2026Jeopardy!Invitational Tournament semifinal game 2.
Alison Betts — a creative executive originally from San Jose, California
Andrew He — a stay-at-home dad from Concord, California
Matt Amodio — a quantitative researcher from New York, New York
| Player | First Commercial | End of Jeopardy! | End of Double Jeopardy! | Final | Coryat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt | $3,200 | $3,800 | $19,200 |
$11,199
2nd place: $10,000 |
$14,200
17 R (including 1 DD), 1 W |
| Andrew | $6,000 | $8,400 | $13,600 |
$13,562
Finalist |
$19,600
22 R, 3 W (including 1 DD) |
| Alison | $0 | $1,400 | $2,600 |
$2,600
3rd place: $10,000 |
$3,600
7 R, 1 W (including 1 DD) |
| REMEMBER JANUARY 2026? | IN A "B" COUNTRY | ETYMOLOGICALLY YOURS | WATCHING MOVIES IN MOVIES | GOING BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL | BY INVITATION ONLY |
|
$200
[29]
Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in a sub-zero January are called by the alliterative term "weaponizing" this
winter
Alison
|
$200
[27]
The border between Bolivia & this eastern neighbor runs through Laguna Mandioré
Brazil
Andrew
Alison
|
$200
[30]
Appropriately, this adjective is from the Latin for "ox"
bovine
Andrew
|
$200
[23]
In "I Am Legend", this actor showed an encyclopedic knowledge of the "Shrek" script, speaking along with the characters
Will Smith
Andrew
|
$200
[24]
Math:It's the formula for the circumference of a circle
2 pi r
Andrew
|
$200
[26]
In 1970 Benny Binion invited 7 players to Vegas, each paying a $5,000 fee to participate in this, the WSOP; it's gotten bigger since
World Series of Poker
Matt
|
|
$400
[19]
U.S. forces seized him, the president of a country, & brought him back to the U.S. with his first lady
Maduro
Matt
|
$400
[20]
Its capital of Belmopan came to be after Hurricane Hattie wrecked the old capital in 1961
Belize
Alison
|
$400
[21]
An oral vote that doesn't require a count of ayes & nays is "by" this, from the Latin for "to shout"
acclamation
Andrew
|
$400
[22]
A character gets bigtime meta in this horror franchise "III: Season of the Witch" watching an ad for the original film on a bar TV
Halloween
Matt
|
$400
[25]
English:The working class Greasers face off against the rich kid Socs in this 1967 novel
The Outsiders
Andrew
|
$400
[28]
In a Mozart opera this title rake invites folks to his castle for a nosh; he has eyes on Zerlina, & Z's fiancé? Not pleased
Don Giovanni
Matt
|
|
$600
[18]
After 19 straight seasons without a losing record, this longest-serving current NFL (or any major pro sport) coach stepped down
(Mike) Tomlin
Andrew
|
$600
[15]
The Dnieper flows through this landlocked country on its way to the Black Sea
Belarus
Matt
|
$600
[16]
Hold your horses! One of the periods in a game of polo, it's from Sanskrit for "circle"
chukka (chukker)
Andrew
|
$600
[10]
A captive audience watches "Gilda" as Andy asks Red to get Rita Hayworth for him in this movie, & Red does (in a way)
The Shawshank Redemption
Andrew
|
$600
[11]
Phys ed:We'll see if you can break the record of a bit over 77 feet in this sport using an Olympics-ready 16-pound sphere
shot put
Matt
|
$600
[17]
When making Reels, Instagram lets you invite multiple these, which sounds like you're plotting something nefarious, but it's all for fun
collaborators
Alison
|
|
$800
[14]
First & last name of the Potomac, Maryland resident who was in the news as a key figure in a speculated new Iranian regime
Reza Pahlavi
|
DD
$1,000
[2]
Cricket is the national sport of this Caribbean nation & Anglicanism is the predominant religion
Barbados
Alison
|
$800
[13]
Partly from Yiddish & from Russian & literally "destruction", it's an organized massacre of a class of people
pogrom
Andrew
|
$800
[9]
Time-traveling Bruce Willis feels like he's seen "Vertigo" before in this 1995 film
12 Monkeys
Andrew
|
$800
[8]
U.S. history:Founded in 1886 with 138,000 members, this trade unionist group had nearly 3 million by 1924
the AFL
|
$800
[12]
On Sept. 10, 1971 inmates revolting at this prison! this prison! welcomed observers who'd later serve as intermediaries
Attica
Andrew
|
|
$1,000
[3]
The USA's first Black elected governor, hecame to the inauguration of Virginia's first female governor on his 95th birthday
(Doug) Wilder
Matt
|
$1,000
[1]
It's located between the Assam-Bengal plain & the Plateau of Tibet
Bhutan
Alison
|
$1,000
[4]
German words for "world" & "pain" combine to form this pessimistic feeling about life
Weltschmerz
Andrew
|
$1,000
[6]
In "Logan", Charles Xavier & Laura watch this 1953 Western in which a boy implored Alan Ladd to "Come back!"
Shane
Andrew
|
$1,000
[7]
Latin:Translate--& now live!--the phrase audentes fortuna juvat
fortune favors the brave (bold)
Andrew
|
$1,000
[5]
At a 1966 party McGeorge Bundy got a 2nd invite--let's step outside!--from this "Naked & the Dead" author, arguing over Vietnam
(Norman) Mailer
Matt
|
| PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS | SCIENCE GOULASH | STATE CAPITAL ENTERTAINMENT? | 6-SYLLABLE WORDS | TAKE YOUR MARBLE | & GO HOME |
|
$400
[25]
In 1991 his play "Lost in Yonkers", about a Jewish family, won a Tony & a Pulitzer
(Neil) Simon
Matt
Andrew
|
$400
[20]
The pangolin is the only mammal that's completely covered in these, which are made from cemented hairs
scales
Matt
|
$400
[24]
Carnies & nuclear war are the only things that terrify this international man of mystery
Austin Powers
Andrew
|
$400
[28]
Alex Wallace & Alex Wilson are 2 of these on-camera professionals for The Weather Channel
meteorologist
Alison
|
$400
[30]
Your countertops can be made of Danby marble, like this Neoclassical domed memorial on Washington, D.C.'s Tidal Basin
Jefferson (Memorial)
Matt
|
$400
[29]
In black culture this event is often called a homegoing & TLC featured some elaborate ones on a show called "Best" this "Ever"
Funeral
|
|
$800
[22]
He wrote "Tiny Alice" as well as "Three Tall Women"
(Edward) Albee
Matt
|
$800
[19]
Bacteria reproduce primarily via the binary type of this asexual method; it ain't romantic, but it gets the job done
(binary) fission
Andrew
|
$800
[23]
Marisa Tomei is in a trying relationship with an attorney who has an unusual office in this 2011 film
The Lincoln Lawyer
|
$800
[1]
It's a 150th anniversary; Colorado is celebrating its in 2026
sesquicentennial
Matt
|
$800
[26]
Change the prefix in a simple, stark -ism to get this lavish style of designer Kelly Wearstler, featuring Calacatta marble
maximalism
|
$800
[27]
It's one of the most dramatic plays in sports; Ty Cobb did it 54 times & Jackie Robinson did it in Game 1 of the 1955 World Series
stealing home
Alison
|
|
$1,600
[2]
King Charles & Queen Camilla were among those who paid tribute to this witty Czech-born playwright on his recent passing
Stoppard
Matt
|
$1,200
[4]
Here'soneof many historical attempts to design this type of two-word machine; alas, the laws of thermodynamics say it can't be done
perpetual motion
Andrew
|
$1,200
[17]
Stardom was around the corner after Justin Bieber shared this singer's cover of "At Last"
Madison Beer
|
$1,200
[14]
It's the full name of the lifesaving treatment that utilizes an artificial kidney machine to cleanse the blood
hemodialysis
Andrew
|
$1,200
[13]
The charioteer seenhereis carved in Proconnesian marble from the area of this Turkish sea whose name means "marble"
the Sea of Marmara
|
$1,200
[12]
If a young British person unexpectedly returns home because they've been "sent down", they've been this
kicked out of school
|
|
$2,000
[8]
This pioneering absurdist playwright wrote "The Bald Soprano"
Ionesco
Andrew
|
$1,600
[5]
Yellow fireworks & streetlight bulbs both make use of this element, which emits a brilliant yellow light when heated
sodium
Matt
|
$1,600
[18]
In 1990 she played Polonius' daughter in "Hamlet" & in 2020, Millie Bobby Brown's mom in "Enola Holmes"
Helena Bonham Carter
|
$1,600
[15]
Poe wrote about this "that so musically wells from the bells, bells, bells, bells"
tintinnabulation
Matt
|
$2,000
[10]
This4-letter type of colonnade was often made with marble, Pentelic for the one of Atlas in the Agora of Athens
stoa
Andrew
|
$1,600
[9]
Experiments with these sharks named for women's headwear suggest the Earth's magnetic field guides them to home waters
bonnet (sharks)
Matt
|
|
DD
$6,200
[3]
Set in a fictional town in the South, this 1955 courtroom drama was based on the Scopes trial; a film would follow
Inherit the Wind
Matt
|
$2,000
[6]
Latin for "whiteness", it's a measure of the reflectivity of a planet or other surface
albedo
Andrew
|
$2,000
[21]
The first & last names of this actor whose credits include several seasons of "American Horror Story" are state capitals
Cheyenne Jackson
|
$2,000
[16]
Thomas Huxley coined this word for the idea that the first forms of life evolved from non-living matter
abiogenesis
Andrew
|
DD
$6,000
[7]
After some effort, "The Brutalist" director Brady Corbet got to film in the quarries of this Italian marble mecca
Carrara
Andrew
|
$2,000
[11]
A film subject, the return of this peasant--or someone claiming his name--to his French village in the 1550s began a legal "war"
Martin Guerre
|
A 1660 book quoted Mary, Queen of Scots as saying she feared this man's prayers more than an army of men
John Knox