locked out.) (Actual bet: $8,001)
Andrew: If Matt makes the standard cover bet, he falls to $11,199. I think your best chance of victory today comes if you bet between $0 and $2,400, hoping that Matt does that and is incorrect. (Actual bet: $38)
Alison: You need both Matt and Andrew to overbet significantly to have any hope. Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $0)
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