recaps
Today’s Final Jeopardy answer (in the category American Authors) and a recap of the Wednesday, September 9, 2026 game between Andrew He, Long Nguyen, and Roger Craig.
Today's Final Jeopardy - Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Current Champion
Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300
To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)
Upcoming Encore Presentations
September 9: S42 E118 (February 18, 2026)
September 10: S42 E119 (February 19, 2026)
September 11: S42 E120 (February 20, 2026)
September 12-13: S41 E145 (March 28, 2025)
September 19-20: S42 E173 (May 6, 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 9, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that today's game is an encore presentation of the game that originally aired on February 18, 2026.
Here's today's Final Jeopardy (in the category American Authors) for Wednesday, September 9, 2026 (Season 42, Game 118):
She wrote the foreword for a 1971 cookbook sponsored by the Jackson Symphony League
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today's Jeopardy! contestants:
Andy's Pregame Thoughts:
We are just a few days away from the start of Season 43; before then, though, we have the encore presentation of the final of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament between Roger Craig, Long Nguyen, and Andrew He. This will be a first-to-2-victories final.
For those fans who are struggling to remember these games from back in February, it is quite possible that you watch the show on an NBC affiliate that preempted these episodes for Olympics coverage back in February.
In better news for those fans who like to play the J!6 clues, things returned to normal yesterday afternoon, though Monday, September 7's clues remained unpublished.
Also, I should note that come the start of Season 43 on Monday, results will be published 30 minutes later, as WBBJ in Jackson, TN has moved its time slot from 11 AM Central to 3:30 PM Central. This means that the first airing of the show each day will be KTRK in Houston at 11:30 AM Central.
(Content continues below)
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!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Correct response: Who is Eudora Welty?
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.)
Eudora Welty, best known for the novel The Optimist's Daughter (winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1973), was a noted resident of Jackson, Mississippi for the majority of her life. While she was generally not of the culinary persuasion herself, she definitely had many friends in the city who were, and she was happy to write glowing praise of their cooking throughout the 1970s. During that time period, she wrote the foreword to many locally-produced cookbooks, including the aforementioned Jackson book as well as Winifred Green Cheney's Southern Hospitality.
To me, this is the classic sort of clue where I don't think the show actually expects someone to know this underlying fact, but there are enough clues there—chiefly, Jackson and the early 1970s—that a player at this level of play should be able to piece together a correct response by knowing that Welty was associated with Jackson, as well as the time period of The Optimist's Daughter.
Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here's the Wednesday, September 9, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Names In Sports; Quotable Notables; Well, That's Pathetic; A Good Old Job; How'd They Come Up With It?; Forestry Fiction)All three players got off to a good start, but the Daily Double stayed hidden, despite the $800 and $1000 rows being cleared entirely. After 15 clues, the scores were Roger $3,800 Andrew $3,600 Long $1,600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Roger 5 correct 0 incorrectAndrew 4 correct 0 incorrect
Long 3 correct 1 incorrect
Today's interviews:
Andrew encountered Roger Craig's training videos 15 years ago.Long doesn't think he belongs here.
Roger hopes Andrew doesn't beat him now.
Andrew found the Daily Double shortly after the break, using it to double his score; he was into five figures after 30 clues. On the opening board, Andrew went 3/5 in sports, while Roger went 3/5 in quotes, inventions, and forestry fiction.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Andrew 9 correct 0 incorrectRoger 13 correct 1 incorrect
Long 5 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Andrew $10,400Roger $5,800
Long $1,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: People Of The World; Idioms & Expressions; That Drink Is Named For Me!; A Musical Language Lesson; Going Down In History; Beautiful Things)Double Jeopardy saw Long have a chance to charge back in contention, finding both of the Daily Doubles. Getting DD2 correct, he found DD3 a handful of clues later—albeit in a category he wasn't a fan of. Knowing the situation, though (he was in second with Andrew in a runaway position), he knew he had to go all-in. Unfortunately, an incorrect response meant he sat third entering Final. That being said, Roger played well enough throughout the round to ensure that there was still something to play for entering Final Jeopardy. On that second board, Andrew was 3/5 in beautiful things, while Roger was 4/5 in foreign languages in pop music.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Andrew 16 correct 3 incorrectRoger 20 correct 4 incorrect
Long 13 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Andrew $16,400Roger $10,600
Long $2,000
Final Jeopardy proved to be a Triple Stumper, which ended up being good news for Andrew, who was able to take victory in Game 1 on the strength of his lead entering Final Jeopardy. He'll look to sew up outright victory in Game 2 tomorrow!
Tonight's results:
Long $2,000 - $1,933 = $67 (Who is Angelou?)Roger $10,600 - $10,600 = $0 (Who
Andrew $16,400 - $4,801 = $11,599 (Who is Flagg?) (1 win)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) A GOOD OLD JOB $600 (clue #19)Andrew 4800 +4800 (Roger 4200 Long 1200)
2) PEOPLE OF THE WORLD $1600 (clue #1)
Long 1600 +2000 (Roger 5800 Andrew 10400)
3) IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS $2000 (clue #11, $18800 left on board)
Long 6400 -6400 (Roger 4600 Andrew 14800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 100
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Roger 5 4 5 3 4 5 4 3 3Long 4 4 3
Andrew 5 5 5 4 3 2 3*
DJ! Round:
Roger 3Long 4* 4 5 5 5*
Andrew 3 3 3 4 4
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Andrew 3.67Long 4.25
Roger 3.90
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.07 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Andrew $12,200 Coryat, 16 correct, 3 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)Long $8,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 5 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Roger $10,600 Coryat, 20 correct, 4 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,800
Lach Trash: $10,400 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,800
Lead Changes: 6
Times Tied: 2
Player Statistics:
Roger Craig, career statistics:
657 correct, 134 incorrect40/49 on rebound attempts (on 111 rebound opportunities)
40.48% in first on buzzer (670/1655)
38/45 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $164,200)
15/27 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,535
Long Nguyen, career statistics:
159 correct, 29 incorrect10/13 on rebound attempts (on 33 rebound opportunities)
33.77% in first on buzzer (154/456)
10/13 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $17,800)
6/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,850
Andrew He, career statistics:
615 correct, 89 incorrect40/47 on rebound attempts (on 113 rebound opportunities)
31.80% in first on buzzer (580/1824)
33/45 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $137,800)
16/32 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,044
Andy's Thoughts:
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Andrew $16,400 Roger $10,600 Long $2,000)Roger: You have to be correct, and Andrew incorrect, to have a chance of victory. Thus, you should go all in to force a cover bet out of Andrew. (Actual bet: $10,600)
Long: You need an overbet from Andrew to have any chance of victory. Do whatever you like. (Actual bet: $1,933)
Andrew: Standard cover bet is $4,801. (Actual bet: $4,801)
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