Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, September 19, 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

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Slogans) for Friday, September 19, 2025 (Season 42, Game 10):

After adopting “very nice” in tourism ads, an official of this country said, its people, “jokes to the contrary, are some of the nicest”

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Hebah Uddin, a social media moderator & Ph.D. candidate originally from Long Island, New York

Steven Olson, a band director from Princeton, Illinois

Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer originally from San Diego, California (7-day total: $195,717)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Week 2 of Season 42 of Jeopardy! concludes with 7-day champion Paolo Pasco taking on Illinois’s Steven Olson and Long Island’s Hebah Uddin.

After remembering what happened during the last postseason, where #3-seeded Drew Basile ended up having a significantly more difficult semifinal, having to play against Drew Goins and Neilesh Vinjamuri, as compared to #2-seeded Isaac Hirsch (who got drawn against Mark Fitzpatrick and Amy Hummel), I think that today is a deceptively important game for Paolo to win. Certainly, a win would leapfrog him past Laura Faddah as the #2 seed in the Tournament of Champions, and I don’t think this is a point to be forgotten come next February.

One thing that concerns me about Paolo’s ability to win today’s game, though: if you remember the opening to yesterday’s game, Ken was already noting that Paolo had said he was tiring; Paolo said he wanted to take a really long nap. (Though, truth be told, don’t we all just want to be able to nap all the time?) Getting through an entire tape week is a very difficult prospect, and I am worried that Paolo might not be on his “A game” in this Friday matchup.

Correct response: What is Kazakhstan?

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 originally being angry regarding its portrayal in the 2006 mockumentary Borat! Cultural Leanings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic later embraced the film, using the Sacha Baron Cohen character’s catchphrase of “Very nice!” as a tourism slogan in 2020 when the movie’s sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit One Glorious National of Kazakhstan.

One thing that always worries me when Final Jeopardy! clues about Kazakhstan come up is spelling; it’s one of the more difficult country names to spell in English, and I’m always worried that someone is going to be tripped up by that.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, September 19, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: U.S. Territories; Quick Chem; From The Video Game Manual; Ancient Eating; Swap A Letter; Broadway)

Paolo had six correct to take an early lead; Steven, after struggling with a pair of incorrect responses, found the Daily Double, picking up $1,000 to pull closer to Paolo. After 15 clues, the scores were Paolo $4,400 Hebah $2,400 Steven $1,800.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Paolo 6 correct 0 incorrect
Hebah 3 correct 0 incorrect
Steven 5 correct 2 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Hebah studies childrens’ horror.
Steven originally was forced into band by his family.
Paolo purchased some games magazines owned by Stephen Sondheim.

Paolo had some high-value correct responses to hold onto the lead after 30, despite a judges’ ruling that is not going to play well at all online today.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Paolo 9 correct 1 incorrect
Steven 15 correct 3 incorrect
Hebah 4 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Paolo $5,000
Steven $4,600
Hebah $2,200

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The Bronze Age; Villains In Lit; 14-Letter Words; Let’s Go To The Park; Album Title Adjectives; Your Prime Number’s Up)

Steven found both Daily Doubles, pickup up just $6,000 on them and leaving a lot of money on the table, which gave Paolo space to go on a run at the end of the round to ensure that this game wasn’t a runaway going into Final. Will things work out for him for the second time this week?

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Steven 26 correct 6 incorrect
Paolo 16 correct 2 incorrect
Hebah 8 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Steven $17,400
Paolo $9,800
Hebah $4,600

Paolo was correct in Final, putting the pressure on Steven. But Steven was correct as well, and is your new champion! He’ll be back Monday to defend.

Tonight’s results:

Hebah $4,600 – $2,000 = $2,600 (What is Canada?)
Paolo $9,800 + $7,601 = $17,401 (What is Kazakhstan? (I liiiiike!))
Steven $17,400 + $2,202 = $19,602 (What… Kazakhstan?) (1-day total: $19,602)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) QUICK CHEM $1000 (clue #15)
Steven 800 +1000 (Paolo 4400 Hebah 2400)
2) LET’S GO TO THE PARK $1600 (clue #6)
Steven 7800 +4000 (Paolo 5000 Hebah 600)
3) YOUR PRIME NUMBER’S UP $2000 (clue #16, $13200 left on board)
Steven 13400 +2000 (Paolo 6200 Hebah 2600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 166

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Paolo 4 4 5 5 3 3 4
Steven 4 3 5 4 5*
Hebah 1 3 3

DJ! Round:
Paolo 4
Steven 3 4 4 3 4* 3 5 2 5 3 5 4 5*
Hebah 1 2

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Steven 3.94
Paolo 4.00
Hebah 2.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Steven $15,000 Coryat, 26 correct, 6 incorrect, 47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Paolo $9,800 Coryat, 16 correct, 2 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Hebah $4,600 Coryat, 8 correct, 2 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $29,400
Lach Trash: $14,000 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $10,600
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 4

Player Statistics:

Paolo Pasco, career statistics:

200 correct, 12 incorrect
10/10 on rebound attempts (on 30 rebound opportunities)
39.91% in first on buzzer (182/456)
10/12 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $25,600)
6/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,250

Steven Olson, career statistics:

27 correct, 6 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,000

Hebah Uddin, career statistics:

8 correct, 3 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,600

Steven Olson, to win:

2 games: 61.990%
3: 38.428%
4: 23.821%
5: 14.767%
6: 9.154%
Avg. streak: 2.631 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Pretty much any gamer in the last 28 years has just called the video game Goldeneye. In my opinion, not accepting just Goldeneye for the video game was a poor decision by the judges that failed to take into account actual common usage. Thankfully, this is a purely academic debate at this point; had the judges ruled in Paolo’s favor, it would not even change the wagering scenario in Final Jeopardy. For what it’s worth, accepting just Goldeneye would be equivalent to accepting Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn without The Adventures Of… in front, which has occurred innumerable times in the history of the show.

• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Steven $17,400 Paolo $9,800 Hebah $4,600)

Paolo: To have any chance of victory, you need to bet at least $5,400. (Actual bet: $7,601)

Steven: Standard cover bet is $2,201. (Actual bet: $2,202)

Hebah: Paolo’s minimum bet is $5,400. If you limit your own bet to $200, you have the best chance of finishing second. (Actual bet: $2,000)

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