Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, May 30, 2025

Current Champion

Nikolas Polsinelli, career statistics:
44 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,500

To win:
3 games: 64.111%
4: 41.102%
5: 26.351%
6: 16.894%
7: 10.831%
Avg. streak: 3.786 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

September 26-27: S42 E174 (May 7, 2026)
October 3-4: S42 E175 (May 8, 2026)
October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 2026)
(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 $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Novel Characters) for Friday, May 30, 2025 (Season 41, Game 190):

Likely a nod to the actor who first played him in 1962, this character was subsequently given Scottish ancestry by way of his father

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Chad Heltzel, a high school English teacher from Denver, Colorado

Heather Ide, a special education paraprofessional from Monmouth, Illinois

Geoff Barnes, an analyst from Washington, D.C. (1-day total: $24,000)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

The carousel of short-running champions continues as Geoff Barnes is the latest 1-day champion. Will he make it to 2 wins? Heather Ide and Chad Heltzel are your challengers.

The preponderance of 1-day winners, though, is definitely going to make it difficult for any of these 1-day champions to qualify for Champions Wildcard in 2026—of course, this presupposes no change to the postseason format in 2026.

One further scheduling note for those wondering about Jeopardy! Masters: the remainder of the tournament will be airing as a 2-hour season finale on Wednesday, June 4 from 8:00 to 10:00, on ABC in the United States and CTV2 in Canada.

Correct response: Who is James Bond?

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.)

Despite initially thinking that Sean Connery was a “working-class Scot” and “an over-developed stunt man”, Ian Fleming was so impressed with Connery’s portrayal of James Bond that Bond was given a Scottish father from the Highlands in Fleming’s book On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

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, May 30, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: 20Th Century America; In The Words Of The Poet; Don’t Miss The Boat; The Shape Of You; TV Settings; From Other Languages)

Heather had the best start to this one, getting $1,000 from the Daily Double and leading after 15 clues; scores were Heather $3,200, Geoff $1,600 Chad $200.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Heather 6 correct 1 incorrect
Geoff 3 correct 0 incorrect
Chad 2 correct 2 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Chad wrote a college newspaper column under the pseudonym “Sarcastro”.
Heather played at MSG as part of her college’s pep band.
Geoff was the target of a “hatred” speech at his wedding.

Geoff picked up six correct after the break to take the lead after 30.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Geoff 9 correct 1 incorrect
Heather 8 correct 3 incorrect
Chad 5 correct 4 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Geoff $3,400
Heather $2,400
Chad $0

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Nations Found In States; Mammals; Music-Pourri; Film Franchises; It Will Happen; Before Long)

Heather struggled with both of the Daily Doubles in this round and failed to qualify for Final. Meanwhile, Chad pulled close to Geoff two-thirds of the way through the rounds, but Geoff finished the round well to have a good-sized lead heading into Final Jeopardy.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Geoff 18 correct 2 incorrect
Chad 11 correct 4 incorrect
Heather 12 correct 7 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Geoff $12,600
Chad $7,200
Heather -$3,200

Both remaining players were correct in Final Jeopardy as Geoff becomes a 2-day champion! He’ll go for #3 on Monday.

Tonight’s results:

Heather -$3,200 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Chad $7,200 + $5,500 = $12,700 (Who is James Bond?)
Geoff $12,600 + $1,801 = $14,401 (Who is James Bond?) (2-day total: $38,401)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) IN THE WORDS OF THE POET $800 (clue #3)
Heather 600 +1000 (Geoff 0 Chad 0)
2) MUSIC-POURRI $1200 (clue #5)
Heather 3200 -3200 (Geoff 4600 Chad 400)
3) NATIONS FOUND IN STATES $2000 (clue #17, $12400 left on board)
Heather -2000 -2000 (Geoff 7800 Chad 4400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -100

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Geoff 3
Heather 4 4*
Chad

DJ! Round:
Geoff 3 2 4† 3 4 4 3
Heather 3* 5 5† 5*
Chad 1 3 5 2 4 3

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Geoff 3.25
Chad 3.00
Heather 4.33

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Geoff $12,600 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Chad $7,200 Coryat, 11 correct, 4 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Heather $1,800 Coryat, 12 correct, 7 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $21,600
Lach Trash: $19,200 (on 17 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,200
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 2

Player Statistics:

Geoff Barnes, career statistics:

40 correct, 3 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (36/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,600)
2/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600

Heather Ide, career statistics:

12 correct, 7 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$4,200)
0/0 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,800

Chad Heltzel, career statistics:

12 correct, 4 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,200

Geoff Barnes, to win:

3 games: 52.719%
4: 27.793%
5: 14.652%
6: 7.724%
7: 4.072%
Avg. streak: 3.115 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Geoff $12,600 Chad $7,200 Heather -$3,200)

Geoff: Standard cover bet is $1,801. (Actual bet: $1,801)

Heather: (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)

Chad: Bet at least $3,600—but you might as well go all in to maximize your potential money won. (Actual bet: $5,500)

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