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Warning: This page contains spoilers for the March 28, 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 9:30 AM Eastern today in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Geographic Neighbors) for Friday, March 28, 2025 (Season 41, Game 145):
The “Hermit Nation” & the “Land of the Morning Calm” are nicknames for these 2 neighbors
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Revell Carr, a professor from Lexington, Kentucky
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Mike Budzinski, a portfolio manager from Chicago, Illinois
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Josh Weikert, a politics professor from Collegeville, Pennsylvania (5-day total: $80,202)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Yesterday’s game saw Josh Weikert cement his place in the 2026 Tournament of Champions by winning his fifth game. Today, he goes for win #6 against Chicago’s Mike Budzinski and Lexington’s Revell Carr. Thankfully for Revell, his game isn’t preempted entirely due to March Madness, as WKYT has moved the game to its CW-affiliated sister station. As with yesterday as well, the show is airing in Tampa-St. Petersburg at 9:30 AM Eastern. For the rest of the country, if you watch on CBS, make sure you check your local listings (or Matt Carberry’s Google Sheet listing the airing impacts nationwide.)
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What are North Korea & South Korea?
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.)
“Land of the Morning Calm” is a nickname that has often been used to refer to the entire Korean peninsula over the decades due to its tranquil scenery; however, since the Korean War, it is generally just used today to refer to South Korea. The term “hermit nation” or “hermit kingdom” has been used to describe many isolationist nations over the years, with North Korea being referred to as one by Hillary Clinton in 2009.
Viewers and players who are able to associate “Land of the Morning Calm” to the Korean Peninsula should have no difficulty coming up with the required pair of correct responses today.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, March 28, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: U.S. Geography; Book Title Adjectives; Something To Wear; Your Name Is A Sentence; On The Side Of The Angels; Modern Lingo)
All three players got off to a good start in this one, with Josh leading on the strength of a pair of $1,000 correct responses. At the break, the scores were Josh $2,400 Revell $2,000 Mike $1,400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Josh 5 correct 2 incorrect
Revell 3 correct 0 incorrect
Mike 5 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Revell teachers the history of sea shanties, and wants everyone to know that “The Wellerman” was not one.
Mike is a Green Bay Packers fan; however, his wife is a Bears fan.
Josh is friends with some former J! champs in the beer judging community.
Revell found the Daily Double, but got it incorrect. Mike picked up four correct—two of them for $1,000—to take the lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Mike 9 correct 1 incorrect
Josh 8 correct 3 incorrect
Revell 6 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Mike $4,400
Josh $3,600
Revell $2,000
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: In The 19Th Century; Pop Culture Titles In Roman Numerals; Opera; Business Terms; Well, That’S Just Science; From “M” To “M”)
Josh picked up 15 correct, as well as both Daily Doubles, as he cruised to a runaway going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Josh 23 correct 3 incorrect
Mike 14 correct 2 incorrect
Revell 8 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Josh $21,600
Mike $7,600
Revell $1,200
This Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper as Josh gets himself over the $100,000 mark. He’ll be back Monday to go for win #7!
Tonight’s results:
Revell $1,200 – $1,100 = $100 (What are Tibet and Nepal)
Mike $7,600 – $1,000 = $6,600 (What are Scotland & England? Love you Katsa)
Josh $21,600 – $1,600 = $20,000 (What are Nepal + Bhutan?) (6-day total: $100,202)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) SOMETHING TO WEAR $600 (clue #18)
Revell 2200 -1200 (Josh 2400 Mike 1400)
2) OPERA $1600 (clue #12)
Josh 10000 +2000 (Mike 3600 Revell 1200)
3) BUSINESS TERMS $1600 (clue #16, $16400 left on board)
Josh 12400 +2000 (Mike 3600 Revell 3200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -18
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Josh 4 5 4 3 1 5 2
Mike 2 3 4 5 4 3
Revell 1 2 1 2 3*
DJ! Round:
Josh 4 3 5 2 3 4 5 2 5 4* 3† 4*
Mike 1
Revell 1 2† 1†
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Josh 3.58
Mike 3.14
Revell 1.63
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.21 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Josh $20,800 Coryat, 23 correct, 3 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Mike $7,600 Coryat, 14 correct, 2 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Revell $2,400 Coryat, 8 correct, 3 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,800
Lach Trash: $15,600 (on 14 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,600
Lead Changes: 7
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Josh Weikert, career statistics:
140 correct, 20 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 21 rebound opportunities)
40.94% in first on buzzer (140/342)
7/9 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $12,200)
2/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,400
Mike Budzinski, career statistics:
14 correct, 3 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,600
Revell Carr, career statistics:
8 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,200)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,400
Josh Weikert, to win:
7 games: 54.627%
8: 29.841%
9: 16.301%
10: 8.905%
11: 4.864%
Avg. streak: 7.204 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I get the sense that a lot of old-school fans aren’t going to like these boards. I personally don’t believe these criticisms are valid; this is a reminder that the rise of J! Archive over the past 20 years has caused the show to test more lateral thinking instead of the simple regurgitation of facts, and I think today’s game epitomizes that.
- I also think that Josh’s having done well in the POP CULTURE TITLES IN ROMAN NUMERALS category bodes well for his chances in a Tournament of Champions situation.
- Today’s game can also be very instructive for future contestants. If you are preparing for a strategy of bouncing around and hunting for Daily Doubles, it needs to become so second nature to you that it can survive the stress of being on stage. It reads to me as though Mike very much regretted not finding the Daily Double in the business category, a regret likely compounded by the fact that his only selection in Double Jeopardy was a top-row clue.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
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Never heard of either of those phrases. Nepal and Bhutan were my guess.
Same here, because I knew the nickname “Land of the Morning Freshness” (a variant translation) for South Korea.
I am traveling in South Korea right now and visited the DMZ with North Korea today. So that’s a funny coincidence.
This is one that I am a little baffled turned out to be a triple stumper. I hadn’t heard of “Land of the Morning Calm” but instantly made the “Hermit Nation” connection and got to this one pretty easy.
Initially, Nepal was what I first thought of, but I knew Tibet isn’t a nation, and Bhutan doesn’t border it. That would leave either India or China for “Land of the Morning Calm”, and that just didn’t seem it.
I then wracked my brain for where I’d heard “the Hermit Nation” before. At about 10 seconds remaining I came up with “North Korea”, and for the same reason I’d discounted China as a neighbor of Nepal, I did for North Korea, but “the Land of the Morning Calm” could fit South Korea. With trepidation I set the Koreas as my answer, and was pleased to see I was right.
Well done! Did you watch your crazy Blue Jackets game tonight? 🏒🏒🏒
When today’s Final Jeopardy answer clue was revealed, I was initially baffled. Then from somewhere in the deep recesses of my memory I recalled that “Land of the Morning Calm” refered to Korea (as a whole, possibly from the book MAS*H,) but “Hermit Nation” sill escaped me, until reading Andy’s “Further Information” referencing then Sec. of State Clinton, THEN it fell into place, “a little late.”
I guessed the same Meredith did, Tibet and Nepal. The phrase “Land of the Morning Calm” made me think of some Shangri-La-type area and “Hermit Nation” made me think of the Forbidden City. I thought a NICKNAME could refer to a place as a ‘Nation’ without it technically being one. [Even sports fanbases are often referred to as “such-and-such nation”.]
I’ve heard North Korea referred to as the “Hermit Kingdom” many times so it was easy to assume that “Hermit Nation” was just a variation on that. Then, of course, it’s neighbor is South Korea so this was an easy final for me. In fact, it was so easy, I was stunned (stunned, I tell you) that this was a Triple Stumper. I wasn’t expecting a Triple Get necessarily but I sure was shocked that no one got it.
As for one of Andy’s thoughts. I’d consider myself an “old school” fan but I don’t see anything not to like about these boards. Andy, you must be more discerning than I am because I don’t really perceive much difference from one board to another. All the boards, both “old school” and contemporary, are interesting to me in their own way.
I do really appreciate your thoughts, Andy, as your observations point out things that I would not have thought of if you hadn’t mentioned them. Today’s thoughts are excellent examples of that as these are things I would not have thought of without your pointing them out.
Hermit nation-only one came to mind-North Korea so it was easy to deduce the other nation had to be South Korea.
I didn’t get FJ. Oh well!
Retro congrats to Josh on win #6 and now his last 2 in runaway fashion. 🙂
Have a great weekend all and look forward to seeing if Josh can make it 7 on Monday!
Do you sometimes not publish the recommended wagers for final Jeopardy? I sometimes cannot find them and didn’t know if it was because it is not always a part of this update or they are positioned in a different place on different days. Thank you so much for all your intense work! Very much appreciated.
I generally don’t if the game is a runaway.
Denise, of course Andy is correct! But the section of Wager Recommendations is often VERY broken up by ads such that it is easy to not identify that section as you scroll through because of its parts not being “all together under its header”. So be sure to just be trying to spot the bold heading and not be subconsciously looking for the “pattern” that section makes when it is all displayed fairly close together.
The “Double Jeopardy! Round:” section will have noted if it was a runaway, so you don’t HAVE TO look for wagering recommendations, though you might be missing something if the wagering decisions for 2nd vs 3rd place were a bit complicated.
No objection to lateral thinking from me, but it wasn’t clear at all clear what they were asking for when the first “Roman Numerals” clue was revealed. They should’ve inserted “this many” or used a blank instead of ellipsis.
The ellipsis made plenty of sense to me, I just didn’t know how many rings the song [album?] would have been, so I guessed “X” for a ring for each finger (but I should have assumed that a $1200 clue wouldn’t be that simple). I got the other four clues in the category correct. I think an ellipsis is better than a “blank” as a short underline looks like it is indicating a single character and more underlines implies [subconsciously?] multiple characters.
In general categories make more sense and get one into the groove if the contestants start at the top, though I totally get the other reasons not to do so. On the other hand I’d thought the meaning of the title of this category was immediately obvious.