Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 30, 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 Latin Phrases) for Thursday, January 30, 2025 (Season 41, Game 104):
After Camillagate, a fire at Windsor Castle & marriage problems in her family, Queen Elizabeth II dubbed 1992 this
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Will Stewart, a political organizer originally from Nashville, Tennessee
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Ryan Manton, a systems administrator from Columbus, Ohio
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Mehal Shah, a software engineer from Seattle, Washington
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s Tournament of Champions quarterfinal features Mehal Shah, Ryan Manton, and Will Stewart. I have a feeling that this is going to be the most tightly-contested quarter-final of the six, as the prediction model thinks that Mehal, Ryan, and Will are all generally strong players.
Unfortunately, I do think that there’s a chance of daytime programming being generally messed up today in the aftermath of last night’s plane crash in Washington, D.C.—there’s nothing we can do if the networks choose to cut away for updates. I’ll do my best to get results up as soon as they air.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is annus horribilis?
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.)
Meaning “horrible year,” Queen Elizabeth II delivered a speech at Guildhall on November 24, 1992, marking her 40th anniversary on the throne. In that speech, she said, “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an annus horribilis.” The Royal Family had suffered many setbacks in 1992, the most prominent being the ones mentioned in today’s Final Jeopardy clue above.
I don’t know if I’m just more “up” on Commonwealth-related matters, being Canadian and all, but I found this to be a relatively straightforward clue for a Tournament of Champions.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, January 30, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: U.S. Cities; Homonymble On Your Feet; Fitness; In The Air; Pre-Boots; Let’s Put 2 Things Together)
Mehal got to the Daily Double early and picked up $1,000 from it. After 15 clues, the scores were Ryan $2,600 Mehal $2,200 Will $1,000.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ryan 4 correct 0 incorrect
Mehal 4 correct 1 incorrect
Will 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Will got temporary tattoos of his face from his mother to celebrat.
Ryan was on Pop Culture Jeopardy with his wife.
Mehal saw a harlequin duck while preparing for the ToC
Mehal picked up 6 correct after the break to take the lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Mehal 10 correct 2 incorrect
Ryan 6 correct 0 incorrect
Will 5 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Mehal $4,200
Ryan $4,000
Will $2,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Counts & Countesses; Filmmakers; Asian History; Communication; Authors; Starts & Ends With The Same Vowel)
“We’ve seen the dichotomy of man here.” Will found the Daily Doubles on back-to-back clues, going all in on the first to take the lead, but he bet just $100 on the second. This kept things very close as Will barely led going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Will 13 correct 2 incorrect
Ryan 13 correct 0 incorrect
Mehal 16 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Will $14,900
Ryan $14,400
Mehal $7,400
Mehal’s response wasn’t accepted, as it was missing a syllable—that puts Ryan through to the semifinals as he made a small bet in Final.
Tonight’s results:
Mehal $7,400 – $7,001 = $399 (What is an Annus Horriblis? Thanks for the awesome crew for having me!)
Ryan $14,400 – $501 = $13,899 (What is annum no grata) (Semi-Finalist)
Will $14,900 – $14,000 = $900 (What is anno terribilis)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) IN THE AIR $600 (clue #9)
Mehal 0 +1000 (Ryan 2400 Will 1000)
2) COMMUNICATION $1600 (clue #14)
Will 7400 +7400 (Mehal 5400 Ryan 12800)
3) AUTHORS $1600 (clue #15, $10800 left on board)
Will 14800 +100 (Mehal 5400 Ryan 12800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 201
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Mehal 4 3 3*
Ryan 5 5 4 5 4
Will 5
DJ! Round:
Mehal 3 4
Ryan 5 5 5 5 5 4 3
Will 4 5 4 3 4* 4*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ryan 4.58
Will 4.14
Mehal 3.40
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.25 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Ryan $14,400 Coryat, 13 correct, 0 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Will $10,600 Coryat, 13 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Mehal $7,000 Coryat, 16 correct, 5 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $32,000
Lach Trash: $15,200 (on 18 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,800
Lead Changes: 12
Times Tied: 4
Player Statistics:
Mehal Shah, career statistics:
170 correct, 24 incorrect
13/13 on rebound attempts (on 33 rebound opportunities)
35.68% in first on buzzer (162/454)
9/11 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $37,200)
1/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,925
Ryan Manton, career statistics:
125 correct, 11 incorrect
10/11 on rebound attempts (on 29 rebound opportunities)
32.46% in first on buzzer (111/342)
5/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
2/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,100
Will Stewart, career statistics:
99 correct, 10 incorrect
15/15 on rebound attempts (on 31 rebound opportunities)
28.87% in first on buzzer (82/284)
6/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $22,900)
3/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,280
Andy’s Thoughts:
- The show’s website has this spelled out for all viewers. Written responses to the Final Jeopardy! clue do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables. Mehal’s response was ruled to have subtracted a syllable; thus, the judges made the correct ruling in this case. I realize this may be counter-intuitive to many viewers who have seen other incorrect spellings accepted, but the line is “if you add or subtract a syllable, you’ll be ruled incorrect”. I think the show is going to receive a lot of undue criticism tonight for what is ultimately a fair rule, and I think the show needs to ignore the negative feedback that comes its way tonight.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Will $14,900 Ryan $14,400 Mehal $7,400)
Mehal: You can’t both win a Triple Stumper and defend against a small bet against Ryan. If you think that Ryan will make a small bet, bet at least $6,600. If you think he’ll make a big bet, then go small—no more than $6,400. (Actual bet: $7,001)
Ryan: Standard cover bet over Mehal is $401. (Actual bet: $501)
Will: Standard cover bet over Ryan is $13,901. (Actual bet: $14,000)
Updated ToC odds:
Adriana +700
Isaac +570
Drew B. +630
Will W. +970
Amy +1400
Neilesh +390
Ryan +830
Mark +2300
Allison G. +3600
Kevin +6300
Drew G. +2000
Amar +3600
Lucas +5100
Finals length odds:
3 games: +710
4 games: +310
5 games: +210
6 games: +290
7 games: +700
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My six years of Latin (in high school and college) finally paid off! I recall her saying this and needed no dictionary to translate it.
I assume that my response of “annus horriblis” would be deemed wrong for omitting a syllable.
…more than likely.
And one of the contestants did the same thing you did, and it wasn’t accepted. Ridiculous if you ask me.
at least you didn’t forget the second ‘n’ in annus.
I recall some jokes at the time to the effect that she may have been describing a medical condition.
lol
It would be.
I would have made the same spelling error had I been on the stage. The sad part is that had the response been spoken rather than written, it might have been accepted.
And one of the contestants did the same thing you did, and it was t accepted. Ridiculous if you ask memm
I think that Thrice! would have accepted Mehal’s response as being close enough. Sometimes they even write me a few days later to apologize for not accepting my response in the first place. What a Mensch.
The major difference here is that you’re not really competing against others on Thrice, so it’s not effectively harming an opponent by being more lenient. However, as Alex pointed out 35-40 years ago, when the Jeopardy judges are overly lenient, it inherently harms an opponent. So they have to be firm and consistent, and it’s ultimately the most fair for everyone.
Thanks for clarifying. I didn’t think to look at it from that angle.
I saw some asserting that this would be a suitable clue for Masters, but not for the ToC (and thus not for any event of lower intended difficulty). Once it’s accepted that the ruling against Mehal was correct, to object to the suitability of the clue is to say that “annus horribilis” can’t be asked of Jeopardy! contestants. I’m not prepared to go that far.
My thoughts on that can be summed up similarly to those on Tuesday regarding the suitability of material. You can replace “noses” with another body part if you’d like.
Falling back on a very rudimentary knowledge of Latin, I was able to guess the correct response of annus horribilis without ever knowing that Queen Elizabeth had made this statement. Just lucky more or less as it was a sort of educated guess.
I was the opposite to you this time — I know very little Latin, but I have read and heard her comment many times. I am not certain I would have spelled it correctly — annus horribilis — [probably ending with “us” instead of “is”] but I think I would have made the correct number of syllables because I can remember that in hearing it, the actual word ‘horrible’ can be heard and I wouldn’t have thought that putting the ‘l’ right after the ‘b’ would result in that.
Lisa, I too would have spelled the last two letters “us” rather than “is.” I wonder if the judges would have accepted that answer because in my way of thinking, the difference in pronunciation is barely perceptible.
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A grizzly year to bear to be sure
There was an episode of “The Crown” with that title dealing with the aforementioned events. I have no idea if I’d have gotten it right without having seen it.
Funny (to me) that I was also the opposite of you for this one since (as I said before) I have read and heard her comment many times, BUT I have never watched ‘The Crown’.
I guessed Les Miserables. LOL What a dummy I am!
Retro congrats to Ryan! He’s a very strong player, answering at over a 90% clip.
Looking forward to tomorrow night’s show, where I’ll take Mark for the win.
I was thinking of the same wrong answer as Will. What were the chances?