recaps
Today’s Final Jeopardy answer (in the category Famous Women) and statistics for the Monday, September 21, 2026 game between Donovan Bisbee, Jennifer Leavey, and 2-day champion Mark Ramirez.
Today's Final Jeopardy - Monday, September 21, 2026
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
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the September 21, 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 12:30 PM Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here's today's Final Jeopardy (in the category Famous Women) for Monday, September 21, 2026 (Season 43, Game 6):
On her 2025 passing she was called "one of the world's most inspiring voices for animals" & "a beacon of compassion for all life"
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today's Jeopardy! contestants:
Mark enters today's game as a 2-day champion with winnings of $32,300.
Andy's Pregame Thoughts:
Mark Ramirez of Colorado enters this week of Jeopardy! as a 2-day champion with winnings of over $32,000. Today, he faces off against Jennifer Leavey of Massachusetts and Donovan Bisbee of Oregon.
I do want to once again defend my comments about the last two games, because I certainly haven't been 100% complimentary about parts of Mark's strategic play. And that's because I think Mark has the potential to become a great player, and I don't want his run to end early because of a strategic misstep.
While we're on the subject of strategy, I want to remind those who think randomizing Daily Double placement is a good idea that such a change would have unintended consequences for the show—and not good ones. Randomizing Daily Doubles increases variance; increased variance will ultimately lead to shorter champion runs, and because there is a correlation between champions' runs and ratings, it would lower the show's ratings to the point where I would worry about the show's long-term health if the change were implemented. Which proves that once again, people in charge of entertainment franchises should never consider listening to ideas on Reddit whatsoever.
(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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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: Who is Jane Goodall?
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.)
Upon her passing on October 1, 2025, tributes to Dame Jane Goodall began flooding in from around the world. Goodall was world-renowned as a primatologist and anthropologist and the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. Those tributes included those from the International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition, whose words were cited in today's Final Jeopardy clue.
To me, this feels like another relatively straightforward Final Jeopardy clue, which again, I am in big favor of—it keeps players betting aggressive
Game Recap:
I'll be honest: Sometimes it takes some getting used to coming back to regular play after watching high-level tournament play (such as Masters or the encore presentations we saw over the summer). I would say today's game was one of those examples, both in terms of wagering strategy and clue selection. Despite a pair of conservative Daily Double bets in Double Jeopardy from our two challengers, they did sit first and second entering Final Jeopardy, and it wasn't a runaway.
Both Mark and Jennifer were correct in Final Jeopardy—but Donovan was not, making Jennifer your new champion! She'll be back tomorrow to defend her title.
Scores going into Final:
Donovan $18,600Jennifer $10,000
Mark $8,600
Tonight's results:
Mark $8,600 + $1,600 = $10,200 (Who is Jane Goodall?)Jennifer $10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000 (Who is Jane Goodall) (1-day total: $20,000)
Donovan $18,600 - $1,501 = $17,099 (Who is Mother Theresa?)
Game Stats:
Jennifer $9,600 Coryat, 14 correct, 5 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)Donovan $15,600 Coryat, 21 correct, 3 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 4/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Mark $8,600 Coryat, 14 correct, 3 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $33,800
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.
Jennifer Leavey, to win:
2 games: 46.897%3: 21.993%
4: 10.314%
5: 4.837%
6: 2.268%
Avg. streak: 1.883 games.
Andy's Thoughts:
I think it's particularly ironic for Reddit to generally pretend I don't exist these days despite all of my strategy talk, yet I'm sure there will be myriad complaints this evening on Reddit regarding the strategic play in tonight's game. It's almost as if there's a correlation there...
Before any viewers think it necessary to criticize Donovan's incorrect response in Final Jeopardy, though, it did seem like he was writing something last-minute, and there is nothing that can possibly be more incorrect than a blank screen. So I commend him for putting *something* down in Final.
Also, being that we have a significant number of games to be played before the next postseason, it's really hard to predict who will see a Second Chance invite. Certainly, based on past years, Donovan has a very good chance, but we could also see a large number of even more deserving candidates. It's quite tough to say.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Donovan $18,600 Jennifer $10,000 Mark $8,600)
Mark: Donovan's score is equal to your score plus Jennifer's score combined. Therefore, assuming Donovan makes the standard cover bet, your only chance of winning is if you go all in. (Actual bet: $1,600)
Jennifer: If you make the standard cover bet over Mark, you're safe. That is $7,201. I probably wouldn't go all-in here, just because Mark is very likely to, thanks to the scores, and that could mean an extra $1,000 for you, and I doubt that I'd trust anyone in this game to recognize any special betting scenarios. (Actual bet: $10,000)
Donovan: Standard cover bet is $1,401. I would do this, and not bet $1 short even considering the scores, because there's no guarantee the other two players will recognize the situation. (Actual bet: $1,501)
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