Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, May 6, 2026

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

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Geographic History) for Wednesday, May 6, 2026 (Season 42, Game 173):

About 10,000 sq. miles, this region was the subject of a 19th c. war, declared independence in 1917, reorganized in 1921 & is under dispute to this day

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Lauren Black, a sales assistant originally from San Jose, California

Tristan Williams, a data scientist originally from Lincoln, Nebraska

Shannon Crisenbery, a data annotator from St. Clair, Michigan (1-day total: $38,400)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

For the last 4 games, we’ve had a new champion on Jeopardy!, with Shannon Crisenbery taking home $38,400 as a result of her victory yesterday. Today, she faces off against Tristan Williams of Nebraska and Lauren Black of San Jose.

Correct response: What is Crimea?

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.)

Due to its strategic location on the Black Sea, the Crimean peninsula has been fought over and changed hands numerous times over the millennia. The Greeks settled the area near what is now Sevastopol in the 6^th century B.C, while in the 19^th century, the Russians fought against an alliance of the Ottomans and Western European states for control in the famous Crimean War. By the time of the Russian Revolution, the area declared independence in 1917 as the Crimean People’s Republic, before becoming the Crimean Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic in 1945. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the government in the area asserted sovereignty, and since 2014, the area has been disputed between Ukraine and Russia, with Russia using the area to launch its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

I’ll be honest: it feels like there are a lot of moving parts to this clue, and I’ll be impressed with any contestant who can get through all of them to reach a correct response.

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Game Recap:

Tristan Williams didn’t let going 1-for-3 on the Daily Doubles stop him; he picked up 30 correct responses as he cruised to a dominant runaway.

Tristan having the runaway was important, as his performance today on the betting clues went to 1-for-4, while Shannon found her way through the weeds of today’s Final Jeopardy clue to come up with the correct response. Tristan is the new champion, though, and he’ll be back tomorrow to defend his title.

Scores going into Final:

Tristan $20,400
Shannon $7,400
Lauren -$800

Tonight’s results:

Lauren -$800 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Shannon $7,400 + $7,400 = $14,800 (What is Crimea?)
Tristan $20,400 – $400 = $20,000 (What is ?) (1-day total: $20,000)

Game Stats:

Tristan $26,600 Coryat, 30 correct, 4 incorrect, 49.12% in first on buzzer (28/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Shannon $7,400 Coryat, 12 correct, 0 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Lauren -$800 Coryat, 4 correct, 4 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $33,200

If you are looking for more detailed statistics about today’s game of Jeopardy!, as well as the ability to leave a comment, make sure to check out the Daily Details section.

Tristan Williams, to win:

2 games: 52.814%
3: 27.893%
4: 14.732%
5: 7.780%
6: 4.109%
Avg. streak: 2.119 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• I like to tell this story sometimes. I was once directing a Scrabble tournament in a board game store; at the same time, a Magic: The Gathering tournament was taking place in another spot in the store. During the tournament at one point, I wandered over to the Magic side and wondered if Magic was a game worth taking up. My friend—who I believe is a Premier Judge—as well as multiple competitors in the event all told me nearly in unison that the game was such a time and wallet sink that I absolutely should avoid the game.
• I do think finding Daily Doubles back-to-back is noteworthy, but I don’t think it’s worth tracking from a “records” point of view, especially as contestants in general get better at hunting for them. Remember, as certain clues are written and selected to be Daily Doubles, I believe that changing Daily Double placement to be a purely random selection on the board would result in a game board that would feel less cohesive overall and would make for a worse television show. I should also note that making Daily Double placement purely random would likely increase variance, would lead to fewer long-running champions, and overall lower ratings for the show.
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

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