Final Jeopardy: Annual Events (7-20-26)
The Final Jeopardy question (7/20/2026) in the category “Annual Events” was:
It celebrated its 40th edition in 2026; the first one featured Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Jimmy Carl Black
12x champ Caleb Groen, a law & policy student orig. from Thousand Oaks, CA, won $346,968. Will Game 13 be lucky or unlucky for Caleb? These 2 challengers would love some good luck, too: Tatiana Chichilla, a genetic counselor orig. from Mill Hall, PA; and Sam Ryan, a regulatory consultant from Kansas City, MO.
Round 1 Categories: Sharks! – Colleges & Universities – Tipples in Lit – Let It “Be” – Rap City – In Blue
Sam found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Tipples in Lit” under the $600 on the 5th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $1,400, $400 more than Caleb in second place. Sam made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
The title of this Kurt Vonnegut novel doesn’t mean a Wheaties slogan– it’s how a cocktail waitress in the book refers to martinis show
Sam finished in the lead with $9,200. Caleb was in second place with $5,400. Tatiana was last with $1,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: 18th Century Europe – The Southern Hemisphere – Dancing Around Ballet Facts – New in Tech – Pop Culture Anagrams – Shapely Words
Tatiana got the first Daily Double in “18th Century Europe” under the $1,200 clue on the very first pick of the round. She was in last place with $1,800 now, $7,400 less than Sam’s lead. Tatiana bet $1,500 and she was RIGHT.
1714 saw the birth of this royal house in Britain when George I succeeded to the crown show
Sam got the last Daily Double in “Pop Culture Anagrams” under the $800 clue on the 19th pick of the round. In the lead with $16,400, he had $3,800 more than Caleb in second place. Sam bet $6,400 and he was RIGHT.
“Torchwood”, an anagram of & spin-off from this BBC show, added “Children of Earth” as a subtitle for season 3 show
Sam finished in the lead with a runaway $24,000. Caleb was in second place with $11,400 and Tatiana was last with $6,900. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST (SXSW)?
South by Southwest aka SXSW is an annual event that began as a conference in Austin, TX, a gathering of established and hopeful musicians and music industry professionals. The first event was planned and announced in 1986. It actually took place in March 1987 and ran for 4 days, so it may be a little premature to say 40th anniversary. This last one was actually its 39th edition.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a country singer and songwriter, who also appeared as Smokey in “The Big Lebowski” (1998). Jimmy Carl Black (1938-2008) was best known as the drummer for The Mothers of Invention. He formed a spinoff group in the 1980s called The Grandmothers. Both native Texans, they both participated in SXSW.
Tatiana didn’t have a response. She bet and lost her whole bet $6,900.
Caleb didn’t have a response either. He did write down advance congrats to Sam on his victory. Caleb lost $3,000 and finished with $8,400.
Sam went with WrestleMania. He only lost $1,000 but won the game with the remaining $23,000. Sam Ryan is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES ($1000) Marlee Matlin is a lifetime honorary trustee of this DC school, and was one of its commencement speakers in 2022
NEW IN TECH ($2000) Likened to Jarvis, this A.I. personal assistant that can clear your emails as you sleep was formerly known as Clawdbot & MoltBot
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “AUTHORS”
“Love” is within the titles of 3 of his most famous books; a fourth, “The Rainbow”, calls love “the flower of life” show
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40th edition in 2026 fits with starting in 1987; have to add one to the difference in years to get the count.
Yes, that is mentioned in the recap in the paragraph above the video.
The challengers certainly burst out of the starting blocks when the starting gun went off, especially Sam. Tatiana made a great run in DJ then botched 3 straight clues before rebounding again. Caleb’s juxtaposition of the Bounty mate could have been fatal if he hadn’t been locked out of FJ and had gotten Final correct. I felt confident that FJ answer was farm Aid………ooops.
I got the first DD, thought the 2nd might be Stuart or Windsor (not), and Sam nailed the 3rd before I could try to unscramble it. I got them on a few clues. Surely someone should have known the DC college for the deaf; the German city; the Antarctica sea; and the ballet move. Got a few of the $1000/2000 clues too. My MIL claimed to have a familial connection to Prince Phillip.
I’m kinda bummed that Caleb lost, but. Sam was beating him on the buzzer right and left.
Sam really won that game and seems to have the stuff to go on a run of his own.
Caleb finished his run as a 12 day champion like Adam Remsen but he had the highest 12 day total than Adam so Caleb will be seeded as #3 in the 2027 TOC exhibition game. Sam Ryan is the latest giant killer and we’ll see what he does tomorrow. Only 4 more games left this season.