Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 12, 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 TV History) for Friday, December 12, 2025 (Season 42, Game 70):
A 1964 review of this TV special, still played today, mentions “trials as an outcast” & “the songs of Johnny Marks”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Madelyn Dawson, a writer & editor from Staten Island, New York
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Trey Hart, a grant writer from Petaluma, California
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Will Riley, an engineer originally from Houston, Texas (4-day total: $77,403)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today sees 4-day champion Will Riley look to become the 291st 5-time champion in the post-1984 history of Jeopardy!; New York’s Madelyn Dawson and California’s Trey Hart look to stop him. Whoever wins today will return in the 2026 to defend their title; as of right now, my best guess is that the show is planning on returning with regular play during the 2026 Olympics, so that a tournament is not going to have episodes pre-empted by Olympic coverage on the 71 NBC affiliates that air the show. As far as I know, none of the post-Tournament of Champions episodes have been taped at this point. As for what is coming starting Monday: 3 weeks of Second Chance, 2 weeks of Champions Wildcard, and the 33rd Tournament of Champions.
There are a couple of other housekeeping items that I wish to mention on this December 12. Firstly, I’d like to wish a happy 50th birthday to former show host Mayim Bialik. Secondly, I want to remind everyone that changes are coming to The Jeopardy! Fan beginning this weekend. Today’s game will be the final day where all of the information will be contained in a single post. Going forward, each episode will have a pair of posts: a “Final Jeopardy” post containing the most sought-after information for that episode, and a “Daily Details” post with additional information, detailed stats, wagering suggestions, and further insights. Commenting will be open on the “Daily Details” posts, and access to that information will require a login.
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Correct response: What is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
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.)
Running since 1964 (the longest continuously running Christmas TV special in the United States), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a stop-motion animated Christmas special based on the 1949 Johnny Marks song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. The review referred to in the clue was from the December 7, 1964 edition of The New York Times, which also called it “a charming and tuneful hour of fantasy”; in addition to the title song, the now-holiday standard “A Holly Jolly Christmas” as performed by Burl Ives (as Sam the Snowman) also came to prominence as a result of this movie.
I would say that this is an excellent Final to enter the holiday season on; how easy it plays will depend on how well the contestants (remember, this game was recorded on October 29) can get into the holiday frame of mind.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, December 12, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Cities By Historic Events; It’s All Greek Mythology To Me; Seafood; Let’s Start A Hip-Hop Group; “M.C.”; Hype Man)
Will started slowly, but found himself in the lead when he found the Daily Double. In a rare occurrence, Will bet the minimum $5—a good choice, as he was incorrect. At the break, the scores were Will $3,795 Trey $3,200 Madelyn $800.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Will 6 correct 2 incorrect
Trey 6 correct 1 incorrect
Madelyn 1 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Madelyn is a music journalist who ran the college radio station at Yale.
Trey was a pub trivia host for five years.
Will recently moved from Houston to New York.
Will struggled with the seafood category, finishing the round with 3 incorrect responses in that category alone. Trey had a good segment to lead after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Trey 13 correct 2 incorrect
Will 11 correct 4 incorrect
Madelyn 3 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Trey $6,400
Will $4,795
Madelyn $1,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Bodies Of Water; Novels; Rhyme Time; Modern 2-Letter Initials; Movie Lines; Bye, Phoenicia)
Madelyn found DD2 quickly, but an incorrect response dropped her out of contention. Will was in trouble after a couple of incorrect responses in the movie category; however, Trey went a little too conservative on DD3, falling short of a runaway by just under $1,200.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Trey 23 correct 3 incorrect
Will 20 correct 8 incorrect
Madelyn 5 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Trey $19,600
Will $10,395
Madelyn $900
Trey was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy, putting an exclamation point on victory. He’ll be back after postseason play to defend his title!
Tonight’s results:
Madelyn $900 – $750 = $150 (What is This was so fun + Long live radio)
Will $10,395 – $0 = $10,395 (What is beats me!)
Trey $19,600 + $4,500 = $24,100 (What is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?) (1-day total: $24,100)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) SEAFOOD $800 (clue #15)
Will 3800 -5 (Trey 3200 Madelyn 800)
2) NOVELS $1600 (clue #2)
Madelyn 1800 -1700 (Will 4795 Trey 6400)
3) BODIES OF WATER $800 (clue #21, $5200 left on board)
Trey 14400 +4000 (Will 9995 Madelyn 100)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -57
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Will 4 1 5 5 2 4 5 4*
Trey 3 4 5 4 3 3
Madelyn 2
DJ! Round:
Will 4 5 3 4 4 5 5 3 5
Trey 5 3 3 4 4 3 2† 1† 2*
Madelyn 3 4* 5†
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Trey 3.27
Will 4.00
Madelyn 3.50
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.11 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Trey $16,400 Coryat, 23 correct, 3 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 5/6 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Will $10,400 Coryat, 20 correct, 8 incorrect, 43.86% in first on buzzer (25/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Madelyn $2,600 Coryat, 5 correct, 2 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $29,400
Lach Trash: $10,800 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $13,800
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 0
Player Statistics:
Will Riley, career statistics:
101 correct, 22 incorrect
7/9 on rebound attempts (on 18 rebound opportunities)
36.04% in first on buzzer (102/283)
4/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,995)
3/5 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,920
Trey Hart, career statistics:
24 correct, 3 incorrect
5/6 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,400
Madelyn Dawson, career statistics:
5 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$1,700)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,600
Trey Hart, to win:
2 games: 60.225%
3: 36.271%
4: 21.844%
5: 13.155%
6: 7.923%
Avg. streak: 2.514 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Registration being required in order to comment has now been implemented. If you are having issues registering, please email me at andy@thejeopardyfan.com and I will assist you.
- Ken’s statements regarding phrasing—that failing to phrase is a warning in the opening round but a penalty in Double Jeopardy—should come as no surprise to diehard fans. This has been the rule for a very long time.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Trey $19,600 Will $10,395 Madelyn $900)
Will: To have any chance of winning, you n eed to bet at least $8,016. If you limit your bet to $8,594, you keep Madelyn locked out and guarantee second place. (Actual bet: $0)
Trey: Standard cover bet over Will is $1,191. You shouldn’t really bet more than this, just in case Will chooses not to make the big bet he needs to. (Actual bet: $4,500)
Madelyn: Bet between $290 and $898, as Will’s two most likely wagers are $9,206 (falling to $1,189 himself if incorrect) and everything. (Actual bet: $750)
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My mind was stuck on Charlie Brown Christmas even though I was pretty sure it came out in 1965, and I had the CD which was credited to Vince Guaraldi. Charlie Brown was kind of an outcast. So, yeah, I ran out of time before I got to Rudolph. Not familiar with Johnny Marks. Now, if they had mentioned Burl Ives……
“Outcast”…I was thinking Grinch…looked it up…original broadcast was 1966.
Yes, Burl Ives would have helped, or even Gene Autry. Johnny Marks didn’t help me at all, although I see that he actually wrote several well-known Christmas songs.
I am not familiar with Johnny Marks but thought of Rudolph and his friends being “misfits.”
Same here (on both counts), so I thought immediately it was ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’. I wasn’t 100% sure because I no longer watch such shows, so I could not recall if the misfit elf who wanted to be a dentist was in this show or some other of that general era, but I decided it must have been. [It was.]
December of 2019 was the last time this was a FJ answer. I was relieved then that the two who knew it remembered the ‘d’ on nosed. Hopefully today is the same.
So “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” or simply “Rudolph” would be ruled incorrect?
I’d hope so!
Like Mark0 my mind went to Charlie Brown, though Rudolph does make sense after I thought of it. I think I didn’t get it because I didn’t know Johnny Marks was the original writer.
I thought of the Charley Brown Christmas…but that one I think was first shown in 1965!!! In 1964 I was 9, so my memory of this Rudolph special is hazy for me.
On another note, Happy Birthday to Mayim. But then being December 12th, its my birthday as well. Just had to get that in.
Happy birthday!
Thomas, it’s not just your and Mayim’s birthday. You may be interested to know that you share a birthday date with Frank Sinatra. (You probably knew that already.) Sad day for me as it is, also, the date my father died.
Sorry to hear that Robert. I hope that you are doing okay today.
Happy Birthday Thomas! 🙂
‘First time caller’ here. Guess you need to hear from someone born in late fifties and whose 1st album was the soundtrack from the show! Of course I watched it both times it was on this season!
It was my first album as well. I remember exactly where we were when I begged my parents to buy it for me. Quick get for me today.
I think I remember that Rudolph was originally part of an ad campaign for Montgomery Ward. He was a character in a promotional coloring book.
You are correct, Pam. Rudolph was created in 1939 by an employee at Montgomery Ward by the name of Robert May. Johnny Marks was the brother-in-law of Robert May.
I’m old enough that 1964 and Johnny Marks were all I needed to get this instantly.
I thought it was crazy that the $5 lost on the daily double nearly would’ve given Trey a runaway had Trey and not Will answered the final $400 question correctly. Trey would’ve had $20,000 to Will’s $9,995
Not only that but I do not understand Will’s “Final Jeopardy!” bet at all. Didn’t a bet of zero eliminate any possibility of his winning? Trey didn’t have to bet much at all to lock Will out so Will had to go big or go home. Well, I guess he is going home but I think you know what I mean.
I think we talked at some point about fatigue getting to contestants near the end of the taping day, and I’m 90% sure that’s what happened to Will here – the fact that such an odd wager came directly after four perfect ones and the fact that he wrote down “beats me!” relatively early in the Think Music makes me think (no pun intended) that the fatigue finally set in and he was running on basically nothing at that point, also considering the nature of some of his seven (!) unforced errors. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares in the ToC – at the very least, only having to play one game at a time until a finals situation should be a big help!
I assumed he already had a prior engagement when they were to resume taping 🙂
I don’t understand the final jeopardy question- is it implying that line was mentioned in Rudolph? What do they mean by mention,
No. As I said above, the clue was quoting a newspaper review, specifically the New York Times.
What is the logic behind Will’s bet in final?
Seeing Johnny Marks made this an instant get. Really puzzled as to why Will essentially conceded the game. He could have bet enough to possibly win and still clinch 2nd (as Andy’s analysis showed).
Yeah, missed that one!
Retro congrats to Trey on his win and to Will on his 4 days of wins.
See what happens next week when we get Second Chance Week 1.