recaps

Detailed statistics for the Friday, October 23, 2026 episode of Jeopardy! (Shannon Leigh Godwin, Ajin Tae, Anthony Cantor).

(TJF Plus) Daily Details - Friday, October 23, 2026

Published October 23, 2026 - 8:59 a.m. Modified October 23, 2026 - 1:07 p.m.

Current Champion

Anthony Cantor, career statistics:
86 correct, 9 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (80/228)
4/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $20,600)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,850

To win:
5 games: 63.538%
6: 40.371%
7: 25.651%
8: 16.298%
9: 10.355%
Avg. streak: 5.743 games.
(Click Here for Methodology )

Upcoming Encore Presentations

October 24-25: S42 E178 (May 13, 2026)
October 31-Nov. 1: S42 E179 (May 14, 2026)
November 7-8: S42 E180 (May 15, 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

Welcome to the TJ!F Plus Daily Details section. For those free logged-in users, more information is available about the results of today's game!

Are you looking for today's main page? Find that here!

Today's Jeopardy! contestants:

Shannon Leigh Godwin, an interior designer from Oakland, California

Ajin Tae, a trader from New York, New York

Anthony Cantor, a television & podcast producer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Anthony enters today's game as a 4-day champion with winnings of $77,199.

Andy's Pregame Thoughts:

It was back in July where Caleb Groen became the 296^th 5-time champion since Jeopardy! returned to the airwaves in 1984, with both Matthew Riggle and Rian Robertson making an attempt to become the 297^th; however, they both failed in their attempt. Today, Anthony Cantor becomes the third player this season attempting to become a 5-time champion, with challengers Ajin Tae and Shannon Leigh Godwin both attempting to stop him from doing so.

With the World Series starting tonight on FOX, there will be a handful of preemptions over the next 8 days for the 10 FOX local stations that carry the show. As of right now, all 10 stations will be moving the show to some other time on their schedule, or to a sister station. Matt Carberry's Google sheet (or your local listings) will have more information for you.

Final Jeopardy! Category: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Fiction

Final Jeopardy! Clue: Inspired by the story to tell similar ones, Taylor Sheridan wrote the foreword to the 40th anniversary edition of this novel

(Content continues below)

Add The Jeopardy! Fan to your preferred sources on Google by clicking the button below!

Would you like to be a guest on my new Jeopartalk! podcast? Friends are welcome to contact me via any method you have for me; current contestants who need that information can find my email in the About section.

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.

Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2026? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!

You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!

Correct response: What is Lonesome Dove?

More Information About Final Jeopardy!:

Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove, the 1986 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, was set in the Old West, and dealt with the journey of a number of retired Texas Rangers driving cattle from Texas northwestern towards Montana. Interestingly, the novel started out as a screenplay, but when a number of actors (including John Wayne) demurred on the project, McMurtry developed the screenplay into Lonesome Dove instead.

Taylor Sheridan, now best known for creating such Western series as Yellowstone, referred to his reading (and re-reading following the TV miniseries adaptation of the work) as "easily the most formative event in my life" in the foreword to the recently-released 40^th Anniversary Edition.

Without a year in the clue, the best way in to this Final Jeopardy clue is to know who Taylor Sheridan is; if you don't, you're basically picking a work at least 40 years old, and hopefully landing on the right one. We'll see how it plays.

Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here's the Friday, October 23, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Euro-Tripping With Rick Steves; The Championship Team; Recent Bestsellers; Beastly Words & Phrases; I Hope You're Hungry For...; Nothing)

Thanks to doubling up through the Daily Double, it was Shannon who was on fire early, leading at the interviews. Scores through 15 clues were Shannon $4,800 Anthony $2,000 Ajin $1,000.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Shannon 6 correct 0 incorrect
Anthony 6 correct 2 incorrect
Ajin 1 correct 0 incorrect

Today's interviews:

Shannon was set on fire at the International Stunt School.
Ajin is raising three children who play 15 instruments.
Anthony had to deliver one of his children.

Anthony played well after the break, but Shannon continued to lead. On the opening board, Shannon got 4 in nothing and 3 in Euro-tripping, while Anthony got 3 in beastly words & phrases and championship teams.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Shannon 12 correct 0 incorrect
Anthony 10 correct 3 incorrect
Ajin 4 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Shannon $7,200
Anthony $4,000
Ajin $1,800

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: 100 Years Of Colonial Williamsburg; Med. Abbrev.; I Got A Fever; Paint-Ed; 5-Syllable Words; 2020s In Memoriam)

There was a lot of volatility in our scores during the Double Jeopardy Round today, especially after Anthony lost $6,000 on DD3. At the end of the round, the scores were very interesting—Anthony's score was exactly two-thirds of Shannon's. On the second board, Shannon got 3 in fevers, while Ajin got 3 in 5-syllable words and Anthony got 3 in Williamsburg and 2020s in memoriams.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Shannon 17 correct 0 incorrect
Anthony 21 correct 6 incorrect
Ajin 8 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 3 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Shannon $12,000
Anthony $8,000
Ajin $3,200

Anthony's bet of $0 in Final Jeopardy—exactly what he had to do—put the pressure squarely on Shannon, but she was up to the challenge, putting an exclamation point on her performance today with a correct response in Final Jeopardy. She's your new champion and will be back on Monday to defend.

Tonight's results:

Ajin $3,200 - $3,000 = $200 (What is On the Road?)
Anthony $8,000 - $0 = $8,000 (What is ???)
Shannon $12,000 + $4,001 = $16,001 (What is Lonesome Dove) (1-day total: $16,001)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) NOTHING $800 (clue #7)
Shannon 1400 +1400 (Anthony -400 Ajin 1000)
2) PAINT-ED $1200 (clue #3)
Ajin 1800 -1800 (Anthony 4000 Shannon 7200)
3) 5-SYLLABLE WORDS $1600 (clue #11, $20000 left on board)
Anthony 9200 -6000 (Ajin 2000 Shannon 8000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -55

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Anthony 4 5 3
Ajin 3
Shannon 2 3 4*

DJ! Round:
Anthony 5 4 5 3 4*
Ajin 4 4 3* 3 2
Shannon 3

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Shannon 3.00
Anthony 4.13
Ajin 3.17

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 3 (0.10 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Shannon $11,400 Coryat, 17 correct, 0 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Anthony $14,000 Coryat, 21 correct, 6 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Ajin $5,000 Coryat, 8 correct, 3 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,400
Lach Trash: $15,000 (on 12 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,600
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 2

Player Statistics:

Anthony Cantor, career statistics:

107 correct, 16 incorrect
4/5 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
37.19% in first on buzzer (106/285)
4/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $14,600)
2/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,680

Ajin Tae, career statistics:

8 correct, 4 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,800)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $5,000

Shannon Leigh Godwin, career statistics:

18 correct, 0 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,400

Andy's Thoughts:

While I maybe don't think Ken should remind players of the rules, I also don't think he should mislead a player by saying "How much of your $1,800 would you like to bet?" on a Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy Round.

Today's J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Shannon $12,000 Anthony $8,000 Ajin $3,200)

Anthony: Bet $0 and hope for a cover bet and incorrect response from Shannon. (Actual bet: $0)

Ajin: You need overbets from Ajin and Shannon to have any chance here, but if you bet between $801 and about $3,100, you might get second here. (Actual bet: $3,000)

Shannon: Standard cover bet is $4,001. (Despite falling $1 below Anthony, this is still a good idea because there's no guarantee Anthony will recognize the situation.) (Actual bet: $4,001)