Today’s Final Jeopardy – Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Current Champion

Nikolas Polsinelli, career statistics:
44 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,500

To win:
3 games: 64.111%
4: 41.102%
5: 26.351%
6: 16.894%
7: 10.831%
Avg. streak: 3.786 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

October 3-4: S42 E175 (May 8, 2026)
October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Children’s Books) for Tuesday, September 23, 2025 (Season 42, Game 12):

Realizing he couldn’t draw horses, the man behind this 1963 book drew the title characters purely from his imagination

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Justin Ames, an employment attorney from Jersey City, New Jersey

Hester Bass, a writer from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Steven Olson, a band director from Princeton, Illinois (2-day total: $46,406)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Steven Olson enters today’s game as a 2-day champion and winnings of $46,406. While he undoubtedly has qualified for Champions Wildcard at this point, I’m sure Steven would rather gain direct entry into the Tournament of Champions, and he’ll need at least one, if not two more victories at this point to get into the ToC. However, as always, there are two challengers trying to stop him; today’s debutants on the Alex Trebek Stage are Jersey City’s Justin Ames and Santa Fe’s Hester Bass.

Correct response: What is Where The Wild Things Are?

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 interviews, Maurice Sendak, author of Where The Wild Things Are, claimed that his inability to draw horses was what changed “horses” to “things” in his Caldecott-winning children’s classic. Interestingly, though, Kate Capshaw and Cora Lynn Deibler of the University of Connecticut, in 2019, posited that it was more that Sendak likely just didn’t think horses were right for the story, pointing out that Sendak had illustrated Charlotte and The White Horse in 1955.

For me, this was a relatively straightforward clue, being able to associate the year 1963 with Sendak’s famous work.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, September 23, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The Answer Is 42!; ____Ing Book Titles; “G” To “G”; The Pre-Fame Celebrity At Work; Around Alabama; Navy SEALs)

Hester and Steven got off to a good battle to start this one; however, Steven broke it slightly open with a True Daily Double just before the commercial break. After 15 clues, the scores were Steven $7,200 Hester $3,400 Justin $1,600.

Statistics at the first break (14 clues):

Steven 7 correct 0 incorrect
Hester 4 correct 0 incorrect
Justin 3 correct 0 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Justin brought his 98-year-old grandmother to watch in the audience.
Hester is a former singing telegram messenger.
Steven is trying to visit all 50 states with his wife; they’re at 35.

Steven picked up 9 more correct responses after the break to extend his lead.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Steven 16 correct 0 incorrect
Hester 6 correct 1 incorrect
Justin 6 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Steven $11,200
Hester $3,600
Justin $2,400

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Ancient History; Composers; Ew, David!; 9-Letter Words; Discovery; A Song On Your Lips)

Steven found both Daily Doubles within the first seven clues of the round, picking up $9,000 between them and cruising to a runaway.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Steven 27 correct 3 incorrect
Justin 10 correct 4 incorrect
Hester 9 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 3 (3 today).

Scores going into Final:

Steven $27,800
Justin $4,000
Hester $3,200

This Final Jeopardy turned out to be a Triple Stumper; Steven went for a big bet but is still a 3-day champion. He’ll be back for game #4 tomorrow!

Tonight’s results:

Hester $3,200 – $2,500 = $700 (What is Harold and the Purple Crayon? Thanks everyone!!)
Justin $4,000 – $2,401 = $1,599 (What is Black Beauty?)
Steven $27,800 – $17,117 = $10,683 (What is…My Little Pony???) (3-day total: $57,089)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) THE ANSWER IS 42! $1000 (clue #14)
Steven 3600 +3600 (Hester 3400 Justin 1600)
2) COMPOSERS $2000 (clue #4)
Steven 12400 +8000 (Hester 5200 Justin 3600)
3) DISCOVERY $1600 (clue #7, $25600 left on board)
Steven 22000 +1000 (Hester 4000 Justin 3600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 169

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Steven 4 5 3 3 4 5 5*
Hester 2 5 2 1
Justin 4 3 2

DJ! Round:
Steven 5* 3 4 4*
Hester 3
Justin 3 4

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Steven 4.09
Justin 3.20
Hester 2.60

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: COMPOSERS $400 DISCOVERY $400 A SONG ON YOUR LIPS $400
Total Left On Board: $1,200
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 3 (0.25 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Steven $19,800 Coryat, 27 correct, 3 incorrect, 48.15% in first on buzzer (26/54), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Justin $4,000 Coryat, 10 correct, 4 incorrect, 22.22% in first on buzzer (12/54), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Hester $3,200 Coryat, 9 correct, 3 incorrect, 18.52% in first on buzzer (10/54), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $27,000
Lach Trash: $15,800 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $10,000
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Steven Olson, career statistics:

86 correct, 13 incorrect
2/5 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
48.81% in first on buzzer (82/168)
8/9 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $19,200)
2/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,200

Hester Bass, career statistics:

9 correct, 4 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
18.52% in first on buzzer (10/54)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,200

Justin Ames, career statistics:

10 correct, 5 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
22.22% in first on buzzer (12/54)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,000

Steven Olson, to win:

4 games: 68.891%
5: 47.460%
6: 32.695%
7: 22.524%
8: 15.517%
Avg. streak: 5.215 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Considering that this is first time we’ve seen unplayed clues this season and we’ve had an uptick of celebrity-delivered clues, I think the show is doing a good job of balancing things timing-wise.
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Steven $27,800 Justin $4,000 Hester $3,200)

Steven: Bet no more than $19,799. (Actual bet: $17,117)

Hester: In the battle for second, bet no more than $1,600 and hope that Justin is incorrect. (Actual bet: $2,500)

Justin: Cover bet over Hester is $2,401. (Actual bet: $2,401)

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