recaps
Season 42
Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, October 2, 2025
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 2, 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 Animals) for Thursday, October 2, 2025 (Season 42, Game 19):
This 4-legged celebrity was named by his owner’s employee, who once worked for a diplomat at the League of Nations
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
TJ Fisher, a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California
Alan Rosenberg, a high school teacher from Baltimore, Maryland
Lisa Mueller, an anthropologist from Rochester, Minnesota (1-day total: $17,600)
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Our new Jeopardy! champion is Lisa Mueller, who took the opportunity to stand pat yesterday with a $17,600 runaway victory and give a shoutout to her son Kai, defends her title today against TJ Fisher and Alan Rosenberg.
(Content continues below)
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
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 Secretariat?
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.)
Secretariat, one of the most famous racehorses of all time, won the 1973 Triple Crown in dominating fashion, going as far as being called “a tremendous machine” by announcer Chic Anderson during that year’s Belmont Stakes. But why was Secretariat called Secretariat? From owner Christopher Chenery’s secretary Elizabeth Ham. According to the website of Virginia’s Caroline County, Ham had previously worked for diplomat Norman Davis when they both worked in the Secretariat’s office at the League of Nations many decades prior.
Jeopardy! has gone to this well before; back in 2003, they posed “This sports superstar of 1973 bears the name of one of the 6 major organs of the United Nations.” That being said, it was a Triple Stumper in 2003 even when the year was given; I think that had the show put “celebrity of the 1970s” in the clue, it would have made it easier enough to give people more of a fighting chance.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, October 2, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Non-English Place Names In English; Relative-ity; A Potable Of Potency; Peanuts; Ways; Means)
Lisa found the Daily Double immediately and jumped out to a lead; however, TJ did well in the Peanuts and Relative categories to lead after 15 clues. At the break, the scores were TJ $3,000 Lisa $2,800 Alan $400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
TJ 7 correct 1 incorrect
Lisa 4 correct 0 incorrect
Alan 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
TJ is a big fan of carousel organs.
Alan would ask Jeopardy boards to his family on road trips.
Lisa went on her first date with her husband to a pub quiz; he won the “Trivia Overlord” title.
TJ picked up 8 correct in this segment to jump out to a big lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
TJ 15 correct 2 incorrect
Lisa 4 correct 0 incorrect
Alan 6 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
TJ $7,200
Lisa $2,800
Alan $2,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historic Letters; Prequels & Sequels; She’s A Saint; HBCUs; Generational Talents; Contronyms)
This round pretty much was completely in TJ’s control; 17 more correct, as well as both Daily Doubles, ensured he cemented the runaway with a half-dozen clues still on the board.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
TJ 32 correct 3 incorrect
Lisa 7 correct 0 incorrect
Alan 10 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 3 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
TJ $24,400
Lisa $6,400
Alan $6,000
This Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper; TJ dropped over $9,000 but is still your new champion! He’ll finish out the week tomorrow in a title defense.
Tonight’s results:
Alan $6,000 – $1,200 = $4,800 (Who is Benji)
Lisa $6,400 – $5,700 = $700 (Who is… Toto)
TJ $24,400 – $9,311 = $15,089 (Who is Francis? =)) (1-day total: $15,089)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) NON-ENGLISH PLACE NAMES IN ENGLISH $800 (clue #1)
Lisa 0 +1000 (Alan 0 TJ 0)
2) HISTORIC LETTERS $1200 (clue #10)
TJ 12000 +2400 (Lisa 4000 Alan 5200)
3) CONTRONYMS $1600 (clue #15, $13200 left on board)
TJ 14000 +2000 (Lisa 4000 Alan 6400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 134
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Lisa 4*
Alan
TJ
DJ! Round:
Lisa 3
Alan 3 4 3 2
TJ 4 5 4 5 5 3* 3 4 5 4*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
TJ 4.20
Alan 3.00
Lisa 3.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 3 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
TJ $22,800 Coryat, 32 correct, 3 incorrect, 56.14% in first on buzzer (32/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Alan $6,000 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Lisa $6,200 Coryat, 7 correct, 0 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,000
Lach Trash: $15,000 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,000
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Lisa Mueller, career statistics:
30 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (28/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,900
Alan Rosenberg, career statistics:
10 correct, 3 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,000
TJ Fisher, career statistics:
32 correct, 4 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
56.14% in first on buzzer (32/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,400)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,800
TJ Fisher, to win:
2 games: 65.294%
3: 42.633%
4: 27.837%
5: 18.176%
6: 11.868%
Avg. streak: 2.881 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: TJ $24,400 Lisa $6,400 Alan $6,000)
Lisa: Cover bet for second place is $5,601. (Actual bet: $5,700)
Alan: For the best chance of finishing second, bet between $801 (in case Lisa bets small; this defends against her entire small range) and $5,199 (in case she covers). (Actual bet: $1,200)
TJ: Bet no more than $11,599 and enjoy your victory! (Actual bet: $9,311)
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