Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 6, 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 Ancient Geography) for Thursday, February 6, 2025 (Season 41, Game 109):
Wadi al-Malekat in Arabic, this site near a similar & better known location was the burial place of Nefertari & others
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Neilesh Vinjamuri, a software engineer from Lionville, Pennsylvania
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Drew Goins, a journalist from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
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Drew Basile, a graduate student from Birmingham, Michigan
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Who will join #1 seed Adriana Harmeyer and #2 seed Isaac Hirsch in the finals? The #3 seed, Drew Basile, has been paired with the top two performing players from the quarterfinals, Drew Goins and Neilesh Vinjamuri. Again, I maintain that this is likely by design—this both gives an incredibly exciting and intriguing matchup in the semifinals as well as basically gives a 3-4-5 match that I believe is fairest overall in terms of matchups when matching together groups of 3 instead of groups of 2.
In terms of who I think will win, my two main thoughts are that: 1) it’s too close to call; 2) whoever does win this match will likely be favored to win in the final. I’m expecting a game for the ages today.
Furthermore—and I think it speaks to how much I’m looking forward to today’s game that this has been relegated to paragraph three—this is the first time in over 15 years where two players with the same name have been placed in the same game and the first time in nearly 40 where it hasn’t been in a tournament final. No word has gotten out on how the two Drews will be called on by Ken today.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is the Valley of the Queens?
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.)
Located near ancient Thebes and near the modern-day city of Luxor in Egypt, the Valley of the Queens is situated very close to the more famous Valley of the Kings. While the Egyptian New Kingdom’s pharaohs and other powerful nobles were buried at the Valley of the Kings, queens, princes, and princesses were buried at the Valley of the Queens.
If you’re a golfer, you probably know the incredible feeling of hitting a ball perfectly flush as it travels exactly where you intended it to. The feeling is quite similar to the feeling of being able to put together the pieces of a Final Jeopardy clue that the writers have laid out, especially of a ToC-level Final. Here, my thought process was, “Okay, Nefertari was a famous Egyptian queen—I wonder if there’s a Valley of the Queens near the Valley of the Kings?” It feels pretty darned good to get that sort of a solve. I hope the players in the studio got the same feeling today.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, February 6, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Stocking The Cabinet; The Western Hemisphere; Legendary Tweets; Kind Of Blue Pop Culture; Library Glossary; Ends In “FF”)
With both Drews going by their last name, we got off to a bit of a rocky start, with 6 incorrect responses in the first segment, one of them being a miss by Drew Basile on the Daily Double. After 15 clues, the scores were Drew Goins $1,600 Neilesh $800 Drew Basile -$400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Drew Goins 3 correct 2 incorrect
Neilesh 3 correct 1 incorrect
Drew Basile 5 correct 3 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Neilesh had a friend comment on a comeback win.
Drew Goins warms up to a trap remix of the “Think!” music.
Drew Basile only has local guests for the ToC.
Things turned around well in the second half of the round as Drew Goins continued to lead.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Drew Goins 8 correct 2 incorrect
Neilesh 5 correct 1 incorrect
Drew Basile 9 correct 4 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Drew Goins $4,800
Neilesh $2,000
Drew Basile $800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: English Lit; You Need To See A Specialist; The Arts; Newish Words & Phrases; Well, Well; Funny Boy Is An Actor Now)
Drew Goins found Daily Doubles on back-to-back clues; he tried to quadruple up through them, but an incorrect response on the second one dropped him back to $0. He recovered well to be in contention going into Final as Neilesh led.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Neilesh 13 correct 2 incorrect
Drew Basile 14 correct 6 incorrect
Drew Goins 17 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Neilesh $8,800
Drew Basile $6,800
Drew Goins $4,400
Drew Basile and Neilesh were correct in Final as Neilesh advances to the finals!
Tonight’s results:
Drew Goins $4,400 – $400 = $4,000 (What is the Valley of the Kings?)
Drew Basile $6,800 + $2,002 = $8,802 (What is the Valley of Queens?)
Neilesh $8,800 + $4,801 = $13,601 (What Valley of the Queens) (Finalist)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE $800 (clue #7)
Drew Basile 800 -1000 (Drew Goins -400 Neilesh -800)
2) NEWISH WORDS & PHRASES $1600 (clue #10)
Drew Goins 3600 +3600 (Drew Basile 3200 Neilesh 8800)
3) YOU NEED TO SEE A SPECIALIST $1600 (clue #11, $21200 left on board)
Drew Goins 7200 -7200 (Drew Basile 3200 Neilesh 8800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -100
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Drew Basile 4 5 5 3 4*
Drew Goins 4 3
Neilesh
DJ! Round:
Drew Basile 3 4 5
Drew Goins 4* 4*
Neilesh 2 5 4 3 2 1
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Neilesh 2.83
Drew Basile 4.13
Drew Goins 3.75
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.24 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Neilesh $8,800 Coryat, 13 correct, 2 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Drew Basile $7,800 Coryat, 14 correct, 6 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Drew Goins $9,600 Coryat, 17 correct, 5 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $26,200
Lach Trash: $15,400 (on 14 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,400
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 1
Player Statistics:
Drew Basile, career statistics:
213 correct, 47 incorrect
11/17 on rebound attempts (on 51 rebound opportunities)
37.83% in first on buzzer (216/571)
11/17 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $36,400)
5/10 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,280
Drew Goins, career statistics:
221 correct, 29 incorrect
10/12 on rebound attempts (on 41 rebound opportunities)
37.54% in first on buzzer (214/570)
11/14 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $26,600)
5/10 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,300
Neilesh Vinjamuri, career statistics:
138 correct, 15 incorrect
9/10 on rebound attempts (on 35 rebound opportunities)
37.72% in first on buzzer (129/342)
7/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,500)
3/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,133
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I think Drew Goins going all in on DD3 was absolutely the correct move. It would have given him a runaway had he been correct—and given a choice between a $1600 Daily Double and a random Final Jeopardy, you’re about 15 to 20% more likely to get the Daily Double correct.
- Kudos to all three players for their excellent Final Jeopardy bets.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Neilesh $8,800 Drew Basile $6,800 Drew Goins $4,400)
Drew Basile: Cover bet over Drew Goins is $2,001. (Actual bet: $2,002)
Drew Goins: Bet exactly $400 for the best chance of winning. This will pass Drew Basile if he covers you and is incorrect (and you’re correct) as well as stays ahead of Neilesh if he covers Drew Basile (and is incorrect) (Actual bet: $400)
Neilesh: Standard cover bet over Drew Basile is $4,801. (Actual bet: $4,801)
Updated ToC odds:
Adriana +220
Isaac +200
Neilesh +130
Finals length odds:
3 games: +720
4 games: +320
5 games: +220
6 games: +290
7 games: +680
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Never heard of the Valley of the Queens. Learned something new today.
How about “Michigan Drew” and “Hawaii Drew”? Less confusing than trying to remember surnames.
Being clueless, I said Valley of the Kings. Doh!
At least, not Valley of the Dolls
Hey Andy!
In the last sentence in the first paragraph of “More information about Final Jeopardy:” did you mean ‘buried’ instead of ‘born’?
Yes. Thank you. (Though the way my stuff has been copied lately, I feel like it’s a pretty good trap.)
You are quite welcome!
Tonight’s game should be amazing.
Keep up the informative, instructive, and entertaining work
I kept thinking of “wadi” as a water feature and got nothing.
Well (sorry Andy)I do tend to root for one person each show, this one I can’t choose! Wish they all could win 🏆
I agree these are three amazing and FTW players!
Is it your intent to withhold updated odds for the three finalists and the length of the final until an expected preview tomorrow morning?
It was not my intent. Thank you!
THAT
WAS
AWESOME!
(Final J!, anyway!)
A basic “law” of any competition, first accredited to the Yogi of Berra: It isn’t over until it’s over! (As in, don’t get too excited until: The last vote is counted, the last out is recorded, the clock runs out, the last putt drops, etc. etc.)
ROCK ON, Neilesh!
“The opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings” journalist Dan Cook or Dick Motta (coach of the Bullets) after the first game of the 1978 NBA playoffs between the San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Bullets. The Bullets went on to defeat the Seattle Supersonics for the NBA Championship that year. Dan Cook may have been quoting Coach Motta when he wrote that saying.
The peoplw who are complaining about the diificulty of T of C material, need to stop and think a moment, The T of C is (one of) Jeopardy’s highest level of competition. It’s only right that (some of) it’s most difficult material be used for it. And, by the way, sometimes material that might seem easy can throw you, as Ken, and, many other contestants at “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” found out.
Today’s Final Jeopardy would be easy if you paid attention to everything contained in the answer clue, and, put everything together, like Andy suggested. I fell into the trap of not “seeing” everything in the answer clue, and, like Drew Goins, said the too easy, and, wrong, Valley of the Kings. When I said that, I did think it was too easy, and, of course, right on that.
Category: Ends in “FF” and the clue includes something like wolfing down food or mocking someone. Nobody tried to guess. Ken said that it is “What is scoff?” But isn’t the word for chowing down scarf, not scoff?
It’s a thing: https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2008/02/scoff-and-scarf.html
Andy, thanks for that link! I learned something new today.
Just one person’s opinion, but I hear enough about Elon Musk and related entities already. Don’t need him on Jeopardy.
I didn’t know FJ, but at least I was in Egypt! LOL
Great game, great FJ betting, and a well deserved Neilesh moving to the Finals! Going to be a great Finals starting tomorrow night.
Happy Friday all! Enjoy! 🙂
Perhaps those who guessed “What is the Valley of the Kings?” (including Drew Goins) were thinking that “of the Kings” and “of the Queens” might just be sort of toponyms based on who mostly are buried there, but that maybe a more precise description would be “valley of the sovereigns” and “valley of the consorts”, thus Nefertari would be buried as a sovereign (in the Valley of the Kings) rather than a consort (in the Valley of the Queens). If so, I would think this was done as a “grasping of straws” in assuming that FJ was probably more difficult than it seemed.