Warning: This page contains spoilers for the June 19, 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 U.S. National Parks) for Thursday, June 19, 2025 (Season 41, Game 204):
Much of this 73-square-mile National Park is located beneath the Chihuahuan Desert
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Vivek Upadhyay, a physician from Princeton, New Jersey
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Bevin Blaber, a writer originally from Schenectady, New York
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Jacob Hale, a nonprofit finance director from Anchorage, Alaska (1-day total: $4,800)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Jacob Hale is your new Jeopardy! champion after he survived a Triple Stumper in Final Jeopardy yesterday. Of course, Brittany Sims, the intrepid “reporter” over at TV Insider, chose to slander defending champion Dan Hopkins by claiming that Dan made a wagering mistake during yesterday’s Final Jeopardy round when he chose a strategy that was academically proven best over thirty years ago. Today, though, Jacob goes for his second victory against New Jersey’s Vivek Upadhyay and New York’s Bevin Blaber.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is Carlsbad Caverns National Park?
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 in New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns National Park is one of the best-preserved cave complexes in the world. The caves became known to most Americans in 1898 as a result of the exploration of Jim White, a local cowboy who saw a large number of bats emanating from the cave. The area was declared Carlsbad Cave National Monument in 1923, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 1930.
If a contestant (or person at home) realizes that “beneath” is literally beneath, and not south on a map, this Final Jeopardy clue becomes a great deal more straightforward. However, if someone happens to misinterpret the word beneath and gets misled—that’s not on the writers, that’s on you. (There are a surprising number of people at home each month who misinterpret words in the clues and get upset at the writers instead of laying blame upon themselves.)
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, June 19, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: At The Keyboard; Food; Double Letters; Brooklyn Neighborhoods; Crown Heights; Let’S Go To Coney Island)
All three players got off to a good start; after 15 clues, the scores were Vivek $2,000 Bevin $1,400 Jacob $1,200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Vivek 4 correct 0 incorrect
Bevin 3 correct 1 incorrect
Jacob 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Vivek got a job based on his knowledge of Duke basketball.
Bevin thinks her dad is better at Jeopardy!
Jacob had a board game collection of 2 when he got married.
The close battle continued in the second half of the round; Jacob didn’t go all-in on DD1 and sat third after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Vivek 8 correct 0 incorrect
Bevin 8 correct 2 incorrect
Jacob 6 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Vivek $4,400
Bevin $4,000
Jacob $3,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Lesser-Known Black Americans; Subtitles In The Bookstore; Slow Songs; 6-Syllable Medical Words; Worldwide Party Tips; Pardon My French)
Jacob was tied for the lead when he found Daily Doubles on back to back clues. However, he only bet $2,000 on each one—which gave Bevin more than enough opportunity to tie things back up by the end of the round.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Jacob 14 correct 0 incorrect
Bevin 18 correct 3 incorrect
Vivek 15 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 40 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Jacob $13,600
Bevin $13,600
Vivek $12,000
In one of the most eventful Final Jeopardy rounds in history for the judges, Vivek was flat-out incorrect, Bevin’s response was incomplete, while Jacob’s misspelling changed the pronunciation and was ruled incorrect. When the dust settled, Bevin had chosen not to go all-in, and it worked out for her—she’s your new champion with just $600. She’ll be back tomorrow to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Vivek $12,000 – $11,998 = $2 (What is Arches?)
Bevin $13,600 – $13,000 = $600 (What is Carlsbad ?) (1-day total: $600)
Jacob $13,600 – $13,600 = $0 (What Carlsbad Cavrans?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) LET’S GO TO CONEY ISLAND $400 (clue #21)
Jacob 1800 +1200 (Bevin 2400 Vivek 2800)
2) WORLDWIDE PARTY TIPS $800 (clue #17)
Jacob 9200 +2000 (Bevin 9200 Vivek 8800)
3) LESSER-KNOWN BLACK AMERICANS $800 (clue #18, $12000 left on board)
Jacob 11200 +2000 (Bevin 9200 Vivek 8800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 106
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Jacob 3 2 4 4 5 4 3 2*
Bevin 3 4 5 3 5 4 3
Vivek 1 2 3 4 1 5
DJ! Round:
Jacob 3 4 3 3 3 2 2* 2*
Bevin 3 4 3 4 4 4 5
Vivek 4 5 2
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Bevin 3.86
Vivek 3.00
Jacob 3.06
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 40 (0.20 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Bevin $13,600 Coryat, 18 correct, 3 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Vivek $12,000 Coryat, 15 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Jacob $10,400 Coryat, 14 correct, 0 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,000
Lach Trash: $14,600 (on 13 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $3,400
Lead Changes: 11
Times Tied: 7
Player Statistics:
Jacob Hale, career statistics:
30 correct, 3 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (26/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,200)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,400
Bevin Blaber, career statistics:
18 correct, 4 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,600
Vivek Upadhyay, career statistics:
15 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,000
Bevin Blaber, to win:
2 games: 41.473%
3: 17.200%
4: 7.133%
5: 2.958%
6: 1.227%
Avg. streak: 1.709 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Bevin was very expressive. I personally liked it—but in my experience covering this show, I know there are fans who won’t.
- I appreciated Ken’s explanation of specifically why Jacob’s response was incorrect; I hope that alleviates a lot of viewer feedback tonight.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Jacob $13,600 Bevin $13,600 Vivek $12,000)
Jacob: You have to defend against Bevin. Go all in. (Actual bet: $13,600)
Bevin: You have to defend against Jacob. Go all in. (Actual bet: $13,000)
Vivek: Just in case Jacob or Bevin bet between $0 and $1,599, bet at least $3,201. Other than that, don’t go all in. (Actual bet: $11,998)
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Figured it had to be a system of caverns but went with Mammoth Cave (totally discounted the location)
Took me a long time — maybe too long — to realize that the Chihuahuan Desert does, in fact, reach New Mexico. I need to stop trying these at 6AM.
I Knew that “Beneath” meant underground, as I read the clue correctly, BUT of course I did not come up with the correct response.
After a brief mental tour to Kentucky for Mammoth, I got to Carlsbad before time was up. Happy Juneteenth.
I was similar but my brief tour was not in Kentucky (Chihuahuan?! Desert?!) but in Arizona because I know the Sonoran Desert is in both Arizona and Mexico and thought it might have an additional name in Mexico. However, I didn’t think that fully fit the clue and immediately thought of Carlsbad Caverns.
I will say that Jacob may have thought he spelled “Caverns” instead of “Cavrans”!!! Lo and Behold the judges did not accept that, and yes, the episode ends up being very eventful…for sure. But all three did very well in this game.
I thought Jacob might be at a spelling/pronunciation disadvantage because of his working internationally for 10 years before settling down in Alaska. [Because “other word for cave complex” in other languages might coincidentally be quite similar to cavern and since the same word isn’t always pronounced the same way in different areas — for example, I knew someone who always pronounced “corner” as “koh-nah”]
Upon reading the clue, my first thought was “How can a National Park be beneath anything?” Then, it came to me, “Oh, something like the nearby Luray Caverns.” From there, it was easy pickings because, obviously, Luray Caverns is not under a desert but Carlsbad Caverns is.
Once I had hit upon it, I thought for sure some of the contestants would get this one. In a way, two of the three did get it but not quite so wound up with no correct responses. What a finish! Even 3rd place had a shot at it but he seems to have over bet. If I remember correctly, yesterday’s 3rd place finisher also over bet in Final.
If Brittany Sims had any sense or knew what she was writing about, she would have known it wasn’t Dan who chose the wrong strategy but Sunny. Sunny could have won from third place with a smaller wager. The reporter totally missed that.
Very interesting indeed. The misspelling is one those things that he surely would have spoken correctly if it was an oral response, but he’s a bad speller under pressure and on an unfamiliar medium.
I’d be the first to admit that I don’t have a formal understanding of betting strategy but Vivek’s wager struck me, as soon as it was revealed, as too large.
Me: “Oh, that’s unfortunate. Maybe we’ll see Bevin in Second Chance… oh, wait, I guess not.”
Yes Andy, I also liked Bevin’s expressiveness.
As for that game, wow what a game!!! 3 great scores after Double Jeopardy. And then a crazy and wicked Final Jeopardy. These are the type of games that make Jeopardy so fun to watch.
As for FJ itself, I totally figured underground, which should have been a good thing. I could even picture caverns though couldn’t utter the word. And then lastly, we have a city down near San Diego and its name is Encinitas. Of course Carlsbad, CA is right near there as well. So I could only utter Encinitas, but my brain knew it was the Carlsbad Caverns. What a mess!!! Lol. My brain and speaking what I envisioned just couldn’t jive tonight. 🤣🤣🤣
What a weird coincidence that former NBA player Vlade Divac was mentioned in a clue on Thursday and on the same day, he got in a motorcycle accident and broke his hip.
Bevin’s FJ wager makes sense to me. If she had gone all-in, there would’ve been a tiebreaker if both she and Jacob had gone all-in and both had answered correctly, with a 50% probability that she would’ve won the tiebreaker. Bevin probably gambled that Jacob would go all-in and she would win if Bevin guessed incorrectly. Of course, this strategy would not have worked had Dr Vivek placed a lower FJ wager.