recaps

Detailed statistics for the Thursday, October 1, 2026 episode of Jeopardy! (Elizabeth Severs, Rian Robertson, Kristin Franke).

(TJF Plus) Daily Details - Thursday, October 1, 2026

Published October 1, 2026 - 8:59 a.m. Modified October 1, 2026 - 1:00 p.m.

Current Champion

Greg Monson, career statistics:
18 correct, 5 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,800)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400

To win:
2 games: 56.855%
3: 32.325%
4: 18.378%
5: 10.449%
6: 5.941%
Avg. streak: 2.318 games.
(Click Here for Methodology )

Upcoming Encore Presentations

October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 2026)
October 17-18: S42 E177 (May 12, 2026)
October 24-25: S42 E178 (May 13, 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:

Elizabeth Severs, an aspiring novelist from Wilmington, North Carolina

Rian Robertson, a software developer from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Kristin Franke, a pastor from Washington, D.C.

Kristin enters today's game as a 1-day champion with winnings of $8,900.

Andy's Pregame Thoughts:

Kristin Franke is your new Jeopardy! champion, having won $8,900 in yesterday's game. Today, she faces off against Elizabeth Severs of North Carolina and your first Canadian of the season, Rian Robertson of Ottawa.

For the third consecutive day, there will be Major League Baseball-related preemptions of Jeopardy! in some markets today, but because there is only the one MLB playoff game this evening, it will only affect the Mountain and Pacific time zones today. Check your local listings for the updated air time, or Matt Carberry's Google Sheet.

Final Jeopardy! Category: Historic Zoology

Final Jeopardy! Clue: Described when first encountered in 1835, this species "must have weight at least 200 pounds…gave a deep hiss, & drew In its head"

(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 the Galápagos tortoise?

More Information About Final Jeopardy!:

The Galápagos tortoise, seen and described by Charles Darwin on his famous voyage to the islands in the mid-1830s; in fact, the islands were named by the Spanish because galápago is Spanish for "tortoise". The species played a role in the development of his theory of evolution, although Darwin didn't quite realize ths until later. Being plentiful, the specimens taken from the island were used as a Pacific food source and not scientific study, but it was later noted that tortoises from different islands had different characteristics, namely that "the tortoises from James Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked." Darwin also noted that "I never dreamed that islands, about fifty or sixty miles apart, and most of them in sight of each other, formed of precisely the same rocks, placed under a quite similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently tenanted." Essentially, each island appeared to have a slightly different subspecies of tortoise.

Personally, I do think that remembering the category ("Historic Zoology") and thinking of potential responses over the break might be helpful to getting today's Final Jeopardy clue correct.

Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here's the Thursday, October 1, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Merriam-Webster's Word Of The Year; Semi-Stupid Answers; Go To Your Room; You're Grounded; Wait Until Your Father Gets Home; Billy Crystal)

Aided by the Daily Double, Rian jumped off to a hot start, picking up 8 correct over the first 15 clues. At the interviews, your scores were Rian $6,200 Elizabeth $2,200 Kristin $400.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Rian 8 correct 1 incorrect
Elizabeth 3 correct 0 incorrect
Kristin 2 correct 0 incorrect

Today's interviews:

Elizabeth is writing historical fiction inspired by the "secret Southern birth of Abraham Lincoln".
Rian recently ran a marathon with zero training.
Kristin was proposed to on the roof of the arts center of her college.

All three players played well after the break as Rian continued to lead. On the opening board, Ryan got 3 in Words of the Year and Semi-Stupid Answers.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Rian 12 correct 2 incorrect
Elizabeth 6 correct 0 incorrect
Kristin 6 correct 0 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Rian $7,400
Elizabeth $4,000
Kristin $1,600

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: 19th Century Novels; Musical Animals?; By The Numbers; Places In Their Native Language; The Supreme Court; Not-So-Silent "K")

Rian found both Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! Round—the last one after Elizabeth made three selections where there was only one possible clue that contained the Daily Double—cementing a runaway thanks to having found the third. On that second board, Rian got 3 in 19th century novels and by the numbers, while Kristin got 3 in places in native languages and the Supreme Court, while Elizabeth got 3 in musical animals.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Rian 20 correct 4 incorrect
Kristin 14 correct 2 incorrect
Elizabeth 12 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Rian $18,900
Kristin $8,000
Elizabeth $6,800

Rian having a runaway entering Final Jeopardy was crucial today, as he was the only player to be incorrect on the 61st clue of the game. No matter for him, though—it only cost him $2,800, not the title, as his runaway makes him the new Jeopardy! champion. He'll be back tomorrow to defend his title.

Tonight's results:

Elizabeth $6,800 + $4,000 = $10,800 (What is Galapagos Tortoise?)
Kristin $8,000 + $5,601 = $13,601 (What is the ~~Komodo~~ Giant tortoise (Galapagos))
Rian $18,900 - $2,800 = $16,100 (What is Anaconda?) (1-day total: $16,100)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) GO TO YOUR ROOM $800 (clue #4)
Rian 1600 +1600 (Kristin 0 Elizabeth 800)
2) 19th CENTURY NOVELS $1600 (clue #9)
Rian 11000 +5000 (Kristin 3600 Elizabeth 3600)
3) BY THE NUMBERS $2000 (clue #25, $2400 left on board)
Rian 19200 +100 (Kristin 7600 Elizabeth 6400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 146

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Kristin 3
Rian 4 4*
Elizabeth 5

DJ! Round:
Kristin 3 3 3 2 5 4 5 3† 2 5 2
Rian 4 4 4* 3 3 4 2 5 5*
Elizabeth 4 2 1 1 5†

† - selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Rian 3.82
Kristin 3.33
Elizabeth 3.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Rian $16,600 Coryat, 20 correct, 4 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Kristin $8,000 Coryat, 14 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Elizabeth $6,800 Coryat, 12 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,400
Lach Trash: $14,200 (on 14 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,400
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Kristin Franke, career statistics:

33 correct, 8 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (36/114)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,500)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,900

Rian Robertson, career statistics:

20 correct, 5 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,700)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,600

Elizabeth Severs, career statistics:

13 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,800

Rian Robertson, to win:

2 games: 67.572%
3: 45.660%
4: 30.853%
5: 20.848%
6: 14.087%
Avg. streak: 3.084 games.

Andy's Thoughts:

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

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Rian $18,900 Kristin $8,000 Elizabeth $6,800)

Kristin: You can't win, but there's an extra $1,000 at play for second. Standard cover bet today over Elizabeth is $5,601. (Actual bet: $5,601)

Rian: Bet no more than $2,899 and enjoy the title of Jeopardy! champion. (Actual bet: $2,800)

Elizabeth: As with Kristin, an extra $1,000 is at play here for second. Your best chance of that happening comes with a bet between $2,401 (in case Kristin bets small) and $4,399. (Actual bet: $4,000)