Warning: This page contains spoilers for the June 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 Science Fiction) for Monday, June 2, 2025 (Season 41, Game 191):
Referring to what’s wrongly believed to be a meteorite, “The Falling Star” is the title of Chapter 2 of this 1898 novel
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Abbi Klein, a psychotherapist from Brooklyn, New York
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Kyle Rahe, a restaurant server from Houston, Texas
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Geoff Barnes, an analyst from Washington, D.C. (2-day total: $38,401)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
As we enter the final 8 weeks of Season 41, Geoff Barnes enters into the week as a 2-day champion, in the midst of a carousel of short-running champions. This isn’t the first time we’ve had a short stretch of short-running champions, and it certainly won’t be the last. Sometimes that happens on Jeopardy! and it’s certainly not an occasion to make any changes at all to the show.
Geoff is looking to make it 3 wins against Houston’s Kyle Rahe and Brooklyn’s Abbi Klein.
Also, for those who are paying attention to Jeopardy! Masters, there has been a schedule change: the remainder of the season is now airing as a 2-hour block on Wednesday, from 8:00 to 10:00 (7:00 to 9:00 Central) on ABC (and hopefully one of the CTV networks, but their program guide has yet to properly update to reflect this programming change.)
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is The War of the Worlds?
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 H.G. Wells’s work The War of the Worlds, first published in its entirety as a novel in 1898, “The Falling Star” was believed to be a meteorite, but it was the inciting incident of the work—the arrival of the extraterrestrial group attacking Earth from Mars.
It is more famous today for its 1938 radio dramatization that was broadcast on the CBS Radio Network, which caused widespread panic amongst American listeners.
There wasn’t a lot of science fiction from that time period, so there may be a couple of different potential answers given at home or in studio. We’ll see how this one plays.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, June 2, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: & We’Re “Off”; Book Characters; Fashion Designers; Connect 4; Explorers & Exploration; The Celeb’S Dining Establishment)
Geoff found the Daily Double but lost $2,000 to it, giving Kyle the lead going into the interviews. At the commercial break, the scores were Kyle $2,200 Abbi $800 Geoff $800.
Statistics at the first break (14 clues):
Kyle 3 correct 0 incorrect
Abbi 2 correct 0 incorrect
Geoff 4 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Abbi sometimes practices her therapy sessions in a cemetery.
Kyle took a trip to Vienna to ride the Ferris wheel from “The Third Man”.
Geoff met his partner’s friends…who bared their teeth at him.
Kyle ran the celebrity restaurant category after the break to take a good-sized lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Kyle 11 correct 1 incorrect
Geoff 7 correct 2 incorrect
Abbi 5 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Kyle $5,600
Geoff $1,800
Abbi $1,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Uncanny Valley; Art & Artists; Holding Out For A Hero; A Latin Turn Of Phrase; Too Weak; Notice)
Kyle found both Daily Doubles. Unfortunately, he got the second one incorrect, making things close and low-scoring. Then, Abbi struggled with incorrect responses and she wasn’t around for Final.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Kyle 18 correct 6 incorrect
Geoff 11 correct 3 incorrect
Abbi 7 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 34 (4 today).
Scores going into Final:
Kyle $5,200
Geoff $4,200
Abbi -$400
Geoff was the only player correct in Final—and that makes him a 3-day champion! He’ll go for win #4 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Abbi -$400 (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
Geoff $4,200 + $2,200 = $6,400 (What is War of the Worlds?) (3-day total: $44,801)
Kyle $5,200 – $3,201 = $1,999 (What is The Time Machine?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) CONNECT 4 $800 (clue #14)
Geoff 2800 -2000 (Kyle 2200 Abbi 800)
2) ART & ARTISTS $2000 (clue #5)
Kyle 6400 +2000 (Geoff 2600 Abbi 0)
3) UNCANNY VALLEY $800 (clue #9, $27600 left on board)
Kyle 8800 -4000 (Geoff 2600 Abbi 0)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -86
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Geoff 3 4 5 4 2 4 3 4*
Kyle 5 3 1
Abbi 4 5 3
DJ! Round:
Geoff 3
Kyle 1 4 5* 1 2 1 2*
Abbi 2
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Geoff 3.56
Kyle 2.50
Abbi 3.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: A LATIN TURN OF PHRASE $400 $800 NOTICE $1200 $1600
Total Left On Board: $4,000
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 34 (0.18 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Geoff $6,200 Coryat, 11 correct, 3 incorrect, 24.53% in first on buzzer (13/53), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Kyle $9,200 Coryat, 18 correct, 6 incorrect, 35.85% in first on buzzer (19/53), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Abbi -$400 Coryat, 7 correct, 4 incorrect, 18.87% in first on buzzer (10/53), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $15,000
Lach Trash: $19,800 (on 18 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $15,200
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 3
Player Statistics:
Geoff Barnes, career statistics:
52 correct, 6 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
29.34% in first on buzzer (49/167)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,600)
3/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,467
Kyle Rahe, career statistics:
18 correct, 7 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
35.85% in first on buzzer (19/53)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,200
Abbi Klein, career statistics:
7 correct, 4 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
18.87% in first on buzzer (10/53)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/0 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: -$400
Geoff Barnes, to win:
4 games: 42.821%
5: 18.336%
6: 7.852%
7: 3.362%
8: 1.440%
Avg. streak: 3.749 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- This was the first game since March 7 that saw an unplayed clue, ending a 60-game streak.
- I’m honestly quite shocked that Abbi chose not to ring in when well in the hole on a $1600 clue when both opponents had taken out the only two other possible answers. Had she done so, she would have both been around for Final and still been in score contention for a potential victory.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Kyle $5,200 Geoff $4,200 Abbi -$400)
Geoff: Bet between $2,001 and $2,200 for the best chance of victory.(Actual bet: $2,200)
Kyle: Standard cover bet is $3,201. (Actual bet: $3,201)
Abbi: (By rule, did not participate in Final Jeopardy)
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Nice to start off the week with a Final success. It happens so rarely anymore.
There wasn’t nearly as much panic from the Orson Welles broadcast as conventional wisdom has it. But it was a good story. 🙂
It was an easy clue for me.
Surprisingly, only one more triple stumper today compared to last Friday, and 4 more unrevealed clues. What gives?
For me this Final was a TINA (There Is No Alternative). As an avid science fiction reader at one time, the answer came to me quickly and I couldn’t think of a better alternative so it was TINA.
Interesting to me that the restaurant server ran the celebrity restaurant category. He really knows his business; a real pro. Too bad he missed that last Daily Double; but good for Geoff.
Kyle ‘s answer on Celebrity restaurant was incorrect when he answered WALBURGERS, they are Walburgs.
You misheard the clue. It wanted the name of the restaurant.
I’m guessing that since the English had had A LOT of foes up through Shakespeare’s time, Abbi didn’t think to rely on “Owen Glendower” not being a Roman, Viking, French, Spanish or whatever name, thus did not realize if not Scotland or Ireland, it just about HAD TO BE Wales.
I agree wholeheartedly. There’s nothing shocking about a contestant not figuring that out on the spot.
Agreed, though the best contestants would have. I bet Kyle thought he had a 50/50 shot at it after what Geoff guessed.
Please help ~ what was the answer on tonight’s episode for the question “Who is Georgia O’Keeffe?”
Thank you🌺
One of her favorite views to paint was Pedernal Mountain & she had her ashes scattered on it after she died
I think I missed the word “Fiction” when trying to come up with today’s FJ and just thought “Science.” So I guessed Halley’s Comet. I wouldn’t have gotten it anyway.
Retro congrats to Goeff on win #3! See if he can get win #4 tomorrow. 🙂
And Andy, thank you very much for the scheduling update on Jeopardy Masters. I would have been in for a surprise tomorrow night. Not sure how it will work out or not, but I’m going to a co-worker’s Jazz night dinner at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and will probably have to just read the recaps here to see what happened on all 2 1/2 hours of Jeopardy that night. Oh well, gotta support my co-worker. 😉
How about a free trial of Hulu (starting on Thursday since network shows not on it until the next day anyway) to pick up the missed two hours of Masters?
Also, I think there will be a way on my Roku TV too! Will look into all options! 🙂 Thank you!
Man, I can’t believe younger generations haven’t heard of the story of the boy who plugged a leak in the dike! But “back in my day” I doubt anyone even thought about whether it was legend, folklore, fiction or what, though I don’t think anyone thought it had ever actually happened. I vaguely recall more than one old (mostly black&white) cartoon version of that “meme”, so that’s probably why it used to be so widely known but no longer is. It specifically WAS NOT the logo of Dutch Boy paints, but our seeing their logo Dutch boy so much probably helped keep the story in our minds.
BTW, Google’s AI thinks it is a folktale which I thought is the same as folklore, but of course AI is not always correct anyway.
Have you tried asking Google, what is the difference between “folklore” and “folktale”? It could help.
Didn’t think that would necessarily be reliable to explain Jeopardy! writers’ opinion vs Google’s opinion.
Yeah, I answered dike right away and then heard nothing from the contestants, which made me worry until Ken gave the answer. 🙂
Having never read the original novel, or, heard Orson Wells radio adapation, I didn’t “get” this Final.