Final Jeopardy: U.S. States (1-26-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (1/26/2026) in the category “U.S. States” was:
This border state produced about half of the gunpowder for the Union
The last quarterfinal in the 2026 Tournament features: Celebrity Jeopardy! champ, Lisa Ann Walters, actress and comedienne orig. from Washington, D.C.; 3x champ, Mike Dawson, a technology manager from Portland, OR; and 5x champ, TJ Fisher, a marketing specialist from San Francisco, CA.
Round 1 Categories: Trade in History – Women’s Sports – Bus-podge – Classic American Literature – Seize This Category by the Horns – Redacted
Mike found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Bus-podge” under the $800 clue on the 11th pick of the round. He was in second place with $1,000, $400 less than TJ’s lead. Mike made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
A former Greyhound bus depot in Anniston, Alabama is part of the national monument dedicated to these activists show
Mike finished in the lead with $4,800. TJ was second with $1,400 and Lisa was last with negative $200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Here’s the Math You Asked For – 15-Letter Words – Lake News – Choices – Legal This & That – Red Acted
TJ found the first Daily Double in “15-Letter Words” under the $1,600 clue on the 6th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $5,400, $600 more than Mike in second place. TJ made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
This word for a small comment that displays prejudice was coined in a 1970s essay called “Offensive Mechanisms” show
TJ got the last Daily Double in “Lake News” under the $1,200 clue on the 12th pick of the round. Still in the lead with $9,200 now, he had $7,600 more than Mike in second place. TJ bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.
In 2017 the New Yorker called this lake in a same-named African country the site of the most complex humanitarian disaster show
TJ finished in the lead with $15,600. Mike was in second place with $8,000. Lisa was last with negative $2,600 and out of the game at this point. All clues were shown.
NEITHER contestant left to play Final Jeopardy! got it right.
WHAT IS DELAWARE?
The “border states” during the American Civil War (1861-1865) were Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and, after 1863, West Virginia. Slavery was legal in these states but their economy did not depend on it, although that is far from the only reason they did not secede from the Union.
The E.I. du Pont Company was founded in 1802 near Wilmington, Delaware, beginning as a gunpowder manufacturer. This proved to be a very profitable business thanks to all those 19th century wars. During the Civil War, the company supplied the lion’s share of gunpowder to the Union, while refusing to sell to the Confederacy.
Mike thought it was Maryland. He bet and lost his whole $8,000.
TJ went with Kentucky. He lost his $401 bet but won the last semifinal spot with the remaining $15,199.
A triple stumper from each round:
SEIZE THIS CATEGORY BY THE HORNS ($1000) In Norse myth, this guardian carries an instrument called the Gjallarhorn to use to awaken the gods for the Battle of Ragnarök
LAKE NEWS ($1600) The Jerusalem Post reported on desalinated sea water being pumped into the Sea of Galilee, aka Lake this city on its western shore
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “HISTORICAL FICTION”
Stan Lee said the alias-using title character of this novel set during the French Revolution “was the 1st super-hero I…read about” show
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To call that an uneven game would be a gross understatement. Once again, a celebrity was an embarrassment and theoretically took the place of a more deserving contestant. And a surfeit of wrong answers and stumpers.
I said KY for Final. That was a toughie. Guessed the 3rd DD, needed more time for the first, 2nd was too tough. They left way, way too may answerable clues out there. The biggest port; Parisian polymath; “Fountainhead” character; Priscilla’s suitor; EJI; McGarrett’s show; perfect # factors; and the 4/3 piRcubed solid. $6800 right there. But I thought I knew the African country and the math property and was wrong on both.
Yes, I think this QF had the highest number of stumpers. I winced when TJ guessed Robert Louis Stevenson for the 1823 work by a 3- named author. RLS had nothing to do with the first half of the 19th century. He was born in1850, and died when he was only 44. People are still making beaucoup bucks adapting his famous works.
The $800 clue in Women’s Sports was a stumper that I was sure someone wouild get.
Oh, yeah. I see I forgot to mark that clue and the $1000 clue with the asterisk, or more likely thought I did it.
Anyway, they were both stumpers.
Unfortunately for Lisa Ann, she never got any momentum going and she became the first Celebrity Jeopardy! contestant to not participate in Final Jeopardy! outside of Celebrity Jeopardy! events. She was really rusty after 2 years and only the 2 civilians got to play Final Jeopardy! This will not be the last time seeing Lisa Ann because we will see her again in the Celebrity Jeopardy All Stars in a month from now in primetime on ABC.
I believe this is the first time a celebrity won’t be around for Final Jeopardy!.