Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, July 17, 2024

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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 Literary Characters) for Wednesday, July 17, 2024 (Season 40, Game 223):

In a 1980 National Book Award Winner, we learn this title character gets his name from the rank of his late Dad–Technical Sergeant

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Zach Eckstein, a law clerk from New York, New York

Nella Ballauer, a church secretary from Amarillo, Texas

Jay Fisher, a government relations manager from Lisle, Illinois (1-day total: $1,799)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Jay Fisher is your new champion on Jeopardy!, having won yesterday with just $1,799 after a Triple Stumper Final Jeopardy and a math error from 9-time champion Isaac Hirsch, who bet too much on yesterday’s final category. Today, Jay faces off against Amarillo church secretary Nella Ballauer and New York law clerk Zach Eckstein.

Today’s game will see a continuation of pre-emptions in many locations, especially on the West Coast, due to coverage of the Republican National Convention. You should check your local listings (or, Matt Carberry has put together a spreadsheet of pre-emptions.)

I have an occasional mailbag column where I answer fan & viewer questions regarding the show. If you have a question, feel free to send it to mailbag@thejeopardyfan.com!

Correct response: Who is (T.S.) Garp?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2024 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

T.S. Garp, the title character of John Irving’s The World According to Garp, was a character born out of wedlock to a mother who wanted a child but not a husband—in the book, the initials T.S. had no meaning, and they were inspired by the rank of Garp’s father—technical sergeant in the Army (Garp’s mother had been nursing the father after a war combat injury and Garp was conceived under circumstances that I have deliberately chosen not write here in this section. The character’s creation by Irving was inspired by the fact that Irving himself did not know who his biological father was at the time of the book’s writing and told his mother that unless his mother gave him information about his father, he would invent the father for the book and the circumstances of how he was conceived. The work won a 1980 National Book Award as a paperback after its hardcover was a finalist in 1979.

Depending on if literature (or potentially even early ’80s film) is a strong point for our players, I could see this Final playing anywhere from 0-for-3 to 3-for-3.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, July 17, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Cybertalk; The Folkie Era; States By Super-Senator; Arresting Literature; 2 X 3; 6-Pourri)

In a well-paced opening 15 clues, Jay got off to the best start, picking up the first 4 correct. However, Zach charged back with seven correct of his own. At the interviews, Jay and Zach both had $3,800, while Nella had $600.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Zach 7 correct 0 incorrect
Jay 6 correct 0 incorrect
Nella 2 correct 0 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Zach attempted to become a beer brewer in college but It did not go well.
Nella is a hockey league statistician.
Jay has a father & grandfather who both worked at Graceland.

The “Cybertalk” category did not go well; Nella missed the Daily Double in it, while Zach gave a pair of high-valued incorrect responses. Meawnhile, Jay kept up his record of zero unforced errors and led after 30 clues.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Jay 9 correct 0 incorrect
Zach 10 correct 2 incorrect
Nella 5 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Jay $6,400
Zach $3,800
Nella $0

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: U.S. Place Nicknames; Le Cinéma; Education; 3 Consecutive Letters; World History; Opera Heroines)

In a round that saw a number of Triple Stumpers, Jay got both Daily Doubles and cruised to a runaway.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Jay 18 correct 0 incorrect
Nella 8 correct 2 incorrect
Zach 12 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 21 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Jay $19,700
Nella $3,600
Zach $1,800

This Final was a Triple Stumper; Jay is now a 2-day champion!

Tonight’s results:

Zach $1,800 – $1,800 = $0 (Who is Smith?)
Nella $3,600 – $3,599 = $1 (Who is ?)
Jay $19,700 – $5,300 = $14,400 (Who is ????) (2-day total: $16,199)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) CYBERTALK $600 (clue #21)
Nella 0 -1000 (Jay 3800 Zach 4400)
2) U.S. PLACE NICKNAMES $1200 (clue #4)
Jay 7600 +3000 (Nella 0 Zach 4200)
3) EDUCATION $1600 (clue #12, $23600 left on board)
Jay 12200 +3500 (Nella 800 Zach 3400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -32

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Jay 5 4 3 2 1 2 5 2 3
Nella 3 1 3*
Zach 1 4 5 1 2 3 4 1 2

DJ! Round:
Jay 2 3* 2 3 4 5 2 3 4*
Nella 1 1
Zach 1

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Jay 3.06
Nella 1.80
Zach 2.40

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 21 (0.09 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Jay $16,000 Coryat, 18 correct, 0 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Nella $4,600 Coryat, 8 correct, 2 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Zach $1,800 Coryat, 12 correct, 4 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $22,400
Lach Trash: $25,400 (on 21 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,200
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 3

Player Statistics:

Jay Fisher, career statistics:

37 correct, 2 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (30/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,500)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,100

Nella Ballauer, career statistics:

8 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,600

Zach Eckstein, career statistics:

12 correct, 5 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,800

Jay Fisher, to win:

3 games: 55.042%
4: 30.296%
5: 16.676%
6: 9.179%
7: 5.052%
Avg. streak: 3.224 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• As we learned last year, the record for most Triple Stumpers in a game is 24, set back in 2005.
• Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Jay $19,700 Nella $3,600 Zach $1,800)

Jay: Bet no more than $12,499. (Actual bet: $5,300)

Nella: If you bet $0 here, you’re guaranteed second place (and the extra $1,000) by virtue of having led going into Final. (Actual bet: $3,599)

Zach: I would go all in here, just in case Nella makes a bet. (Actual bet: $1,800)

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