Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 2, 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 Boats & Ships) for Friday, May 2, 2025 (Season 41, Game 170):
Nearly a century after her 1851 sporting triumph, she was a rotting hulk finally scrapped in 1945
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Sam Sabulis, an attorney from Atlanta, Georgia
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Shweta Balasubramanian, a marketing manager from Pomona, California
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Ben Ganger, a data analyst from Goshen, Indiana (3-day total: $76,415)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Ben Ganger has dominated his way to three victories and over $75,000 so far—but he’s not a lock for the Tournament of Champions yet. He’ll likely need one more victory, and potentially two, in order to get his ticket. Today, he faces off against Atlanta’s Sam Sabulis and LA-area Shweta Balasubramanian.
I also think that it is probably worthwhile to remind everybody about who Jeopardy! is made for. It’s not made for me. It’s not made for the few hundred diehards who have thousands of comments about the show on r/Jeopardy, JBoard, or Discord. I’d say it might not even be made for the 1,000 of you who come in to read my words the morning of an episode. However, it is made for the 25,000 of you who’ll pop in to the site after your bestie accidentally telephoned you at 7:26pm and you missed something really important on the show. The average viewer cares about 61 clues and maybe the occasional champion that they’ll cheer for more than others. And that’s it. To be honest, I wish that “average viewer” could have their opinions about the show amplified more, but your average viewer isn’t generally seeking out that attention. And as long as The Powers That Be remember who the show is being made for, Jeopardy! will be just fine.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is America?
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.)
America was the famed 19th-century yacht, belonging to the New York Yacht Club that, in 1851, won a race around the Isle of Wight, held as part of the 1851 Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta. It won what was then known as the RYS £100 Cup, and in 1857, the yacht’s owners donated the cup to the New York Yacht Club in order to facilitate yacht clubs around the world being able to challenge for the cup. The America’s Cup has since become the oldest competition in international sport.
This is relatively straightforward—as long as you know that the America’s Cup is named after a yacht named America and not the country itself.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, May 2, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: World History; A Little Bit Of Lit; Beaver Fever; 4-Letter Synonyms; “Pop”-Pourri; Radio)
Ben found the Daily Double before either of his opponents had a chance to signal, doubling his $1,200. At the interviews, the scores were Ben $4,000 Sam $1,200 Shweta -$1,000.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ben 6 correct 1 incorrect
Sam 3 correct 1 incorrect
Shweta 0 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Sam lost his wedding ring on his honeymoon; he found it in the swimming pool.
Shweta has a photo with an Oscar statuette but can’t share it.
Ben got into trivia and Jeopardy because of Ken Jennings.
Ben picked up another half-dozen correct responses to continue to lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Ben 12 correct 2 incorrect
Sam 6 correct 2 incorrect
Shweta 2 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Ben $5,600
Sam $1,800
Shweta -$200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Governors; “A” Is For Capital; Classical Music; From The Bronx; Echo-Nomics; Fancy A Word?)
Ben picked up a combined $8,500 on the two Daily Doubles as he cruised to a runaway.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ben 25 correct 5 incorrect
Sam 13 correct 5 incorrect
Shweta 3 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ben $22,500
Sam $7,800
Shweta $1,000
Nobody got this Final correct, but Ben’s runaway makes him a 4-day champion. He’ll go for #5 on Monday!
Tonight’s results:
Shweta $1,000 – $680 = $320 (What is Titanic?)
Sam $7,800 – $2,611 = $5,189 (What is SS Rotting Hulk)
Ben $22,500 – $2,500 = $20,000 (What?) (4-day total: $96,415)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) RADIO $1000 (clue #6)
Ben 1200 +1200 (Shweta 0 Sam 0)
2) GOVERNORS $1600 (clue #8)
Ben 10400 +3500 (Shweta -200 Sam 1000)
3) “A” IS FOR CAPITAL $1600 (clue #10, $22400 left on board)
Ben 13900 +5000 (Shweta -200 Sam 1000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 170
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ben 4 5 3 4 5 5*
Shweta
Sam
DJ! Round:
Ben 5 4 3 2 1 5 4* 5 4*
Shweta 1
Sam
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ben 3.93
Sam 0.00
Shweta 1.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.18 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Ben $17,000 Coryat, 25 correct, 5 incorrect, 43.86% in first on buzzer (25/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Sam $7,800 Coryat, 13 correct, 5 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Shweta $1,000 Coryat, 3 correct, 1 incorrect, 7.02% in first on buzzer (4/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $25,800
Lach Trash: $18,600 (on 19 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,600
Lead Changes: 0
Times Tied: 1
Player Statistics:
Ben Ganger, career statistics:
112 correct, 20 incorrect
13/16 on rebound attempts (on 25 rebound opportunities)
44.74% in first on buzzer (102/228)
9/10 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $25,700)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,600
Shweta Balasubramanian, career statistics:
3 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
7.02% in first on buzzer (4/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,000
Sam Sabulis, career statistics:
13 correct, 6 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,800
Ben Ganger, to win:
5 games: 66.073%
6: 43.656%
7: 28.845%
8: 19.059%
9: 12.593%
Avg. streak: 5.948 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- No wagering suggestions are posted due to today’s runaway.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
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Guessed correctly remembering bits and pieces about the history of the America’s Cup.
Same. I must have remembered that as well, because as soon as Ken finished reading the answer clue, I said “What is the America?”
Ended the week on a three day winning streak on Final Jeopardys.
Nearly identical here Bill….I said the same after Ken read the clue because it seemed like the time I remember being the beginning of the America’s Cup.
Though honestly, as Andy mentioned, I didn’t know that the race was named for the boat and not the country.
I was pretty stunned when Ken gave the answer and I was right. Just say something, right?
Finally a get-it. America.
Now I know all about the America’s Cup. Thanks to Jeopardy! for educating me, along with Andy’s help as well.
I definitely know a lot more about it now, than I did. Thanks to Jeopardy and Andy as well.
Andy!
I read with interest your comments re the ‘Jeopardy! audience'[… commenters/viewers of certain sites/platforms including this one].
I am now very curious about how many people watch Jeopardy! day of broadcast and later online. Also interested in regular play -vs- tournament play.
I visit this site regularly but I’m not one of the tactical experts. I never watch real time. The shows are always recorded and I access them no earlier than 15 minutes into the show. That way I take in everything I want to in about 20 or so minutes. And FWIW I had no interest in watching the latest champion (or whatever it was called) run. I didn’t even bother to set the DVR for it.
For the average row of clue selection before DD found- it has Sam 0.00 – does that mean he didn’t make any selections before the DD were found? If so, I think NA would be more fitting.
Not sure I agree with that. If I go 0 for 4 or 0 for 40 batting against Nolan Ryan, my batting average is shown as 0.000 or zero. I don’t see that this is any different than that, so I think I agree with Andy’s way of showing it. I wouldn’t argue with showing it as NA either though. Both would work for what is being presented.
This was somewhat easy, looked at dates and rotting hulk. Only thought was it has to be the boat America, for many decades an American boat won the America cup, it was a coincidence, if it had been the Alberta, it likely would’ve have been called the Alberta cup.
I love the guess of “rotting hulk”. Almost certainly wrong, but you have to take a shot.
I happened to get it right but it was a stab in the dark. No actual knowledge, just a reasonable guess.
“SS Rotting Hulk” gave me a good chuckle, too. That’s certainly what she became as the clue reveals. I suppose the “SS Minnow” might have been a good give-it-a-shot response, too.
Ditto!
As an avid sailor and fan of the America’s Cup for more than 40 years, this one was easy for me. Remember reading a book called Keelhauled in the late 80s which chronicled the change from friendly races amongst yacht clubs to not-so-friendly battles amongst nations. Detailed the less than sportsmanship occurrences over the decades of competition culminating in the loss of the Cup in 1983 to Australia.
Apparently I’m now ancient at 59, due to the Irene Cara Triple Stumper. Such a huge moment in early ‘80s pop culture.
At first glance, I was about to respond “The America’s Cup.” Then, I realized that they were just looking for the name of the boat and went with the America. I wonder how many other people may have done that, if any.
You must have been in a REALLY big hurry to answer since “The America’s Cup” would neither be a rotting hulk nor scrapped many years ago. 😉
Yeah, it was kind of a rush response based only on the category being “Boats and Ships” and the first clause saying “1851 sporting triumph.” That brought the America’s Cup to mind. Then, I read the rest of the clue and knew they were referring to the yacht the America itself. It was just a few nano seconds to close the right synapses in my mind.
LOL. Looks like neither of us were paying enough attention to the category. [I always try to make myself, but sometimes I slip up.] Usually that causes me to not be able to come up with the correct response, but in this case it just slowed me down a few seconds.
I am SO surprised that not one of the contestants got it. Titanic was a funnier answer than USS Rotting Hulk since Titanic didn’t exist until 1912, couldn’t possibly have anything to do with a sporting triumph and did not survive to be scrapped in 1945! [Though maybe she thought it might have been a namesake?]
However, in today’s game I got correct 8 of the triple stumpers [almost 10 due to twice knowing exactly who the clue was about but not being able to get the name close enough] (not counting FJ) so maybe it was a generational thing.
The guy who looks like Lenin didn’t know “serfs “??
hehe
My FJ! train of thought was “What sporting events way back then involved something (besides the participant) more substantial than boxing or tennis does? I guess rowing or sailing?”, then “What would be referred to as ‘she’ and could become a rotting hulk? I guess a boat too big to row”, “Aha, the yacht the America’s Cup is named for”.
I knew about “her” because my husband used to be interested in sailing and when I’d realized the America’s Cup races were international competitions, I’d asked him why the race was named for our country and he’d explained.