Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 15, 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 Women of History) for Thursday, May 15, 2025 (Season 41, Game 179):
Regarding the idea of “women first”, she queried, “Women demand equal rights on land–why not on sea?”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Nick Marino, a mechanical engineer from San Fancisco, California
|
Neeraj Borle, an investment first managing director from New York, New York
|
Brandon Monsman, a bartender originally from Cleveland, Ohio (1-day total: $16,400)
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Brandon Monsman is your new Jeopardy! champion after his win yesterday, taking down a 2-day champion in Andrew Jones. Today, he defends his title for the first time against Neeraj Borle of New York and Nick Marino of San Francisco.
(Content continues below)
My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have introduced a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2024? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
Do you appreciate the work I do here on The Jeopardy! Fan? Would you like to make a one-time contribution to the site? You may do so here!
You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 17 players, now including Adriana Harmeyer, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!
Correct response: Who is Margaret Brown? (Molly Brown)
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.)
In a bit of an ironic twist, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, famed for surviving the sinking of the Titanic, was quoted as saying that the “women [and children] first” principle of filling lifeboats in times of emergency at sea “is a principle as deep rooted in man’s being as the sea”, “world-old and irrevocable”, “but…is all wrong.”
That being said, I think just saying “women first”, even though that was part of the quote from Brown herself, obfuscates the topic too much to be playable as a regular play Final Jeopardy. I think this Final Jeopardy clue needs to be asked where it opens, “Regarding the idea of ‘Women and children first’…”—regardless of its new difficulty—in order to be at its best in a regular play game.
I also think it might be important to mention here that the post-1984 Jeopardy! canon, including its various primetime spinoff series, now encompasses 9,390 games (that being, a nationally aired full collection of clues that includes a Final Jeopardy round.) That is a rather large amount of writing, and sometimes that means we’re going to see a less-than-stellar Final Jeopardy round. It comes with the territory—and you can’t have good Jeopardy! without some bad Jeopardy! along the way. So, don’t blame the writers—collectively or individually—they’re doing the best they can.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items, including our new Masters Season 3 Player List T-shirt:
Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, May 15, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: First Lines Of Hit Songs; Bestselling Nonfiction; The Early 21st Century; A Barrel Of Monkeys; “Amp”ed Up; You Put Me On The Supreme Court)
Nick picked up six correct, but one incorrect, and Brandon had 4, as the two of them were tied for the lead after 15. At the interviews, the scores were Brandon $3,000 Nick $3,000 Neeraj $2,600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Nick 6 correct 1 incorrect
Brandon 4 correct 0 incorrect
Neeraj 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Nick is a big fan of birthday parties, and was the victim of a prank party once.
Neeraj swam the Great Barrier Reef during his honeymoon.
Brandon thought his name was “Brandonono” due to a mischievous childhood.
Nick found the Daily Double straight out of the break, got it correct, and led after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Nick 11 correct 1 incorrect
Neeraj 8 correct 1 incorrect
Brandon 5 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Nick $5,600
Neeraj $3,600
Brandon $2,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Desert Menu; A Category Good; Royal Roles; The Name On The Disease; “L.O.”; Sailor)
It was the challengers who found the Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy; they both made conservative wagers as Nick led by $1,800 going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Nick 16 correct 1 incorrect
Neeraj 17 correct 2 incorrect
Brandon 12 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Nick $14,200
Neeraj $12,400
Brandon $7,200
Final Jeopardy ended up being a Triple Stumper; Neeraj bet way too much in Final Jeopardy, meaning that Brandon, who bet $0, is now a 2-day champion! He’ll go for win #3 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Brandon $7,200 – $0 = $7,200 (Who is Aerhart) (2-day total: $23,600)
Neeraj $12,400 – $8,000 = $4,400 (Who is Physllis Schafly?)
Nick $14,200 – $10,601 = $3,599 (Who is Roosevelt?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) YOU PUT ME ON THE SUPREME COURT $600 (clue #16)
Nick 3000 +1000 (Brandon 3000 Neeraj 2600)
2) A CATEGORY GOOD $2000 (clue #11)
Neeraj 8800 +2000 (Brandon 4400 Nick 8000)
3) THE NAME ON THE DISEASE $800 (clue #23, $3200 left on board)
Nick 11600 +2600 (Brandon 6000 Neeraj 11600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 78
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Brandon 3 4 5 4 2
Neeraj 3 5 5 2 1
Nick 3 5 3 4 4 3*
DJ! Round:
Brandon 3 4 4 4 5 3 4 5 5 5
Neeraj 2 3 2 3 5* 2 5 4
Nick 3 4 2 3 2*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Brandon 4.00
Neeraj 3.23
Nick 3.27
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.17 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Brandon $7,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 3 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Neeraj $12,400 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Nick $12,000 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,600
Lach Trash: $18,200 (on 15 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,200
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 4
Player Statistics:
Brandon Monsman, career statistics:
25 correct, 8 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
23.68% in first on buzzer (27/114)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,700
Neeraj Borle, career statistics:
17 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,400
Nick Marino, career statistics:
16 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,600)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,000
Brandon Monsman, to win:
3 games: 30.102%
4: 9.061%
5: 2.728%
6: 0.821%
7: 0.247%
Avg. streak: 2.431 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Nick $14,200 Neeraj $12,400 Brandon $7,200)
Brandon: If you think Neeraj will bet big, go as small as you feel comfortable (but no more than $3,600). If you think he’ll go small (in the $2,001 to $5,200 range), then bet between $3,201 and $3,600. (Actual bet: $0)
Neeraj: Cover bet over Brandon is $2,001. (Actual bet: $8,000)
Nick: Standard cover bet is $10,601. (Actual bet: $10,601)
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.
Have you had a chance to listen to our podcast game show, Complete The List, yet? Check it out! It's also available on Apple Podcasts.
It was the only guess I had. I’m going out on the line and saying this will be a triple get.
and color me so wrong.
Fair analysis, Andy. Skipping “and children” threw me completely, though I know a few people who will still get this. And, let’s be honest, the writers are human. God knows I’ve written a few stinkers when providing material for my friends to play on.
So, yeah, not a get for me, but I don’t feel as bad as I did when the meaning of “women first” hit me.
Though “Women and children first” would have made for a more accurate question, it was still an easy guess. The mention of the sea in this context infers lifeboats and that leads to the only possible guess, The Unsinkable Molly Brown. No one else came to mind.
same…thought I would have said Margaret Brown. She never went by Molly – that came about posthumously.
New term I want to coin:
“Roadrunner Win”, for when third place correctly reads that the clue will be hard and second place will get overconfident, resulting in a $0 bet and a win on a Triple Stumper. So named for the visual of the two leaders freefalling past third place like a Chuck Jones cartoon.
(NOTE: a Roadrunner bet is justifiable when these two conditions hold: (1) you have at least two-thirds of second place’s score, meaning he has to bet more than the difference between the two of you to cover you; and (2) you have at least twice the difference between first and second, meaning first will fall behind you if they miss. As it is, a Roadrunner bet is often, but not always, concurrent with Stratton’s Dilemma.)
You think it’ll catch on? MEEP MEEP
I’m wondering why you think the category ‘Women of History’ would be assumed (at wagering time) to be going to be difficult.
Even though this FJ! did turn out to be difficult for these three contestants, it was not difficult for many of us on this site, but ALSO, under that category there could have been any of many even easier clues.
I don’t assume “Women of History” will be difficult. But it’s such a wide range of possible answers that range from easy gets to why isn’t this a TOC final. Maybe “guess” instead of “assume” would be better.
Either way, Roadrunner.
Another triple miss.
There was a musical/comedy in the early 1960’s called, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” starring Debbie Reynolds. That was when I first developed a crush on Debbie Reynolds even though she was considered a bit old for me. Because of that movie (based on a Broadway show which I also saw), I was able to get this final fairly easily. I don’t think any of today’s contestants were old enough to be familiar with either the movie or the stage show. Therefore, I would expect this final to be easier for my generation than some younger generations. The triple stumper sort of bears this out.
I think you are correct in general [that’s how I knew it], but less than a year ago the FJ! clue was “Adding to her nickname, one legend claimed that earlier in life, she was saved from drowning by family friend Mark Twain”. I would think that a serious potential contestant who no doubt studies old Jeopardy! clues should take the FJ!s (especially from the last 5-10 years) to mean that the writers consider the related stories to be clue-worthy and thus might make up another clue from them (so it would be worth drilling down a bit instead of just studying that one clue/response). In this case, the highlights of the life of Margaret “Molly” Brown.
BTW, last year 2 of the 3 contestants got it right and they look to be in the same general age range of today’s three. Perhaps part of the difference is that the correct 2 last year were from Utah and Minnesota, more in the range of Molly Brown’s Denver than the incorrect one from Kentucky, whereas all three of today’s players are from farther away
But Margaret Brown was born in Hannibal, MO – closer to Kentucky
I did not find this clue to be confusing, nor obfuscated, just non-simple enough to have to think about it for about 10 seconds. I considered the part of the quote saying “Women demand equal rights on land” to be key as the women demanding equal rights were not specifying “on land”, thus the person saying it was probably at sea and that just made me think of Molly Brown. I knew she went by something other than “Molly”, but could not remember it, so I’m glad they accepted “Molly”.
I think Earhart was a reasonable guess. I wonder if the misspelling would have been unacceptable. I’d assume Aerhart is pronounced close enough to the same as Earhart.
Concurring with what seems to be the general consensus of the comments, “women first” and “at sea” was enough to get me to Molly Brown instantly, amid what’s been a bit a tough FJ run for me. I wonder if omitting “and children” was an attempt at calibration and the clue was deemed too straightforward for FJ with the phrase included.