Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 2, 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 Animals) for Thursday, October 2, 2025 (Season 42, Game 19):
This 4-legged celebrity was named by his owner’s employee, who once worked for a diplomat at the League of Nations
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
TJ Fisher, a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California
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Alan Rosenberg, a high school teacher from Baltimore, Maryland
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Lisa Mueller, an anthropologist from Rochester, Minnesota (1-day total: $17,600)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Our new Jeopardy! champion is Lisa Mueller, who took the opportunity to stand pat yesterday with a $17,600 runaway victory and give a shoutout to her son Kai, defends her title today against TJ Fisher and Alan Rosenberg.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Secretariat?
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.)
Secretariat, one of the most famous racehorses of all time, won the 1973 Triple Crown in dominating fashion, going as far as being called “a tremendous machine” by announcer Chic Anderson during that year’s Belmont Stakes. But why was Secretariat called Secretariat? From owner Christopher Chenery’s secretary Elizabeth Ham. According to the website of Virginia’s Caroline County, Ham had previously worked for diplomat Norman Davis when they both worked in the Secretariat’s office at the League of Nations many decades prior.
Jeopardy! has gone to this well before; back in 2003, they posed “This sports superstar of 1973 bears the name of one of the 6 major organs of the United Nations.” That being said, it was a Triple Stumper in 2003 even when the year was given; I think that had the show put “celebrity of the 1970s” in the clue, it would have made it easier enough to give people more of a fighting chance.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, October 2, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Non-English Place Names In English; Relative-ity; A Potable Of Potency; Peanuts; Ways; Means)
Lisa found the Daily Double immediately and jumped out to a lead; however, TJ did well in the Peanuts and Relative categories to lead after 15 clues. At the break, the scores were TJ $3,000 Lisa $2,800 Alan $400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
TJ 7 correct 1 incorrect
Lisa 4 correct 0 incorrect
Alan 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
TJ is a big fan of carousel organs.
Alan would ask Jeopardy boards to his family on road trips.
Lisa went on her first date with her husband to a pub quiz; he won the “Trivia Overlord” title.
TJ picked up 8 correct in this segment to jump out to a big lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
TJ 15 correct 2 incorrect
Lisa 4 correct 0 incorrect
Alan 6 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
TJ $7,200
Lisa $2,800
Alan $2,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Historic Letters; Prequels & Sequels; She’s A Saint; HBCUs; Generational Talents; Contronyms)
This round pretty much was completely in TJ’s control; 17 more correct, as well as both Daily Doubles, ensured he cemented the runaway with a half-dozen clues still on the board.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
TJ 32 correct 3 incorrect
Lisa 7 correct 0 incorrect
Alan 10 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 3 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
TJ $24,400
Lisa $6,400
Alan $6,000
This Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper; TJ dropped over $9,000 but is still your new champion! He’ll finish out the week tomorrow in a title defense.
Tonight’s results:
Alan $6,000 – $1,200 = $4,800 (Who is Benji)
Lisa $6,400 – $5,700 = $700 (Who is… Toto)
TJ $24,400 – $9,311 = $15,089 (Who is Francis? =)) (1-day total: $15,089)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) NON-ENGLISH PLACE NAMES IN ENGLISH $800 (clue #1)
Lisa 0 +1000 (Alan 0 TJ 0)
2) HISTORIC LETTERS $1200 (clue #10)
TJ 12000 +2400 (Lisa 4000 Alan 5200)
3) CONTRONYMS $1600 (clue #15, $13200 left on board)
TJ 14000 +2000 (Lisa 4000 Alan 6400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 134
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Lisa 4*
Alan
TJ
DJ! Round:
Lisa 3
Alan 3 4 3 2
TJ 4 5 4 5 5 3* 3 4 5 4*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
TJ 4.20
Alan 3.00
Lisa 3.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 3 (0.16 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
TJ $22,800 Coryat, 32 correct, 3 incorrect, 56.14% in first on buzzer (32/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Alan $6,000 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Lisa $6,200 Coryat, 7 correct, 0 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,000
Lach Trash: $15,000 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,000
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Lisa Mueller, career statistics:
30 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
24.56% in first on buzzer (28/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,900
Alan Rosenberg, career statistics:
10 correct, 3 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $6,000
TJ Fisher, career statistics:
32 correct, 4 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
56.14% in first on buzzer (32/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,400)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $22,800
TJ Fisher, to win:
2 games: 65.294%
3: 42.633%
4: 27.837%
5: 18.176%
6: 11.868%
Avg. streak: 2.881 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: TJ $24,400 Lisa $6,400 Alan $6,000)
Lisa: Cover bet for second place is $5,601. (Actual bet: $5,700)
Alan: For the best chance of finishing second, bet between $801 (in case Lisa bets small; this defends against her entire small range) and $5,199 (in case she covers). (Actual bet: $1,200)
TJ: Bet no more than $11,599 and enjoy your victory! (Actual bet: $9,311)
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I’m a huge Secretariat fan, but I did not get this correct. I had thought the Big Red got his name from the U.N. Secretariat. Mentioning the League of Nations threw me into an earlier timeline, and I went with Rin Tin Tin.
My guess too. Obviously, the horse himself had nothing to do with the League of Nations. Kind of an obscure clue.
I’m also a fan, but I DID get it correct quickly. I knew the League of Nations was around 1920-1945 and felt like there were not a lot of celebrity animals back then, but also the clue said “ONCE WORKED for a diplomat at the League of Nations”, so I figured it was an old guy at the time the naming was done, so thought Secretariat was a good guess for that timing and being a celebrity. [Also, owners of racehorses have lots of employees (often older) closely connected with the young horses, whereas owners of dogs, not so much.]
I was aware of some celebrated animals from ’20 to ’45 — Toto, Rin Tin Tin, Petey, Rex, Trigger & War Admiral (and even Dan Patch and Man o’ War, but they were born too far back) — but none of the names fully fit the clue.
Man, given the last few Final Jeopardies, are they trying to save on the budget again? 🙂
It’s hard to say this was unfair, considering as soon as I heard the answer it made sense; and yeah, it’s always cool to learn something. But much like Calvin I said RTT thinking of the earlier timeline. Saunders suggesting adding the 1970s would absolutely have helped.
The League of Nations immediately made me go to politics, but I guessed Checkers because that was the only animal I could think of who had something to do with politics, whether local to the United States or not. Something tells me this is gonna play incredibly difficult, both for the contestants and for the audience… but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
I was able to guess Secretariat purely because that was the only 4-legged animal sports star that came to mind. Judging by the other responses today, looks like not being into horse racing helped me a ton.
That’s exactly right. Secretariat is the only famous animal with a “bureaucratic” name that I know. I was not 100% sure, of course.
But why did you think ‘sports’ star. I see most of us thought movies or tv.
I felt a bureaucratic or authoritarian name is more likely to be given to a racehorse than a dog or cat.
I remember Secretariat winning the Triple Crown as if it happened yesterday. I did not get this correct. Not even a year or decade was mentioned in the clue. In a few hours, we will know if anyone got this correct.
He’s running like a tremendous machine!!
That he did in winning by 31 lengths!
My first thought upon reading the clue was, “Who would have had an employee who would have worked for a diplomat at the League of Nations?” That led me to Richard Nixon as the timeframe would have worked. Nixon, of course, led me to think of Checkers and the Checkers Speech. Alas, not correct.
I can still see Secretariat opening up a 22-length lead and expanding that to win by something like 31 lengths in the Belmont Stakes. What a horse!!
Triple stumped the contestants again. Maybe in 2047 a contestant will get it right.
per the Louisville Courier-Journal:
at the 2025 Kentucky Derby, all 19 entrants were descendants of Secretariat.
I love horse racing, but had no idea on this FJ.