recaps

Detailed statistics for the Wednesday, September 30, 2026 episode of Jeopardy! (Kristin Franke, Ben Meyerson, Justin Robbins).

(TJF Plus) Daily Details - Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Published September 30, 2026 - 8:59 a.m. Modified September 30, 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:

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

Ben Meyerson, a political consultant from New York, New York

Justin Robbins, a graduate student from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Justin enters today's game as a 2-day champion with winnings of $38,802.

Andy's Pregame Thoughts:

This is Week #3 of Season 43, and thus far, no single player has won 3 games. (Matthew Riggle's first two wins came in Season 42; he only won two games in this season himself.) Will Justin break that mini-curse? Or will challengers Ben Meyerson or Kristin Franke get an opportunity to have a go tomorrow from the champion's lectern?

One thing I do want to mention—I'm impressed with the show putting a Remembering Dolly Parton category in the show this week; the tape day of this episode would have been the day after Dolly's passing.

If you're a sports fan and think you could do well on a sports version of the show, ESPN Jeopardy! Season 2 is open to civilians, and the casting process has begun! Anyone (U.S. & Canadian residents ages 18+) can apply, even if you have previously competed on any version of the show. Take the ESPN Jeopardy! Anytime Test at the show's website.

Speaking of sports, Major League Baseball is causing preemptions in some markets this week, with games scheduled for 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM Eastern on NBC. Thus, if you watch the show on an NBC-affiliated local station, you might see preemptions. There are scheduled preemptions in many markets in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones—check your local listings or Matt Carberry's Google sheet for more information. If the 2:00 game goes into a significant number of extra innings, there may end up being unscheduled preemptions (thanks to broadcast rules that have surrounded sporting events since the late 1960s.)

Final Jeopardy! Category: The Movies

Final Jeopardy! Clue: On its 35th anniversary in 2026, this film was said to have "shattered…gender stereotypes" & embodied "unwavering friendship"

(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 Thelma & Louise?

More Information About Final Jeopardy!:

Starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis as the title, pair, Thelma & Louise is a 1991 film in which the two title characters embark on a road trip that goes particularly wrong, and they attempt to escape to Mexico. While it wasn't universally hailed as feminist—Shelia Benson of the Los Angeles Times said that the film had too much to do with "revenge, retribution, or sadistic behavior" to call it that—most critics lauded the changing of the usual gender roles.

Doing the math, chiefly 2026 - 35 = 1991, is important with this Final Jeopardy clue in order to get to the correct answer. (And also why it might be important to commit film release dates when studying.))

Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here's the Wednesday, September 30, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Historic Men; Crossword Clues "C"; TV Show Working Titles; Kid Lit; Hello From...; The Other Side)

Kristin got off to the best start today, picking up 7 correct before the break. Unusually for this era, the Daily Double stayed hidden until the second half of the round, though. At the interviews, the scores sat at Kristin $3,200 Justin $2,600 Ben $1,400.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Kristin 7 correct 1 incorrect
Justin 5 correct 1 incorrect
Ben 2 correct 1 incorrect

Today's interviews:

Kristin enjoys playing ultimate.
Ben once ruined Wes Anderson's day.
Justin has an 18-page Word document of his own puns.

Justin picked up $3,000 from the Daily Double to lead after 30. Justin got 4 in historic men and hello and 3 in the other side, while Kristin got 4 in kid lit and 3 in crossword clues "C".

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Justin 12 correct 2 incorrect
Kristin 9 correct 2 incorrect
Ben 5 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Justin $8,000
Kristin $4,600
Ben $2,800

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Business & Finance History; Remembering Dolly Parton; A Gem Of A Category; 6-Syllable Words; Science; "L"akes & "R"ivers)

While a pair of incorrect responses on the Daily Doubles kept the scores down, both Justin and Kristin were still in five figures entering Final Jeopardy. On the second board, Justin did get 3 in the Dolly Parton category.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Justin 21 correct 4 incorrect
Kristin 18 correct 5 incorrect
Ben 6 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Justin $11,800
Kristin $10,300
Ben $4,400

Ben was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy today, but it only brought him up to second place, as Kristin made a small wager from second place—and that makes her the new Jeopardy! champion after Justin failed to recognize the special betting scenario and was incorrect in Final. She'll be back tomorrow to defend her title

Tonight's results:

Ben $4,400 + $2,000 = $6,400 (What is Thelma & Louise)
Kristin $10,300 - $1,400 = $8,900 (What is ???) (1-day total: $8,900)
Justin $11,800 - $8,801 = $2,999 (What is Tootsie?)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) THE OTHER SIDE $1000 (clue #21)
Justin 4600 +3000 (Ben 1400 Kristin 4800)
2) 6-SYLLABLE WORDS $800 (clue #15)
Kristin 10200 -3500 (Justin 12000 Ben 4400)
3) REMEMBERING DOLLY PARTON $1600 (clue #26, $3200 left on board)
Justin 12000 -3000 (Ben 4400 Kristin 11100)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 6

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Justin 5 4 3 2 3 4 5 4 5*
Ben 3 2
Kristin 3 4 5 2 1 4 5 3 2 3

DJ! Round:
Justin 5 3 2 4 4 4 5 5 1 4*
Ben 3 4 3 3
Kristin 3 4 5 5 2 2* 3 2 2 2 1 1†

† - selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Kristin 2.91
Ben 3.00
Justin 3.79

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:

Kristin $13,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 5 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Ben $4,400 Coryat, 6 correct, 1 incorrect, 8.77% in first on buzzer (5/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Justin $12,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 4 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,000
Lach Trash: $15,600 (on 13 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,400
Lead Changes: 8
Times Tied: 1

Player Statistics:

Justin Robbins, career statistics:

74 correct, 13 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 13 rebound opportunities)
45.03% in first on buzzer (77/171)
2/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $200)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600

Ben Meyerson, career statistics:

7 correct, 1 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
8.77% in first on buzzer (5/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,400

Kristin Franke, career statistics:

18 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,500)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,800

Kristin Franke, to win:

2 games: 39.117%
3: 15.301%
4: 5.985%
5: 2.341%
6: 0.916%
Avg. streak: 1.642 games.

Andy's Thoughts:

I think Alex would have reacted to Justin's pun better than Ken did. Ken chose laughter, and I bet Alex would have picked a stone-faced deadpan reaction.

If you think you can do better than the contestants on the show, you are welcome to attempt the Anytime Test yourself. Good luck!

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

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Justin $11,800 Kristin $10,300 Ben $4,400)

Justin: Standard cover bet today is $8,801. However: this is the famous Faith Love betting scenario. If you think Kristin will bet to keep Ben locked out, bet $0 and earn the respect of the true wagering aficionados while you're at it. (Actual bet: $8,801)

Ben: You're going to need an overbet from Kristin to have any chance. That said: I would limit my bet here to $1,399 or less, to stay ahead of Justin if he's incorrect and makes a cover bet. (Actual bet: $2,000)

Kristin: This is regular play. I'd bet on Justin not knowing the special wagering scenario; limit your bet to $1,499 to keep Ben locked out. (Actual bet: $1,400)