Final Jeopardy: Countries of the World (3-6-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (3/6/2026) in the category “Countries of the World” was:
Its island province of Annobon lies at 1.4 degrees south latitude; its mainland begins at .92 degrees north latitude
New champ Cory Aiello, a development officer from Indianapolis, IN, won $17,900 yesterday. In Game 2, his challengers are: James Denison, a college prof. & museum curator orig. from Alexandria, VA; and Heidi Schmechel, a veterinarian orig. from Rumson, NJ.
Round 1 Categories: Boasting a Coast – Brit Bits – Vegas Casino Names – Sports Idioms – Be Very Quiet – I’m Hunting Outfits
James found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Brit Bits” under the $800 clue on the 8th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $2,200, $1,400 more than Heidi in second place. James made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
According to the British monarchy’s website, in 1810 this royal “became permanently deranged” show
James finished in the lead with $8,400. Heidi was in second place with $4,800. Cory was last with negative $200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Secret Meetings – Character Assassination – On the Go – 10-Letter Words – Earth Science – Directors
Heidi found the first Daily Double in “Directors” under the $1,200 clue on the 3rd pick. In second place with $6,400, she had $2,000 less than James in the lead. Heidi bet $3,000 and s/he was RIGHT.
Oscar-nominated for directing, she made her first onscreen appearance as an infant in “The Godfather” show
James got the last Daily Double in “10-Letter Words” under the $1,200 clue, with 10 clues left after it. He was in the lead with $13,600 now, $4,200 more than Heidi in second place. James bet $9,000 and he was RIGHT.
It was named for a French doctor who advocated for as quick & painless a death as possible show
James finished in the lead with $24,200. Heidi was next with $12,200 and Cory was in third place with $3,400. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS EQUATORIAL GUINEA?
If you know your way around the equator, you’re in business with this clue. Otherwise, the clue really doesn’t tell us much more than the country to look for lies a little above the equator and it owns an island that is a little below the equator. I think it would take you longer than 30 seconds to cross-reference the countries that lie on the equator with the countries that are between 1 and 2 degrees above the equator. Doing that, I came up with Malaysia and Equatorial Guinea, the latter being the only one with territory below the equator.
Let’s see it on a map: New Lines magazine has a 2025 article about Annobon with a good image of its location relative to Equatorial Guinea’s mainland, Bioko island where Equatorial Guinea’s capital is located, and the independent country of Sao Tome Principe. The article is really about the political situation over there and it’s not good!
Cory thought it was Singapore. He lost $604 and finished with $2,796.
Heidi got it right. She bet it all and doubled her score to $24,400.
James got it, too. He bet $11,999 and won the game with $36,199. James Denison is the new Jeopardy! champion.
A triple stumper from each round:
I’M HUNTING OUTFITS ($1000) I’m looking for a flat cap with a marsupial logo from this company— it’s big in rap fandom
CHARACTER ASSASSINATION ($1600) “The gardener saw Wilson’s bodya little way off in the grass, and the Holocaust was complete.”
Cory Aiello, James Denison, Heidi Schmechel
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “LITERATURE & RELIGION”
This city now in Turkey is the addressee of one of the New Testament epistles & the setting for “The Comedy of Errors” show
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I was somewhat piqued by Heidi’s response to the nation name in French. The nation states that it is to be addressed in French. The clue asked for the name in French. Ergo. “Ivory Coast” SHOULD have been ruled incorrect. Ken giving the right response (in French) to me, was wrong.
That’s all I have to say.
There’s just no way Ken could reject Heidi’s “Ivory Coast” response. That was a long time ago (in the 80s, I believe) when the country announced they would no longer recognize translations of Côte d’Ivoire in official matters. It was not a mandate to the entire world and nations everywhere continue to report on Côte d’Ivoire in their own languages to this day. (Examples: Costa de Marfil in Spanish, Die Elfenbeinküste in German, Ivoorkust in Dutch).
Here’s a DD from 5/28/21, “You can give us either the French or English name of this African country whose legislative capital is Yamoussoukro”
I don’t recall the exact clue, so I can’t dispute your point. But after all, the category was Boasting a Coast. We had a cool local TV reporter not long ago from Cote d’Ivoire with a distinct accent, but she vanished suddenly. I looked her up online and she’d bailed for Fox affiliate in San Diego.
Here’s the exact clue: BOASTING A COAST ($800) Bounded to the north by Mali, this French-named nation is perfect for the category
(There’s no directive to respond in French and, seriously, I can’t imagine that ever happening!)
Well, me being me, I would have responded in French! Also, I am just waiting to say Rapa Nui instead of Easter Island, and Las Islas Malvinas instead of The Falkland Islands! (Of course, unless the clue specified the English!)
I just thought that, when it said “French named”, well, you had to use the French!
I think it’s fair to say that the contestants know way more languages than the usual Romance languages that show up in Jeopardy! clues. Quentin demonstrated that when he spoke Tetum during the chat last Tuesday. (Being the language maven that you are, I’m sure you’ll recognize the Portuguese influence there!!)
I added the chat on Page 2 of that game.
Wow, James and Heidi took off from the get-go and never let up. Cory rallied but couldn’t keep up. That $9K wager by James was gutsy. I got the 2nd/3rd DDs but whiffed on Final. The numbers led me to Ecuador and I didn’t go any further. I sure hope Heidi gets a callback.
How did one of them get sotto voce (I knew that one), but none could come up with the quality of a restaurant table for a future date? And I thought everynne knows what temperature is combined with to come up with a heat index. The words in the clue all but gave it away.
I really had a laugh at my response to that $200 clue in “Be Very Quiet” — I don’t know many Taylor Swift song titles so my immediate response to that 4-letter word was “pipe” as it in “pipe down.” It turns out that it is the title of a song by Drake.
Another one my parents used to say to tell us to be quiet was “keep it down to a dull roar”