Final Jeopardy Clues: 7-20-26 to 7-24-26

Here are the Final Jeopardy clues and correct responses for the week of July 20, 2026 through July 24, 2026.

Click on the dates to see the recap for each game.

Mon, July 20 – Correct answers: 0
ANNUAL EVENTS: It celebrated its 40th edition in 2026; the first one featured Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Jimmy Carl Black show

Tue, July 21 – Correct answers: 3
THE 20th CENTURY: Turning points in this event were the U.S. Navy boarding the Marucla & a cargo ship called the Kislovodsk altering its course show

Wed, July 22 – Correct answers: 0
MUSICAL PIECES: Words later applied to this 1867 piece include “Far from the Black Forest you hurry to the sea” show

Thu, July 23 – Correct answers: 1
AUTHORS: She sometimes signed letters “Charles Thunder” show

Fri, July 24 – Correct answers: 0
POP CULTURE NICKNAMES: This star, director & writer who won an Oscar for his 1996 film was called “the hillbilly Orson Welles” by Robert Duvall show

As fabulous as the contestants were in this last week of Season 42, the Final Jeopardy! results weren’t that great. There were 3 triple stumpers, one triple solve and only one correct response to Thursday’s clue. Apparently, the hints in the stumpers weren’t enough to point the players in the right direction. Tuesday’s U.S. Navy clue was obviously the easiest. I’d have to say that Monday’s Annual Event was the hardest, unless you knew who the people in the clue were.

This week’s winners:
Mon 7/20/26 Sam Ryan $23,000
Tue 7/21/26 Grace Biermann $32,000
Wed 7/22/26 Dean Zach $36,000
Thu 7/23/26 Matthew Riggle $48,001
Fri 7/24/26 Matthew Riggle $16,399

Caleb Groen’s 12-day run ended on Monday when Sam Ryan took over. What happened over the next 3 days was nothing short of astounding. Grace Biermann ended Sam’s hopes for a long run with a $32K victory. Dean Zach did the same thing to Grace and won $4K more than Grace. On Thursday, Dean was looking good for a repeat game after he nabbed 2 consecutive DDs early in Double Jeopardy. He went from $6K to $24K. Matthew Riggle took the bull by the horns and never let go. He won the game with $48,001, the week’s highest total. However, that didn’t beat Caleb Groen’s $60,067 record for highest 1-day winnings in Season 42.

Jeopardy! paid out $155,400 to 4 champs this week after Matthew Riggle won Friday’s game. Caleb, Sam and Dean got $3K consolation prizes. Grace got $2K.

Here is the HIT THE SAUCE category from Tuesday’s game.