Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 17, 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 Movie Music) for Friday, July 17, 2026 (Season 42, Game 225):
The main theme heard in this movie uses a motif that’s an alternating pattern of an E & an F, gradually becoming insistent
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Angharad Rebholz, a middle school teacher from Hopewell, New Jersey
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Andy Strange, a project test engineer from Erlanger, Kentucky
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Caleb Groen, a law & policy student originally from Thousand Oaks, California (11-day total: $322,167)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
You might think that a player with 11 victories and over $300,000 in winnings doesn’t have much to play for other than moving up the show’s all-time leaderboard, but today is an incredibly important game for Caleb Groen’s overall chances of victory in the 34th Tournament of Champions. He is currently just one game behind Adam Remsen for 3rd place in the standings, a position that has functionally meant a bye to the semifinals over most of the past few tournaments. Having that bye would significantly improve Caleb’s chances of tournament success, which makes today’s game an extremely important game to win. The two players that 12-time champion Adam Remsen are cheering heavily for today, though, are challengers Andy Strange and Angharad Rebholz.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it’s worth mentioning again: when looking at the “attempts” statistics in Jeopardata, I think “net attempts” (i.e. removing “unforced errors”, or incorrect responses after a buzz-in) is better than just using attempt numbers. Basically, I think a player with 44 attempts and 0 incorrect responses is overall a better player than someone with 48 attempts and 5 incorrect responses, and I think it would be a good idea for the show to take that into account when looking at their postseason selections.
(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 Jaws?
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.)
I’m about to deal what the youths call “psychic damage” to a lot of my readership today: Jaws is 51 years old. I would also venture that the average contestant is probably somewhere between 15-20 years younger than that. Our current champion is nearly 25 years younger than that. The famous two-note motif from Jaws, evoking the approaching shark, isn’t nearly as ubiquitous as much of the show’s viewership would have you believe. Yes, this is very likely going to play easier for the viewers at home than for the contestants in the studio. And that is OK. It also doesn’t give any fan license to bash anyone else for giving an incorrect response to this clue.
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:
You might think that seeing a $30,000 Coryat and 36 correct from Caleb Groen would mean a dominant runaway game, but that was not the case. Caleb got two Daily Doubles incorrect and Andy Strange got the third, so this wasn’t a runaway entering Final.</p
Caleb fans can rest easy this weekend knowing that Caleb was correct in Final Jeopardy, pulling out win #12. He’ll go for #13 on Monday.
Scores going into Final:
Caleb $24,200
Andy $12,400
Angharad $1,600
Tonight’s results:
Angharad $1,600 + $600 = $2,200 (What is Jaws?)
Andy $12,400 + $12,000 = $24,400 (What is Jaws?)
Caleb $24,200 + $601 = $24,801 (What is Jaws?) (12-day total: $346,968)
Game Stats:
Caleb $30,200 Coryat, 36 correct, 3 incorrect, 61.40% in first on buzzer (35/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Andy $9,600 Coryat, 9 correct, 3 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Angharad $1,600 Coryat, 7 correct, 1 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $41,400
Caleb Groen, to win:
13 games: 81.296%
14: 66.090%
15: 53.729%
16: 43.679%
17: 35.510%
Avg. streak: 16.346 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- You’re going to see a lot of people assume that Andy is guaranteed to make Second Chance just because today’s game wasn’t a runaway, and I think the competition is too fierce for spots in 2026 for that in and of itself to be guaranteed consideration. If he’s got a good number of attempts, I could see it happening, but otherwise, I wouldn’t guarantee a spot in Second Chance for Andy.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Caleb $24,200 Andy $12,400 Angharad $1,600)
Caleb: Standard cover bet over Andy is $601. (Actual bet: $601)
Andy: You have to bet at least $11,200 to have a chance of victory. (Actual bet: $12,000)
Angharad: I would bet no more than $400 here and take second if Andy is incorrect in Final Jeopardy. (Actual bet: $600)
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