Warning: This page contains spoilers for the September 29, 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 Medieval Names) for Monday, September 29, 2025 (Season 42, Game 16):
He was accused of killing William de Heselrig & also pled not guilty to being a traitor, saying he was never a subject of the King of England
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Rebecca Thompson, a French teacher & researcher from Buffalo, New York
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Zach Knecht, a law clerk originally from Spring Hill, Florida
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Prasad Patil, an assistant professor of biostatistics from Burlington, Massachusetts (1-day total: $35,600)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It’s time for the start of Week #4 of Season 42; this week begins with returning champion Prasad Patil taking on Zach Knecht and Rebecca Thompson.
I think that many fans want to see 1-day champions such as Vickie Talvola, who departed the show on Friday, back in Champions Wildcard; that being said, I’m extremely concerned that she (and many others) won’t be. As things appear to be shaping up right now, the show has an issue in the respect that the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics is scheduled for February 6, 2026, with the Olympics going until February 22. It would not surprise me if the show’s intent in pushing up the start of the postseason was done to conclude the Tournament of Champions over with minimal Olympic pre-emptions. However—and this is where my concerns regarding the field makeup lie—the show’s taping schedule (4 tape days between the postseason cutoff and what appears to be the start of Second Chance) would imply that Second Chance is set to start December 15. From there, a schedule of “15 episodes of Second Chance, a 2-week Champions Wildcard, followed by a 21-player Tournament of Champions” would bring us to the tournament most likely ending on February 5 or 6. (with a chance of February 3, 4, or 9.). If that 2-week Champions Wildcard was constructed similarly to last season, that means only 12 non-qualifying champions will be joining 3 players from Second Chance. In my opinion, 12 is much, much too small of a number and will only serve to anger the fanbase.
There is a solution to this issue, though: I would like to remind the show that when Harry Friedman was operating things, episodes were sometimes taped out of order, in that tournaments sometimes were taped on a shorter lead time to airing than regular play episodes were. Thus, I would urge the show to act similarly here; if it is so concerned about having the Tournament of Champions complete in order to avoid possible Olympic pre-emptions, rearrange the airing schedule: expand the Champions Wildcard field to fit 3 weeks (either by having a 27-player tournament or by following my editorial suggestion from last weekend), push up the start of the postseason by a week, and have a few episodes of regular play taped prior to, but air after, the postseason. I believe that this simple change will make the largest number of viewers happiest overall.
Unrelated to the above two paragraphs, but still an important thing to say after this weekend, from Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1986: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is William Wallace?
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.)
William Wallace is best known today as a Scottish knight who served as one of the major leaders of the First War of Scottish Independence, and was the protagonist of the 1995 Oscar-winning film Braveheart.
During that war, a Wallace-led uprising at Lanark in May 1297 led to the killing of William de Heselrig, Sheriff of Lanark. Evading capture by the English until 1305, his defense against treason was that he had never sworn allegiance to Edward I, and thus could not be guilty of that crime. Nonetheless, Wallace was found guilty and sentenced to death via hanging, drawing, and quartering.
I could see this Final Jeopardy playing anywhere from 0-for-3 to 3-for-3, and I’m interested to see what happens!
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