Jeopardy 2026 Tournament of Champions Recap, Part 1: The Quarterfinals

 

Well we're here at last. Over the next three weeks we will see 21 Champions battling out for the grand prize of a quarter of a million dollars and…

Brief interruption. It is assumed that the Jeopardy Masters is going to take place this year. There has been some discussion that it might not take place until the summertime. When the former happens there may in fact be some rule changes yet again as has been the case basically every year in some form. I'll keep you updated when I learn something.

What we do know is that the format of this year's Tournament of Champions is exactly like last year's and that of 2022-2023. The three biggest winners of the eligibility period will all receive byes into the semi-finals. Those three players are Scott Riccardi, Laura Faddah and Paolo Pasco.

And it's worth reminding everybody that aside from them this is a far superior field in terms of the other champions. As a reminder the lineup for the 2025 Tournament of Champions featured only three players who'd won five games or more: Drew Basile, Isaac Hirsch and Adriana Harmeyer. In addition to the three players I listed above we have three six game winners. Furthermore in the 2025 Field we had only seven players total who'd won $100,000 or more (aside from the winner of the Wild Card Tournament). This year, not counting the Wild Card Winner, we have eight. And it must be said that six of them did so winning far fewer games that Laura Faddah did in her stint. I'm sorry to keep picking on you Laura but it is just math.

As I cover the quarterfinals this year there are many questions that we'll have answered, not the least of which is whether Lisa Ann Walter and W. Kamau Bell could meet the bar that Ike Barinholtz managed to set in his appearance in the Tournament of Champions back in 2024. It's not just that he made it to the semi-finals, it's that he beat super-champion Ray Lalonde getting there which makes it more impressive.

So let's look at the quarterfinals to see who ended up advancing to the next round.

 

January 19^th

Liam Starnes vs Tom Devlin vs Aaron Levine

 

(In one of those coincidences of brackets Tom and Aaron's runs came nearly consecutively this past October.)

Liam got a chance early in the Jeopardy round to get into the lead when he found the Daily Double in LITERARY QUOTATIONS. He bet the $1600 he had:

"William Blake wrote that if these portals 'were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite."

Liam had no idea what it was guessing: "What are mirrors?" They were actually 'the doors of perception.' (I didn't know it either.) Down to zero he dropped.

Tom, who started the game at -$1000 began to build and moved into the lead by the midpoint of Double Jeopardy. He finished it with $5000 to Aarons $2000 while Liam trailed with $1400.

Liam found the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy on his first pick: HOW TARIFF-IC." He bet the $2000 he was allowed and it went better for him:

Senate.gov called this 1930 piece of tariff legislation 'among the most catastrophic acts in Congressional history." Liam knew it was Smoot-Hawley and went up to $3400.

Not long after that Tom went on a tear that was interrupted by Aaron, just in time for him to find the other Daily Double in 20^TH CENTURY WOMEN OF THE WORLD. At the time he had $5600 to Tom's $9600 so he also bet everything:

In 1935 she became director of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Training Institute."

Aaron paused before saying: "Who is Joliot-Curie?" He picked the wrong progeny; it was Anna Freud. He dropped to zero.

None of this did much to stop Tom, who had an incredible game with 24 correct responses and only two incorrect ones. He finished with $19,400 and ran away with it. Liam finished with $6200, Aaron at $1600.

Final Jeopardy was an exercise. The category was FAMOUS PHOTOS. "Being only 5'5", photographer Joe Rosenthal had to climb on top of a Japanese sandbag to snap a photo while on this peak." All three players had the right idea but only one of them knew the correct response.

Aaron wrote down: "What is Mt. Suribachi (on Iwo Jima) and under that he wrote "Bring back the Sonics!" Ken said to his fellow Seattle resident "You are correct three times." He was referring to the famous photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

Liam wrote down: "What is Iwo Jima?" which was incorrect. And Tom wrote down Mt. Fuji, crossed it out and put in Iwo Jima. (I knew it was Suribachi but I wasn't as confident.) Aaron only wagered a dollar, Liam bet everything and Tom bet nothing but still became the first semi-finalist.

 

January 20^th

Andrew Hayes vs Brendan Liaw vs Allegra Kuney

 

Much of the Jeopardy round had both Andrew and Brendan struggling to get out of the red while Allegra built an early lead. Brendan managed to get to the Daily Double right after getting out of the red in NATIONAL PARKS OF THE WORLD, which no one had gotten a correct answer in yet. But he had just $200 so he bet the $1000 he could:

The most famous feature of Venezuela's Canaima National Park it has an initial plunge of 2638 feet."

He knew it was Angel Falls and moved up to $1200. Brendan moved up, Allegra made some mistakes and at the end of the Jeopardy round he led with $3600 to Allegra's $3000. Andrew was still deep in the hole at -$1000.

Early in Double Jeopardy Andrew finally got out of the red and immediately afterwards found the first Daily Double in BACK WORDS. He had just $200 and he didn't seem thrilled by the category but he still bet the $2000 he was allowed:

Turn over a painting and you might find labels, notes or even a signature on this side, a 5-letter word from Latin for 'to turn'.

There was an incredibly long pause. Finally Andrew said: "What is verso?" Which was the correct response. He went up to $2200.

Two clues later Allegra found the other Daily Double in WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE. She was at $5000 and in second place. She decided to wager $4000:

Mansa Musa I recruited scholars & architects to go to Timbuktu during the height of this 4-letter West African Empire. She figured out it was Mali and went back into the lead with $9000.

The rest of the round was about whether Andrew and Brendan could catch up to Allegra as she slowly pulled away. She was dominant with 21 correct responses and four incorrect response – 3 in the Jeopardy round -  but she still needed to get the final clue in Double Jeopardy correct to ensure a runaway. She finished with $18,200 to Brendan's $8000 and Andrew's $6200. It was a good thing she ran away with the game considering how Final Jeopardy went.

The category was SCIENTIFIC WORDS. "A Nobel laureate coined this word 'to avoid the repetition of the rather cumbersome phrase 'mould broth filtrate.'"

Andrew and Brendan knew the correct response: "What is penicillin?" ( I knew that as well.)Allegra, however, wrote down: "What is agar?" That could have gotten her in trouble had a clue or two gone the other way but she only bet $10 and that left her with $18,190 more than enough to win.

 

January 21^st

Bryce Wargin vs Cameron Berry vs Ben Ganger

 

Ben got to the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round early in the category 19^TH CENTURY AMERICA. He bet the $1000 he had:

Deposits of this mineral were discovered around 1815 in Ticonderoga, New York, leading to a whole new industry. He paused before guessing: "What is quartz?" It was actually graphite. (Here we see part of the reason of the decline of the pencil in our society, perhaps a past generation would have remembered that Ticonderoga was one associated with pencils and therefore graphite.

This would set the tone for the round and the game: at the end of the Jeopardy round Bryce and Cameron were tied for the lead with $2800 apiece. Ben trailed with $800.

Halfway through the Jeopardy round Cameron seemed to have found a groove and had a comfortable lead with $7600 to the $2800 of Bryce and the $2400 of Ben. He found the Daily Double in the category FIRST OF ALL and bet the $4400. It didn't go well:

"in 1868 this company named for 2 men made the first Swiss wristwatch , for a countess; men preferred to keep White-Rabbiting."  Cameron clearly had no idea what company it was (neither did I) and finally guessed: "What is Victorinox?" It was actually Patek-Phillippe. He dropped to $3200 and his job was now tougher.

Not long after Ben found the other Daily Double in HOW DARE YOU (and yes that category was right next to FIRST OF ALL.) He was in second place with $4800. Like so many before him he bet everything and like so many before him, it worked against him:

"Though no one knows the origin of this 3-syllable word for 'fool' one theory involves a familiar Latin phrase meaning 'not of sound mind'.. Ben struggled and guessed: "What is invalid?" It was actually nincompoop, which may have originated from 'non compos mentis'. Back to zero Ben went again.

It was not a good day for anybody. 15 clues stumped all three players. Bryce got twelve correct and 2 incorrect which gave him $5200. Bryce had 17 correct answers but also eight incorrect answers (including both Daily Doubles) he was lucky to finish with $2000. And Cameron managed 16 correct answers and three incorrect ones to finish with $8800 and give him a lead but not a runaway.

The Final Jeopardy category was OLD BOOKS. "This 1663 work includes information on the care & use of proper equipment, including lines, floats and rods."

Ben's response was revealed first: "What is The Art of Fishing?" That was incorrect. He didn't wager anything.

Bryce wrote down: "What is On Fishing?" Incorrect. He lost $4999, leaving him with $201.

It came down to Cameron. He had the right idea: "What is the Ideal Fisherman?" That was incorrect. The book referred to was Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler.  Cameron lost just $1601. He had $7199 but that was enough for him to advance to the semifinals.

Note: I wrote down the correct response.  That being said I would have been as stumped as these three players had I not been watching Jeopardy as long as I have. The Compleat Angler has been used as a Final Jeopardy response so many times over the years that I figured it out yet again – but I still spelled 'complete' in the modern way.

 

January 22^nd

Alex DeFrank vs. W. Kamau Bell vs. Ashley Chan

 

If this game doesn't tell every Jeopardy player to throw away the so-called 'Coryat scores' nothing will. Because according to them Alex had a runaway going into Final Jeopardy with $16,000 to his nearest opponents $5400.  And instead…Well let's back up.

Alex came out of the Jeopardy round guns blazing. He had $4600 when he found the Daily Double in AROUND THE AMERICAS. He bet everything:

This Ontario city with a stormy name uses the slogan 'superior by nature' Alex thought it was Toronto; it was Thunder Bay. Down to zero he went. He rebuilt and at the end of the Jeopardy round was the only one with any money: $5000 to his opponents -$200 apiece.

He spent much of Double Jeopardy maintaining his lead and he had $11,800 when he found the first Daily Double in 5-SYLLABLE WORDS. He bet $3000:

This adjective describes something worldwide in extent or means representing any church.

He paused a long time before guessing: "What is Unitarian?" It was actually ecumenical. Down to $880- he went.

Then he found the Daily Double on his very next pick in CHEMISTRY. He bet $2000 this time. It went no better:

"s, p, d & f are used to designate the shapes of these, the regions around an atom's nucleus where its electors tend to be found."

He thought it was valence; it was the orbitals.

Alex gave 29 correct responses to Ashley's 8 and Kamau's 4 as well as six incorrect responses. But because three of them were on Daily Doubles at the end of Double Jeopardy he had $6400 to Ashley's $5400 and Kamau's $2600. What should have been a runaway was anybody's game going into Final Jeopardy.

The category was 18^th CENTURY ARTS. "A 'word book' for the London premiere of this work began with the quote Majora canamus, 'let us sing of greater things."

First of all any player would have had difficulty ringing in against Alex today and the clues were very tough so I'm pretty sure Kamau had every reason to feel out of his league. He started to write down: "Who are three people who have never been…" The Cliff Clavin response. But he didn't make Cliff's mistake he bet nothing.

Ashley was in the same position. "What is I was glad?" She bet $10002, leaving her with $4398.

Finally it came to Alex. "What is Water music?" He had the right idea the clue did refer to Handel but it was his Messiah. Now the wager was very important. He bet $4401, dropping him to $1999 and Ashley was clearly stunned to find herself the most unlikely of semi-finalists.

On a side note all three female Jeopardy champions who qualified via regularly means will now all be appearing in the semifinals with Laura Faddah having earned a bye. Cameron will not get a grudge match against the man who defeated him though that absolutely should have been a possibility.

Author's Note: I did know the correct response to Final Jeopardy. I would not have gotten any of the Daily Doubles correct so don't judge Alex that harshly.

 

January 23rd

Steven Olson vs. Josh Weiker vs Mike Massie

 

The Jeopardy round was  a fairly even battle most of the way. Josh had a chance to take a lead early when he found the Daily Double in TREE-POURI. In second with $2200, he bet $2000:

Its name meaning 'enlightenment', this type of fig tree is sacred to both Hindus & Buddhists." He finally guessed the lotus when it was the bodhi and he dropped to $200. He got it all back by the commercial break. At the end of the Jeopardy round it was tight as a drum: Steven led with $3800 to Josh's $3600 and Matt's $3000.

Steven made his move early in Double Jeopardy. Already in the lead with $7000 when he found the first Daily Double he bet 'all the beans' in COLORFUL LIT:

'The wide corridor up the center of E Block was floored with linoleum the color of tired old limes' in this 1996 bestseller.' Steven didn't need long. "What is The Green Mile?" He doubled his score.

Two clues later he found the other Daily Double in MILITARY HISTORY. This time he only bet $3000:

The largest of the Ryukyu Islands, it was the site of a grueling 1945 battle with 12,000 American & 100,000 Japanese troops killed. He figured out it was Okinawa and moved up to $19,000.

It was a dominant performance by any measure by Steven: he managed 25 correct response and only 4 incorrect ones to finish with $25,800, $20,000 more than his nearest challenger Matt and even more than Josh's $5600.

The Final Jeopardy category was CAPITAL CITIES. "One of the 2 Canadian provincial capitals that share their names with a nation's capital city."

Josh wrote down: "What an amazing group of people – thank you so much! Go Macs". As you'd expect he bet nothing.

Matt came up with one of them. "What is Victoria?" That was one of them; it is the capital of British Columbia and the Seychelles. He bet everything.

It was up to Stephen. He also wrote down: "What's Victoria?" (yay band) and he added $7117 to put the icing on the cake and finish with $32,917.

Author's Note: The other capital was St. Johns, the capital of Newfoundland & Labrador as well as Antigua and Barbuda. I wrote down: "What is St. John? which under the rules of the show they wouldn't have accepted. Sigh.

 

January 26^th

 

TJ Fisher vs Mike Dawson vs Lisa Ann Walter

In the Jeopardy round Mike would get off to a quick start when he found the Daily Double in BUS-PODGE. He bet the $1000 he had:

"A former Greyhound bus depot in Anniston, Alabama is part of the national monument dedicated to these activists." He knew it was the freedom riders and went into the lead with $2000. He held it until the end of the round with $4800 to TJ's $1400 and Lisa's -$200.

Early in Double Jeopardy TJ took the lead and found the first Daily Double in the ominous category 15-LETTER WORD. Nevertheless he bet the $5400 he had:

This word for a small comment that displays prejudice was coined in a 1970s essay called 'offensive mechanisms'. He was counting under his breath before he said: "What is microaggression? That was correct and he went up to $10,800.

After that he gained $1200 and then lost $2800 on two clues in HERE'S THE MATH YOU ASKED FOR before he found the other Daily Double in LAKE NEWS. He chose to wager 'a delicate $2000":

In 2017 the New Yorker called this lake in a same-named African country the site of the most complex humanitarian disaster.

It took him a long time before he answered: "What is Lake Chad?" He was right and went up to a delicate $11,000.

For a while it seemed he would run away with but then Mike managed a late surge to finish with $8000 to TJ's $15,600. Lisa finished with a negative -$2600 but one can't entirely blame her for her problems: none of the clues she got wrong any of the 'regular' players knew either.

The Final Jeopardy category was U.S. STATES. "This border state produced about half of the gunpowder for the Union."

Mike's response was revealed first: "What is Maryland?" It was incorrect and he lost everything.

TJ wrote down: "What is Kentucky?" That was also incorrect. The correct state was Delaware. As Ken reminded us: "Then and now famous for its many chemical manufacturers like DuPont." (I guessed Tennessee.) TJ lost just $401 and finished with $15,199, more than enough to make him the sixth and last semi-finalist.

So going into the semifinals we have a pretty solid group waiting to face Scott, Laura and Paolo. TJ is both the only five game winner and the only one to reach $100,000 in his original appearance among those who participated in the quarterfinals but anyone who saw Allegra and Steven play this past year knows just how good they are.

Interestingly with the sole exception of Ashley Chan all of those who qualified for the semi-finals have competed on Jeopardy in Season 42 with Cameron's win in the Wild Card the most recent. Perhaps that advantage will play for Scott and Paolo in the semis as well: both of them have been on Jeopardy the most recently with Paolo having been defeated by Steven. Ashley and Laura go back the furthest of the nine semi-finalists with Ashley's original run going back to December.

However they will all be on equal terms starting tomorrow. I'll be back at the end of the week with my recap of the semi-finals.