Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 27, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that today’s game is an encore presentation of the game that originally aired on January 5, 2026.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Science) for Monday, July 27, 2026 (Season 42, Game 86):
Important in developing vaccines against TB, they were domesticated as a food source in the Andes region around 5000 B.C.
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Dargan Ware, an attorney & writer from Bessemer, Alabama
|
Bill McKinney, a hospitality executive from San Diego, California
|
Stella Trout, a software engineer originally from Houston, Texas
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
The 230 episodes of Season 42 are now complete; today begins the summer hiatus that takes place every year between now and the beginning of Season 43 on September 14. Normally, there are six weeks’ worth of encore presentations (I always find “rerun” to have more of a pejorative connotation), but we get seven this year, due to when Labor Day occurs on the calendar. That means that we get the entirety of Champions Wildcard, the Tournament of Champions, and the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. I should also point out that an oft-overlooked reason these tournaments are able to happen, as well as why the encore presentations exist, is that the show’s ability to run these episodes a second time means they can get a second helping of advertising revenue. I do want to mention, though, that for these encore presentations, the full set of previously login-walled statistics will be a part of a singular daily post.
ESPN Jeopardy! releases on Friday; according to one participant, all 10 episodes will drop at the same time. I think that this is an interesting experiment, to be honest; I understand why this is happening, but I can also say that I’m a little bit disappointed as a fan. For me, I get significant enjoyment out of the anticipation and the buildup of a run or a tournament continuing over a multi-week period, and the “binge” release cadence is completely antithetical to that; I also suspect that a lot of Jeopardy! fans get similar enjoyment. I also think that it has a better chance of working well for a charity tournament such as this one—I can guarantee that there would be a fan revolt if a major mainline tournament had this release cadence.
Now on to today’s encore presentation: this year’s first set of Champions Wildcard quarterfinalists were Stella Trout, Bill McKinney, and Dargan Ware. This tournament is currently also the only one in the Jeopardy! universe to use the historical “5 quarterfinals + 4 highest scoring nonwinners advancing as wildcards” tournament format, as devised by Alex Trebek in 1985.
(Content continues below)
Did you accidentally get logged out of your TJ!F Plus account? Log in here!
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
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.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2026? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Correct response: What is a guinea pig?
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.)
Because guinea pigs have extremely similar lung pathology and immune response to tuberculosis bacteria as humans do, guinea pigs will be routinely used for testing novel vaccines and their efficacy compared to the standard Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine, which has been used for more than a century. In fact, the National Library of Medicine calls guinea pigs the “gold standard” for testing the efficacy of TB vaccines. The animal itself was first domesticated in the Andes around 5000 B.C. as a food source; moreover, its use in many other medical trials has led to the animal’s name being used as an idiom to refer to a test subject.
When this game originally ran, I spoke about how I thought “potato” could have been judged to be a correct response, and I was very glad that no contestant actually gave that as a response. The nearly seven months since this episode originally aired hasn’t exactly changed my opinion on the matter.
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 & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, July 27, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Best & The Brightest; World Geography; Let’s Get “Wild”; 404 Page Not Found; Historic Names; ’90s No. 1 Hits)
In a segment peppered with incorrect responses, Stella got the Daily Double incorrect as Dargan led after 15 clues. At the break, the scores were Dargan $3,600 Bill $600 Stella $0.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Dargan 7 correct 3 incorrect
Bill 2 correct 1 incorrect
Stella 4 correct 3 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Dargan was the inspiration of some D&D characters on Bluesky.
Bill was confused with another Bill McKinney on IMDb.
Stella was confused for indie musician Snail Mail.
All three players were much better in terms of correct responses after the break as Dargan still led. By the end of the round, Stella had gone 3/5 in dead websites, while Dargan went 4/5 in “wild” phrases and 3/5 in world geography.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Dargan 12 correct 3 incorrect
Bill 6 correct 1 incorrect
Stella 9 correct 4 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Dargan $5,400
Bill $2,000
Stella $1,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Literary Beginnings; Lucky 13 Letters; Backwards; The Vikings; A Fluvial Category; A Performative Male)
Stella found both Daily Doubles within the first three clues, jumping into the lead. Meanwhile, Dargan struggled with incorrect responses and fell to a distant third. Stella led with Bill in second entering Final. Over the course of Double Jeopardy, Stella went 4/5 in backwards, while Bill went 3/5 in 13-letter words and performative males and Dargan went 3/5 in the fluvial category.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Stella 20 correct 5 incorrect
Bill 16 correct 3 incorrect
Dargan 16 correct 8 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Stella $16,000
Bill $13,200
Dargan $2,600
Stella was the only player correct in Final, as Bill crossed out the correct response. That makes Stella a semifinalist; while Bill has a good chance of advancing as a wild card, he will probably spend the rest of the week on pins and needles.
Tonight’s results:
Dargan $2,600 – $400 = $2,200 (What are Llamas)
Bill $13,200 – $1,000 = $12,200 (What is Guinea Pigs?)
Stella $16,000 + $10,401 = $26,401 (What are guinea pigs) (Semi-Finalist)
Wild Card standings:
Monday: Stella Trout, $26,401
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
1. Bill McKinney, $12,200, 88.611% to advance
2. Dargan Ware, $2,200, 0.253% to advance
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) THE BEST & THE BRIGHTEST $800 (clue #11)
Stella 1400 -1400 (Bill -600 Dargan 2800)
2) THE VIKINGS $1600 (clue #1)
Stella 1400 +2000 (Bill 2000 Dargan 5400)
3) LITERARY BEGINNINGS $1200 (clue #3, $32000 left on board)
Stella 3400 +3400 (Bill 2000 Dargan 4200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 100
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Stella 5 5 4 5 4 4*
Bill
Dargan 4 4 5 3 3
DJ! Round:
Stella 4* 3 3*
Bill
Dargan
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Stella 4.11
Bill 0.00
Dargan 3.80
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.09 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Stella $14,800 Coryat, 20 correct, 5 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
Bill $13,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 3 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
Dargan $2,600 Coryat, 16 correct, 8 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 5/5 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,600
Lach Trash: $8,800 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $14,600
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Stella Trout, career statistics:
61 correct, 8 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 25 rebound opportunities)
31.55% in first on buzzer (53/168)
7/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $18,000)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,067
Bill McKinney, career statistics:
89 correct, 19 incorrect
11/15 on rebound attempts (on 35 rebound opportunities)
29.33% in first on buzzer (83/283)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,000)
1/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,680
Dargan Ware, career statistics:
88 correct, 20 incorrect
5/8 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
39.91% in first on buzzer (91/228)
5/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $32,800)
1/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,300
Andy’s Thoughts:
The new TJ!F Plus section is active! In order to get the Daily Details of each episode coming soon, as well as the ability to comment on posts site-wide, make sure to register for your account! It should be noted that if you have not registered for an account since December 13, 2025, that registration for a new account is necessary.
Did you accidentally get logged out of your TJ!F Plus account? Log in here!
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.
Have you had a chance to listen to our podcast game show, Complete The List, yet? Check it out! It's also available on Apple Podcasts.
Be the first to comment on "Today’s Final Jeopardy – Monday, July 27, 2026"