Who Won Jeopardy! Tonight? (Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026) — Final Jeopardy Answer and Scores (Spoilers)

Bottom line: Matthew Riggle won again on Tuesday, $23,201, and this time Final Jeopardy! wasn't close to a coin flip. All three players wrote the Space Needle.

Key takeaways

• Final Jeopardy! was Landmarks. The correct response: What is the Space Needle?
• Riggle is now a four-day champion with $95,602.
• Wesley Jalipa took second by $101 over Abby Mullen, thanks to a bet that cleared her best case by exactly $1.

What was Final Jeopardy on September 15?

The category was Landmarks. The clue pointed to a West Coast structure whose chief engineer had also worked on launch gantries for NASA's Saturn rockets.

The answer: What is the Space Needle? Seattle built it for the 1962 World's Fair, and John K. Minasian was its chief engineer. It's the first Final of Season 43 that everybody got.

How did the game go?

Jalipa made it a real game. He found the first-round Daily Double in Cities on the River, then went all in on a second one in Foreign Words & Phrases and briefly took the lead.

Riggle answered with a run through Double Jeopardy!, including a $3,000 hit on the last Daily Double in Mythology. He went to Final with $17,800, against $11,600 for Jalipa and $7,400 for Mullen. Jalipa's total includes $1,600 he got back right before Final, when a response ruled wrong earlier was reversed.

Did the wagers matter if everyone was right?

Not for first. They mattered a lot for how safe Riggle actually was. His $17,800 was less than double Jalipa's score, so a lock wasn't possible.

Our math, from the scores in the Sources. Riggle's $5,401 was the textbook cover bet: one dollar more than Jalipa could reach by doubling.

We'll own this one. Our Tuesday preview guessed he'd bet to survive a miss if his lead was short. He bet to win if right, and he was.

👉 Two nights running, a $1 margin set the order: Monday it kept Riggle ahead of Emily Mayo, Tuesday it kept Jalipa ahead of Mullen.

How much has Matthew Riggle won on Jeopardy!?

That's about $23,900 a game. On Tuesday he went 27 right and 5 wrong, and he was first on the buzzer 31 times out of 57, per The Jeopardy! Fan's tally. He's now 2 for 4 in Final Jeopardy!.

Monday's squeaker, with the full wager breakdown, is in our Sept. 14 result. For perspective on four wins, the longest Jeopardy! winning streaks list tops out at Ken Jennings' 74.

When does Riggle play again?

Wednesday, Sept. 16, a new episode in your station's usual slot. A fifth win would make him the first Tournament of Champions qualifier from this season, as Fikkle Fame pointed out. The Jeopardy! Fan's model gives him about a 60% chance.

The rest of the week is in our Sept. 14–18 Jeopardy! schedule, and the “Is Jeopardy! new tonight?” page adds each night's challengers once they're out. If your station moved the show, the city-by-city viewing guide has the slots. Wheel's week is on our Wheel of Fortune tonight page, and past games sit under results.

FAQ

What was the Final Jeopardy answer today? What is the Space Needle? The category was Landmarks, and all three players got it.

Who won Jeopardy! tonight? Matthew Riggle, with $23,201.

Who is the Jeopardy! champion now? Riggle, a community college math instructor from Madison, Alabama, with four wins and $95,602.

Sources

• The Jeopardy! Fan — Today's Final Jeopardy, Tuesday, September 15, 2026
• Fikkle Fame — Final Jeopardy: Landmarks (9-15-26)

By the Game Show On Air desk · Updated 5:45 p.m. ET