2026 Champions Wildcard quarterfinal game 1.
Dargan Ware — an attorney and writer from Bessemer, Alabama
Bill McKinney — a hospitality executive from San Diego, California
Stella Trout — a software engineer originally from Houston, Texas
| Player | First Commercial | End of Jeopardy! | End of Double Jeopardy! | Final | Coryat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stella | $0 | $1,400 | $16,000 |
$26,401
Automatic semifinalist |
$14,800
20 R (including 2 DDs), 5 W (including 1 DD) |
| Bill | $600 | $2,000 | $13,200 |
$12,200
2nd place: $5,000 if eliminated |
$13,200
16 R, 3 W |
| Dargan | $3,600 | $5,400 | $2,600 |
$2,200
3rd place: $5,000 if eliminated |
$2,600
16 R, 8 W |
| THE BEST & THE BRIGHTEST | WORLD GEOGRAPHY | LET'S GET "WILD" | 404 PAGE NOT FOUND | HISTORIC NAMES | '90s NO. 1 HITS |
|
$200
[26]
Regulus, Latin for "little king", is the brightest star in this constellation named for the "king of beasts"
Leo
Dargan
|
$200
[16]
The Lincoln Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, borders this island known as Kalaallit Nunaat locally
Greenland
Stella
|
$200
[29]
A strike by workers without the approval of their union
a wildcat strike
Dargan
|
$200
[28]
In 2017 it took Twitter at least 6 seconds to shut down this video service
Vine
Dargan
|
$200
[27]
Though she was Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, she was born to a German prince in Stettin, Prussia
Catherine the Great
Stella
|
$200
[30]
The first new No. 1 hit of the '90s was his "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You"
(Michael) Bolton
Bill
|
|
$400
[21]
In a Robert Burns poem, "The best-laid schemes" of these "gang aft agley", or as we might say, often go wrong
mice and men
Bill
|
$400
[15]
In the Northeast, the Indian state of Tripurais surrounded on three sides by this neighboring country
Bangladesh
Dargan
|
$400
[19]
Sowing these is a metaphor for carousing & behaving immoderately when young
wild oats
Stella
|
$400
[25]
Thissearch engine was founded in 1996, but just ten years later a certain butler was unemployed
Ask Jeeves
Stella
|
$400
[22]
Devoting himself to philanthropy, this man sold his steel company to banker J.P. Morgan for $480 million in 1901
Carnegie
Bill
|
$400
[24]
She had 7 No. 1 Hot Country songs in the '90s, including "You Win My Love" & "You're Still The One"
Shania Twain
Bill
|
|
$600
[13]
The best regular season record in NBA history is 73-9, by this squad that lost to Cleveland & LeBron in the Finals
the Warriors
Bill
|
$600
[14]
This island group, a common destination for migrants trying to reach Spain by sea, is about 60 miles from Morocco
the Canary Islands
Bill
Dargan
|
$600
[18]
This organization'slogoreflects its commitment to protecting endangered species & their habitats
the World Wildlife Fund
Stella
Dargan
|
$600
[20]
Even after raising $82.5 million in an IPO, this .com known for its sock puppet spokesdog rolled over & did more than play dead in 2000
pets.com
Dargan
|
$600
[5]
When asked, "Where are your lands now?", this Lakota leader also called Tasunke Witco said, "My lands are where my dead lie buried"
Crazy Horse
Stella
Bill
|
$600
[8]
Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle took a magic carpet ride to No. 1 with this theme from "Aladdin"
"A Whole New World"
Stella
Dargan
|
|
$1,000
[12]
Need a really bright flashlight? Look (metaphorically!) into the Imalent MS32, rated at 200,000 lm, these units
lumens
Dargan
|
$800
[2]
Popular with tourists, the resort city of Cabo San Lucas is found at the extreme southern tip of this peninsula
Baja California
Stella
Dargan
|
$800
[3]
Buffalo Bill's successful extravaganza featuring gunplay & an "attack" on a stagecoach had this name
the Wild West Show
Dargan
|
$800
[10]
In March 2017, this Disney-owned social network for kids waddled away to extinction
Club Penguin
Stella
|
$800
[7]
As its name implies, the Sistine Chapel was named for a pope with this name (confusingly the IV)
Sixtus
Stella
Dargan
|
$800
[23]
Madonna's "This Used To Be My Playground" was the theme to this film in which she co-starred
A League of Their Own
Stella
|
|
DD
$1,400
[11]
Founded in 1946 as a motel chain, this now-international hotel brand is appropriately headquartered in Arizona
Best Western
Stella
|
$1,000
[1]
Called Titograd from 1946 to 1992, Podgorica is the capital & largest city of this former Yugoslav republic
Montenegro
Dargan
|
$1,000
[4]
Described in the books of Matthew & Mark, John the Baptist's diet was said to be locusts & this sweet edible
wild honey
Dargan
|
$1,000
[9]
In 2009 a digital wrecking ball was taken to the various "world metropolises" at this personal web-hosting site
GeoCities
Stella
|
$1,000
[6]
In 48 B.C. this Roman got the title Master of the Horse (basically assistant to the dictator) but got sacked for not keeping order
Mark Antony
Dargan
|
$1,000
[17]
This song was a solo hit for Elton John in the '70s & a No. 1 hit in the '90s as a duet with George Michael
"Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"
|
| LITERARY BEGINNINGS | LUCKY 13 LETTERS | BACKWARDS | THE VIKINGS | A FLUVIAL CATEGORY | A PERFORMATIVE MALE |
|
$400
[27]
This iconic hero was introduced in a 1912 magazine story subtitled "A Romance of the Jungle"
Tarzan
Stella
|
$400
[28]
You are now viewing abrine shrimpat 20x this, meaning enlargement
magnification
Bill
|
$400
[21]
From the book of Genesis: the nameless wife of this Sodom resident "looked back from behind him"--a poor choice, in hindsight
Lot
Stella
|
$400
[25]
These birds associated with Odin appeared on many Vikingflags& were said to have the ability to find land
ravens
Bill
|
$400
[29]
Thisriver valley of Central Europe is known for its many fluvial terraces, stair-like landforms that offer clues to its geologic past
the Rhine (Valley)
Bill
Dargan
|
$400
[30]
In "Barbie", this"Celebrity Jeopardy!" contestant wanted to beach off Ryan Gosling's Ken
(Simu) Liu
Bill
|
|
$800
[22]
Echoing works by R.B. Sheridan, Royall Tyler's 1787 "The Contrast" is considered the first American one of these plays
comedy of manners
Dargan
|
$800
[23]
It's an alternate name for intellectual history's Age of Reason
Enlightenment
Stella
|
$800
[20]
You may have heard your astrologer use this term for the apparent backward motion of another planet as seen from Earth
retrograde
Dargan
|
$800
[24]
In the Viking pantheon, he was the god of beauty, sadly struck down due to a trick by Loki
Balder
Stella
|
$800
[26]
At the mouth of a river, this type of landform develops from sediment deposits that accumulate over time
a delta
Stella
Dargan
|
$800
[16]
This Academy Award-winning actor began his career as a guest star on his brother River's TV show "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"
Joaquin Phoenix
Stella
|
|
$1,600
[5]
This Hugo & Nebula-winning author of works like "Kindred" was the first sci-fi writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship
(Octavia) Butler
Bill
|
$1,200
[19]
This word means an estimate close to the actual value of something; you know, kinda sorta
approximation
Bill
Dargan
|
$1,200
[6]
Six Flags St. Louis lets you go 70 mph backwards on the reverse blast roller coaster named for this Batman nemesis & cryogenics expert
Mr. Freeze
Stella
|
$1,200
[10]
Made up of as many as 6,000 Vikings, the Varangian Guard were bodyguards & mercenaries for this empire's rulers
the Byzantine Empire
Bill
Dargan
|
$1,200
[2]
Aka source streams, streams of this type, furthest from a river's endpoint, are small yet make up the majority of U.S. river miles
headwaters
Dargan
|
$1,200
[15]
There was a movie--"8 Mile"--and there was this actor as Future, a rap battle host & Eminem's friend
Mekhi Phifer
Bill
|
|
$2,000
[4]
Before Bond, Richard Hannay was a secret agent of Scottish roots in John Buchan books starting with this 1915 numerical-titled one
The 39 Steps
Bill
|
$1,600
[18]
In Celtic myth the Morrigan is capable of this metamorphosis, so she's a beautiful woman today & a crow tomorrow
shapeshifting
Bill
|
$1,600
[11]
Film character who delivers the line "It's never too late, or in my case, too early, to be whoever you want to be"
Benjamin Button
Stella
|
DD
$2,000
[1]
The first evidence of European presence in America is an 11th c. Viking settlement at L'anse aux Meadows on this island
Newfoundland
Stella
|
$1,600
[9]
Named for a U-shaped livestock collar, this type of lake forms when a bend in a river gets cut off from the original water source
an ox bow lake
Dargan
|
$1,600
[14]
This actor from "An American Werewolf in London" & "After Hours" was Joan Didion's nephew by marriage
Griffin Dunne
|
|
DD
$3,400
[3]
Jorge Luis Borges' story collection "A Universal History of Infamy" has been called the first book in this literary genre
magical realism
Stella
|
$2,000
[17]
"Greetings and" these, a 13-letter form of "congrats!"
felicitations
Dargan
|
$2,000
[12]
This Nobel-winning playwright based "Betrayal", his 1978 backward-flowing play, on his own longtime affair with a BBC reporter
Pinter
Stella
|
$2,000
[7]
"Jeopardy!" is seenherein the style of these characters used by the Vikings, with a name meaning "secret"
runes
Bill
|
$2,000
[8]
From Greek for "tree", this word describes the shape of intricate drainage patterns like that of the Amazon River seen here
dendritic
Stella
|
$2,000
[13]
Helearned from Gustavo Dudamel for his performance as classical conductor Rodrigo De Souza on "Mozart in the Jungle"
(Gael Garcia) Bernal
Bill
|
Important in developing vaccines against TB, they were domesticated as a food source in the Andes region around 5000 B.C.
a guinea pig