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Jeopardy - Season 43 - Episode 35: 2026 Invitational Tournament Final Game 1
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00:02From the Alex Rebeck stage at Sony Pictures Studios, this is the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.
00:17Introducing the finals, a stay-at-home dad from Concord, California, Andrew He.
00:24A retired engineer from Las Vegas, Nevada, Long Nguyen.
00:30And an applied scientist, originally from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Roger Craig.
00:38And now, here is the host of Jeopardy! Ken Jennings.
00:46Thank you so much, folks. Thank you, Johnny Gilbert. And welcome to you at home.
00:50You're here for the finals of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament.
00:53From a field of 18 decorated champions, now only three remain.
00:57Roger Craig, Long Nguyen, and Andrew He.
01:00Their journeys up to this point on the Alex Rebeck stage could not have been more different.
01:04But today, they're here with the same goal.
01:06Be the first player to win two games, and thereby become our JIT champion.
01:10Good luck, finalists. Here are your categories in the Jeopardy! round.
01:16First up, names in sports. Then we have quotable notables. Well, that's pathetic.
01:23Followed by a good old job. How'd they come up with it?
01:28And finally, a little forestry fiction. One of my favorite genres. Roger, you're up first.
01:34A good old job, 1,000.
01:36In old textile factories, slubber doffers, often kids, removed this type of spool that held the yarn for spinning machines.
01:48The slubber doffer was in charge of the bobbin. What are bobbins? Back to Roger.
01:52Good old job, 800, please.
01:54Machines by Brunswick and AMF put pin setters out of a job in these specialized recreation facilities. Long.
02:01One of bowling alleys?
02:03Right. Quotable notables for 800.
02:06Predating his famous invention, he said,
02:08I see no reason why intelligence may not be transmitted instantaneously by electricity. Long.
02:14Uh, who's, uh, who's Mocconi?
02:17No. Roger.
02:18Who is Morse?
02:19Morse, the telegraph.
02:20How'd they come up with it? 1,000?
02:23NASA scientist Lonnie Johnson came up with this alliterative toy after a heat pump he was working on shot a
02:29stream of water.
02:30Andrew.
02:31What is a super soaker?
02:32The super soaker is right for 1,000.
02:33Sports, 1,000.
02:36After winning the WNBA Finals MVP in 2025, this center invited Beyonce to the Las Vegas Aces championship parade.
02:44Andrew.
02:45Who's Wilson?
02:46Asia Wilson is right.
02:47Notables, 1,000.
02:49He's the Spanish-born American philosopher who opined, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
02:55Roger.
02:56Who is Santayana?
02:57Good for 1,000.
02:58Notables, 600.
03:00Descartes came up with this famous dictum in his discourse on method. Long.
03:05What is, I think, therefore I am?
03:07Yes.
03:08Fiction for 800.
03:10Ann Patchett said, the best novel ever written about trees is this one by Richard Powers.
03:14It did win the Pulitzer.
03:16Andrew.
03:17What is the overstory?
03:18That is the book.
03:19Fiction, 1,000.
03:20She won a 1973 Hugo Award for her novella, The Word for World is Forest.
03:29Who is Ursula K. Le Guin?
03:32Andrew.
03:32How'd they come up with it, 800?
03:35Civil War vet John Pemberton's attempt to make an opiate-free painkiller eventually led him to create this drink.
03:41Roger.
03:42What is Coca-Cola?
03:43That's right.
03:44Well, that's pathetic 800.
03:47Deserving commiseration, like Warren Zevon's poor, poor, me.
03:54Poor, poor, pitiful, me.
03:56Roger.
03:57Pathetic, 1,000.
03:59Boasting a silent G within it, this word has positive connotations like emotional and moving, though it's also just darn
04:06sad.
04:07Long.
04:08What is poignant?
04:09That's right, poignant.
04:10Who came up with it for 600?
04:11Roy Raymond created this lingerie store since he felt trained corseteers at department stores treated men as outsiders.
04:19Roger.
04:20What is Victoria's Secret?
04:23That is the store.
04:24Names in sports, 800.
04:27Now with AC Milan, this U.S. men's national soccer team star got to play in Europe at 16 on
04:32his Croatian passport.
04:34Andrew.
04:34Who's Pulisic?
04:35It is Christian Pulisic.
04:36Fiction, 600.
04:38This play taught me not to sleep in the forest.
04:40Someone might put drops in my eyes and make me fall in love with an ass.
04:44Roger.
04:45What is a midsummer night's dream?
04:47That's correct.
04:47I hate when that happens.
04:48That pulls you into the lead just ahead of Andrew.
04:50Let's take a quick break.
04:51Back with more Jeopardy!
04:52Invitational Tournament Finals after this.
04:55Andrew, we have conquered California.
04:57We haven't seen you at JIT in a couple years.
04:59What's it like to be back against this field?
05:01It is totally unexpected to be back in the finals.
05:04Um, I think about how 15 years ago, I watched a blurry internet video of a person explaining
05:10how they meticulously prepared for Jeopardy!, and that person was Roger Craig.
05:15No less than Roger Craig.
05:16Yeah.
05:16He was your Jeopardy! trainer.
05:17Exactly.
05:18Look what you've done, Roger.
05:20Long Nguyen is here from Las Vegas.
05:21You're a little bit of an outlier here.
05:23You're a Jeopardy! runner-up who rose through the ranks of second chance.
05:27How does it feel to suddenly be in this kind of company?
05:28I feel like I don't even belong here, because, um, two years ago, I got knocked out of that
05:34Wild Card Tournament, and I just gave up.
05:37Oh.
05:37I just gave up doing Jeopardy! stuff.
05:39I just played pickleball seven days a week.
05:41You traded in trivia for pickleball.
05:42Yes, I did.
05:43And then five weeks ago, I got a phone call from you guys wanting me to come back, and
05:46then I panicked.
05:48How do I make up two years in five weeks?
05:53I'm glad we pulled you back in, Long.
05:54It's good to see you again.
05:55And Roger Craig, we now know you as Andrew He's mentor, but you were on Jeopardy! 15 years
06:01ago.
06:01You're kind of the old guard, like me.
06:03What's it like to be back now?
06:04Oh, it's great.
06:05Uh, but yeah, we're the, we're a little bit old school, and it's just an amazing journey
06:10to get here, and yeah, I'm glad I made that video and pay it forward, and I just hope
06:15Andrew never beats me at Jeopardy!
06:18Well, we'll see what happens.
06:19You have the lead and control of the board, Roger.
06:22Pick a category and a clue.
06:23Andrew.
06:23Names in sports, 600.
06:25This tennis star and 2018 U.S. Open winner shares her last name with one of the most populous
06:31cities in Asia.
06:32Andrew.
06:32Who is Osaka?
06:33Yes.
06:34Fiction, 400.
06:36Fangorn, in Tolkien's works, is the name of a spooky forest near the Misty Mountains, and
06:41an alias for this ant who presides over the place.
06:44Long.
06:44Who is Guaybeard?
06:46No.
06:47Roger.
06:47Who is Treebeard?
06:48Treebeard is the ant.
06:50Pathetic, 600.
06:51This hyphenated word uses a body part and a twisting tool to mean very sad, but it also
06:57sounds very painful if taken literally.
06:59Andrew?
07:00What is heart-wrenching?
07:02You got it, yeah.
07:04Good old job, six.
07:05Answer.
07:06Daily double for you, Andrew.
07:09You just pulled back in the first place against your mentor, your Yoda, Roger Craig.
07:12What's the wager here on a good old job?
07:15Uh, still Roger Craig.
07:18Everything.
07:18Okay.
07:19You'll have 9,600 if you're right.
07:21Here's your clue in a good old job.
07:23The name of this profession is also the action done by the worker who pulls a handle to make
07:28fizzy, non-potent potables flow.
07:32What is jerk?
07:34Can you be more specific?
07:36What is a soda jerk?
07:37Soda jerk.
07:38That is the job.
07:39Well done.
07:40You double up to 9,600.
07:44I'll do sports 200.
07:47The cover of the video game NHL 2026 from EA Sports features Matthew Kachuk of this Florida
07:53team raising the Stanley Cup.
07:54Roger.
07:56Who are the Panthers?
07:57That's right.
07:58Sports 400?
08:002025 was a big year for this man.
08:02He was named the NFL's MVP for the previous year, and he married Haley Steinfeld.
08:06Roger.
08:07Who is Josh Allen?
08:09That's right.
08:09You guys are five for five in sports, proving the stereotypes wrong.
08:13Notables 200?
08:15Sophocles gave us the expression, this eases all things.
08:19Long.
08:20What is time?
08:21Time is right.
08:22Notables with four.
08:24On the eve of the Normandy invasion, he told Allied troops, the eyes of the world are upon you.
08:29Roger.
08:30Who is Eisenhower?
08:31Yes.
08:31Pathetic 200?
08:33It means relatively minor.
08:35Legally, it precedes a type of misdemeanor theft.
08:38Roger.
08:38What is petty?
08:39Petty theft.
08:40Pathetic 400?
08:41This three-word phrase completes the best-selling Irma Bombeck title, if life is a bowl of cherries, what am
08:47I doing here?
08:49Andrew?
08:49What is in the pits?
08:50You guessed right, yes.
08:52Good old job four.
08:53Gandhi dancers and traqueros worked on these, making racks by digging along tracks.
08:59Roger.
09:01What are railroads?
09:02Yes.
09:03Good old job 200?
09:05Lectores were used at factories for this product in Ybor City in Havana.
09:09They read to workers hand-rolling dried leaves.
09:12Long.
09:13What are zecares?
09:14Yes.
09:14How'd they come up with it for four?
09:16A Nintendo employee saw a bored commuter playing with a calculator, leading to this product that was released in 1989.
09:23Roger.
09:26What is Sudoku?
09:27No, I'm sorry.
09:28Andrew?
09:29What is Game Boy?
09:30Game Boy, that's it.
09:31How'd they come up with it for 200?
09:33The Zenith Radio Nurse, the first of these, was invented following the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son.
09:39Roger.
09:40What is a baby monitor?
09:41Yeah, the first baby monitor.
09:42Final clue?
09:43In Where the Wild Things Are, this kid threatened to eat his mother and was sent to bed.
09:48Soon after, a forest grew and grew there.
09:50Roger.
09:51Who is Max?
09:52Max is the kid, yes.
09:535,800.
09:54Andrew's got the lead after the Daily Double.
09:55And Double Jeopardy's up next.
09:57Come right back.
10:00Roger and Long have some work to do in the Double Jeopardy round.
10:03Let's show our finalists the categories they're working with here.
10:06We have people of the world.
10:09Idioms and expressions for them.
10:11Then, hey, that drink is named for me, followed by a musical language lesson, going down in history, and, oh,
10:19that's nice, beautiful things.
10:21Long, what do you like up there?
10:23People of the world for 16.
10:25Answer.
10:26Beedley Double.
10:27Look at that.
10:29As you know, you can wager up to the biggest clue on the board, $2,000.
10:33$2,000.
10:34Going for 3,600 in people of the world, here's your clue.
10:37At about 70 million, the Hausa are the largest group in this African country, about 30%.
10:45What is Nigeria?
10:46Nigeria is right, yes.
10:48Narrowing that gap, well done.
10:52Going down in history for 16.
10:54Despite having lost an arm at Shiloh, this geologist led the first party to descend the Colorado River through the
11:00Grand Canyon.
11:01Roger.
11:02Who is Powell?
11:02John Wesley Powell.
11:03Beautiful Things, 1,200.
11:05This waltz was written to boost the morale of the Viennese, who were bummed out by losing the Austro-Prussian
11:11War.
11:12Andrew.
11:13What is Blue Danube?
11:14It is.
11:16History, 12.
11:17On April 9, 2003, Firdaus Square in this capital city was the site of a notable, if partly staged, statue
11:24toppling.
11:25Long.
11:26What is Baghdad?
11:28That's the city.
11:29History for 2000.
11:30In 1960, Don Walsham, this Swiss oceanographer, were the first to descend to the deepest known part of the ocean
11:36in the Mariana Trench.
11:38Long.
11:39Who is Ballard?
11:40No.
11:42Andrew.
11:43Who is Picard?
11:45Jacques Picard is correct, very nice.
11:47Musical language lesson, 1,200.
11:49The Talking Heads asked, Psycho Killer, this French question.
11:53Andrew.
11:54What does Qu'est-ce que say?
11:55Yes.
11:56Idioms, 12.
11:57A small carnivore appears in this phrase, meaning to sneakily avoid an obligation.
12:02Roger.
12:04Um, what is a fox in the henhouse?
12:07No.
12:07No.
12:08Longer, Andrew.
12:10What is to weasel out?
12:12Weasel out of something.
12:13Andrew.
12:14Idiom 16.
12:15As what you give someone to eject them, it's two words and possessive, meaning to crash a show.
12:21One word, no apostrophe S.
12:23Roger.
12:25What is boot?
12:26No.
12:27Long or Andrew?
12:30What is the bum's rush?
12:31Bum rush to show, yo.
12:33Andrew.
12:34Beautiful Things, 16.
12:36This American's portrait of Madame X, actually Madame Gautreau, was shocking in its time, 1884.
12:42Long.
12:43Who is sergeant?
12:44Right.
12:45Beautiful Things, 2,000.
12:46File under J, this tree, whose purple blooms are beautiful, but produce a sticky mess when they fall.
12:53Long.
12:53What is jacaranda?
12:54Yes, for 2,000.
12:56Idioms and expressions for 2,000.
12:58Answer.
12:59The other daily double.
13:01Long.
13:03You found them both in this round.
13:05I think you're 0 for 2 in this category, though.
13:07What do you want to wait?
13:07Yeah, I hate this category.
13:09Wow.
13:10Strong words.
13:11But I have to bet it all, right?
13:12So let's do it.
13:13All right, you're going to do it anyway.
13:16You'll be just 2,000 off the lead if you're right.
13:18Here's your clue.
13:19Idioms and expressions.
13:21To insist on a point until people start to doubt you and it is to do this, spoken by Queen
13:26Gertrude in Hamlet.
13:35Long.
13:36What is ad nauseum?
13:37No, I'm sorry.
13:38She says the lady doth protest too much.
13:41Oh, yes.
13:42Yeah.
13:42That takes you down to zero.
13:44A lot of game left to play.
13:44This isn't over.
13:45People of the War for 2,000.
13:47Salata ad habarnica, octopus salad, is often bitten by this.
13:51Someone from Croatia's southwest coastal strip.
13:54Roger.
13:55What is dalmatian?
13:56Good for 2,000.
13:57Musical language lesson, 2,000.
13:59Some of the words flowing in this Beatles song are jai guru deva om, a Sanskrit mantra.
14:05Roger.
14:06What is across the universe?
14:08That is the song.
14:09Musical language, 1,600.
14:10This Billy Idol song is classed up with the French lyrics, les yeux sans visage, playing
14:15through it.
14:16Roger.
14:17What is eyes without a face?
14:18You got it.
14:19That drink is named for me 2,000.
14:21A fave of Elizabeth II, this quinine-laced drink was named for its inventor, a French chemist
14:27hoping to prevent malaria.
14:29Roger.
14:31What is pernode?
14:32No.
14:33Long or Andrew?
14:36Her Majesty liked a Dubonet.
14:38Back to you, Roger.
14:391,600 drink?
14:41Harvey Wallbangers may not be named for a real guy, but this Italian liqueur in them has
14:45the name of an Italian war hero.
14:47Long.
14:48What is Galliano?
14:49You're right.
14:50Drink for 1,200.
14:52Invented in the late 19th century in the Big Easy, this frothy libation, invented by Henry
14:57Ramos, uses an egg white and cream.
14:59Andrew.
15:00It was a Ramos gin fizz.
15:02Correct.
15:03People of the world 1,200.
15:04Formerly known as Boers, they're South Africans of Dutch or Huguenot descent.
15:09Roger.
15:10What are Afrikaners?
15:11Yes.
15:12People of the world 800.
15:14In 1935, journalist Eric Severide wrote an account of this four-letter First Nations
15:19people going from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay.
15:22Long.
15:23What is Meti?
15:25No.
15:26Andrew.
15:26Or the Eerie?
15:27Not the Eerie, no.
15:30Roger.
15:30He's looking at it.
15:31Not going to do it.
15:32It is the Cree.
15:33Yes.
15:34Too late.
15:34Back to you, Roger.
15:35People of the world 400.
15:36The lifestyle of Argentina's Crianceros is herding this horned animal that, like sheep,
15:42produces meat and wool.
15:43Andrew.
15:45What is llama?
15:47No.
15:48Roger, or long?
15:50They heard a goat, the Criollo goat.
15:53Roger, back to you.
15:54Beautiful things 400.
15:56Alexandros, a sculptor of Antioch, made this statue that may actually be Amphitrite, a Greek
16:01goddess of the sea, and not Aphrodite.
16:03Andrew.
16:05What is the Venus de Milo?
16:06Yes.
16:07Beautiful things 8.
16:08This type of antelope, like the Dama or the Thompsons, is used in a simile about gracefulness.
16:14Andrew.
16:15What is a gazelle?
16:16Right again.
16:17History 8.
16:18This aircraft combusted 200 feet above an airfield in Lakehurst, New Jersey, then crashed
16:24to the ground.
16:25Oh, the humanity.
16:26Andrew.
16:27What is the Hindenburg?
16:28Right.
16:29History 400.
16:30Once towering over Mondraki Harbor, this massive statue of a sun god collapsed during an earthquake
16:36in the 3rd century BC.
16:38Long.
16:38What is the Colossus of Rhodes?
16:40Yes, that's it.
16:41Idioms for 800.
16:42A proverbial example of something fake.
16:45The Continental Congress issued them with a motto meaning, the outcome is in doubt.
16:53They issued a $3 bill.
16:55Back to you, Long.
16:56Idioms for 400.
16:57In Old English, a shot was a type of payment, leading to this not actually Caledonian-related
17:03term for without having to pay.
17:06Andrew.
17:06What is scotch?
17:08No.
17:09Long.
17:10What is scot- what is scot-free?
17:12Scot-free.
17:12You got it.
17:13That drink for 800?
17:14The uninitiated should beware of the bloody Caesar, augmented with the juice of one of these
17:19creatures.
17:23It has clam juice in it.
17:25Long?
17:25Uh, drink for 400.
17:28Naturally, scotch is the main ingredient in this alliterative cocktail bearing the name
17:31of a highland outlaw.
17:33Long?
17:33What is Rob Roy?
17:34Yes.
17:35Language for 800.
17:37Quiero respirar tu cuello.
17:39I want to breathe in your neck.
17:40This Spanish adverb says a number one hit.
17:43Roger.
17:44What is despacito?
17:45Yes.
17:45And one more musical language lesson for you three.
17:48Hey, sexy lady, this number two hit from 2012 uses oppa, which means older brother in Korean.
17:54Roger.
17:55What is Gangnam Style?
17:57Oppa Gangnam Style, yes.
17:59So you finish behind Andrew.
18:00Here's the Final Jeopardy category.
18:03American Authors.
18:04We'll be back after the wagers are in.
18:06Stay with us.
18:08With all three finalists looking for their first win, American Authors is the Final Jeopardy
18:12category.
18:13Here's the clue.
18:15She wrote the foreword for a 1971 cookbook sponsored by the Jackson Symphony League.
18:20You have 30 seconds.
18:21Good luck.
18:22Good luck.
18:36Good luck.
18:52Long Nguyen has $2,000 going into final, and a response of Maya Angelou, and it's not Maya Angelou, I'm
18:59afraid, Long.
19:00You wagered all but $67.
19:03We'll come to Roger Craig's second with his $10,600.
19:06What did you come up with, Roger?
19:08Crossed out, maybe Harper Lee put O'Connor, Flannery O'Connor?
19:11I'm afraid that's not the right Southern woman.
19:14You wagered, ooh, everything.
19:16That'll knock you back down to zero.
19:18Andrew He with $16,400.
19:21Does he have the right author?
19:23Flag, Fanny Flag?
19:25No, it is a Southern woman, but the author from Jackson, Mississippi here, Eudora Welty.
19:29How much did you wager?
19:30It all comes down to this.
19:31Andrew only wagered $4,801, leaving him with $11,599.
19:36He strikes first.
19:37One win for Andrew He in this year's JIT finals.
19:44The finals can be tomorrow on the Alex Trebek stage.
19:47We'll see you here.
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