Warning: This page contains spoilers for the September 15, 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 Vocabulary) for Monday, September 15, 2025 (Season 42, Game 6):
Today it’s used as a verb on social media; in previous centuries its meanings included an enemy & not a Quaker
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Ryan Sharpe, a student from Oakville, Ontario, Canada
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Kelsi Tyler, a nonprofit program director from Austin, Texas
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Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer originally from San Diego, California (3-day total: $79,741)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Puzzle writer Paolo Pasco ended last week as a 3-day champion; today, he goes for victory #4 against Ryan Sharpe of Oakville, Ontario and Kelsi Tyler of Austin, Texas. As Paolo has already passed Bryce Wargin’s monetary total (in 3 games, compared to Bryce’s 4), a victory today would qualify Paolo for the Tournament of Champions (of course, assuming an identical format to last season.) This is because there wouldn’t be enough games remaining in the qualification cycle for enough players to possibly win enough to pass him.
One thing that I think I’m excited about is a Sesame Street category; if it’s presented by the characters themselves, I think it’ll be a great category. Certainly, I’m excited like Elmo about that possibility—though I’m sure that elsewhere on the Internet, there will be people grouchy like Oscar about it.
It should also be noted that the first Monday Night Football doubleheader of the season is causing pre-emptions on many ABC stations, including five of the top 10 TV markets in the United States. Make sure you check your local listings (or Matt Carberry’s usual spreadsheet); thankfully, though, next-day streaming is also an option, so regardless of what happens locally, you’ll be able to watch the game starting at 6 AM Eastern tomorrow!
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Correct response: What is unfriend?
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.)
Prior to its resurrection in the 21st century as a verb, chiefly meaning to remove as a friend on social media, particularly Facebook, the word “unfriend” had a long and storied history. The earliest surviving citations date back to the Middle English poem Brut, written c.1200; in Brut, the word gains traction as “one who is not a friend” or “an enemy”. Later, 19th-century Quakers (the Society of Friends) would refer to non-members as “unfriends”.
As someone who hosted pub quizzes in the era when the word “unfriend” was at its heyday (even being given Word of the Year titles), I have written questions about the etymology of “unfriend”; thus, this was a very simple Final for me. I do want to say, though, that I think that the ability to tease out a correct response to this clue is there, especially if one remembers that the Quakers are the Society of Friends. I also expect that this might be a clue that plays easier when read out loud instead of on a screen, as Ken can strategically pause between the “an enemy” and “not a Quaker” clauses to separate them out better.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, September 15, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Wars & Battles; In The Library Of Congress; It’s A Sign; Not Like Us; Opposites; Sesame Street)
Ryan got off to an incredibly hot start, picking up 7 correct and the Daily Double to take a big lead into the first break. After 15 clues, the scores were Ryan $5,600 Kelsi $1,800 Paolo $1,000.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Ryan 7 correct 0 incorrect
Kelsi 3 correct 0 incorrect
Paolo 2 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Ryan took part in a geography competition in Canada at the Alex Trebek Theatre in Ottawa.
Kelsi won a trip to the Cannes Film Festival in an essay contest.
Paolo is also a citizen of the micronation of Slowjamastan.
Paolo had a good second segment, picking up 6 correct to cut into Ryan’s lead, but Ryan still led after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Ryan 10 correct 0 incorrect
Paolo 8 correct 0 incorrect
Kelsi 6 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Ryan $7,200
Paolo $4,800
Kelsi $3,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The Nordic Countries; American Poetry; Metal Mania; Forever Young; Songs In Gangster Movies; “Q” Up The Adjectives)
The good news for Kelsi: she found a Daily Double immediately. The bad news for Kelsi: she fell back to $0. Both Kelsi and Paolo made clue selection missteps, which led to Ryan finding DD3, taking a very big lead with 25 clues to play. Paolo did pick up enough of those final 25 clues, though, to ensure that there was still something to play for going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ryan 21 correct 1 incorrect
Paolo 20 correct 0 incorrect
Kelsi 10 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ryan $27,600
Paolo $16,800
Kelsi $4,800
Only one player was correct in Final Jeopardy—Paolo. Our champion survives a scare for victory #4 and will go for win #5 tomorrow!
Tonight’s results:
Kelsi $4,800 – $3,800 = $1,000 (What is nemesis?)
Paolo $16,800 + $10,801 = $27,601 (What is unfriend? <3 Papa) (4-day total: $107,342)
Ryan $27,600 – $6,001 = $21,599 (What is “troll”?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) IT’S A SIGN $800 (clue #9)
Ryan 2000 +2000 (Paolo 800 Kelsi 1800)
2) AMERICAN POETRY $1200 (clue #1)
Kelsi 3400 -3400 (Paolo 4800 Ryan 7200)
3) THE NORDIC COUNTRIES $1600 (clue #5, $28400 left on board)
Ryan 8400 +8400 (Paolo 6400 Kelsi 2000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 100
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Paolo 4 3
Kelsi 3 4 5 5
Ryan 4 3 4*
DJ! Round:
Paolo 5†
Kelsi 3* 4† 3
Ryan 4*
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Paolo 4.00
Ryan 3.75
Kelsi 3.86
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Paolo $16,800 Coryat, 20 correct, 0 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Ryan $19,600 Coryat, 21 correct, 1 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
Kelsi $8,200 Coryat, 10 correct, 1 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $44,600
Lach Trash: $7,000 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $2,400
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Paolo Pasco, career statistics:
102 correct, 7 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 13 rebound opportunities)
40.35% in first on buzzer (92/228)
6/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $11,100)
3/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,150
Kelsi Tyler, career statistics:
10 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,400)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,200
Ryan Sharpe, career statistics:
21 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 0 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,400)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,600
Paolo Pasco, to win:
5 games: 63.485%
6: 40.303%
7: 25.587%
8: 16.244%
9: 10.312%
Avg. streak: 5.739 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Assuming an identical Tournament of Champions/Champions Wildcard format as Season 41, this win does guarantee Tournament of Champions qualification for Paolo.
- This is a reminder that, as per the rules of Jeopardy!, if a response is already in question form, double-phrasing is not required. (i.e. “Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sesame Street?”)
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ryan $27,600 Paolo $16,800 Kelsi $4,800)
Paolo: Ryan is overwhelmingly likely to bet to lock you out here. Thus, a bet between $4,800 and $7,199 both will pass Ryan’s cover bet if he’s incorrect and keeps Kelsi locked out for an extra $1,000. (Actual bet: $10,801)
Kelsi: While you can’t get out of third if Paolo bets to lock you out, Paolo’s probably most likely to bet at least $10,801. Bet at least $1,200 to have the best chance of passing him if he does that. (Actual bet: $3,800)
Ryan: Standard cover bet is $6,001. (Actual bet: $6,001)
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I guessed troll.
Same, though I was skeptical that was it. When I saw the answer, I facepalmed.
These kids are too old for Sesame Street, but too young to identify James Earl Jones from a picture. LOL
Calvin, I would argue that Mr. Jones’ later works would have been recognized. His voice of a photo or him with hair may have proved easier to recognize!
I didn’t recognize him in Dr Strangelove until I heard his voice.
Meant to say “or a photo”…
Today’s Final Jeopardy was for me, a case of I should’ve seen it. Unfortunately, I didn’t, continuing a trend from last week where the only Final I got was the one about the first use of the term “Iron Curtain.” I thought of it but rejected it.
What is the scorn about “sponsored” categories? Getting away from the presentation of the clues by celebrities may be a distraction, don’t the clues in the sponsored categories go under the same verification process that ‘regular’ Jeopardy clues do?
Wasn’t there a track record where sponsored categories usually ended up resulting in clues not uncovered in DJ? Since clues in those categories were often a bit longer and read more slowly, it could extend the Jeopardy round if the contestants saved it to the end, with the show making up for it by shortening Double Jeopardy? Have had all clues revealed so far in 6 games with 3 sponsored categories, so maybe they’ve tightened up the editing to account for that. I did think the Monsterpiece Theater clue time was a bit short when no one buzzed in.
One thing I’ve wondered about sponsored categories, though, is how the show preps game boards for them. Today’s Sesame Street category wasn’t necessarily time sensitive, but the Platonic and Downton Abbey ones last week were. Do the writers prep games with 5 categories in a round to add a sponsored category when the air date timing calls for it? Or do they always just do full game boards and swap out a category? Would they redraw a game board if the sponsored category would break up a category theme, either within the same round or a pun between the J and DJ rounds?
I don’t get Jeopardy until 2:37 tomorrow morning, so I came here. Didn’t get FJ correct, as I had no guess.
Escape for Paolo!!!
Can he win his 5th tomorrow?
Having gone to school in the mountains of Western Maryland helped me in getting today’s final. Being in that area, I had many friends who were Friends (Quakers) from Pennsylvania and the nearby area. Because of those friends who were Friends, I was familiar with their use of the term unFriend for people who were not Quakers. Not sure I would have gotten it otherwise as I’m not a user of Facebook, although, I have heard the modern usage of “to unfriend someone.”
Jeopardy round , NOT LIKE US category, row 4 – the one about the uncanny valley- the scientist’s last name was Mori (he passed away this past January), not Miro (like Joan).
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masahiro_Mori_(roboticist)
Yet another Final Jeopardy question where I over-thought the question and missed the obvious clue provided regarding Quakers…
My general concern is how do you have a FJ category of VOCABULARY with a wordsmith as a contestant. Wouldn’t that be like asking a minister to answer a question regarding The Bible???
that has happened. Is it more fair to say, oh, this random category for this contestant is in their field, let’s pick another category that isn’t.
👍 Especially since any category, including a replacement category, could be some contestant’s secret passion or their spouse’s career or a parent’s hobby or whatever that would make them know more than the average “very smart” person about the subject of a specific category.
The fairest way to handle the situation overall is to keep things determined by two separate bodies that do not have access to the materials of the other.
The contestant department has no idea as to the game material and the writing staff doesn’t know anything about the players.
I came up with “friend” -as a FaceBook verb but found the question too long to make the leap to unfriend I know that Quakers were the Society of Friends but wasn’t familiar that the word unfriend was used by them. Interesting that this comment was changed to unfriendly in the autocorrect/ edit.
A week late because my wife was out of town…
In DC, Sinclair owned WJLA ran Jeopardy at 1:36 am and managed to not run the final answer. Went from the DJ outro to Drew Barrymore at 2pm, even though the OSG had it at 2:06.
Thx,
Jay!