Warning: This page contains spoilers for the March 18, 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 Bodies of Water) for Wednesday, March 18, 2026 (Season 42, Game 138):
Bordered by 3 nations, it’s the world’s largest tropical lake & the world’s second-largest freshwater lake
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Kamilah Tisdale, a special projects consultant from Trumbull, Connecticut
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Luke Minton, a technology director from El Paso, Texas
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Jamie Ding, a bureaucrat & law student from Lawrenceville, New Jersey (3-day total: $77,800)
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h2>Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
On June 10, 2004, Ken Jennings set the single-game Coryat score record of $39,200; at the time, he broke the record set by Michael Daunt on December 4, 1995 by $3,000. (Michael’s Coryat in that game was a pre-doubled $18,100.) I did not expect to see the single-game Coryat record broken by an even larger margin—yesterday saw Jamie Ding pick up a Coryat score of $42,400, breaking Jennings’s record by $3,200. If there’s any sort of positive that challengers Luke Minton and Kamilah Tisdale can take from such a performance, it’s that Jamie’s dominance came on the signalling device, successfully buzzing first on 42 of his 48 attempts. Buzzer timing can often be fickle—if either Luke or Kamilah can find timing early, it might make things very interesting today.
As of right now, Jamie has been performing so well that his Adjusted Performance Mean would already place him among some of the game’s greats; it would be even higher if Jamie could make better gains on the Daily Doubles. (Because there are a few of you who care about when I choose to officially add players like Jamie to my Unified Prediction Model tracking, a win today means he will officially enter the tracking list.)
Finally, if you watch the show on a CBS affiliate, coverage of March Madness—as always happens this time of year—is causing widespread pre-emptions tomorrow and Friday. Make sure to check your local listings or Matt Carberry’s Google sheet.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is Lake Victoria?
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.)
Africa’s largest lake by area and the second-largest freshwater lake after Lake Superior in North America, Lake Victoria borders three countries: Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. Lake Victoria also serves as the source of the Nile River.
Geography clues always tend to play harder than I think they will; for some reason, Jeopardy! contestants have traditionally struggled with African geography. I will say, though, that I think a player of Jamie’s calibre will have no issue with this one.
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Game Recap:
Luke Minton was not at all intimidated by seeing Jamie’s incredible performance in yesterday’s game; he very much played Jamie very evenly over the first 37 clues of this game, and in fact was leading when Jamie found the first Daily Double of Double Jeopardy. Jamie’s $8,200 bet and correct response allowed our champion to pull out an advantage; Jamie’s incorrect response on the last Daily Double, though, meant that Jamie didn’t have a runaway entering Final Jeopardy for the first time.
A geography clue wasn’t going to stop our champion today, though, as his singleton get on clue #61 made Jamie Ding a 4-time champion. He goes for #5 tomorrow!
Scores going into Final:
Jamie $23,200
Luke $14,400
Kamilah $5,000
Tonight’s results:
Kamilah $5,000 – $4,999 = $1 (What is Lake Tanganica?)
Luke $14,400 – $14,400 = $0 (What’s Lake Managua?)
Jamie $23,200 + $5,601 = $28,801 (What is… Lake Victoria?) (4-day total: $106,601)
Game Stats:
Jamie $22,400 Coryat, 28 correct, 4 incorrect, 47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Kamilah $5,000 Coryat, 5 correct, 1 incorrect, 8.77% in first on buzzer (5/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Luke $14,400 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $41,800
Jamie Ding, to win:
5 games: 71.595%
6: 51.258%
7: 36.698%
8: 26.274%
9: 18.811%
Avg. streak: 6.521 games
Andy’s Thoughts:
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jamie $23,200 Luke $14,400 Kamilah $5,000)
Jamie: Standard cover bet is $5,601. (Actual bet: $5,601)
Luke: You have to bet at least $3,201 to have a chance of victory. If you don’t mind about finishing second and getting $1,000 less, go all in to maxmize winnings if you’re correct. Otherwise, you could safely limit your bet to $4,400 to guarantee at least second place. (Actual bet: $14,400)
Kamilah: In the battle for second, Luke’s two most likely bets are either $8,801 or all in/close to it. Bet at least $600, but do hold something back in case Luke goes all in (or close to it). (Actual bet: $4,999)
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