Warning: This page contains spoilers for the October 18-19, 2025, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that today’s game is an encore presentation of the game that originally aired on April 7, 2025.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category American Literature) for October 18-19, 2025 (Season 41, Game 151):
His 1821 novel was inspired by stories told to him by John Jay of Jay’s experiences with spies during the Revolution
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Taylor Mattox, an IT specialist from Columbus, Ohio
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Erin Li, a psychiatrist from Queens, New York
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Mike Dawson, a technology manager from Portland, Oregon (1-day total: $21,601)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
This weekend’s rerun takes us back to April 7, 2025; Mike Dawson unseated Bryce Wargin the previous Friday and returns for his season game, as Erin Li & Taylor Mattox took on the champion.
In other site news, I am certainly looking for ways to restructure my content so as to ensure that my own work stays on my own website, as I don’t wish to have to avail myself of lawyers in order to prevent my work from ending up elsewhere on the Internet.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is James Fenimore Cooper?
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.)
John Jay’s stories of spies in the American Revolution served as an inspiration for James Fenimore Cooper’s second novel The Spy; it was that novel that brought Cooper to prominence, though he is probably best known today for his Leatherstocking Tales (including “The Last of the Mohicans”.) In The Spy, its main character Harvey Birch was based upon Enoch Crosby, a spy who had provided assistance to the man who eventually became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
As you’ll see, this one played difficult in-studio; I thought before playing that you might be left guessing a 19th-century author (I certainly picked Washington Irving when playing along at home, remembering that John Jay was from New York.)
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Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the October 18-19, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Game Recap:
Mike’s title defense started out quite well, building an early lead thanks to finding the Daily Double on the game’s second clue. However, it was the challengers who played the wagering clues on the game’s second board. Erin picked up $3,000 (only half of her score) on DD2, while Taylor’s score fell back to $0 after he went all-in from a distant third. Going into Final, Mike had $22,000 to Erin’s $15,000; Taylor was out of contention.
Final Jeopardy ended up being a Triple Stumper—which, considering that Erin had 68% of Mike’s score, should have meant that Erin walked away the champion, as she should have bet $1,000 or less. However, she went all-in in Final, dropping herself to third place, depriving herself of a championship, and giving Taylor an extra $1,000 to boot. Mike is a 2-day champion, and the weekend reruns continue next week with Mike going for victory #3.
Normally, I’d even consider Erin to have a reasonable case for Second Chance, but there have been so many Second Chance-worthy performances this season that she might even be left out of the event. We won’t know until the field is announced within the next couple of weeks!
Scores going into Final:
Mike $22,000
Erin $15,000
Taylor $3,600
Tonight’s results:
Taylor $3,600 – $3,000 = $600 (Who Nathaniel Hawthorne?)
Erin $15,000 – $15,000 = $0 (Who is Crane?)
Mike $22,000 – $8,001 = $13,999 (Who is Irving?) (2-day total: $35,600)
Game Stats:
Mike $22,000 Coryat, 26 correct, 2 incorrect, 47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Taylor $6,600 Coryat, 10 correct, 3 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Erin $14,000 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,600
Lach Trash: $4,600 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,800
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 1
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