recaps
Season 41
Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, May 15, 2025
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 15, 2025, game ofJeopardy!— please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
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 Women of History) for Thursday, May 15, 2025 (Season 41, Game 179):
Regarding the idea of “women first”, she queried, “Women demand equal rights on land–why not on sea?”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Nick Marino, a mechanical engineer from San Fancisco, California
Neeraj Borle, an investment first managing director from New York, New York
Brandon Monsman, a bartender originally from Cleveland, Ohio (1-day total: $16,400)
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Brandon Monsman is your new Jeopardy! champion after his win yesterday, taking down a 2-day champion in Andrew Jones. Today, he defends his title for the first time against Neeraj Borle of New York and Nick Marino of San Francisco.
(Content continues below)
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Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
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Correct response: Who is Margaret Brown? (Molly Brown)
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.)
In a bit of an ironic twist, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, famed for surviving the sinking of the Titanic, was quoted as saying that the “women [and children] first” principle of filling lifeboats in times of emergency at sea “is a principle as deep rooted in man’s being as the sea”, “world-old and irrevocable”, “but…is all wrong.”
That being said, I think just saying “women first”, even though that was part of the quote from Brown herself, obfuscates the topic too much to be playable as a regular play Final Jeopardy. I think this Final Jeopardy clue needs to be asked where it opens, “Regarding the idea of ‘Women and children first’…”—regardless of its new difficulty—in order to be at its best in a regular play game.
I also think it might be important to mention here that the post-1984 Jeopardy! canon, including its various primetime spinoff series, now encompasses 9,390 games (that being, a nationally aired full collection of clues that includes a Final Jeopardy round.) That is a rather large amount of writing, and sometimes that means we’re going to see a less-than-stellar Final Jeopardy round. It comes with the territory—and you can’t have good Jeopardy! without some bad Jeopardy! along the way. So, don’t blame the writers—collectively or individually—they’re doing the best they can.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, May 15, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: First Lines Of Hit Songs; Bestselling Nonfiction; The Early 21st Century; A Barrel Of Monkeys; “Amp”ed Up; You Put Me On The Supreme Court)
Nick picked up six correct, but one incorrect, and Brandon had 4, as the two of them were tied for the lead after 15. At the interviews, the scores were Brandon $3,000 Nick $3,000 Neeraj $2,600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Nick 6 correct 1 incorrect
Brandon 4 correct 0 incorrect
Neeraj 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Nick is a big fan of birthday parties, and was the victim of a prank party once.
Neeraj swam the Great Barrier Reef during his honeymoon.
Brandon thought his name was “Brandonono” due to a mischievous childhood.
Nick found the Daily Double straight out of the break, got it correct, and led after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Nick 11 correct 1 incorrect
Neeraj 8 correct 1 incorrect
Brandon 5 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Nick $5,600
Neeraj $3,600
Brandon $2,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Desert Menu; A Category Good; Royal Roles; The Name On The Disease; “L.O.”; Sailor)
It was the challengers who found the Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy; they both made conservative wagers as Nick led by $1,800 going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Nick 16 correct 1 incorrect
Neeraj 17 correct 2 incorrect
Brandon 12 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Nick $14,200
Neeraj $12,400
Brandon $7,200
Final Jeopardy ended up being a Triple Stumper; Neeraj bet way too much in Final Jeopardy, meaning that Brandon, who bet $0, is now a 2-day champion! He’ll go for win #3 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Brandon $7,200 – $0 = $7,200 (Who is Aerhart) (2-day total: $23,600)
Neeraj $12,400 – $8,000 = $4,400 (Who is Physllis Schafly?)
Nick $14,200 – $10,601 = $3,599 (Who is Roosevelt?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) YOU PUT ME ON THE SUPREME COURT $600 (clue #16)
Nick 3000 +1000 (Brandon 3000 Neeraj 2600)
2) A CATEGORY GOOD $2000 (clue #11)
Neeraj 8800 +2000 (Brandon 4400 Nick 8000)
3) THE NAME ON THE DISEASE $800 (clue #23, $3200 left on board)
Nick 11600 +2600 (Brandon 6000 Neeraj 11600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 78
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Brandon 3 4 5 4 2
Neeraj 3 5 5 2 1
Nick 3 5 3 4 4 3*
DJ! Round:
Brandon 3 4 4 4 5 3 4 5 5 5
Neeraj 2 3 2 3 5* 2 5 4
Nick 3 4 2 3 2*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Brandon 4.00
Neeraj 3.23
Nick 3.27
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.17 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Brandon $7,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 3 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Neeraj $12,400 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Nick $12,000 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,600
Lach Trash: $18,200 (on 15 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,200
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 4
Player Statistics:
Brandon Monsman, career statistics:
25 correct, 8 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
23.68% in first on buzzer (27/114)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,700
Neeraj Borle, career statistics:
17 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,400
Nick Marino, career statistics:
16 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,600)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,000
Brandon Monsman, to win:
3 games: 30.102%
4: 9.061%
5: 2.728%
6: 0.821%
7: 0.247%
Avg. streak: 2.431 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Nick $14,200 Neeraj $12,400 Brandon $7,200)
Brandon: If you think Neeraj will bet big, go as small as you feel comfortable (but no more than $3,600). If you think he’ll go small (in the $2,001 to $5,200 range), then bet between $3,201 and $3,600. (Actual bet: $0)
Neeraj: Cover bet over Brandon is $2,001. (Actual bet: $8,000)
Nick: Standard cover bet is $10,601. (Actual bet: $10,601)
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