Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, July 9, 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

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 Ancient Builders) for Wednesday, July 9, 2025 (Season 41, Game 218):

A 2nd c. inscription in Northern England records that the gods imposed “the necessity of keeping intact the empire” on this man

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Rahul Kak, a law student from Brooklyn, New York

Sarah Mulligan, a lawyer from New York, New York

Scott Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, New Jersey (4-day total: $132,402)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a 5-time champion; will Scott Riccardi become the 287^th in the post-1984 history of Jeopardy!? While we almost certainly will see Scott in the Tournament of Champions regardless of today’s outcome, the title of “5-time champion” is always a feather in one’s cap, and Sarah Mulligan and Rahul Kak certainly want to go on a run of their own.

Correct response: Who is Hadrian?

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.)

Begun by Emperor Hadrian in 122 AD, Hadrian’s Wall is a famous fortification in northern England that marked the northern border of the Roman Empire in England. It had been built in response to unrest and rebellion in many of the outer reaches of the Empire, including in Africa and the Middle East; the inhabitants of northern Britain were perceived as enough of a threat so as to build a fortifications. Antoninus later made an attempt to go further north, but after an attempt at conquering was unsuccessful, Marcus Aurelius retreated to Hadrian’s Wall, which remained as the border of Roman Britain for centuries. The part of the wall containing the inscription can still be found as a part of Jarrow Church, as the stonework from the wall was reused in many cases in the Early Middle Ages for roads and other buildings.

I spent enough time in high school learning about the history of the Roman Empire for this to be an extremely straightforward clue. That said, I do appreciate that the show likely also realized that Final Jeopardy had gotten slightly too difficult over the past year or so, with the pendulum appearing to move back.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, July 9, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: American History; Sporty Stuff; We Are Literary Family; How Now, Dow Jones 30 Symbol; Number, Please; “Straight” Talk)

Incorrect responses and Triple Stumpers kept the scores down early; at the interviews, your scores were Scott $1,200 Sarah $1,200 Rahul $800.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Sarah 4 correct 1 incorrect
Scott 4 correct 2 incorrect
Rahul 1 correct 0 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Rahul is also going to a Beyoncé concert on tape day.
Sarah played quiz bowl in middle school.
Scott got photographed in college after eating a bunch of cherry Italian ice—red mouth and all.

Things went much better after the break for our players; Scott led after 30 clues.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Scott 10 correct 3 incorrect
Sarah 7 correct 1 incorrect
Rahul 3 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Scott $3,800
Sarah $2,600
Rahul -$200

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Sketches Give Stitches; Old Reviews; Earth Science; French Proverbs; Take A Long Walk; Off A Not-So-Short Pier)

Even thought Scott split the Daily Doubles, that wasn’t enough to keep him from having a runaway going into Final Jeopardy.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Scott 23 correct 6 incorrect
Sarah 9 correct 1 incorrect
Rahul 6 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 40 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Scott $12,000
Sarah $5,400
Rahul $3,800

Scott put the exclamation point on today’s win by getting Final Jeopardy correct. He’ll go for win #6 tomorrow.

Tonight’s results:

Rahul $3,800 – $1,601 = $2,199 (Who is…I dunno! <3)
Sarah $5,400 – $2,201 = $3,199 (Who i)
Scott $12,000 + $500 = $12,500 (Who is Hadrian?) (5-day total: $144,902)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) AMERICAN HISTORY $600 (clue #1)
Scott 0 -1000 (Sarah 0 Rahul 0)
2) EARTH SCIENCE $1600 (clue #7)
Scott 6600 +4000 (Sarah 2600 Rahul 1800)
3) TAKE A LONG WALK $1600 (clue #9, $24400 left on board)
Scott 10600 -5000 (Sarah 2600 Rahul 1800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -87

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Scott 3*
Sarah
Rahul

DJ! Round:
Scott 3 4 5 3 4* 3 4*
Sarah
Rahul 1 2

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Scott 3.63
Sarah 0.00
Rahul 1.50

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 40 (0.18 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Scott $15,600 Coryat, 23 correct, 6 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Sarah $5,400 Coryat, 9 correct, 1 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Rahul $3,800 Coryat, 6 correct, 3 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $24,800
Lach Trash: $19,400 (on 20 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,800
Lead Changes: 7
Times Tied: 3

Player Statistics:

Scott Riccardi, career statistics:

127 correct, 11 incorrect
10/10 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (115/285)
5/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,200)
5/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,600

Sarah Mulligan, career statistics:

9 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $5,400

Rahul Kak, career statistics:

6 correct, 4 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,800

Scott Riccardi, to win:

6 games: 64.428%
7: 41.510%
8: 26.744%
9: 17.231%
10: 11.101%
Avg. streak: 6.811 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• I’ll be honest here: As a longtime fan of the show, and as I make the following statement with absolutely nothing against Beyoncé here, I very much prefer to watch contestants on Jeopardy! that consider going on the show to be one of the defining experiences of one’s life, not those who feel more excited about getting Beyoncé tickets.

• One-point safeties exist in the NFL. I suspect that Jeopardy! is going to get a great deal of negative publicity this evening. Thankfully, the faulty clue & ruling did not change the outcome.

• Today’s runaway game means that no wagering suggestions will be posted.
• Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

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