Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 23, 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 The 1950s) for Thursday, April 23, 2026 (Season 42, Game 164):
The announcement declaring this safe & effective was made April 12, 1955, the 10th anniversary of the death of a famous American
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Patrick Nolan, an actuary from Wheaton, Illinois
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Leighanna Mixter, an attorney originally from Fresno, California
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Jamie Ding, a bureaucrat & law student from Lawrenceville, New Jersey (29-day total: $793,602)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Jamie Ding’s win streak keeps on rolling along as he goes for victory #30 today against Leighanna Mixter and Patrick Nolan. Patrick does appear to be friends with some acquaintances of mine who are all quite excited for today’s game, which makes me feel like Patrick may be capable of taking things to Jamie today.
There’s one thing that I want to say this morning in terms of Jeopardy! analytics: the more minds we have in the analytics space, the better the analytics will end up being overall, as each new mind brings a fresh perspective. As long as the community doesn’t treat one of us as the only true correct person in the space at the expense of others, and realizes that we are all doing our best to model an incredibly high-variance game, everything will be great. None of us are going to be perfect in our respective analyses, and none of us are going to be completely incorrect, either.
Due to ABC’s coverage of the NFL Draft today and tomorrow, there will be pre-emptions if you watch the show on an ABC local affiliate. Make sure to check your local listings, or Matt Carberry’s Google sheet, for the rescheduled time.
(Content continues below)
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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.
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Correct response: What is the polio vaccine?
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.)
April 12, 1955 was chosen to announce the effectiveness of Jonas Salk’s vaccine against polio in order to commemorate the 10th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who suffered from polio himself and who passed away in 1945. Certainly, in the post-COVID era, Jeopardy! has liked to draw various parallels between the two; Final Jeopardy! clues in the past have detailed post-polio syndrome (and its parallels to Long COVID) as well as letting people associate 1955 with Jonas Salk.
This was a relatively straightforward Final Jeopardy clue for me at home; let’s see if it plays the same way for our players.
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Game Recap:
What was already shaping up to be a great game turned into one of the most memorable in the history of the show in a four clue stretch in the Double Jeopardy Round, after Patrick and Jamie traded five-figure True Daily Doubles, putting their scores both over $24,000 with half a round still to play. By the end of the round, Jamie had a very slim lead, while Patrick’s total was at $28,000 himself.
Jamie needed to be correct in Final Jeopardy to extend his run after Patrick made a smart wager, and correct Jamie was, bringing his win total up to 30 and adding $56,001 to his total. He’ll go for win #31 tomorrow, while Patrick should be the first player selected for Second Chance at this point.
Scores going into Final:
Jamie $30,800
Patrick $28,000
Leighanna $5,400
Tonight’s results:
Leighanna $5,400 + $5,000 = $10,400 (What is Nuclear power? polio vax)
Patrick $28,000 – $10,000 = $18,000 (What is penicillin)
Jamie $30,800 + $25,201 = $56,001 (What was…the polio vaccine? (Salk’s)) (30-day total: $849,603)
Game Stats:
Jamie $19,400 Coryat, 21 correct, 0 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Patrick $17,600 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Leighanna $5,400 Coryat, 11 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,400
Jamie Ding, to win:
31 games: 80.193%
32: 64.309%
33: 51.571%
34: 41.357%
35: 33.165%
Avg. streak: 34.049 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- With $28,000, Patrick surpasses Tom Devlin’s record ($27,200) as the highest non-leading score entering Final Jeopardy.
- This is the first time in Jamie’s run in which he was shut out of two categories in the same game. (Recent hitmakers and celebrity chefs.)
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jamie $30,800 Patrick $28,000 Leighanna $5,400)
Jamie: Standard cover bet today is $25,201.(Actual bet: $25,201)
Leighanna: To have any chance of winning, bet at least $200. I would at least leave a few hundred dollars back as well, just in case Patrick goes all in.(Actual bet: $5,000)
Patrick: Bet between $5,601 (in case Jamie bets small) and $17,199 (thereby keeping Leighanna locked out.) (Actual bet: $10,000)
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