recaps
Season 42
Today’s Final Jeopardy – Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 24, 2026, game ofJeopardy!— 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.
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 Short Stories) for Tuesday, February 24, 2026 (Season 42, Game 122):
Encountering one that snarls at him in an 1819 work, this title character exclaims, “My very dog…has forgotten me!”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Christa Fidel, a musician from Wellington, Florida
James Hirsh, a lawyer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Trey Hart, a grant writer from Petaluma, California (2-day total: $34,300)
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Proving once again that Michael Davies generally knows what he’s doing, yesterday saw the return of non-tournament Jeopardy! to…relative crickets. Certainly, the anti-tournament crowd was happy, but the general ambivalence of the average viewer towards last night’s game came through clearly on the analytics side of things in the 12 hours since airing in the Eastern Time Zone—especially on Facebook, where the average viewers are most likely to congregate. Tournaments move the needle, regular play doesn’t.
In that game, defending champion Trey Hart made a very intelligent move in Final Jeopardy and ended up taking his second victory when Final ended up as a Triple Stumper. Today, he goes for win #3 against Florida musician Christa Fidel and Ontario lawyer James Hirsh.
(Content continues below)
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: Who is Rip Van Winkle?
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.)
Rip Van Winkle is the title character of a famous Washington Irving short story, written in June 1818 and first published the following year in 1819. In it, Rip is a villager living at the foot of the Catskill Mountains; on a hunting trip, he gets drunk and falls asleep, only awaking 20 years later—after the American Revolution has passed.
This Final Jeopardy clue has everything needed—time frame, and just enough of the plot—in order for both player and viewer to figure it out. One good thing about regular play is that Final Jeopardy is often more straightforward.
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Game Recap:
An excellent game that was separated by just $800 through 30 clues saw Trey and James pick up the Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy, James coming back from a distant third over the final 10 clues to lead entering Final Jeopardy, thanks to $8,000 on the last Daily Double.
Final Jeopardy saw a triple-get as James becomes your new champion! He’ll get to play for win #2 tomorrow.
Scores going into Final:
James $20,400
Trey $16,200
Christa $15,600
Tonight’s results:
Christa $15,600 + $0 = $15,600 (Who is Rip Van Winkle)
Trey $16,200 + $8,000 = $24,200 (Who is Rip Van Winkle?)
James $20,400 + $12,018 = $32,418 (Who is Rip Van Winkle) (1-day total: $32,418)
Game Stats:
James $12,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 1 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Trey $13,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 2 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Christa $15,600 Coryat, 15 correct, 0 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,200
James Hirsh, to win:
2 games: 60.346%
3: 36.416%
4: 21.976%
5: 13.262%
6: 8.003%
Avg. streak: 2.522 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- If James goes on a run, I would absolutely expect to see Christa in Second Chance and Trey in Champions Wildcard. If not, we’ll see.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: James $20,400 Trey $16,200 Christa $15,600)
Trey: You can’t both cover Christa and win a Triple Stumper. If covering, bet at least $15,001. If not, bet no more than $599 and force Christa to be correct and make a bet to beat you. (Actual bet: $8,000)
James: Standard cover bet is $12,001. (Actual bet: $12,018)
Christa: Bet between $1,201 and $7,199, hoping for a Triple Stumper and an overbet from Trey, while also defending against Trey’s entire low range. (Actual bet: $0)
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