Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 30, 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 Novel Characters) for Friday, May 30, 2025 (Season 41, Game 190):
Likely a nod to the actor who first played him in 1962, this character was subsequently given Scottish ancestry by way of his father
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Chad Heltzel, a high school English teacher from Denver, Colorado
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Heather Ide, a special education paraprofessional from Monmouth, Illinois
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Geoff Barnes, an analyst from Washington, D.C. (1-day total: $24,000)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
The carousel of short-running champions continues as Geoff Barnes is the latest 1-day champion. Will he make it to 2 wins? Heather Ide and Chad Heltzel are your challengers.
The preponderance of 1-day winners, though, is definitely going to make it difficult for any of these 1-day champions to qualify for Champions Wildcard in 2026—of course, this presupposes no change to the postseason format in 2026.
One further scheduling note for those wondering about Jeopardy! Masters: the remainder of the tournament will be airing as a 2-hour season finale on Wednesday, June 4 from 8:00 to 10:00, on ABC in the United States and CTV2 in Canada.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is James Bond?
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.)
Despite initially thinking that Sean Connery was a “working-class Scot” and “an over-developed stunt man”, Ian Fleming was so impressed with Connery’s portrayal of James Bond that Bond was given a Scottish father from the Highlands in Fleming’s book On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, May 30, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: 20Th Century America; In The Words Of The Poet; Don’t Miss The Boat; The Shape Of You; TV Settings; From Other Languages)
Heather had the best start to this one, getting $1,000 from the Daily Double and leading after 15 clues; scores were Heather $3,200, Geoff $1,600 Chad $200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Heather 6 correct 1 incorrect
Geoff 3 correct 0 incorrect
Chad 2 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Chad wrote a college newspaper column under the pseudonym “Sarcastro”.
Heather played at MSG as part of her college’s pep band.
Geoff was the target of a “hatred” speech at his wedding.
Geoff picked up six correct after the break to take the lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Geoff 9 correct 1 incorrect
Heather 8 correct 3 incorrect
Chad 5 correct 4 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Geoff $3,400
Heather $2,400
Chad $0
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Nations Found In States; Mammals; Music-Pourri; Film Franchises; It Will Happen; Before Long)
Heather struggled with both of the Daily Doubles in this round and failed to qualify for Final. Meanwhile, Chad pulled close to Geoff two-thirds of the way through the rounds, but Geoff finished the round well to have a good-sized lead heading into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Geoff 18 correct 2 incorrect
Chad 11 correct 4 incorrect
Heather 12 correct 7 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Geoff $12,600
Chad $7,200
Heather -$3,200
Both remaining players were correct in Final Jeopardy as Geoff becomes a 2-day champion! He’ll go for #3 on Monday.
Tonight’s results:
Heather -$3,200 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Chad $7,200 + $5,500 = $12,700 (Who is James Bond?)
Geoff $12,600 + $1,801 = $14,401 (Who is James Bond?) (2-day total: $38,401)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) IN THE WORDS OF THE POET $800 (clue #3)
Heather 600 +1000 (Geoff 0 Chad 0)
2) MUSIC-POURRI $1200 (clue #5)
Heather 3200 -3200 (Geoff 4600 Chad 400)
3) NATIONS FOUND IN STATES $2000 (clue #17, $12400 left on board)
Heather -2000 -2000 (Geoff 7800 Chad 4400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -100
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Geoff 3
Heather 4 4*
Chad
DJ! Round:
Geoff 3 2 4† 3 4 4 3
Heather 3* 5 5† 5*
Chad 1 3 5 2 4 3
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Geoff 3.25
Chad 3.00
Heather 4.33
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Geoff $12,600 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Chad $7,200 Coryat, 11 correct, 4 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Heather $1,800 Coryat, 12 correct, 7 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $21,600
Lach Trash: $19,200 (on 17 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,200
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 2
Player Statistics:
Geoff Barnes, career statistics:
40 correct, 3 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (36/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,600)
2/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600
Heather Ide, career statistics:
12 correct, 7 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$4,200)
0/0 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,800
Chad Heltzel, career statistics:
12 correct, 4 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,200
Geoff Barnes, to win:
3 games: 52.719%
4: 27.793%
5: 14.652%
6: 7.724%
7: 4.072%
Avg. streak: 3.115 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Geoff $12,600 Chad $7,200 Heather -$3,200)
Geoff: Standard cover bet is $1,801. (Actual bet: $1,801)
Heather: (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Chad: Bet at least $3,600—but you might as well go all in to maximize your potential money won. (Actual bet: $5,500)
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Holy crap, I actually swept the week! 🥳
Well done, Doge! Me too!
Woohoo to both of ya’s! 🙂
I worked this one backwards thinking of Scottish actors and what roles they played. Sean Connery was the first one that came to mind and James Bond fit the year 1962.
As soon as I read 1962 and Scottish, I had the answer.
Same here! Scottish, early 60s, in more than one film narrowed the field quite quickly.
Didn’t have to be a film. Could have been a TV series.
After just the first part of the clue, “a nod to the actor who first played him in 1962”, I’d thought maybe Dr. Who, but the rest of the clue rules him out since Dr. Who could not have had a father from Earth, Scottish or not. Ironically(?) the actor who first played Dr. Who never knew who his father was.
BTW, by the end of the clue I was certain that it was James Bond.
Make it three, especially when you add in that the character was from a novel(s).
Quick “get” for a change. Thought of 007 first, then James Bond. Would they accept 007?
Clue says “this character”. I’d rule yes to 007.
MasterDoge and WWORDuke!
Much congtats to you both on this AMAZING feat!!
🦍+>💪 = Kong tat [Sorry, I have typos, too, but I couldn’t keep from thinking of this.]
First Back to the Future, now Bond? This was a very Tom week for Final Jeopardy!
Yeah, it’s been a little easier lately for me as well. 🙂 I once had an over 50 day miss streak. Some of that included tournament play and the FJ’s are usually harder there. I finally ended my loser streak with a Cabbage Patch Kid as a correct FJ. 🙂
I remember that! Almost every single day while that was occurring, I would look at the Final Jeopardy clue when it was posted and think “maybe this will finally be the one Jeff gets right?”… hopefully you have not had any similar streaks of futility since 🙂
Knock on wood MasterDoge, so far so good on futility not being that bad since then! 😉
The final Jeopardy was easy. Makes up for the brutal “Nations Found In States” category. Kudos to Heather for getting Estonia from the letters in Minnesota – the only correct response in the category.
I got the Iran one correct, but the geography part describing it helped me. 🙂
Well Jeopardy, thank you very much for a simple FJ to end the week! 🙂 Knew it immediately, even if it was before I was born. It all just made sense.
Retro congrats to Geoff on his 2nd win. Our first multi-game winner since our stay at home son was defeated last Friday.
Can’t wait to see if Geoff can get win #3 on Monday.
Only 40 games (aka 8 weeks) left in the season.
Have a great weekend all! 🙂
Why did they allow bass boat pronounced at base boat?
Because to someone who has only read the word “bass” and is familiar with the musical term, that’s how it would be pronounced. Jeopardy’s rulings tend to avoid discriminating against how people learn things.
Just curious- if the answer were lead as in the element, saying leed would be ok?