Warning: This page contains spoilers for the July 9, 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 Ancient Builders) for Wednesday, July 9, 2025 (Season 41, Game 218):
A 2nd c. inscription in Northern England records that the gods imposed “the necessity of keeping intact the empire” on this man
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Rahul Kak, a law student from Brooklyn, New York
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Sarah Mulligan, a lawyer from New York, New York
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Scott Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, New Jersey (4-day total: $132,402)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It’s been a few weeks since we’ve had a 5-time champion; will Scott Riccardi become the 287th in the post-1984 history of Jeopardy!? While we almost certainly will see Scott in the Tournament of Champions regardless of today’s outcome, the title of “5-time champion” is always a feather in one’s cap, and Sarah Mulligan and Rahul Kak certainly want to go on a run of their own.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Hadrian?
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.)
Begun by Emperor Hadrian in 122 AD, Hadrian’s Wall is a famous fortification in northern England that marked the northern border of the Roman Empire in England. It had been built in response to unrest and rebellion in many of the outer reaches of the Empire, including in Africa and the Middle East; the inhabitants of northern Britain were perceived as enough of a threat so as to build a fortifications. Antoninus later made an attempt to go further north, but after an attempt at conquering was unsuccessful, Marcus Aurelius retreated to Hadrian’s Wall, which remained as the border of Roman Britain for centuries. The part of the wall containing the inscription can still be found as a part of Jarrow Church, as the stonework from the wall was reused in many cases in the Early Middle Ages for roads and other buildings.
I spent enough time in high school learning about the history of the Roman Empire for this to be an extremely straightforward clue. That said, I do appreciate that the show likely also realized that Final Jeopardy had gotten slightly too difficult over the past year or so, with the pendulum appearing to move back.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, July 9, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: American History; Sporty Stuff; We Are Literary Family; How Now, Dow Jones 30 Symbol; Number, Please; “Straight” Talk)
Incorrect responses and Triple Stumpers kept the scores down early; at the interviews, your scores were Scott $1,200 Sarah $1,200 Rahul $800.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Sarah 4 correct 1 incorrect
Scott 4 correct 2 incorrect
Rahul 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Rahul is also going to a Beyoncé concert on tape day.
Sarah played quiz bowl in middle school.
Scott got photographed in college after eating a bunch of cherry Italian ice—red mouth and all.
Things went much better after the break for our players; Scott led after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Scott 10 correct 3 incorrect
Sarah 7 correct 1 incorrect
Rahul 3 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Scott $3,800
Sarah $2,600
Rahul -$200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Sketches Give Stitches; Old Reviews; Earth Science; French Proverbs; Take A Long Walk; Off A Not-So-Short Pier)
Even thought Scott split the Daily Doubles, that wasn’t enough to keep him from having a runaway going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Scott 23 correct 6 incorrect
Sarah 9 correct 1 incorrect
Rahul 6 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 40 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Scott $12,000
Sarah $5,400
Rahul $3,800
Scott put the exclamation point on today’s win by getting Final Jeopardy correct. He’ll go for win #6 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Rahul $3,800 – $1,601 = $2,199 (Who is…I dunno! <3)
Sarah $5,400 – $2,201 = $3,199 (Who i)
Scott $12,000 + $500 = $12,500 (Who is Hadrian?) (5-day total: $144,902)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) AMERICAN HISTORY $600 (clue #1)
Scott 0 -1000 (Sarah 0 Rahul 0)
2) EARTH SCIENCE $1600 (clue #7)
Scott 6600 +4000 (Sarah 2600 Rahul 1800)
3) TAKE A LONG WALK $1600 (clue #9, $24400 left on board)
Scott 10600 -5000 (Sarah 2600 Rahul 1800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -87
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Scott 3*
Sarah
Rahul
DJ! Round:
Scott 3 4 5 3 4* 3 4*
Sarah
Rahul 1 2
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Scott 3.63
Sarah 0.00
Rahul 1.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 40 (0.18 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Scott $15,600 Coryat, 23 correct, 6 incorrect, 45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Sarah $5,400 Coryat, 9 correct, 1 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Rahul $3,800 Coryat, 6 correct, 3 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $24,800
Lach Trash: $19,400 (on 20 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,800
Lead Changes: 7
Times Tied: 3
Player Statistics:
Scott Riccardi, career statistics:
127 correct, 11 incorrect
10/10 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (115/285)
5/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,200)
5/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,600
Sarah Mulligan, career statistics:
9 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $5,400
Rahul Kak, career statistics:
6 correct, 4 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,800
Scott Riccardi, to win:
6 games: 64.428%
7: 41.510%
8: 26.744%
9: 17.231%
10: 11.101%
Avg. streak: 6.811 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I’ll be honest here: As a longtime fan of the show, and as I make the following statement with absolutely nothing against Beyoncé here, I very much prefer to watch contestants on Jeopardy! that consider going on the show to be one of the defining experiences of one’s life, not those who feel more excited about getting Beyoncé tickets.
- One-point safeties exist in the NFL. I suspect that Jeopardy! is going to get a great deal of negative publicity this evening. Thankfully, the faulty clue & ruling did not change the outcome.
- Today’s runaway game means that no wagering suggestions will be posted.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
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The one caution I’d have here is that people might see the category “Ancient Builders” and think it will be a tricky one as opposed to a well-known example.
Okay, well-known if you studied Roman history. As a Latin minor in college, I appreciated it.
True about the one point safety, Andy – it has yet to happen in the NFL, but there are enough blunders and bloopers in football that maybe this year.
Yes, the 1 pt safety hasn’t been an option for all that long of a time.
Scott, after five games won, already has won more than the three 6 day champs from earlier this season. Scott is playing excellently.
Scott has the highest winnings of any player this season.
Apropos 1- vs 2-point safeties, I wonder when “scorigami” happens to be a Jeopardy! response.
I love Scoragami! We need the 36-23 one to come through!
Today’s final was easy enough for Andy and many of us watching from home but only one of the three contestants got it. I’m wondering if that means that Ancient History and Roman History in particular aren’t taught in schools as much as they used to be. Is this a generational thing? Any thoughts.
Maybe because American History has a half-century more facts to be covered than it did when I [we?] were in school but the school day and school year is no longer than it was then.
Hi, Lisa. In my case, considerably more than half a century more and not just American History but also World History. Looking back on it, a lot has happened since I’ve been on this earth. I think my Physics book in high school said that television was a definite possibility (jk).
Hadrian, duh! I’m well aware of the Romans ruling “England” for a good while and that Hadrian’s Wall was from then, but did not recall the wall was in Northern England and I’m not sure I had ever paid attention to it being from the second century. Going from “gods” and “north”, I made the wild guess of [Viking] Harald Fairhair, but that did not turn out to be anywhere near far enough back. 😬
Although a one-point safety does exist during a try after a touchdown, I don’t believe for a second that the faulty clue confused Scott when he said one point. Chalk this one up to the fact that many great Jeopardy players are not sports fans.
Also, since the rule was implemented in 2015, there has never been an instance of this occurring. I don’t think the ruling by the Jeopardy! judges was all that egregious. In any case, I’m glad it was a moot point as far as the outcome of the game. No harm, no foul as they say.
It is remarkable that while correcting Sarah’s The Forsytes Saga response, Ken has first mispronounced it as well.
I had zero idea on FJ.
Great to see becoming a 5 day champion! I hope to see him run it up some more. His 1st runaway win. He’s now the highest earning player this season.
Let’s see if he can get win #6 tomorrow!