Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 21, 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.A.) for Tuesday, October 21, 2025 (Season 42, Game 32):
When area codes were introduced 3 very populous areas got the ones quickest to dial: these 3 codes
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Tom Devlin, an attorney from Washington, D.C.
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Elyse Erdman, a director of social media originally from Hershey, Pennsylvania
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Dargan Ware, an attorney & writer from Bessemer, Alabama (2-day total: $47,801)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
In a game that a lot of people didn’t get to see last night thanks to Monday Night Football and the American League Championship Series, Dargan Ware picked up victory #2. (My condolences go out to any Mariners fan readers, including our show’s intrepid host—your team played extremely well over the seven games, and we’ll do our best to make any Dodgers fans regret any potential premature celebrations that I might have seen on social media over the past few days.) Today, he goes for win #3 (and a very likely spot in the Tournament of Champions at this point) against Washington D.C.’s Tom Devlin and Hershey, Pennsylvania’s Elyse Erdman.
That being said, the return of the NBA to NBC, and the opening night over in what sportscasters would once often call “The Association”, is going to cause preemptions if you watch the show on an NBC affiliate in the evening. Check your local listings (or Matt Carberry’s usual Google sheet of preemptions.) Noteworthy this morning is that Knoxville, Tennessee is showing the game at 11:30 AM Eastern. Depending on my own timing today (pursuant to what I said yesterday), the recap may be up earlier, it could be up at its normal time, or it could be later.
Finally, this is a reminder to all of my Canadian readers that you should never use Purolator for any of your delivery needs. They are easily the worst delivery service in Canada, as they are completely incapable of making deliveries to the correct address.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What are 212, 213 & 312?
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.)
When the North American Numbering Plan was first unveiled in 1947, the idea was to give the most populous areas quicker area codes to dial on a rotary phone: the numbers 1 and 2 were easiest as they were closest to the finger stop, while 9 and 0 took the longest. Thus, the largest population centers—New York City, southern California (Los Angeles), and northeastern Illinois (Chicago) received the three easiest area codes to dial: 212 (New York), 213 (SoCal), and 312 (Chicago). Conversely, less populated areas received area codes that took longer to dial: Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick were all originally 902, while South Carolina was 803, North Carolina 704, Tennessee 901, and Vermont 802. (Remember as well that N11 codes, such as the most famous, 911, were reserved for various local services (emergency services in the case of 911), so they could not be assigned to area codes.)
Area codes have sometimes become integrated in various contestants’ wagering strategies over the years: I have seen Washington, DC-area contestants sometimes try to integrate the number 202 (their area code) into a wager or final score, while a minor controversy brewed online in the fall of 2019 when a Chicago-area contestant wagered $1,312 on a Daily Double (intending for it to be part of the city’s area code; I’ll leave finding the alternate meaning of that number as an exercise for a reader who does not know in 2025.)
This is another Final Jeopardy clue that will be strikingly easy for the older viewers at home who would have grown up in an era before touch-tone phones existed, let alone cellular phones. This might also be very gettable by someone younger who’s more curious about how the world works, potentially prompting them to ask, “Why does New York/Chicago/etc. have the area code(s) that it does?” Ken Jennings has always said that sort of natural curiosity makes for a great contestant, and today’s Final proves that.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Tuesday, October 21, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: World Landmarks; Crudités; Words For The People; This, That & The Other Thing; Movie Prequels; Autumn Leaves)
Tom picked up 11 correct responses, and a True Daily Double, as he jumped out to a huge lead. After 15 clues, the scores were Tom $12,000 Dargan $1,200 Elyse $600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Tom 11 correct 0 incorrect
Dargan 3 correct 2 incorrect
Elyse 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Tom was a Shania Twain backup singer for 3 minutes.
Elyse was a competitive gymnast.
Dargan has been trying to get on Jeopardy! for nearly 30 years.
Tom picked up another handful of clues as he extended his lead.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Tom 18 correct 1 incorrect
Dargan 10 correct 2 incorrect
Elyse 2 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Tom $15,600
Dargan $3,800
Elyse $600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The President’s Presents; Celebrities; Starts With A Doubled Vowel; Science; In Da Club; Get Rich Or Die Tryin’)
Dargan was in a very distant deficit—and then he found both Daily Doubles on successive clues. He got them both correct, picking up $17,600, and jumping into a lead he would not relinquish.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Dargan 21 correct 3 incorrect
Tom 30 correct 3 incorrect
Elyse 4 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 6 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Dargan $31,800
Tom $27,200
Elyse $1,000
This Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper; Dargan went for the cover bet, and that makes Tom your new champion! He’ll be back tomorrow to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Elyse $1,000 – $0 = $1,000 (What is thanks for having me :))
Tom $27,200 – $4,601 = $22,599 (What are 202, 212, 222?) (1-day total: $22,599)
Dargan $31,800 – $23,200 = $8,600 (What are 312, 212, 202)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) WORDS FOR THE PEOPLE $600 (clue #7)
Tom 4400 +4400 (Dargan -800 Elyse 0)
2) GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN’ $1200 (clue #14)
Dargan 8600 +8600 (Elyse 200 Tom 26000)
3) IN DA CLUB $1200 (clue #15, $16000 left on board)
Dargan 17200 +9000 (Elyse 200 Tom 26000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 252
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Dargan 3
Elyse
Tom 4 4 4 4 3 3*
DJ! Round:
Dargan 3 4 5 3 3* 3*
Elyse 1 2
Tom 4 4 3 3 5 5 2
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Tom 3.69
Dargan 3.43
Elyse 1.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 6 (0.19 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Tom $23,400 Coryat, 30 correct, 3 incorrect, 50.88% in first on buzzer (29/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Dargan $16,600 Coryat, 21 correct, 3 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Elyse $1,000 Coryat, 4 correct, 2 incorrect, 7.02% in first on buzzer (4/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $41,000
Lach Trash: $6,800 (on 5 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,200
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Dargan Ware, career statistics:
72 correct, 11 incorrect
0/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
42.11% in first on buzzer (72/171)
5/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $32,800)
1/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,867
Elyse Erdman, career statistics:
4 correct, 3 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
7.02% in first on buzzer (4/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,000
Tom Devlin, career statistics:
30 correct, 4 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
50.88% in first on buzzer (29/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,400)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $23,400
Tom Devlin, to win:
2 games: 66.494%
3: 44.215%
4: 29.400%
5: 19.549%
6: 12.999%
Avg. streak: 2.985 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Before anyone criticizes Dargan’s wager on DD3, even if he went all in, Tom still would have been within two-thirds going into Final Jeopardy.
- Tom surpasses Adam Levin’s record ($27,000) as the highest non-leading score entering Final Jeopardy.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Dargan $31,800 Tom $27,200 Elyse $1,000)
Dargan: Standard cover bet is $22,601. (Actual bet: $23,200)
Elyse: You need two massive overbets to have a chance. Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $0)
Tom: Bet between $9,201 (in case Dargan makes a small bet) and $17,999 (staying ahead of Dargan’s cover bet if you both are incorrect.) (Actual bet: $4,601)
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Yup, an easy FJ for us old-timers. Note that back then the middle digit of any area code was either 0 or 1, so there was no confusion with telephone exchanges, which were composed of digits 2 through 9, corresponding to letters of the alphabet.
Correction: The first two digits of an exchange were a digit between 2 and 9, corresponding to a letter shown on the dial. The third digit could be a 1. For example, SHadyside 1 – 7031, became 741-7031. I told you I was old.
I had forgotten that ‘0’ was at the end of the dial instead of the beginning, but I remembered that our exchange was ‘CHerry’.
I got 212 and 312 but wasn’t familiar with 213 (which should have been an obvious guess for the third one) – I guess I was never calling anyone in that area code. I still do use a rotary phone for my landline.
I grew up not only with a rotary phone, but back when phone numbers began with two letters (“TE-8…” began mine)! However, I couldn’t figure out why the answer wouldn’t be 111, 222, and 333!
No area codes start with 1 because 1 is the US country code. I feel better about not knowing 213 since none of the contestants did either. Personally, I grew up in the 314 area code.
ah, St. Louis!
Having been born in SoCal made 213 the easiest for me.
Me too! I remember Burbank prefix starting with TH (84)
That was straightforward. I don’t remember which of 213 and 312 is LA and which is Chicago, though.
213 is us here in LA. It’s now used in a very small part of LA, but is in use where I work in Downtown LA.
For me I quickly guessed 212, 213 but of course would not know the area code for Chicago. Two-thirds correct but incorrect nonetheless. I’m still happy. I am not sure whether these three contestants would even know about this topic. But we shall see.
Agreed. Somehow I knew the Nee York one and having lived in LA knew that one. Did not know anyone from Chicago so would have never guess that correctly. Good job Jeopardy for making the contestants and the audience have to have all three to be correct!
I grew up with dial phones but I had absolutely no idea of the answer to this.
I obviously didn’t parse the speed of dialing clue properly, but what really bugs me is that I was sure about 2 of them (I know LA’s area code, but wasn’t sure when they were assigned or how big LA was at the time, so I decided on DC) – yet even knowing those two, I didn’t realize that the speed clue meant it had to be a permutation of the same three numbers. D’oh!
Hi Dargan. This was a challenging one, but a fun one. Wish I had been in the audience for this. Here at home I guessed 212, 213, and 313 (Detroit, made pretty famous by Eminem’s use of it in a rap of his in the movie 8 Mile).
Pretty close!
Great game that you 3 played and hope to see you back for Champions Wildcard, where I see you being a force and making it to the ToC.
For once in a rare moment, I not only understood the Final Jeopardy clue (answer) but actually had the correct response. I reasoned that the three most poplusr areas at the time area codes were introduced would be New York, Chicago, and, L.A. in order. And, I remembered their area codes, which were a the “top” of the dial, so 212, 312, and, 213.
Following Andy’s rules, I won’t speculate why the two players who answered went with 202. Though, I did find it surprising.
Now if only I can be this smart on more Finals.
Well done Bill!
I’ll take the “get” for Tuesday. But let’s see what the rest of the week will bring.
Yep, I’m from that ancient demographic that grew up with rotary phones long before the push button phones. Dialing numbers with zeroes back then seemed interminable. Obviously, today’s contestants didn’t have to do that or they would have avoided those zeroes that two of them included. That’s the worst digit they could have picked so it was surprising that two of them did that. My phone number was on the Mohawk exchange so the first three numbers corresponded to where the letters were on the dial (664). Having been there and done that, today’s final was a snap.
I actually got to try out a push button phone when they first came out in 1963. The challenge was to compare the speed of using a push button phone versus a rotary phone. Of course, the push button phone won every time but by larger margins when higher numbers and zeroes were included. Even though the push button appeared in 1963, they weren’t really so ubiquitous until the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.
It was a nail-biter!
30+ years ago when I learned the principles of the North American Numbering Plan, I was somewhat surprised by the fact that the Washington DC area code 202 needs 14 pulses, when even some non-metropolitan areas like “Eastern third of Iowa” (319) had fewer. As a matter of fact, rotary dials with 0 preceding 1 existed in Europe (see “Swedish rotary telephone” illustration on the “Rotary dial” wiki page), so “202” was a plausible off-the-cuff guess.
You don’t have to know the actual populous areas to get this. I remember reading once that New York City was given the area code 212 because it took the least amount of time to connect. If you grew up using rotary phones, you know this equates to five “clicks” as the dial returns to the start. So I just thought, what area codes would have six clicks? Of course, it also helps to know that the original area codes had only a 1 or 0 as the middle digit.
Area codes don’t mean as much nowadays, except I still get a lot of annoying political calls from where I lived two states ago because I still have a number with their cool area code, a number that I doubt I’ll ever relinquish.
That was a very fun game of Jeopardy and a very fun FJ.
Retro congrats to Tom on his win and retro congrats to Dargan on his 2 wins. I hope to see Dargan return for Champions Wildcard and push on to the ToC.
As for that FJ, I was ever so close. As Meat Loaf said, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad! But it’s bad for this FJ clue and thus a failure.
I had 213, as it’s local to me in the greater LA area and 213 is the area code of my work in Downtown LA. I had 212, as I knew that was for “The Big Apple.” And lastly, I had 313 for Detroit! Made pretty famous by Eminem in his famous rap battle in 8 Mile. Though I had no idea Chicago was 312. 🙁
On to tomorrow! Where I hope to see Tom get win #2! He looks very strong to me! 🙂