Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 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 Public Figures) for Wednesday, October 15, 2025 (Season 42, Game 28):
Foreshadowing his 1978 death, he said, “if a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Tafari Mbadiwe, a management consultant from New York, New York
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Delaney O’Dea, an undergraduate student from Santa Monica, California
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Chris McGinn, an editor from Indian Land, South Carolina (1-day total: $22,000)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s midweek game of Jeopardy! features 1-day champion Chris McGinn taking on challengers Delaney O’Dea of Santa Monica and Tafai Mbadiwe of New York.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Harvey Milk?
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 the late 1970s, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man elected to public office in California when he received election to the city’s Board of Supervisors after being a major figure in San Francisco’s LGBTQ rights movement. However, his elevated profile, having narrowly missed being elected to California State Assembly prior to this, left Milk concerned that he would be an assassination target, leading to the quote from today’s Final Jeopardy clue.
Milk, sadly, lasted less than one year in office before he was assassinated, along with mayor George Moscone, by Dan White; White had been the only opposition to a bill outlawing discrimination in the city based on sexual orientation.
Milk’s life was later turned into the Oscar-winning biopic Milk; Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the politician.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, October 15, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Geography With Vampire Weekend; That’s All, Folk Tales; Stock Symbols; Starts With A Preposition; Broadway; Lefties)
Chris found the Daily Double early, getting it correct and leading after 15 clues. At the break, the scores were Chris $4,400 Delaney $4,200 Tafari $1,600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Chris 6 correct 0 incorrect
Delaney 5 correct 0 incorrect
Tafari 3 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Tafari would always respond to quiz questions at school in Jeopardy! form.
Delaney attended a taping at the age of 7 (11 years ago).
Chris directed a performance of “Romeo & Juliet” with a homeschool co-op.
A very close second half of the round saw Tafari pull closer and Delaney and Chris tied for the lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Delaney 11 correct 1 incorrect
Chris 10 correct 0 incorrect
Tafari 7 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Delaney $5,600
Chris $5,600
Tafari $4,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Into The Woods; Nonfiction; Movie Role, TV Role; The Hole Truth; 12-Letter Words; Black History With Henry Louis Gates, Jr.)
Delaney found both of the round’s Daily Doubles; an incorrect response on DD3 meant she didn’t have a runaway, but she did lead going into Final.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Delaney 19 correct 3 incorrect
Tafari 14 correct 4 incorrect
Chris 16 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 6 (3 today).
Scores going into Final:
Delaney $11,600
Tafari $9,000
Chris $8,000
Delaney put the exclamation point on today’s game by being the only player correct in Final Jeopardy; she’ll be back tomorrow to defend her title!
Tonight’s results:
Chris $8,000 – $0 = $8,000 (Who is John Lennon)
Tafari $9,000 – $7,001 = $1,999 (Who is Kho Sha)
Delaney $11,600 + $7,000 = $18,600 (Who is Harvey Milk Hi Nana! + Mom + Aditi <3 + Marco) (1-day total: $18,600)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) STARTS WITH A PREPOSITION $800 (clue #2)
Chris 600 +1000 (Delaney 0 Tafari 0)
2) INTO THE WOODS $2000 (clue #4)
Delaney 7600 +2400 (Chris 6800 Tafari 6200)
3) 12-LETTER WORDS $2000 (clue #14, $12000 left on board)
Delaney 14800 -4000 (Chris 6400 Tafari 6200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 105
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Chris 3 4*
Delaney
Tafari
DJ! Round:
Chris 4 5
Delaney 5* 5 4 4 4† 4 4 5*
Tafari 3 5 3 5
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Delaney 4.38
Chris 4.00
Tafari 4.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: INTO THE WOODS $400 THE HOLE TRUTH $400 12-LETTER WORDS $400
Total Left On Board: $1,200
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 6 (0.21 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Delaney $15,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 3 incorrect, 35.19% in first on buzzer (19/54), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Chris $7,800 Coryat, 16 correct, 2 incorrect, 24.07% in first on buzzer (13/54), 2/4 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Tafari $9,000 Coryat, 14 correct, 4 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (18/54), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $32,000
Lach Trash: $8,600 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,200
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 7
Player Statistics:
Chris McGinn, career statistics:
32 correct, 7 incorrect
5/7 on rebound attempts (on 11 rebound opportunities)
25.23% in first on buzzer (28/111)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,200)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,700
Delaney O’Dea, career statistics:
20 correct, 3 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.19% in first on buzzer (19/54)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,600)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,200
Tafari Mbadiwe, career statistics:
14 correct, 5 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
33.33% in first on buzzer (18/54)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $9,000
Delaney O’Dea, to win:
2 games: 43.734%
3: 19.127%
4: 8.365%
5: 3.658%
6: 1.600%
Avg. streak: 1.777 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Since the show doesn’t officially track contestant ages, let alone release them publicly, it is impossible to definitively determine at this time if Delaney is the youngest-ever regular play champion. I’d say she has a very good chance of having the title, but I can’t officially confirm or deny if a record was set today.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Delaney $11,600 Tafari $9,000 Chris $8,000)
Chris: I would bet between $2,001 and $2,799 here; this defends against any of Tafari’s small-bet range and keeps you ahead of Delaney if she covers Tafari and is incorrect. (Actual bet: $0)
Delaney: Standard cover bet over Tafari is $6,401. (Actual bet: $7,000)
Tafari: Standard cover bet over Chris is $7,001. However, because you’re in Stratton’s Dilemma and can’t win a Triple Stumper if you cover, you might consider a bet of no more than $999 if you think Chris will go small. (Actual bet: $7,001)
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3 consecutive gets for me, only second time since i started watching jeopardy 4 years ago.
I watched the movie which certainly helped.
I remember Harvey Milk and what he tried to accomplish here in the SF Bay Area. His untimely end, along with Mayor Moscone still seems like only yesterday. Today’s FJ rings so true and I got the answer very quickly.
Living in the SF Bay Area and having watched the movie made it easy.
My first reaction when seeing the FJ clue was Anwar Sadat, but I soon realized that that didn’t make since, as I remembered hearing the news of Sadat in college, and I was in 9th grade in 1978. Then “closet” triggered Harvey Milk, and I was like “it’s definitely Harvey Milk.”
Not sure I would have gotten it in 30 seconds under the bright lights, though.
I was only 6 when Harvey Milk was assassinated, but it was one of the first major news stories that I remember, and I will always recall that it was as a result of that incident that Dianne Feinstein became the first female mayor of San Francisco. As I have grown up, I’ve seen that quote from Harvey numerous times, probably first when I was in university in the early 1990s. And as I’ve become an out and active member of the LGBTQ+ community in the years since, I see it pretty regularly, especially whenever there is a short written bio of Harvey for things like Pride celebrations. As a result, I didn’t even need to confirm the answer before I scored myself correct on this one.