2026 Champions Wildcard semifinal game 1.
Cameron Berry — a data analyst and college administrator from Brighton, Massachusetts
Vickie Talvola — a quantitative trader from Jersey City, New Jersey
Ryan Sharpe — a recent graduate from Oakville, Ontario, Canada
| Player | First Commercial | End of Jeopardy! | End of Double Jeopardy! | Final | Coryat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan | $2,800 | $6,000 | $24,000 |
$16,399
2nd place: $10,000 |
$15,600
16 R (including 1 DD), 0 W |
| Vickie | $2,400 | $5,400 | $15,800 |
$6,400
3rd place: $10,000 |
$15,400
19 R (including 1 DD), 0 W |
| Cameron | $3,400 | $5,800 | $27,200 |
$31,601
Finalist |
$18,200
21 R (including 1 DD), 0 W |
| AROUND THE WORLD | SPYCRAFT | LET'S GO OUT TONIGHT | BOSS LEVEL | TIME FOR TV | SOUNDS LIKE HOCKEY? |
|
$200
[12]
This delta that drains into the South China Sea covers 15,400 square miles in Southwest Vietnam
the Mekong Delta
Cameron
|
$200
[15]
In this 2-word "mortal" method of tradecraft, items are exchanged without a meeting
a dead drop
Vickie
|
$200
[29]
Ingredients for this type of party: electronic dance music, a laser show & the motto PLUR (peace, love, unity & respect)
a rave
Cameron
|
$200
[21]
Game over! In 2023, hesold control of his team for $3.5 billion, so don't get on him for the Luka Doncic trade
Cuban
Vickie
|
$200
[30]
In 2025 Heidi Klum returned to host this reality series, but made it work without Tim Gunn
Project Runway
Cameron
|
$200
[14]
This "A Midsummer Night's Dream" character is aka Robin
Puck
Ryan
|
|
$400
[11]
Al-Maquar in Amman is the royal court compound for the king of this nation
Jordan
Cameron
|
$400
[10]
Hollywood makeup artist John Chambers received the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit for helping an escape from this capital in 1980
Tehran
Vickie
|
$400
[19]
This type of drama is big on Broadway with stars like Sarah Snook & Jean Smart, but do I want to see your pal Dave as Salmon P. Chase?
one-person show
|
$400
[20]
Trained as an electrical engineer, Judy Marks went to the top floor, becoming CEO of this elevator maker in 2019
Otis
Ryan
|
$400
[28]
"Ahsoka" & "The Book of Boba Fett" are spin-offs from this Disney+ series
The Mandalorian
Ryan
|
$400
[13]
A decisive gunfight like one between law enforcement officers & criminals
a shootout
Cameron
|
|
$800
[5]
In 1913 American architect Walter Burley Griffin went Down Under to design this city
Canberra
Vickie
|
$600
[9]
To find a mole, give multiple suspects info & see what version leaks in a "canary trap"--this character defines it in "Patriot Games"
Jack Ryan
Cameron
|
$600
[24]
Activity well-suited to nighttime in the Atacama Desert or at the Chateau Marmont bar on Sunset Blvd.
stargazing
Cameron
|
$600
[18]
He spent 12 years at IBM & a little less time (6 months) at Compaq before taking over as Apple's CEO in 2011
Cook
Ryan
|
$600
[26]
In 2025, things broke bad on Netflix for this actor who didn't make it out of "The Residence" alive
Giancarlo Esposito
Cameron
|
$600
[3]
Similar to a DMZ, this region of space on "Star Trek" was a buffer between Federation areas & those of the Romulans or Klingons
a neutral zone
Ryan
|
|
DD
$1,000
[6]
This longest river in South Africa is named in honor of the Dutch royal family
the Orange River
Vickie
|
$800
[8]
These "colorful" covert operations are likely to be disavowed by a spy agency
black ops
Cameron
|
$800
[23]
The B Street Band is this type of band that devotes itself to the music of one superstar act
a tribute band
Vickie
|
$800
[17]
Joanna Geraghty flies high as CEO of this carrier that calls itself "New York's hometown airline"
JetBlue
Ryan
|
$800
[27]
Nathan Lane won an Emmy for guest starring as Teddy Dimas in the "Boy from 6B" episode of this crime-com
Only Murders in the Building
Cameron
|
$800
[2]
If you're a truly sharp dresser, you iron your pants so you could perform surgery using this
the crease
|
|
$1,000
[4]
This German city was called "the Florence of the Elbe" before massive Allied bombing in February 1945
Dresden
Ryan
|
$1,000
[7]
Ex-spy Jason Matthews drew on his knowledge of the KGB's use of this sweet-sounding sexpionage for his novel "Red Sparrow"
a honeypot
Cameron
|
$1,000
[22]
A new chef is making this type of cuisine popularized by BBQ nachos, curry lasagna & Sichuan poutine (really!)
fusion
Vickie
|
$1,000
[16]
It was a rough late 2024 to early 2025 for Mexico's richest person, this telethon king whose account thinned by about $20 billion
(Carlos) Slim
Vickie
|
$1,000
[25]
You can't help but kind of love smarmy network exec Cory Ellison, played byhimon "The Morning Show"
Billy Crudup
Ryan
|
$1,000
[1]
The use of chemical weapons may cross one of these, the furthest limit that will be tolerated
red line
Ryan
|
| FRENCH HISTORY | I WILL SURVIVE! (OPERA EDITION) | 20th CENTURY LIT | LIKE A ROCKET | MOVIE LIFE HACKS | CROSSWORD CLUES "K" |
|
$400
[23]
Vercingetorix, a chieftain of these people, led a rebellion against Roman rule in France vs. Julius Caesar
the Gauls
Cameron
|
$400
[28]
Mimì doesn't make it to the end of this opera, dying of consumption; Musetta is made of haler stuff, though & lives on
La bohème
Vickie
|
$400
[24]
"Tender is the Night" is a semi-autobiographical book from this author who died in Hollywood in 1940
Fitzgerald
Vickie
|
$400
[27]
The flash of artillery weapons called Congreve rockets inspired the "rockets' red glare" in this song
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
Ryan
|
$400
[26]
In Jean-Jacques Beineix' "Diva", a crafty cook wears snorkeling gear to avoid tears while chopping these bulbous veggies
onions
Vickie
|
$400
[30]
Sharp end to "hold" someone "at"(10 letters)
knifepoint
Vickie
|
|
$800
[16]
The execution on the guillotine of Robespierre & many of his associates in 1794 marked the end of this bloody period
The (Reign of) Terror
Vickie
|
$800
[17]
Things get heated on the deck of this title ship of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera, but Little Buttercup & Josephine survive
the H.M.S. Pinafore
Vickie
|
$1,200
[12]
This Virginia Woolf novel came out after a short story about the titular Mrs. "in Bond Street"
Mrs. Dalloway
Cameron
|
$800
[25]
Founded in San Diego in 1967, the NBA's Rockets moved to this appropriate city in 1971
Houston
Cameron
|
$800
[22]
Cooking in this Pixar film, Linguini uses the back end of his knife to scrape food from a cutting board, reducing wear on the blade
Ratatouille
Ryan
|
$800
[29]
Dealey Plaza has an infamous grassy one(5 letters)
knoll
Vickie
|
|
$1,600
[4]
In the 1960s, France took in a million people of European descent who had lived in Algeria called Pieds-Noirs, literally these
Black Feet
Ryan
|
$1,200
[8]
A Luigi Cherubini opera finds this sorceress alive at the end, but she's killed her kids, & Jason is devastated
Medea
Cameron
|
$1,600
[10]
This Saul Bellow character "the Rain King" takes a spiritual journey to Africa & chooses to become a healer
Henderson
Cameron
|
$1,200
[21]
In 2021 this loan-industry giant with a speedy name became Rocket Mortgage
Quicken
Cameron
|
$1,200
[19]
Inthis2004 movie, Paul Giamatti shows Thomas Haden Church how to swirl wine in the glass to get it to oxygenate & open up
Sideways
Cameron
|
$1,200
[6]
Nightmarish à la Franz(10 letters)
Kafkaesque
Vickie
|
|
$2,000
[9]
Under a program called the Messmer Plan, in the 1980s France tripled its number of these that now dominate its grid
nuclear power plants
Ryan
|
$1,600
[7]
At the end of "Die Walküre", this daughter of Odin may look dead, but she's really been placed under a sleep spell
Brünnhilde
Vickie
|
$2,000
[11]
This British author of "A Handful of Dust" lifted the book's title from T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land"
(Evelyn) Waugh
Vickie
|
$1,600
[20]
The V in the name of this rocket that boosted the Apollo missions to the Moon stood for the five huge engines that powered its first stage
Saturn (V)
Vickie
|
$1,600
[15]
Inthisfilm, George Clooney advises Anna Kendrick on more efficient ways to pack a suitcase & go through airport security
Up in the Air
Ryan
|
$1,600
[2]
A mirliton that's a cheap way to get a buzz(5 letters)
a kazoo
|
|
DD
$9,600
[5]
Enacted in 1804 this comprehensive system of laws, with revisions, is still the operating civil jurisprudence in France
the Napoleonic Code
Ryan
|
$2,000
[3]
In a Gluck opera Orfeo despairs as this woman dies near the end, but despair not! Amor revives her!
Eurydice
Ryan
|
DD
$9,800
[13]
This language from Orwell's "1984" was "designed... to diminish the range of thought"
Newspeak
Cameron
|
$2,000
[18]
Capable of 30 miles per hour, a locomotive called Stephenson's Rocketbegan running from Liverpool to this Northern England industrial city in 1829
Manchester
Cameron
|
$2,000
[14]
Inthis1999 movie, Annette Bening says she gets her flowers to flourish with eggshells & Miracle-Gro
American Beauty
Cameron
|
$2,000
[1]
Dutch barge dog(8 letters)
a Keeshond
|
The viral rash known since 1866 by this Latin name was described a century earlier by Friedrich Hoffmann of the University of Halle
rubella