Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, December 12, 2025

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

August 12: S42 E98 (January 21, 2026)
August 13: S42 E99 (January 22, 2026)
August 14: S42 E100 (January 23, 2026)
August 15-16: S41 E141 (March 24, 2025)
August 17: S42 E101 (January 26, 2026)
August 18: S42 E105 (January 30, 2026)
August 19: S42 E102 (January 27, 2026)
August 20: S42 E103 (January 28, 2026)
August 21: S42 E104 (January 29, 2026)
August 22-23: S41 E142 (March 25, 2025)
August 24: S42 E106 (February 2, 2026)
August 25: S42 E107 (February 3, 2026)
August 26: S42 E108 (February 4, 2026)
August 27: S42 E109 (February 5, 2026)
August 28: S42 E110 (February 6, 2026)
August 29-30: S41 E143 (March 26, 2025)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Andrew He $534,365
17. Scott Riccardi $533,000
18. Jerome Vered $499,102
19. Julia Collins $495,767
20. Austin Rogers $493,000
21. Ben Ingram $449,201
22. Paolo Pasco $448,717
23. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
24. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
25. Juveria Zaheer $441,000

DISCLAIMER

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category TV History) for Friday, December 12, 2025 (Season 42, Game 70):

A 1964 review of this TV special, still played today, mentions “trials as an outcast” & “the songs of Johnny Marks”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Madelyn Dawson, a writer & editor from Staten Island, New York

Trey Hart, a grant writer from Petaluma, California

Will Riley, an engineer originally from Houston, Texas (4-day total: $77,403)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Today sees 4-day champion Will Riley look to become the 291^st 5-time champion in the post-1984 history of Jeopardy!; New York’s Madelyn Dawson and California’s Trey Hart look to stop him. Whoever wins today will return in the 2026 to defend their title; as of right now, my best guess is that the show is planning on returning with regular play during the 2026 Olympics, so that a tournament is not going to have episodes pre-empted by Olympic coverage on the 71 NBC affiliates that air the show. As far as I know, none of the post-Tournament of Champions episodes have been taped at this point. As for what is coming starting Monday: 3 weeks of Second Chance, 2 weeks of Champions Wildcard, and the 33^rd Tournament of Champions.

There are a couple of other housekeeping items that I wish to mention on this December 12. Firstly, I’d like to wish a happy 50^th birthday to former show host Mayim Bialik. Secondly, I want to remind everyone that changes are coming to The Jeopardy! Fan beginning this weekend. Today’s game will be the final day where all of the information will be contained in a single post. Going forward, each episode will have a pair of posts: a “Final Jeopardy” post containing the most sought-after information for that episode, and a “Daily Details” post with additional information, detailed stats, wagering suggestions, and further insights. Commenting will be open on the “Daily Details” posts, and access to that information will require a login.

Correct response: What is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2025 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Running since 1964 (the longest continuously running Christmas TV special in the United States), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a stop-motion animated Christmas special based on the 1949 Johnny Marks song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. The review referred to in the clue was from the December 7, 1964 edition of The New York Times, which also called it “a charming and tuneful hour of fantasy”; in addition to the title song, the now-holiday standard “A Holly Jolly Christmas” as performed by Burl Ives (as Sam the Snowman) also came to prominence as a result of this movie.

I would say that this is an excellent Final to enter the holiday season on; how easy it plays will depend on how well the contestants (remember, this game was recorded on October 29) can get into the holiday frame of mind.

In order to redesign our merchandise area to serve you better in 2026, all merchandise sales have been temporarily taken offline. Look for a return in late 2026! All previous orders will still be supported.

Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, December 12, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Cities By Historic Events; It’s All Greek Mythology To Me; Seafood; Let’s Start A Hip-Hop Group; “M.C.”; Hype Man)

Will started slowly, but found himself in the lead when he found the Daily Double. In a rare occurrence, Will bet the minimum $5—a good choice, as he was incorrect. At the break, the scores were Will $3,795 Trey $3,200 Madelyn $800.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Will 6 correct 2 incorrect
Trey 6 correct 1 incorrect
Madelyn 1 correct 0 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Madelyn is a music journalist who ran the college radio station at Yale.
Trey was a pub trivia host for five years.
Will recently moved from Houston to New York.

Will struggled with the seafood category, finishing the round with 3 incorrect responses in that category alone. Trey had a good segment to lead after 30 clues.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Trey 13 correct 2 incorrect
Will 11 correct 4 incorrect
Madelyn 3 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Trey $6,400
Will $4,795
Madelyn $1,800

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Bodies Of Water; Novels; Rhyme Time; Modern 2-Letter Initials; Movie Lines; Bye, Phoenicia)

Madelyn found DD2 quickly, but an incorrect response dropped her out of contention. Will was in trouble after a couple of incorrect responses in the movie category; however, Trey went a little too conservative on DD3, falling short of a runaway by just under $1,200.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Trey 23 correct 3 incorrect
Will 20 correct 8 incorrect
Madelyn 5 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Trey $19,600
Will $10,395
Madelyn $900

Trey was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy, putting an exclamation point on victory. He’ll be back after postseason play to defend his title!

Tonight’s results:

Madelyn $900 – $750 = $150 (What is This was so fun + Long live radio)
Will $10,395 – $0 = $10,395 (What is beats me!)
Trey $19,600 + $4,500 = $24,100 (What is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?) (1-day total: $24,100)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) SEAFOOD $800 (clue #15)
Will 3800 -5 (Trey 3200 Madelyn 800)
2) NOVELS $1600 (clue #2)
Madelyn 1800 -1700 (Will 4795 Trey 6400)
3) BODIES OF WATER $800 (clue #21, $5200 left on board)
Trey 14400 +4000 (Will 9995 Madelyn 100)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -57

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Will 4 1 5 5 2 4 5 4*
Trey 3 4 5 4 3 3
Madelyn 2

DJ! Round:
Will 4 5 3 4 4 5 5 3 5
Trey 5 3 3 4 4 3 2† 1† 2*
Madelyn 3 4* 5†

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Trey 3.27
Will 4.00
Madelyn 3.50

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.11 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Trey $16,400 Coryat, 23 correct, 3 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 5/6 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Will $10,400 Coryat, 20 correct, 8 incorrect, 43.86% in first on buzzer (25/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Madelyn $2,600 Coryat, 5 correct, 2 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $29,400
Lach Trash: $10,800 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,800
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Will Riley, career statistics:

101 correct, 22 incorrect
7/9 on rebound attempts (on 18 rebound opportunities)
36.04% in first on buzzer (102/283)
4/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,995)
3/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,920

Trey Hart, career statistics:

24 correct, 3 incorrect
5/6 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,400

Madelyn Dawson, career statistics:

5 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,700)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,600

Trey Hart, to win:

2 games: 60.225%
3: 36.271%
4: 21.844%
5: 13.155%
6: 7.923%
Avg. streak: 2.514 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Registration being required in order to comment has now been implemented. If you are having issues registering, please email me at andy@thejeopardyfan.com and I will assist you.
• Ken’s statements regarding phrasing—that failing to phrase is a warning in the opening round but a penalty in Double Jeopardy—should come as no surprise to diehard fans. This has been the rule for a very long time.
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Trey $19,600 Will $10,395 Madelyn $900)

Will: To have any chance of winning, you n eed to bet at least $8,016. If you limit your bet to $8,594, you keep Madelyn locked out and guarantee second place. (Actual bet: $0)

Trey: Standard cover bet over Will is $1,191. You shouldn’t really bet more than this, just in case Will chooses not to make the big bet he needs to. (Actual bet: $4,500)

Madelyn: Bet between $290 and $898, as Will’s two most likely wagers are $9,206 (falling to $1,189 himself if incorrect) and everything. (Actual bet: $750)

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