recaps

Season 42

Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, April 17, 2026

Published Modified

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

Are you looking for today’s Celebrity Jeopardy! recap? Find that here!

Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 17, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Opera) for Friday, April 17, 2026 (Season 42, Game 160):

The name of this opera means “Faithful”; it’s used as an alias by a character who implores a prisoner not to lose faith

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Taotao Zhang, a statistician from South River, New Jersey

Taotao Zhang on Jeopardy!

Tini Howard, a comic book writer from Van Nuys, California

Tini Howard on Jeopardy!

Jamie Ding, a bureaucrat & law student from Lawrenceville, New Jersey (25-day total: $702,000)

Jamie Ding on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Our big superchampion run continues today as Jamie Ding enters today’s game as a 25-time champion. Looking to stop him from win #26 are Tini Howard and Taotao Zhang; Taotao might be recognizable to many in the trivia community as someone who successfully won—against Victoia Groce, no less—on The Chase after taking the higher offer, to boot. (Taotao is another reason why those people who claim that Jamie is somehow facing inferior competition are completely incorrect. Jamie is just that good.)

I also would like to commend Jamie’s sister Jessie, who, behind the Instagram profile “Attorney General Tso’s” said last night on an Instagram story, “lowkey some of u on jeopardy subreddit are mean so maybe reflect on that”—when I saw that last night, it absolutely made my night.

It should also be noted that Episode 4 of Celebrity Jeopardy! All-Stars airs tonight at 8:00 (7:00 Central) on ABC (CTV in Canada); tonight’s game is between Timothy Simons, Andy Richter, and Mina Kimes.

(Content continues below)

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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.

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Correct response: What is Fidelio?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2026 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Fidelio was an 1805 opera, famously the only opera of Ludwig van Beethoven, that tells the story of a woman named Leonore who uses the title alias to disguise as a prison guard to rescue her husband, who is serving prison time as a political prisoner.

I have a good feeling that we might see three triple-get Final Jeopardy clues in a row today; this feels like a relatively straightforward Opera clue.

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Game Recap:

In a game that was significantly closer than the final score indicated, Taotao Zhang absolutely took this one to our 25-game champion. Leading when he found a Daily Double early in Double Jeopardy, he took a big swing in a strong category, knowing that Jamie was very likely to score another $15,000–$20,000 himself. Unfortunately for Taotao, an incorrect response dropped him back to $0 and he was unable to recover.

Jamie picked up another $6,200 in the third straight triple-get Final Jeopardy from the runaway position, leading to a $30,000 payday to end the week. Jamie goes for win #27 and another entry on the show’s upper leaderboards on Monday.

Scores going into Final:

Jamie $23,800
Taotao $8,400
Tini $2,800

Tonight’s results:

Tini $2,800 + $2,699 = $5,499 (What is… Fidelio)
Taotao $8,400 + $2,622 = $11,022 (What is Fidelio)
Jamie $23,800 + $6,200 = $30,000 (What is… ♫ Fidelio ♫?) (26-day total: $732,000)

Jamie Ding, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the April 17, 2026 game.)

Game Stats:

Jamie $22,800 Coryat, 24 correct, 1 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Taotao $13,200 Coryat, 17 correct, 4 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Tini $2,800 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $38,800

If you are looking for more detailed statistics about today’s game of Jeopardy!, as well as the ability to leave a comment, make sure to check out the Daily Details section.

Jamie Ding, to win:

27 games: 81.353%
28: 66.183%
29: 53.842%
30: 43.802%
31: 35.634%
Avg. streak: 30.363 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:


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