Today’s Final Jeopardy – Monday, October 16, 2023

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

August 12: S42 E98 (January 21, 2026)
August 13: S42 E99 (January 22, 2026)
August 14: S42 E100 (January 23, 2026)
August 15-16: S41 E141 (March 24, 2025)
August 17: S42 E101 (January 26, 2026)
August 18: S42 E105 (January 30, 2026)
August 19: S42 E102 (January 27, 2026)
August 20: S42 E103 (January 28, 2026)
August 21: S42 E104 (January 29, 2026)
August 22-23: S41 E142 (March 25, 2025)
August 24: S42 E106 (February 2, 2026)
August 25: S42 E107 (February 3, 2026)
August 26: S42 E108 (February 4, 2026)
August 27: S42 E109 (February 5, 2026)
August 28: S42 E110 (February 6, 2026)
August 29-30: S41 E143 (March 26, 2025)
(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 $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Andrew He $534,365
17. Scott Riccardi $533,000
18. Jerome Vered $499,102
19. Julia Collins $495,767
20. Austin Rogers $493,000
21. Ben Ingram $449,201
22. Paolo Pasco $448,717
23. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
24. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
25. Juveria Zaheer $441,000

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category The Nobel Prize in Physics) for Monday, October 16, 2023 (Season 40, Game 26):

Barry Barish, who shared the 2017 Prize for detecting gravitational waves, called his award “a win for” this predecessor

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Dane Reighard, a writer & editor from Los Angeles, California

Kendra Blanchette, a registered dietitian from Elk Grove, California

Josh Saak, a traffic engineer from Boise, Idaho

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Today’s second semifinal in the Spades bracket of Fall 2023’s Champions Wildcard features three players who, while they did outperform their opponents over all 61 clues, were each the recipient of a fortuitous break in Final Jeopardy to advance this far (either by a wagering error or an incorrect response from an opponent). I should reiterate, though—the object is to have the most money at the end, and each of these three players did that in the quarterfinals! The similarities don’t end there: both Josh and Dane’s regular-play runs ended to Jeopardy! Masters Season 1 participants (Matt Amodio and Andrew He respectively). Meanwhile, Kendra herself did have a very strong quarterfinal match; I could see any of these three players winning this one!

Correct response: Who is Albert Einstein?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2023 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity predicted the existence of gravitational waves; however, it took until 2015 for those waves to be seen, thanks to research done at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). This research was headed up by Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish, and Kip Thorne, who split the 2017 Nobel for these observations. These gravitational waves were observed when two “black holes” combined in the universe, 1.3 billion light years away, to form a single, larger black hole. Barish’s comments to the Associated Press credited Einstein for his work in predicting the existence of these gravitational waves.

In my opinion, this clue becomes at least a 50/50 shot if you remember, “Who is the show most likely to ask about here?” Because they generally expect their audience to have heard of the correct response, this means that the contestants should be trying to guess between Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. I also think that the coin flip weighs in Einstein’s direction if you remember that Hawking was still alive at that point and would have received the prize himself if he had been involved. Thus, I think a contestant who can keep their head about them in Final Jeopardy (and can get in the head of the writer—sometimes a crucial skill in trivia) may have an advantage when answering this clue correctly.

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, October 16, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: This Gland Is Your Gland; A Prequel To Which Movie?; British Spelling Bee; I Didn’t Come Here To Make Friends; Kickin’ Aztec; & Takin’ Names)

Josh had a bad time in THIS GLAND IS YOUR GLAND to open with a pair of incorrect responses, but he recovered well by the opening break. After the break, Kendra doubled up through the Daily Double and held a slim lead over Dane.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Kendra 4 correct 0 incorrect
Dane 4 correct 0 incorrect
Josh 5 correct 2 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Dane prepared with yoga, deep meditation, and… video games.
Kendra thought that playing with Alex as host was a life goal.
Josh has a wife who graduated medical school 3 hours after their wedding.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Kendra 7 correct 1 incorrect
Dane 11 correct 1 incorrect
Josh 6 correct 3 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Kendra $4,600
Dane $4,400
Josh $1,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: O Brother, Where Art Thou?; In The Baseball Team’s Lineup; The Literary Character Who Said…; You Do The Math; Want To Make Something Out Of It?; Change A Letter)

Kendra was cruising early in Double Jeopardy—but a missed Daily Double dropped her score significantly. Dane got to the third one, and his correct response gave him a lead that he carried through to the Final Jeopardy round.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Dane 19 correct 1 incorrect
Josh 16 correct 4 incorrect
Kendra 16 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Dane $14,400
Josh $12,200
Kendra $10,200

Josh was the only player who came up with Einstein today, which means he’ll be joining Sam in the finals!

Tonight’s results:

Kendra $10,200 – $5,000 = $5,200 (Who is Newton?)
Josh $12,200 + $2,205 = $14,405 (Who is Einstein?) (Finalist)
Dane $14,400 – $7,000 = $7,400 (Who is Newton?)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) & TAKIN’ NAMES $600 (clue #20)
Kendra 2600 +2600 (Josh 1400 Dane 3200)
2) THE LITERARY CHARACTER WHO SAID… $1600 (clue #10)
Kendra 8200 -3200 (Josh 5400 Dane 5600)
3) O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? $2000 (clue #18, $15200 left on board)
Dane 7600 +2000 (Josh 7800 Kendra 5800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 87

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Josh 2 3 2 3 2 1
Kendra 1 5 4 3 2 1 3*
Dane 4 5 2 5 4 3 1

DJ! Round:
Josh 3 5 2 2 3 2 4
Kendra 4 1 1 4* 5† 1 3
Dane 2 3 2 5*

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Josh 2.62
Dane 3.27
Kendra 2.71

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Josh $12,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 4 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Dane $14,400 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Kendra $11,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 2 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $38,000
Lach Trash: $9,000 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,000
Lead Changes: 6
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Josh Saak, career statistics:

131 correct, 18 incorrect
4/6 on rebound attempts (on 21 rebound opportunities)
38.12% in first on buzzer (130/341)
6/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $19,600)
5/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,000

Kendra Blanchette, career statistics:

99 correct, 11 incorrect
11/12 on rebound attempts (on 28 rebound opportunities)
30.18% in first on buzzer (86/285)
5/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $9,000)
1/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,480

Dane Reighard, career statistics:

105 correct, 16 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 23 rebound opportunities)
37.19% in first on buzzer (106/285)
5/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $19,000)
2/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,880

Andy’s Thoughts:

• The KICKIN’ AZTEC $1000 clue, and the stumbling of “Tenochtitlan” definitely reminded me of the Solzhenitsyn incident from last season.

• Today’s box score: October 16, 2023 Box Score.

• Thank you to those who pointed out various errors in today’s recap. They should all be corrected.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Dane $14,400 Josh $12,200 Kendra $10,200)

Josh: You’re in what is known as Stratton’s Dilemma; you can’t both cover Kendra and win a Triple Stumper. Either bet $1,999 or less (therefore forcing Kendra to be correct to pass you) or go all in. (Actual bet: $2,205)

Kendra: Limit your bet to $5,800 to stay ahead of Dane. (Actual bet: $5,000)

Dane: Standard cover bet over Josh is $10,001. You should do this, because Josh has occasion to go all-in, being in Stratton’s Dilemma. (Actual bet: $7,000)

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