recaps

Season 38

Today’s Final Jeopardy – Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Published Modified

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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 Continents) for Tuesday, September 28, 2021 (Season 38, Game 12):

It’s the only continent with its mainland lying in all 4 hemispheres as defined by the equator & the prime meridian

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Important note for those in the New York City or Philadelphia broadcast area, or if you watch the show on WABC or WPVI: Tonight’s game will be airing overnight in both of these markets due to the New Jersey gubernatorial debate. Make sure to check your local listings as to when the episode will actually be airing.

Today’s contestants:

Lori Waters, a retired teacher from New Braunfels, Texas

Lori Waters on Jeopardy!

Stu Selonick, a TV writer from Los Angeles, California

Stu Selonick on Jeopardy!

Matt Amodio, a Ph.D student from New Haven, Connecticut (29-day total: $1,037,001)

Matt Amodio on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: As Matt nears James Holzhauer’s 32 wins for second on the all-time list, the talk online is moving to “when, if ever, will Matt lose?” I still believe that it is a matter of when, not if—Jeopardy!, by its design, has a lot of randomness baked into it. If Matt takes extra time to find buzzer timing, or the Daily Doubles/Final Jeopardy! break poorly for him, there will be an episode where Matt loses. Matt is absolutely one of the best players to ever play this game, but he will lose at some point. But he sure is fun to watch while the run is happening!

PSA: The best way to keep COVID-19 at bay (and keep Jeopardy! producing new episodes) is for everybody to get their vaccinations as soon as they are able to. When wearing a mask, ensure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.

(Content continues below)

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.

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Correct response: What is Africa?

More information about Final Jeopardy: (The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2021 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

As per Britannica, “Geographers…have divided the planet into two sets of two hemispheres. These are the Northern and Southern hemispheres and the Eastern and Western hemispheres.” Note “two sets of two” and not “four” here in this definition—that means that the land mass need not appear in “northwest”, “southwest”, “southeast” and “northeast”, just that its mainland appear in “north and south” and “east and west”. As only Asian islands are situated in the Southern Hemisphere, Africa is the only continent to fit this clue.

That being said: I have usually defended the writers when it comes to easier Final Jeopardy! clues—they are important in the grand scheme of things in order to keep the wagering strategy “honest”. If players knew an absolute softball (such as this one) would never happen, then you would see contestants (especially leaders) failing to bet to win the game in Final Jeopardy, and the endgame would be significantly less exciting as a whole. However, it seems to me that the only redeeming quality to this question is that it seems to be a trap set up to potentially make contestants look stupid.

Mike Richards was still Executive Producer for these episodes. It is abundantly clear to me that even now, after his dismissal as host and executive producer, that he never once figured out the ethos of Jeopardy. Deliberately trying to make smart people look stupid has never been the aim of this show. Considering that, by greenlighting this clue, he felt this was an appropriate subject for a Final Jeopardy! in any context, let alone an adult regular-play one, I am very glad that he has been shown the door and that he will not have his thumb on the scales for much longer.

We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Proceeds from the sale of the “Doctor Oz’s Fast-Acting Snake Oil Elixir” T-shirt are being donated to The Trevor Project:

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.

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!

Scores going into Final:
Matt $48,400
Stu $12,000
Lori $3,800

Tonight’s results:
Lori $3,800 + $3,799 = $7,599 (What is Africa?)
Stu $12,000 + $4,000 = $16,000 (What is Africa?)
Matt $48,400 + $22,000 = $70,400 (What is Africa?) (30-day total: $1,107,401)

Matt Amodio, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the September 28, 2021 game.)

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Matt $14,000
Stu $2,400
Lori $2,200

Opening break taken after: 15 clues

Daily Double locations:
1) SIGNS & SYMBOLS $800 (clue #12)
Matt 5200 +5200 (Stu 1000 Lori 0)
2) FROM GRAY’S ANATOMY $1200 (clue #10)
Matt 24800 +6000 (Stu 4000 Lori 600)
3) HISTORIC SPEECHES $800 (clue #11, $20000 left on board)
Matt 30800 +10000 (Stu 4000 Lori 600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 157

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:
Matt $30,000 Coryat, 35 correct, 2 incorrect, 57.89% in first on buzzer (33/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Stu $12,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Lori $3,800 Coryat, 9 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $45,800
Lach Trash: $3,400 (on 3 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,800

Matt Amodio, career statistics:
966 correct, 96 incorrect
48/55 on rebound attempts (on 106 rebound opportunities)
53.66% in first on buzzer (910/1696)
57/66 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $227,200)
22/30 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $26,893

Stu Selonick, career statistics:
14 correct, 1 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,000

Lori Waters, career statistics:
10 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,800

Matt Amodio, to win:
31 games: 93.326%
32: 85.844%
33: 79.188%
34: 73.857%
35: 68.928%
Avg streak: 42.603 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

  • $70,400 is the 24th-highest one-day total of all time, and the 4th-highest that does not belong to James Holzhauer.

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