Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 16, 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 U.S. Presidential Elections) for Thursday, October 16, 2025 (Season 42, Game 29):
The worst showing by an incumbent candidate in an election was when this man came in third with just 8 electoral votes
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Dave Keder, a tutor from Durham, North Carolina
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Cindy del Rosario, a hospice & palliative care nurse from Denver, Colorado
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Delaney O’Dea, an undergraduate student from Santa Monica, California (1-day total: $18,600)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Brown University sophomore Delaney O’Dea, who at 18 is one of the youngest regular-play contestants in show history (to say nothing about being one of the youngest regular-play champions in show history), defends her championship for the first time today against Cindy del Rosario of Denver and Dave Keder of Durham, North Carolina.
Again, I am fearful to outright declare anyone “the youngest champion” or even “the oldest champion” as contestant birthdates are currently not publicly available information the way sports players are. (Though, to be fair, age is a much more pertinent statistic for an athlete.)
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is William Howard Taft?
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.)
The 1912 presidential election saw a failed primary challenge of the incumbent Taft by previous president Teddy Roosevelt; Roosevelt then left the Republican party for the Progressives and ran third party. This caused Republican support to be split, leading to Taft only carrying Vermont and Utah, picking up 8 electoral votes as the Democrat Woodrow Wilson swept to a landslide victory. Taft himself finished a distant third to Wilson and Roosevelt.
The 1912 election has been a popular topic of Jeopardy! clues over the years; in my opinion, this should be straightforward for many longtime viewers, and I certainly have no idea how a younger player such as Delaney will handle this.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, October 16, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: That Guy’s The Worst; Around The Bathroom; Missing Links; Bible Bites; They Call Him Boss; Internet Celebrities)
Dave doubled up through the Daily Double just after two-thirds of the way through the opening segment and lead after 15 clues. At the break, the scores were Dave $4,800 Cindy $2,800 Delaney $2,600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Dave 6 correct 1 incorrect
Cindy 4 correct 0 incorrect
Delaney 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Dave was once visited by a four-foot-long snake in his home.
Cindy enjoys historic cabins.
Delaney is a huge fan of Ozzy Osbourne; one of her tattoos was dedicated to him when he passed away.
All three players had a good second half of the round as all three players were separated by just $1,600 after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Dave 9 correct 1 incorrect
Cindy 10 correct 0 incorrect
Delaney 8 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Dave $6,000
Cindy $5,400
Delaney $4,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Bodies Of Water; 19th Century Drama; The Doctor Will See You Now; Fiendish Entertainment; Pleas; Thank You)
Dave missed DD2 midway through the round, dropping to second place. Then, Delaney jumped into the lead—but Cindy found DD3; her correct response meant she led going into Final, but a more aggressive bet (it was a second-row Daily Double) would have given Cindy a runaway going into Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Cindy 19 correct 1 incorrect
Delaney 13 correct 0 incorrect
Dave 16 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 6 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Cindy $16,600
Delaney $11,600
Dave $6,700
Cindy was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy, and that makes her the new champion! She’ll be back tomorrow to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Dave $6,700 – $6,000 = $700 (Who is Hoover?)
Delaney $11,600 – $10,000 = $1,600 (Who is John Adams Hi Nana! <3 <3 + Mom)
Cindy $16,600 + $6,601 = $23,201 (Who is Taft?) (1-day total: $23,201)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) THAT GUY’S THE WORST $600 (clue #11)
Dave 2000 +2000 (Delaney 1800 Cindy 2600)
2) PLEAS $1200 (clue #14)
Dave 8400 -2500 (Delaney 4400 Cindy 7400)
3) 19th CENTURY DRAMA $800 (clue #22, $4000 left on board)
Cindy 11000 +4000 (Delaney 11200 Dave 5900)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 107
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Delaney 4 4 5
Cindy 3 3 5 3
Dave 5 4 4 3*
DJ! Round:
Delaney 4 5 4 5 5 4†
Cindy 3 4 5 2 3 5† 2*
Dave 4 5 3 3 2 2 4 3* 3
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Cindy 3.45
Delaney 4.44
Dave 3.46
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 6 (0.21 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Cindy $13,400 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Delaney $11,600 Coryat, 13 correct, 0 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Dave $7,800 Coryat, 16 correct, 4 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $32,800
Lach Trash: $14,600 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,600
Lead Changes: 15
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Delaney O’Dea, career statistics:
33 correct, 4 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
28.83% in first on buzzer (32/111)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400
Cindy del Rosario, career statistics:
20 correct, 1 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400
Dave Keder, career statistics:
16 correct, 5 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$500)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,800
Cindy del Rosario, to win:
2 games: 54.599%
3: 29.811%
4: 16.276%
5: 8.887%
6: 4.852%
Avg. streak: 2.203 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- This is one of the more interesting Final Jeopardy situations I’ve seen in awhile, to be quite honest—interesting enough to give it some extra time. I also thought Cindy and Delaney bet it quite well, all things considered—I just wish Dave had bet slightly more than he did.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Cindy $16,600 Delaney $11,600 Dave $6,700)
Delaney: You’re in Stratton’s Dilemma; you can’t both cover Dave and win a Triple Stumper. Being that Dave needs to be correct to win, he has occasion to bet big, so you might as well bet big yourself. That said, don’t go all in, saving at least $200, as Dave could bet most of his total in order to defend against your small range. (If you do want to just cover Dave in case Cindy overbets, bet $1,801—but there is Champions Wildcard at play here, so extra money won could be helpful here.) (Actual bet: $10,000)
Cindy: Standard cover bet over Delaney is $6,601. Don’t bet any more than this so as not to allow Delaney to potentially back into victory while still covering Dave. (Actual bet: $6,601)
Dave: If Delaney makes a small bet playing for a Triple Stumper, the maximum she can bet is $1,600. Thus, you should bet at least $6,502 in order to pass that if you’re both correct. (You have to be correct to win anyway, so you might as well make the big bet.) (Actual bet: $6,000)
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IMHO…we could use a 3rd party now!
As someone who has voted Libertarian the past several presidential elections, I take offense at your comment.
I voted Libertarian this last election as well.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, if a third party became viable, it at least wouldn’t have any of the stigmas that the two current parties have.
I guessed John Tyler – but turns out he dropped out of the 1844 election.
and in retrospect, Delaney’s choice of John Adams was a good guess given he was another incumbent who came in third.
MarkO, thinking similarly to you, I’d guessed Andrew Johnson, but I now think a better (though still wrong) response would have been Franklin Pierce.
These three were part of a handful of incumbents who did not even get nominated, but Pierce was the only one of the five who had originally been ELECTED president, not just succeeded to the presidency after the death of his predecessor. I would call that a worse “showing” as a candidate than Taft, but the clue concerned electoral votes, so I AM NOT arguing that Taft is not the correct response to this FJ. [But if anyone objects to my calling him a candidate, I thought that at first, too, but then decided that since people who are campaigning for president during the primaries are already considered candidates, even though there were no primaries in the 1800s I feel “candidates” still fits men who were competing for the nomination.]
I recall a college history teacher talking about the 1912 election. Taft didn’t have a lot of fun in that job, and the teacher said Taft was probably relieved that he didn’t have to be president anymore!
and he later served on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Assuming I could handle the pressure of the stage, I’d be finished writing the correct response to this clue before Ken was even done reading it… but considering I was at a 1/11 success rate throughout October prior to this, I’ll gladly take it 🙂
I guessed Jimmy Carter (1980) who lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan and Independent Congressman John Anderson
You may not have intended to, but I think your statement sounds like Anderson got more votes than Carter or at least sounds like Carter could have won with the additional non-Reagan votes that Anderson got. Neither is true. In the 1979 election the “Not Reagan” actual votes were a near tie to the votes “For Reagan”.
Furthermore, even though there are still merits to making the final decision via the Electoral College, I think the biggest detriment is giving the winners the ability to say they “won in a landslide” or “were given a mandate” when it is the individual voters who voice their preferences and opinions on the issues with their vote and the popular vote totals are almost always much closer than the electoral votes are.
In the 1979 election the “Not Reagan” actual votes were a near tie to the votes “For Reagan”. The “Trump” vs. “Not Trump” 2024 votes were even closer, and unlike in the Reagan/Carter election, the “Not Trump” votes actually totaled about 500,000 MORE than the “For Trump” votes. In 2016, there were over 875,000 MORE “Not Trump” votes than there were “For Trump” votes. In both cases, those figures are more like a “squeak by on a technicality” [i.e. because of how the electoral college works] than a mandate.
Anderson received a pretty healthy 8% of the vote in 1980.
Who knew . . . since the election was 1980
You are correct. I was checking my figures in a place that shows 1980 in a way that sounds like that was the presidential term the election was for, rather than the date of the election.
This was one of the more notable elections with two former Presidents running along with a third candidate from one of the two major parties. When my son was in elementary school, he did a great imitation of Teddy Roosevelt for a class presentation. Because of that, I was well aware of the outcome of the 1912 election so, thanks to my son, a fairly easy final for me.
How satisfying!
I knew this FJ immediately, which is always nice. I seem to either know them immediately or have zero idea.
Retro congrats to our new champion Cindy, but can she stop the run of 1 day champs tomorrow. We shall see!
And, as a side note, we’ve now had 6 straight games without a runaway.