recaps

Season 30

Facepalm

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

September 26-27: S42 E174 (May 7, 2026)
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 to start off another week of recaps! No pictures today, though!

This week’s contestants:
Katie Frank, Poway, CA
Stacy Gardner, Long Beach, CA
Brian Keele, Atlanta, GA
Alison Meermans, Lakewood, OH
Paige Ormiston, Norvolk, VA
Angie Rasmussen, Seattle, WA
Troy Senik, Westlake Village, CA
Peter Solderitsch, Havertown, PA
Andrea West, Columbia, SC
Andrew Winner, Spokane, WA
Desiree Zicko, Reading, MA

Today’s players: Andrew Winner and Andrea West playing Katie Frank (who won $38,600 over 2 days at the end of last week!)

J! round categories:
FINISH THE TERRIBLE RHYME
THE 1950s
HEADLINES FROM THE ONION
ALAN RICKMAN ROLES
HONG KONG
PHOOEY

The following clue, HONG KONG $600, (Hong Kong is surrounded by this sea to the east, west & of course, “South”) tripped up our champ; I think it confused Katie because “South” was already in the clue!

At the end of 15, the scores sat at:

Katie $2,800
Andrew $1,800
Andrea $400

Andrew was in South Africa working for an education charity when he got The Call!

Katie is a black belt in Kung Fu!

Getting back to the game, THE 1950s $600 had the Daily Double! Katie’s to play, the scores were at:

Katie $3,400
Andrew $1,400
Andrea $400

Katie went for $1,000. Her clue: One guest said of their 1953 wedding in Newport, Rhode Island, it was “just like a coronation”. Her correct response put her at $4,400!

A surprising Triple Stumper (at least for me) at the bottom of THE 1950s: Surprisingly, Dr. Joyce Brothers’ knowledge of this sport earned her the top prize on “The $64,000 Question”

I wanted to groan after each one of the TERRIBLE RHYME clues. Here was a Triple Stumper at $800: “Prepare to meet thy god, o Israel” was not writ just to shame us / it is, however, right here now, from the Bible’s book of…

Scores after 30:
Katie $7,200
Andrew $2,000
Andrea $1,400

DJ! round categories:
NOOSE MEN
BENS & JERRYS
CAPITALS AT STATEHOOD
BEAUTIFUL QUOTATIONS
DIALECTS
THE SECRET LIFE OF B’s

CAPITALS AT STATEHOOD always seems to bring supposed know-it-alls out of the woodwork from people who haven’t read the category properly! I chose not to hunt around the Internet for those today, though!

Andrea went hunting early! Her second selection, DIALECTS $1600, found the first Daily Double! Scores:

Katie $7,200
Andrea $2,600
Andrew $2,000

Andrea bet $2,000 — and to that, I ask — why are you hunting for it if you’re not going to take full advantage of it?

Anyway, her clue: Rioplatense is a dialect of Spanish found in a small geographic area that includes these 2 South American capitals. Andrea was unable to come up with a correct response and she fell to $600.

Meanwhile, Katie didn’t touch the buzzer over the first 11 clues, and Andrea’s performance in CAPITALS AT STATEHOOD gave her the lead!

The final Daily Double was in the final category played, NOOSE MEN. Andrew painstakingly tried the $1600, $1200, and then $2000 clues. Unfortunately for him, Katie got the $2000 clue, went to $800 and found the final Daily Double. Sometimes you just get unlucky. Scores:

Katie $12,000
Andrea $11,800
Andrew $5,200

With only a $400 clue left, there are two viable options: $200 exactly, or something really big, big enough to try to put the game away here. Big of the “bet Andrea’s score” big.

Katie picked $1,000. Nope. Her clue: Just before he was hanged on December 30, 2006, he mocked Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr. At least she got it correct. She moved to $13,000.

Andrew got the final $400 clue, making the scores going into Final:

Katie $13,000
Andrea $11,800
Andrew $5,600

FJ! category: WORD ORIGINS

FJ! clue: This noun meaning a secret plan comes from the Latin for “to breathe together”

Andrew 5600 + 3000 = 8600
Andrea 11800 + 10000 = 21800
Katie 13000 + 5000 = 18000

facepalm(n.)A gesture in which the palm of one’s hand is brought to one’s face as an expression of dismay, exasperation, embarrassment, etc.

I’d like these contestants from the last while to be my opponents when I get on the show. But Andrea West is the champion, and she’ll be back tomorrow to defend!

Powered by Labrador CMS