Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 30, 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 8, 2026.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Biblical Art) for Thursday, July 30, 2026 (Season 42, Game 89):
3 of Michelangelo’s panels on the Sistine Chapel ceiling deal with him, including his “drunkenness” & “sacrifice”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Jonathan Hugendubler, an adjunct professor & trivia host from Baltimore, Maryland
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Vickie Talvola, a quantitative trader from Jersey City, New Jersey
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Pete Johnston, a filmmaker originally from Alma, Michigan
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
The encore presentation of Champions Wildcard continues today with Quarterfinal #4 between Pete Johnston, Vickie Talvola, and Jonathan Hugendubler. Vickie’s original run ended thanks to a conservative-yet-strategic bet in Final Jeopardy not working out for her, while Jonathan was the “giant killer” that ended Scott Riccardi’s run; Pete, much like Michelle Tsai on Tuesday, advanced through Second Chance into Champions Wildcard.
We are getting closer to the completion of the new The Jeopardy! Fan; it would not surprise me if the switchover took place next week.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Noah?
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.)
Nine scenes from the Book of Genesis are depicted on the center panels of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel: 3 detailing the creation, 3 dealing with Adam & Eve, and 3 dealing with Noah—in the case of Noah, the three panels are his being drunk and disgraced, the Great Flood, and his post-flood sacrifice.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, July 30, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Holiday Ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oad; Poets & Poetry; The Golden Globes; “A”ntonyms; Furniture I Need Help Moving; Pivot!)
Pete found the Daily Double immediately; an incorrect response dropped him to $-1,000. Jonathan led after 15 clues; scores were Jonathan $3,400 Pete $2,000 Vickie -$800.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Jonathan 4 correct 0 incorrect
Pete 5 correct 2 incorrect
Vickie 1 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Jonathan recently got married.
Vickie had a watch party at work; her coworkers had cutouts of her face.
Pete went to Disneyland after Second Chance.
All three players played well after the break; Jonathan led after 30. On the opening board, Pete went 4/5 in the Golden Globes category and 3/5 in furniture.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Jonathan 9 correct 1 incorrect
Pete 10 correct 2 incorrect
Vickie 6 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Jonathan $4,800
Pete $3,800
Vickie $800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Let’s Radiocarbon Date; Acronyms & Abbreviations; Pop Quiz; In The Range; Broadway Writing Teams; I’d Like To Buy A Vowel)
Vickie doubled up through DD2 to tie for the lead; from there, a spirited 3-way battle took place. Aided by DD3 and a conservative bet, Pete had a very slim lead entering Final Jeopardy. On the game’s second board, Jonathan went 3/5 in mountain ranges, Pete went 3/5 in words without many vowels, and Vickie went 3/5 in radiocarbon dating.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Pete 19 correct 4 incorrect
Vickie 15 correct 4 incorrect
Jonathan 15 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Pete $10,800
Vickie $9,200
Jonathan $9,200
Jonathan and Vickie were correct, but Pete was not; Jonathan is an automatic semifinalist, but Vickie is guaranteed advancement through a wildcard. Unfortunately for Pete, his incorrect response does end his journey here.
Tonight’s results:
Jonathan $9,200 + $9,200 = $18,400 (Who is Noah? Love you Mom and Dad!) (Semi-Finalist)
Vickie $9,200 + $4,400 = $13,600 (Who is Noah?)
Pete $10,800 – $7,601 = $3,199 (Who is Abraham?)
Wild Card standings:
Monday: Stella Trout, $26,401
Tuesday: Michelle Tsai, $14,398
Wednesday: Harvey Silikovitz, $12,998
Thursday: Jonathan Hugendubler, $18,400
Friday:
1. Vickie Talvola, $13,600, 100% to advance
2. Cameron Berry, $12,599, 100% to advance
3. Bill McKinney, $12,200, 93.747% to advance
4. Dave Bond, $10,000, 41.278% to advance
5. Pete Johnston, $3,199
6. Dargan Ware, $2,200
7. Geoff Barnes, $800
8. Jason Singer, $0
9.
10.
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) POETS & POETRY $800 (clue #1)
Pete 0 -1000 (Vickie 0 Jonathan 0)
2) LET’S RADIOCARBON DATE $1200 (clue #3)
Vickie 2400 +2400 (Pete 3800 Jonathan 4800)
3) BROADWAY WRITING TEAMS $800 (clue #18, $7600 left on board)
Pete 7800 +1000 (Vickie 8000 Jonathan 8400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 13
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Pete 4*
Vickie
Jonathan
DJ! Round:
Pete 5 4 5 3 5 2*
Vickie 4 5 3* 3 5 4 5 4
Jonathan 4 3 3 4
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Jonathan 3.50
Vickie 4.13
Pete 4.00
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:
Jonathan $9,200 Coryat, 15 correct, 3 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Vickie $8,000 Coryat, 15 correct, 4 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Pete $11,600 Coryat, 19 correct, 4 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $28,800
Lach Trash: $12,600 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,600
Lead Changes: 10
Times Tied: 6
Player Statistics:
Pete Johnston, career statistics:
96 correct, 23 incorrect
4/8 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
34.74% in first on buzzer (99/285)
4/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
2/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,320
Vickie Talvola, career statistics:
65 correct, 6 incorrect
6/8 on rebound attempts (on 18 rebound opportunities)
32.75% in first on buzzer (56/171)
4/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $21,400)
3/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,067
Jonathan Hugendubler, career statistics:
71 correct, 13 incorrect
6/6 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (68/228)
5/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $23,600)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,250
Andy’s Thoughts:
- This is the sort of game where I don’t like the “wild card” system, because it generally leads to people unfamiliar with the tournament format sending abuse a player’s way for their choice of bet in Final Jeopardy, even though Vickie still has guaranteed her advancement.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
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Totally agree with the thoughts you gave at the bottom of the recap.
If I’m Vickie in that scenario, the scores are low enough that Pete is likely to cover or otherwise bet a substantial chunk of his money, and assuming what I know about both that and Jonathan I would be surprised if he did anything other than go all-in. If Vickie’s right, she has a very solid total for a wildcard spot; if she’s wrong, as long as Jonathan and Pete are also wrong (which, though she didn’t know this at the time, would have been reasonable to predict – of the nine players that went before this game, only Stella and Bill knew the Final Jeopardy they were asked, even if Bill didn’t get credit for it), she wins no matter what.
I probably would have followed what Jonathan did and gone all-in (even though my Biblical knowledge is not exactly up to par with what J! requires), but Vickie’s wager was an absolutely acceptable choice. I’d dare say she’s spent more time thinking about wagering than almost everybody in this postseason, even if the rationale behind her wagers might not be obvious to the normal viewer, and I’m glad she got another chance to prove how good she is at Jeopardy after the small bet in her second game (which I also fully support, especially if she felt uncomfortable with the category) ended up coming back to bite her.
Did anyone notice Ken’s misstatement that there was one more semifinal game to go at the end of the show (when indeed this wasn’t the semifinal round at all).