recaps

Season 29

Controversy? Pshaw, I say!

Published

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

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

Andy here with the first recap of the week!

First up, there was some controversy in some corners of the Internet on Friday, regarding Final Jeopardy!:

Friday’s Final: The title princess of this game, which launched a best-selling franchise, was named for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife.

As you may have heard, two contestants (Toby and Ken) negged with simply “Zelda”. “Zelda” is not the name of the game. Jeopardy! is very specific when it comes to titles – and you must have the right title. No highway robbery here, in my opinion — and I hope that I don’t see Toby return, as that would take the spot away from a more deserving person onto the show.

Mark Japinga is a 2-day champion now, trying to make his way onto the ToC list! This week’s contestants:

Alan Baltis, Lakewood, OH
John Clarke, Vancouver, BC Canada
Amanda Farrish, Vernon, CT
Mark Japinga, Washington, DC
Bradley King, New York, NY
Matthew Mahan, Hooksett, NH
Berek Marcus, Northborough, MA
Cal Mason, Arlington, MA
Kerri McCoy, Jersey City, NJ
Deborah Stowell, Saint Charles, IL
Jeffrey Wachs, Irvine, CA

Monday’s challengers: Deborah Stowell and Bradley King!

J! round categories:
1983–30 YEARS AGO (yes. I can do math. I don’t need to be reminded of the number of years ago my birth year was.)
NATURAL WONDERS
VWLLSS
OTHER JULY OBSERVANCES
HIGH
“MIGHTY”

Surprising Triple Stumper at 1983 $400: This Polish electrician won the Nobel Peace Prize.

1983 $800 had the Daily Double, and it was Mark’s! Scores were:

Bradley $600
Deborah $0
Mark -$400

Mark bet $1,000. His clue: German con artist Konrad Kujau faked these to fool the world (for a while in the spring of ’83). Mark’s response of “elections” put him at -$1,400. Mark did get his score back up out of the red by the first break. Scores at the first break were:

Deborah $2,000
Bradley $600
Mark $0

Mark’s grandmother was a guest of his in the audience this week!

Coming out of the break, all 3 players had luck on the buzzers and the game moved at quite a brisk pace! Mark had the most luck, running VWLLSS right at the end of the round, breaking the game open a little bit after the J! round! Scores were:

Mark $6,000
Deborah $3,000
Bradley $2,800

DJ! round categories:
BOOKS’ BEGINNINGS
50 SHADES OF GRAHAM
TREES
FROM A TO E
TV TITLE GUYS & GALS
IT’S CHOPPER ALEX WITH TRAFFIC

Bradley started at the $800 level, ostensibly Daily Double hunting, but he inexplicably went to $400 immediately following.

Meanwhile, Mark had buzzer success as the Daily Doubles played hide-and-seek quite well from the contestants, in spite of Deborah’s complete indifference to finding them! Needless to say, Mark found the first of them, under FROM A TO E $1600. 5 clues remained on the board (TREES 12, 16, 20, A TO E 20, TRAFFIC 4), including a Daily Double! Scores were:

Mark $18,400
Deborah $10,600
Bradley $5,600

(My line here: Bet big here — around $7,500 — where there’s a constraint as to what the answer is. Following that, go to TREES $1200, figuring the Daily Double is more likely to be there, take it out with a small bet, and then worry about the final 4 clues from there!)

Mark chose to bet $3,000. His clue: It means to make a food or drug impure by adding inferior ingredients. Mark struggled with this, and his score fell to $15,400.

The final Daily Double wasn’t at $1200 — it was at $1600. It was Mark’s, though, with just the $2000 clue left.

Scores:

Mark $17,000
Deborah $8,600
Bradley $5,600

I’d bet exactly $4,300 here. Mark didn’t do the math right and bet just $2,300. His clue: This “Chestnut” is scientifically known as Aesculus hippocastanum. Another headshake from Mark put him at $14,700. He did get the final clue to put the scores going into Final at:

Mark $16,700
Deborah $8,600
Bradley $5,600

FJ! category: OPERA

FJ! clue: This 1871 opera is set in Memphis & Thebes, & along the banks of the Nile

Bradley 5600 + 5599 = 11199
Deborah 8600 + 8101 = 16701
Mark 16700 + 501 = 17201

Mark’s now a 3-day champion, $76,700!

ToC update:

1. Jim Coury (May 2013 College Champion)
2. Ben Ingram $176,534 (8 wins)
3. Drew Horwood $138,100 (8 wins)
4. Andrew Moore
$137,803 (6 wins)
5. Joshua Brakhage $103,205 (5 wins)
6. Rebecca Rider $101,600 (5 wins)
7. Mike Lewis $102,800 (4 wins)
8. Mark Japinga $76,700 (3 wins)
9. Adam Holquist $76,299 (3 wins)
10. Sara Garnett $75,403 (3 wins)
11. Salvo Candela $66,195 (3 wins)
12. John Anneken $60,112 (3 wins)
13. Tim Anderson $56,001 (3 wins)

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