recaps

Detailed statistics for the Monday, October 19, 2026 episode of Jeopardy! (Anthony Cantor, Aster Wise, Frank Merchlewitz).

(TJF Plus) Daily Details - Monday, October 19, 2026

Published October 19, 2026 - 8:59 a.m. Modified October 19, 2026 - 1:07 p.m.

Current Champion

Frank Merchlewitz, career statistics:
24 correct, 8 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,800

To win:
2 games: 57.289%
3: 32.820%
4: 18.802%
5: 10.772%
6: 6.171%

Avg. streak: 2.341 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)
(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:

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

Aster Wise, a music teacher from Annandale, Virginia

Frank Merchlewitz, a senior digital producer from Robbinsdale, Minnesota

Frank enters today's game as a 1-day champion with winnings of $14,350.

Andy's Pregame Thoughts:

It's time for a new week on Jeopardy!, with Minnesota's Frank Merchlewitz returning as champion to face off against Aster Wise of Virginia and Anthony Cantor of Toronto. (Of course, the latest AI recap bot on YouTube hallucinated today's two challengers out of thin air on Friday.)

One thing that's already become clear about this week's games, and it's only Monday: the green room camaraderie amongst this week's taping cohort is clearly going to be very high—a number of them banded together to form an Online Quiz League USA team that has already begun play this fall. If the early stats are any indication, it might be worth watching out for Christine Bobal in Thursday's game.

Of course, for the second consecutive Monday, the J!6 clues are not available on Jeopardy!'s website at the time this article is being written; hopefully they'll be up by the end of the day (and that I won't have a reason to boycott like I chose to last Monday.)

Final Jeopardy! Category: Movie Promotions

Final Jeopardy! Clue: In 2001 20th Century Fox used a Coast Guard helicopter to "rescue" a prop before a homecoming at this company's Chicago HQ

(Content continues below)

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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 Wilson?

More Information About Final Jeopardy!:

In 2001, to promote the release of Cast Away on home media, 20^th Century Fox decided that it needed to "save Wilson" from the island; Wilson, of course, being the volleyball companion of Tom Hanks's character in the movie. Thus, in order to do so, the studio arranged for a Coast Guard helicopter to "rescue" the inanimate object from the island, returning the ball to Wilson headquarters in Chicago, where it arrived to a homecoming parade.

Wilson Sporting Goods's website itself contains a large amount of behind-the-scenes information about their volleyball's role in the turn-of-the century flick.

I think that there is enough in the clue to point you towards the correct film; as long as you can remember which important company from the film was based in Chicago, you'll be fine. (And hopefully you don't go down the Ken Jennings/FedEx line.)

Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here's the Monday, October 19, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Science & Nature; Common Bonds; Slipping & Sliding; "Up"; Town; Funk)

A fast-paced opening segment saw Frank do well in the Funk category, building a nest egg that he doubled on the Daily Double. Through 15, the scores were Frank $7,800 Anthony $4,200 Aster $1,800.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Frank 6 correct 0 incorrect
Anthony 5 correct 0 incorrect
Aster 2 correct 0 incorrect

Today's interviews:

Anthony got into TV production after consulting on a documentary.
Aster is a former roller derby referee.
Frank has been to 500 weddings.

All three players played well after the break as Frank continued to lead. On the opening board, Frank got 3 in funk, Aster got 3 in "Up", and Anthony got 3 in common bonds and slipping and sliding (but was beaten by Aster on the buzzer on the curling clue.)

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Frank 10 correct 0 incorrect
Anthony 11 correct 1 incorrect
Aster 6 correct 0 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Frank $9,600
Anthony $6,000
Aster $3,200

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The 1950s, Daddy-O; Literary Title Characters; Starts With A Silent Letter; Seek A Grave; A French Connection; By Their Hats Shall Ye Know Them)

I was surprised when Anthony went all-in just after taking the lead on DD2; a protracted search for DD3 happened, and Frank decided, upon finding it with three clues to go, that he needed to go all-in as well. It worked for Frank, as his correct response gave him the lead entering Final Jeopardy. On the second board, Frank ran hats, while Anthony got 3 in French connections.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Frank 21 correct 1 incorrect
Anthony 21 correct 2 incorrect
Aster 10 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 3 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Frank $34,400
Anthony $27,200
Aster $6,000

Anthony was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy, and that makes him the new champion! He'll be back tomorrow to defend his title.

Tonight's results:

Aster $6,000 - $5,000 = $1,000 (What is a car?)
Anthony $27,200 + $10,000 = $37,200 (What is Wilson?) (1-day total: $37,200)
Frank $34,400 - $20,001 = $14,399 (What is McDonald's)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) TOWN $600 (clue #7)
Frank 3400 +3400 (Aster 0 Anthony 800)
2) LITERARY TITLE CHARACTERS $1200 (clue #5)
Anthony 11200 +11200 (Frank 9600 Aster 5200)
3) BY THEIR HATS SHALL YE KNOW THEM $800 (clue #27, $1200 left on board)
Frank 16800 +16800 (Aster 6000 Anthony 26800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 300

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Frank 5 4 3 2 4 3*
Aster
Anthony 5

DJ! Round:
Frank 5 4 3 3 3 5 4 3 2 2 2 2*
Aster 5 4 1† 1 1
Anthony 4 5 3* 5 5 4 4 3 2† 2

† - selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Anthony 3.82
Frank 3.28
Aster 2.40

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 3 (0.12 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Anthony $17,200 Coryat, 21 correct, 2 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Frank $15,600 Coryat, 21 correct, 1 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Aster $6,000 Coryat, 10 correct, 1 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $38,800
Lach Trash: $10,000 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,200
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Frank Merchlewitz, career statistics:

45 correct, 10 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (46/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $21,200)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,700

Aster Wise, career statistics:

10 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,000

Anthony Cantor, career statistics:

22 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $11,200)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,200

Anthony Cantor, to win:

2 games: 73.068%
3: 53.389%
4: 39.011%
5: 28.504%
6: 20.827%
Avg. streak: 3.713 games.

Andy's Thoughts:

I know my Apple smart devices were triggered by the response on the Ceres clue; I wonder who else's were?

Anthony's $27,200 entering Final Jeopardy is $800 short of the record set earlier in 2026 by Patrick Nolan, who had $28,000 entering Final on April 23 against Jamie Ding.

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

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Frank $34,400 Anthony $27,200 Aster $6,000)

Frank: Standard cover bet today is $20,001. (Actual bet: $20,001)

Aster: You need two overbets to have a chance. Bet whatever you'd like. (Actual bet: $5,000)

Anthony: Because you're between three-quarters and four-fifths of Frank, your best chance of winning today comes with a bet between $7,201 and $12,799. (Actual bet: $10,000)