2026 Tournament of Champions semifinal game 2.
TJ Fisher — a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California
Steven Olson — a band director from Princeton, Illinois
Laura Faddah — a manager from Memphis, Tennessee
| Player | First Commercial | End of Jeopardy! | End of Double Jeopardy! | Final | Coryat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura | $600 | $2,000 | $1,600 |
$1
3rd place: $10,000 |
$3,200
7 R (including 1 DD), 3 W (including 1 DD) |
| Steven | $4,200 | $6,200 | $8,400 |
$2,996
2nd place: $10,000 |
$17,800
23 R, 2 W (including 1 DD) |
| TJ | $3,000 | $3,400 | $13,800 |
$10,799
Finalist |
$13,800
16 R, 0 W |
| VEXILLOLOGY | THE ELEVENTH HOUR | MOO-VIES | BOOK IT | RAGS & RICHES | GO AHEAD, END WITH A PREPOSITION |
|
$200
[27]
On the flags of Afghanistan & Pakistan, green represents this religion
Islam
Laura
|
$200
[28]
Scheduled for 11 A.M., July 29, 1981: the marriage of this couple at St. Paul's Cathedral; it was must-see TV
Diana & Prince Charles
TJ
|
$200
[29]
A passing cow moos outside an airborne bedroom in this 1939 classic
The Wizard of Oz
Steven
|
$200
[20]
A little birdie told us that a 2014 Pulitzer flew Donna Tartt's way for this novel
The Goldfinch
TJ
|
$200
[30]
This rhyming word can mean shabby or refer to any group comprised of disparate parts
ragtag
Steven
|
$200
[23]
The eyes of this fish are usually on the right side of its body
a halibut
Laura
|
|
$400
[26]
On Mexico's flag an eagle stands atop this alliterative type of cactus
prickly pear
Steven
|
$400
[25]
11:35 P.M., May 1, 2011:President Obama addresses the nation to announce the death of this man
bin Laden
Steven
|
$400
[24]
A mooing airborne cow passes by Helen Hunt & Bill Paxton in this 1996 classic
Twister
Steven
|
$400
[19]
This Sir Walter Scott novel says, "I offered Richard the service of my free lances"--knights, not writers or graphic designers
Ivanhoe
Laura
|
$400
[21]
Thisformer "SportsCenter" anchor has helped us get up to speed on Sunday mornings with "NFL Game Day Morning"
(Rich) Eisen
Steven
|
$400
[22]
It's an atom with a positive or negative charge
an ion
Laura
|
|
$600
[5]
The design of the flag that this African nation adopted in 1847 copies that of the American flag
Liberia
TJ
|
$600
[11]
Around 11:15 A.M., December 1, 1990: 2 workers digging the Chunnel finally meet in the middle: 1 from Dover, 1 from this French seaport
Calais
TJ
|
$600
[16]
Rob Lowe said he inspired the scene of this prank in "Tommy Boy" & insists it's real, even though cows weigh 1,000+ pounds
cow tipping
Laura
|
$800
[1]
On the back of this Susann opus: "For Anne, Neely, and Jennifer, it doesn't matter, as long as the pill bottle is within easy reach"
Valley of the Dolls
TJ
|
$600
[13]
As a kid, this jazz legend performed as "Traps" the Drum Wonder
Buddy Rich
|
$600
[6]
Police magazine says calling for this support "can prevent, or at least mitigate, unfortunate surprises"
backup
Laura
|
|
$800
[4]
Those aren't hearts but the leaves of this aquatic plant, pompeblêden, in Friesland, a Dutch province whose flag is seen here
water lilies
Steven
|
$800
[9]
Around 11 A.M., June 28, 1914: this 19-year-old Bosnian Serb assassin becomes the catalyst for World War I
Princip
Steven
|
$800
[3]
An insulting Frenchman launches a cow at some hapless knights in this 1975 film
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Steven
|
DD
$1,000
[18]
In a 1906 novel he wrote of "splitters" who earned 50 cents an hour doing nothing but chopping hogs down the middle
(Upton) Sinclair
Laura
|
$800
[2]
It was the 1535 testimony of Solicitor General Richard Rich that got this guy convicted of treason
Thomas More
|
$800
[7]
It's what pirates do to get their booty as well as another word for the booty itself
plunder
Steven
|
|
$1,000
[8]
A 15-year-old designed theflagof this Pacific Island nation that gained full independence in 1975
Papua New Guinea
Steven
|
$1,000
[10]
11:40 P.M., April 14, 1912: the Titanic hits an iceberg, prompting transmission of this 3-letter pre-S.O.S. distress signal
CQD
|
$1,000
[17]
"I hate cows worse than coppers!" says a cop-fleeing, cow-shooting Baby Face Nelson in this Coen brothers movie
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Laura
|
$1,000
[12]
"'Do not insult my intelligence. You know the story of Krazny Oktyabr as well as I'" is said in a 1988 novel written by this man
Tom Clancy
|
$1,000
[14]
Thiscat breed is noted for its blue eyes & named for how it supposedly goes limp when held
a Ragdoll
TJ
|
$1,000
[15]
It's a somewhat archaic way of saying up until a particular time
hitherto
|
| VEX-OLOGY | FROM THE NECK UP | HOW LARGE THOU ART | "N" THE CITY | THE VICTORS | TV SHOWS ON TV SHOWS |
|
$400
[24]
This synonym for "vex" that's also 3 letters becomes an adjective with the addition of "some"
irk
TJ
|
$400
[29]
In a typical adult human mouth, the 12 of these emerge from the gums behind the primary teeth
molars
Steven
|
$400
[28]
After completing this 25-foot-long painting in Paris, Picasso refused to let it reside in Spain while Franco was in power
Guernica
Steven
|
$400
[15]
Thiscity with a slightly different name in the mother tongue offers awesome views of islands like Ischia, Procida & Capri
Napoli (Naples)
TJ
|
$400
[27]
His lesser-known works include the poetry collection "Les Contemplations" & a play, "Les Burgraves"
Victor Hugo
TJ
|
$400
[30]
By the power of Neptune, "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy" protect the ocean & its creatures on a show beloved on this show
SpongeBob SquarePants
TJ
|
|
$800
[18]
An offense to someone's dignity, it has a double "F" like offense
affront
Steven
|
$800
[19]
The back two-thirds of the eyeball, it's actually an extension of the brain & connected to it by the optic nerve
the retina
Steven
|
$800
[12]
22 x 74 feet, Diego Rivera's last mural in the U.S. depicts cultural solidarity & is known as this continent-crossing "Unity"
Pan American
Steven
|
$800
[11]
This town perhaps best known for a 1598 law sits at the head of the estuary of the Loire River
Nantes
|
$800
[16]
In literature he says, "I beheld the wretch--the miserable monster whom I had created"
Victor Frankenstein
TJ
|
$800
[26]
"Psycho Dad" was a show much enjoyed by this character on "Married... with Children"
Al Bundy
TJ
|
|
$1,200
[4]
A pointed rod to urge an animal onward; as a verb, it means to prod someone into doing something
a goad (to goad)
|
$1,600
[20]
This word applied to the eye socket before it got its astronomical meaning
orbital (orbit)
TJ
|
$1,200
[3]
Over six foot by almost ten, Guido Reni's work depicts this archangel, a battler in the Book of Revelation, defeating Satan
Michael
Steven
|
$1,200
[6]
At the onset of the British Civil Wars, Charles I raised his flag on what's now Standard Hill in this city
Nottingham
Steven
|
$1,200
[7]
Pictured here, the second king of this name was the first king of a united Italy
Vittorio Emanuele
Steven
|
$1,200
[9]
For Season 4 Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) returned to "TMS", which is this show within a show that has the same name
The Morning Show
Steven
|
|
$1,600
[13]
This common synonym for "annoy" is also the strongest cussword Pooh knows
bother
Steven
|
$2,000
[23]
Found above the base of the tongue, this free-hanging end of the soft palate vibrates when you snore
uvula
Steven
|
$1,600
[25]
Christo & Jeanne-Claude created this vast 2005 work, "a long, billowy saffron ribbon meandering through Central Park"
The Gates
Laura
|
DD
$2,000
[1]
Once named for Nicholas II, a city on the Ob was given this new name meaning "new Siberia"
Novosibirsk
Laura
|
$1,600
[8]
The first socialist elected to Congress, Victor Berger co-founded the Socialist Party with this 5-time pres. candidate
(Eugene) Debs
TJ
|
$1,600
[17]
It stinks if you can't recall "Coming Attractions with Jay Sherman" was the show within this show starring Jon Lovitz
The Critic
|
|
$2,000
[14]
If you do this male first name to someone, you worry them mentally
Harry
TJ
|
DD
$9,400
[5]
Also called gray matter, this outermost part of the brain with a 2-word name integrates sensory impulses
the cerebral cortex
Steven
|
$2,000
[21]
This artist referred to her many giant sculptures of spiders as her most successful subject
Louise Bourgeois
|
$2,000
[2]
Hump it to Mauritania's capital, this city created in 1960 that's home to a local camel market
Nouakchott
Steven
|
$2,000
[10]
Based on themes from Mother Goose, "Babes in Toyland" is one of the best-known operettas by this composer
Victor Herbert
TJ
|
$2,000
[22]
On Season 1 of "30 Rock", we found out about this sitcom on BET, with Destan Owens as the David Hyde Pierce character
Black Frasier
Steven
|
The subtitle of a 2022 bio of this magnate who died in 1976 is "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth--But Not Its Mineral Rights"
J. Paul Getty