recaps
Season 42
Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 27, 2026, game ofJeopardy!— 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.
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
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Scientific Books) for Wednesday, May 27, 2026 (Season 42, Game 188):
Published in 1868, “Études sur le Vinaigre” was one of this man’s groundbreaking works
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
J.R. Scott, an economist from Dana Point, California
Rachel Hoke, an instructional technologist from Wilmington, Delaware
Chris D’Angelo, a content manager from Washington, D.C. (5-day total: $97,000)
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Chris D’Angelo is a 5-time champion on Jeopardy!; today, he goes for win #6 against Rachel Hoke of Delaware and J.R. Scott of Southern California.
While Chris’s monetary winnings (under $100,000) don’t show it, I still think that Chris is still an incredibly strong player, having picked up 138 correct responses thus far in his run. For comparison’s sake, Andrew He, Frank Spangenberg, and Ben Chan also had 138 correct over their first five games. (That is some quite lofty company.) Anything can happen, though, on the Alex Trebek Stage, and that’s why so many people love this game.
(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: Who is Louis Pasteur?
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.)
French microbiologist Louis Pasteur became world-renowned in the 19th century for his discoveries of the principles of microbial fermentation (explaining the production of wines, beers, and vinegars) as well as pasteurization (named after him after he realized that heating milk and other liquids to a certain temperature could kill the bacteria inside.) One of his early works was “Études sur le Vinaigre”, mentioned in the clue, about vinegar.
The biggest clue here is the year and the French-language title; that should point players in the right direction towards French scientists of that era.
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Game Recap:
It wasn’t a runaway today for Chris D’Angelo, as J.R. Scott found all three of the Daily Doubles. That said, J.R. went the conservative route on two of his bets, which gave Chris plenty of opportunity to claw back from second to take the lead entering Final Jeopardy.
Chris then punctutated the game today with a correct response in Final to seal win #6; he’ll go for win #7 tomorrow.
Scores going into Final:
Chris $19,800
J.R. $13,600
Rachel $4,200
Tonight’s results:
Rachel $4,200 – $2,200 = $2,000 (Who is D)
J.R. $13,600 – $13,599 = $1 (Who is Richter? Aud)
Chris $19,800 + $7,401 = $27,201 (Who is Louis Pasteur) (6-day total: $124,201)
Game Stats:
Chris $19,800 Coryat, 24 correct, 4 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Rachel $4,200 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
J.R. $13,000 Coryat, 19 correct, 5 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,000
Chris D’Angelo, to win:
7 games: 68.494%
8: 46.914%
9: 32.133%
10: 22.009%
11: 15.075%
Avg. streak: 8.174 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Chris $19,800 J.R. $13,600 Rachel $4,200)
Chris: Standard cover bet is $7,401. (Actual bet: $7,401)
Rachel: If J.R. does bet to let you back into play for second place, his two most likely wagers are “functionally all-in” and $6,201. Thus, to best defend against both of those, I would bet $3,201 here, and probably not much more than that. (Actual bet: $2,200)
J.R.: I realize Chris made a pretty significant math error last week, but that was a month ago in “production time”. If you were somehow privy to that knowledge, by all means, go all in. If not, though, you should bet no more than $1,200 and play for a win if Chris is incorrect in Final. (Actual bet: $13,599)
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