Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 27, 2025, game of Jeopardy! — 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.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category World Capitals) for Monday, January 27, 2025 (Season 41, Game 101):
Home to more than 400,000, it’s the only world capital in the “Roaring Forties” latitudes
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Rishabh Wuppalapati, a student at the University of Pennsylvania from Vernon Hills, Illinois
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Will Wallace, a game design director from Austin, Texas
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Alison Betts, a writer & creative executive originally from San Jose, California
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It has become time to see who the best player overall was over the past twelve months. Who wouldn’t be excited for the start of the Tournament of Champions? Our first quarterfinal is between Alison Betts, Will Wallace, and Rishabh Wuppalapati. Alison is favored coming in to this match, but Quarterfinal #1 often sees early jitters; upsets have been known to happen!
Regarding excitement, I would certainly posit that anyone who professes to be a major fan—especially someone who might put out show-related content—had best be excited to watch every single time you hear Johnny Gilbert say his opening words at the start of every single episode surrounding our fine game–regular or spin-off. If hearing that from Johnny doesn’t excite you, what are you even doing here? (And before I get accused of retconning by a certain Substack writer, my own personal beef has always been with the community, not the actual 30 to 60 minutes contained within the show itself. I still absolutely love watching the show itself and following the game.)
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is Wellington, New Zealand?
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.)
With a metro area population of over 400,000, Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is the world’s southernmost capital city. It should also come as no surprise by its position in the “Roaring Forties”—the high-wind latitudes in the southern hemisphere—that it is the windiest city in the world.
The “Roaring Forties” have higher winds compared to the northern hemisphere at that latitude because there are significantly fewer land masses in the southern hemisphere between 40º and 50º south to act as a windbreak. The route’s suitability for quick sailing to the Dutch East Indies was discovered by the Dutch in the early 17th century and named the Brouwer Route.
The key to getting this clue correct is remembering that “Roaring Forties” is a term exclusively used to refer to winds in the southern hemisphere; from there, picking the southernmost capital should be—if you’ll pardon the meteorological pun—a breeze.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, January 27, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Lakes Of America; Game Time; Special Days; “Ch” As In Champ; Broken; Hell’S Kitchen, The Musical)
Alison found the Daily Double immediately. Though she rebounded well from an incorrect response by running “CH” AS IN CHAMP, Will led after 15 clues. At the interviews, the scores were Will $3,200 Alison $1,400 Rishabh -$400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Will 5 correct 1 incorrect
Alison 6 correct 2 incorrect
Rishabh 1 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Rishabh did his “trademark dance” at the opening of the show.
Will was in the West Texas desert dealing with a flat tire when he got the ToC call.
Alison lost with her kids in the audience; they’re not here for the ToC because of superstition.
While the “Hell’s Kitchen” category proved to be a bit of a struggle for him, Will continued to lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Will 8 correct 4 incorrect
Rishabh 6 correct 1 incorrect
Alison 9 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Will $3,800
Rishabh $2,200
Alison $2,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Putting The Culture In Agriculture; A Weak Response; Literary Characters; It’S Got A Motor; That Happened; Celebrity Memoirs)
Will and Rishabh got both Daily Doubles correct. Will did the best at the bottom of the board in this round, picking up 10 correct overall to hold a good-sized lead going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Will 18 correct 5 incorrect
Alison 17 correct 3 incorrect
Rishabh 12 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Will $15,200
Alison $9,800
Rishabh $5,800
This Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper; Will’s lead going in to Final Jeopardy makes him a semifinalist!
Tonight’s results:
Rishabh $5,800 – $5,800 = $0 (What is Reykjavik?)
Alison $9,800 – $5,401 = $4,399 (What is Washington DC?)
Will $15,200 – $4,401 = $10,799 (What is Reykjavik?) (Semi-Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) LAKES OF AMERICA $800 (clue #1)
Alison 0 -1000 (Will 0 Rishabh 0)
2) THAT HAPPENED $1200 (clue #3)
Will 6600 +2600 (Alison 2200 Rishabh 600)
3) LITERARY CHARACTERS $1600 (clue #7, $25600 left on board)
Rishabh 1800 +2000 (Alison 2200 Will 9200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 39
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Alison 4*
Will
Rishabh
DJ! Round:
Alison 4
Will 3 3* 3
Rishabh 4 5 4*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Will 3.00
Alison 4.00
Rishabh 4.33
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.26 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Will $13,800 Coryat, 18 correct, 5 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Alison $10,800 Coryat, 17 correct, 3 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Rishabh $5,400 Coryat, 12 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,000
Lach Trash: $15,200 (on 12 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,800
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 2
Player Statistics:
Alison Betts, career statistics:
150 correct, 31 incorrect
10/12 on rebound attempts (on 42 rebound opportunities)
37.59% in first on buzzer (150/399)
10/12 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $31,000)
4/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,257
Will Wallace, career statistics:
106 correct, 19 incorrect
8/8 on rebound attempts (on 32 rebound opportunities)
30.12% in first on buzzer (103/342)
6/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $8,200)
3/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,100
Rishabh Wuppalapati, career statistics:
85 correct, 17 incorrect
2/5 on rebound attempts (on 21 rebound opportunities)
30.99% in first on buzzer (88/284)
3/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,000)
3/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,080
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Updated ToC odds:
Adriana +670
Isaac +570
Drew B. +610
Will W. +940
Amy +4700
Grant +2400
David +1800
Greg +1300
Weckiai +5000
Neilesh +2400
Mehal +2700
Ryan +3100
Will S. +1800
Mark +2300
Allison +3500
Kevin +5900
Drew G. +1900
Amar +3800
Lucas +5100
Finals length odds:
3 games: +730
4 games: +320
5 games: +220
6 games: +290
7 games: +690
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Will $15,200 Alison $9,800 Rishabh $5,800)
Alison: Bet at least $1,800—but you might as well go all in here; you have to be correct to win. (Actual bet: $5,401)
Will: Standard cover bet is $4,401. (Actual bet: $4,401)
Rishabh: You have to be correct to win—you might as well go all in. (Though your minimum is $5,000.) (Actual bet: $5,800)
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I went with the northernmost – Reykjavik.
Iceland – as a country – has roughly 360,000 people the last time I checked.
Yeah, I was there in August, but I didn’t count. And there are so many tourists, I wouldn’t know who lived there and who was just visiting if I had.
Not remembering that “Roaring Forties” is specific to the Southern hemisphere, I thought of Lisbon, which feels close to the 40s (actually, 38) and associated with oceanic travels.
Amazingly, it looks like all world capitals located between 40 and 50 degrees of latitude in the Northern hemisphere are landlocked.
I’ve never heard of “the roaring forties”. Looks like I’m not the only one.
Very interesting: Google “Roaring 40s” and New Zealand and “trees” for some wonderful sea cliff seaside photos of trees growing at an almost 45 degree angle and now we know why.
As the parenthetical in the Pregame Thoughts appears addressed to me, I’ll respond.
I did not interpret the preceding two sentences as contradictory to anything you’ve written in the past, including the statement of your resolution this past New Year’s Eve. In fact, they can be viewed as complementary. Continuing to operate The Jeopardy! Fan requires you to remain engaged with sections of the community you find repugnant and people you detest. Thus, by seeking to rearrange your personal finances so that shutting down this site becomes viable, you strive to preserve and perhaps even renew your love of the show itself, while jettisoning the related things that have made you unhappy in recent years.
On those two sentences themselves — well, I actually found them not very interesting at all, as they break no new ground.
if I had a ready reference to show me where 40 degrees latitude was so I could tell what was in that area, I might have had a chance to come up with the correct response. I didn’t. So, not unexpectedly, this was a loss for me. This Final Jeopardy was if you know where the answer clue was pointing to, then you have a chance at the correct response. As I said, I didn’t. The Champions on stage didn’t either. To me typical Tournamnet of Champions Final Jeopardy material. Ain’t supposed to be to easy.
If anyone wasn’t familiar with the term “Roaring Forties,” I don’t see how they may have gotten this final. Fortunately, I have had just enough nautical experience to have been familiar with the “Roaring Forties.” That’s pretty much the only reason I was able to come up with the correct response. Really not much of a surprise that it was a Triple Stumper.
I had never heard of the term “Roaring Forties,” but having just recently borrowed a book from the library about New Zealand (albeit a children’s book), I remembered seeing that Wellington is home to about 400,000 people. And I also remembered from way back way that Wellington was like the southernmost world capital. So I figured it was Wellington.
Never thought I’d see Beltzville mentioned on Jeopardy! Grew up near it and went swimming and fishing there many times. Though my first instinct was Appalachians – wonder if they would’ve accepted that or asked to be more specific.
I had no idea that the Roaring Forties were southern hemisphere only, but I knew Reykjavik is almost at the Arctic Circle and that the entire population of Iceland is less than 400k, and inferred the clue had to be asking for the southernmost national capital.
Though I was incorrect giving Pyongyang as my guess, afterward I was surprised to learn that it is slightly closer to exactly a 40° latitude than Wellington is. I’m pretty sure I have never heard of the “Roaring Forties”.
Pretty good guess there in Pyongyang Lisa. I had never heard of “Roaring Forties” either.
I think I was subconsciously remembering that the line that divides North and South Korea is the 38th parallel north.
Well, I didn’t get to the Southern Hemisphere and that clearly was a problem. I guessed Oslo.
Retro congrats to Will on advancing to next week’s Semifinals. 19 players left of 21. Winner of this TOC still get an invite to Jeopardy Masters I imagine. This is going to be fun!
I went to today’s 10 a.m. taping of Jeopardy and saw 3 shows. Unlike the prior 3 times I have gone, I don’t have any idea when my shows are going to appear on TV.
There’s 2 reasons for not knowing when my shows are going to air and that’s because next week’s taping of the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament will air before what I saw today and also due to the fact that both the TOC and JIT both are unclear of when they will end.
What I did see today was the restart of regular Jeopardy play.
Thank you very much for this information! It sounds like you had a great time, though!
Gladly Andy! I knew that you were wondering what they were going do relating to this, so I definitely wanted to let you know. 🙂 And yes, I always love going to see Jeopardy taped. Got to see some former players as well. Rowan Ward, Michael Cavaliere, and some guy named James Holzhauer. 😉