Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 26, 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.
This site also has recaps for today’s three Pop Culture Jeopardy episodes. If you’re looking for those recaps instead: Episode 37 (Personality Hires, Mission Impopsicle, South Shore Squad); Episode 38 (O’Trivia Rodrigo, Buggsy Mogues, Game Night Rules); Episode 39 (Equizabeth Moss, Three Almost Dads, Queerly Benevolent). Finally, you can find the recap for today’s episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! here.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Presidential Elections) for Wednesday, February 26, 2025 (Season 41, Game 123):
The only 2 Democrats to be elected President between James Buchanan in 1856 & FDR in 1932
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Shane Whitlock, a radiologist originally from Benton, Arkansas
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Claire Sattler, a comedian & research scientist from New York, New York
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Ben Chan, a philosophy professor from Green Bay, Wisconsin
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Quarterfinal #8 of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament is being contested between Ben Chan, Claire Sattler, and Shane Whitlock. Claire is the champion of the 2018 Teen Tournament and has since become a New York-area stand up comedian, while Shane is making his return to the Alex Trebek Stage; he’s been keeping his brain sharp as one of the top quizzing minds in America. Meanwhile, Ben is one of the game’s modern greats and has a very good chance of a deep run—but he does have to get through this quarterfinal first. It’ll be interesting to see what happens—I could see anything from a dominant win from a player to a Triple Stumper Final Jeopardy that allows someone to sneak through for a victory!
Also, Celebrity Jeopardy returns tonight with quarterfinal #7 between Ana Navarro, Dave Friedberg, and Yvette Nicole Brown; those festivities will air on ABC and CTV at 9:00 PM Eastern.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who are Grover Cleveland & Woodrow Wilson?
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.)
Winning a pair of elections apiece, Grover Cleveland won the 1884 & 1892 elections, while Woodrow Wilson won the 1912 & 1916 elections. (It should be noted that Andrew Johnson, while a Democrat, was never elected to the Presidency.)
This is a pretty solid Final Jeopardy clue that I think could have appeared in any ToC or higher-level tournament at any point in the show’s history. I’m sure that a lot of people will be quite happy with this clue.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, February 26, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Months That Start With Feb; Second Letter “Y”; A Novel Profession; Television; Warriors; Come Out & Play)
Ben found the Daily Double immediately, but was barely incorrect. After that, Shane had the best start, getting 7 correct and jumping into the lead. After 15 clues, the scores were Shane $5,600 Ben $800 Claire -$200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Shane 7 correct 0 incorrect
Ben 5 correct 2 incorrect
Claire 0 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Shane was hesitant to buzz in on a Playboy category during the UToC because of his granny.
Claire would love to be an SNL writer.
Ben crashed a wedding after being recognized.
Shane picked up another six correct after the interviews to continue to lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Shane 13 correct 0 incorrect
Ben 10 correct 2 incorrect
Claire 2 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Shane $9,000
Ben $3,200
Claire $800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Poets Go To The Cinema; 4-Letter Cities; Contemporaries; Sold! At Auction; All About Animals; Alliteration)
The Daily Doubles took a very long time to find in this Double Jeopardy round, with them staying out until clues 20 and 24, even with reasonably good selection. Ben bet the minimum $5 on DD2, forcing Shane to try a bet to guarantee the lead going into Final; when Shane was incorrect, Ben led going into Final, but things were still very close.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ben 23 correct 5 incorrect
Shane 23 correct 1 incorrect
Claire 4 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ben $18,395
Shane $14,700
Claire $0
Shane was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy and that makes him a semifinalist!
Tonight’s results:
Claire $0 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Shane $14,700 + $6,000 = $20,700 (Who are Wilson and Cleveland?) (Semi-Finalist)
Ben $18,395 – $3,694 = $14,701 (Who are B Harr Garfield and Wilson?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) A NOVEL PROFESSION $800 (clue #1)
Ben 0 -1000 (Claire 0 Shane 0)
2) ALL ABOUT ANIMALS $2000 (clue #20)
Ben 19600 -5 (Claire -800 Shane 15000)
3) ALLITERATION $2000 (clue #24, $2400 left on board)
Shane 17000 -3500 (Ben 17995 Claire -800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -121
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ben 4*
Claire
Shane
DJ! Round:
Ben 3 4 4 2 2 3 4 2 2 5 5 5* 3
Claire 3 4 3
Shane 3 2 4 5 5 2 4 5*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Shane 3.75
Ben 3.43
Claire 3.33
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.21 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Shane $18,200 Coryat, 23 correct, 1 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Ben $19,400 Coryat, 23 correct, 5 incorrect, 43.86% in first on buzzer (25/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Claire $0 Coryat, 4 correct, 2 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,600
Lach Trash: $7,000 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,400
Lead Changes: 6
Times Tied: 2
Player Statistics:
Ben Chan, career statistics:
454 correct, 46 incorrect
18/24 on rebound attempts (on 64 rebound opportunities)
39.07% in first on buzzer (422/1080)
24/34 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $41,000)
14/19 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,621
Claire Sattler, career statistics:
116 correct, 21 incorrect
8/9 on rebound attempts (on 28 rebound opportunities)
29.11% in first on buzzer (115/395)
5/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,000)
4/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,029
Shane Whitlock, career statistics:
246 correct, 20 incorrect
12/14 on rebound attempts (on 43 rebound opportunities)
35.57% in first on buzzer (223/627)
15/18 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $33,300)
7/11 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,200
Andy’s Thoughts:
- This was actually a very interesting game strategically—and as it turned out, had Shane bet to ensure he led by just $1 on DD3 (a bet of $3,396), he would have been within four-fifths going into Final, and would have been able to defend better against Ben’s choice of Final Jeopardy wager.
- At 454, Ben moves to 16th all time in terms of number of correct responses given on the show.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ben $18,395 Shane $14,700 Claire $0)
Ben: If you want to take that route, the standard cover bet over Shane is $11,006. However, because Shane is just outside of four-fifths, if you want to turn this into a crush game because you think Shane’ll bet small, a bet between $3,615 and $3,694 does that. (Actual bet: $3,694)
Claire: (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Shane: Bet at least $3,696, but no more than no more than $7,310, in case Ben covers. (Actual bet: $6,000)
Updated JIT odds:
Matt +440
Roger +510
Luigi +650
Jaskaran +660
Raymond +730
Shane +900
Emily +1200
Ray +1300
Juveria +2100
Seth +5400
Jackson +7500
Finals length odds:
2 games: +170
3 games: +110
4 games: +340
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That’s a really good clue – one that I didn’t get, but I bet I’ll remember.
Good FJ clue. A little tricky in that the Democrats were the more conservative party in Cleveland’s day but had become the more liberal party by the time Wilson was elected.
In the “Mean Girls” vein, am I the only one that wishes Ken would stop trying to make “JIT” happen?
but it’s so fetch
I cannot stand it when Ken says ‘JIT’ – feels like a screwdriver is being driven into my brain.
It does not have to abbreviated.
Others do like it, and the show likes to lean on it.
Andy! Thanks for the clarification.
I find that it kind of grows on you after a while. I didn’t like it at first but I’ve come to be okay with it now.
Robert! Thanks for your comment!!
I was thinking more of my discomfort and realized it was the sound ‘JIT’. I think I would not have a problem if each letter was said = “J. I. T.”…
… like “T. O. C.” is said not ‘TOC’.
I know this a minor issue and really want to make sure Andy and the regulars that comment here know how very much I appreciate the show itself and this wonderful website.
I knew Wilson was one of them but could not get to Cleveland in time.
After Jimmy Carter died, a factoid that had been floating around was that he and Cleveland were the only Democratic candidates to not win a reelection since a very long time ago.
Wilson, I just knew.
I suspect that, at this level, this will be a triple get.
I think this needs to be amended to “lost an election as incumbent” or something along those lines. JFK and LBJ definitely did not win reelections.
I think that Presidential Elections (as well as Presidents, in general) is one of those categories that every “Jeopardy!” player has to bone up on. Personally, I’m familiar enough with the Presidents from childhood and, later, from the Presidential coin series that I was able to get this one. I did have a slight pause because, for a second there, I thought it might be a trick question because of Cleveland’s non-consecutive terms. Did he count as one or two? Then, I realized that despite being elected twice, he still only counts as one democrat. Added to Wilson, that makes two.
I got Wilson because I remember how modern-day Democrats have distanced themselves from him but I could not for the life of me remember Cleveland.
I, like others, got Wilson and was stuck on the 2nd person. Oh well!
Great strategic game tonight with the odd bets.
Looking forward to the return of Juveria tomorrow night. I have seen Jackson play in High School Reunion, but have never seen Seth play.
I’m pulling for Juveria! 🙂
I didn’t remember the party of any presidents during that period except Johnson and I knew to rule him out as “never elected president”.
It was a pretty tough question Lisa. I had forgotten that Johnson wasn’t ever elected.