Today’s Final Jeopardy – Tuesday, July 7, 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 The Funnies) for Tuesday, July 7, 2026 (Season 42, Game 217):

The creator of this comic strip said, “I show 2 versions of reality, & each makes complete sense to the participant who sees it”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Jessica Davis, a proofreader from Colonie, New York

Michael Yates, a finance professor from Knoxville, Tennessee

Caleb Groen, a law & policy student originally from Thousand Oaks, California (3-day total: $49,999)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

If Caleb Groen loses today, there are going to be a lot of “what if”s happening surrounding his Tournament of Champions chances and the $20,000 bet on an incorrect Final Jeopardy yesterday. As of right now, Caleb is just about right on the bubble with where he is in the ToC standings, but he is at least guaranteed a return in Champions Wildcard whatever the outcome is here. In any case, our challengers today are Jessica Davis of the New York capital area and Michael Yates from Knoxville, Tennessee.

Correct response: What is Calvin & Hobbes?

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.)

In The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book, comic strip author Bill Watterson said that the comic strip’s major “gimmick”—Hobbes appearing real and lifelike to Calvin but as a stuffed tiger to everyone else—was often misunderstood, with most at the time thinking that Hobbes just came to life in Calvin’s presence. Instead, the quote from today’s Final Jeopardy clue, “I show two versions of reality, and each makes complete sense to the participant who sees it”, was Watterson’s intent. “None of us sees the world in exactly the same way, and I just draw that literally in the strip. Hobbes is more about the subjective nature of reality than about dolls coming to life.” I’d certainly say more about this, but I’d rather not deal with the deluge of hate mail that often comes when I write something that disagrees with many others’ versions of reality.

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Game Recap:

Things got very interesting shortly after the interviews when Michael doubled up through the game’s first Daily Double, ensuring he led at the game’s midpoint.

Michael looked like he was going to jump into a big runaway position when he found DD2 and DD3 on back-to-back clues, but an incorrect response on DD3 scuppered his momentum; Caleb led entering Final, while Jessica played well enough in the second half of Double Jeopardy to get into five figures and tie Michael for second entering Final Jeopardy.

Correct responses from Michael and Jessica required Caleb to be correct in Final Jeopardy—and he was, taking win #4. He’ll go for win #5 tomorrow.

Scores going into Final:

Caleb $17,600
Michael $10,600
Jessica $10,600

Tonight’s results:

Jessica $10,600 + $8,200 = $18,800 (What is Calvin & Hobbes?)
Michael $10,600 + $3,400 = $14,000 (What is Calvin & Hobbes?)
Caleb $17,600 + $3,601 = $21,201 (What is Calvin and Hobbes?) (4-day total: $71,200)

Game Stats:

Caleb $17,600 Coryat, 23 correct, 1 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Jessica $10,600 Coryat, 15 correct, 5 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Michael $10,200 Coryat, 15 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $38,400

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.

Caleb Groen, to win:

5 games: 74.350%
6: 55.279%
7: 41.100%
8: 30.558%
9: 22.720%
Avg. streak: 6.899 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Friendly reminder that if the correct response is already in the form of a question (i.e. “What time is it?”), it does not need to be doubly phrased.
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Caleb $17,600 Michael $10,600 Jessica $10,600)

Caleb: Standard cover bet today is $3,601. (You should probably do this, as both Michael and Jessica could go all in.) (Actual bet: $3,601)

Michael: You have to be correct to have a chance at victory. You should go all in to defend against Jessica potentially doing so. (Actual bet: $3,400)

Jessica: You have to be correct to have a chance at victory. You should go all in to defend against Michael potentially doing so. (Actual bet: $8,200)

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