Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 17, 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 Art & Artists) for Wednesday, December 17, 2025 (Season 42, Game 73):
He once said, “A hole can have as much meaning as a solid mass”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Chris Turner-Neal, a writer from New Orleans, Louisiana
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Allison Willard, a paralegal from Weddington, North Carolina
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Pete Johnston, a filmmaker & educator originally from Alma, Michigan
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s third Second Chance semifinal of this week is between New Orleans’s Chris Turner-Neal, North Carolina’s Allison Willard, and Michigan’s Pete Johnston. Whoever wins today will go on to face Eugene Huang and Dave Widmayer in the two-day final—and if the first two semifinals are any indication, leading going into Final Jeopardy absolutely does not mean someone will be leading coming out of Final Jeopardy!
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: Who is Henry Moore?
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.)
British sculptor Henry Moore is world-renowned as a master of the use of negative space (or, holes) in order to enhance the three-dimensional nature of his works. In fact, the ability to cast holes in his sculpture media was one major reason why he moved away from stone in his later career.
In terms of the difficulty of today’s Final Jeopardy clue, I defended the playing of the Lorraine Motel final on April 16 due to the fact that it had shown up before in regular play, even if only at the bottom of the board. Henry Moore—especially when the word “hole” has been clued as well—is no different; Moore and his works have made frequent appearances in the bottom row of art categories. The show has generally used the word “hole” to point to Moore. Thus, I think it is worthy of its placement at this level (even if I suspect it will play on the more difficult side today.) I also think that all three of this week’s Final Jeopardy clues would not have been out of place in a Tournament of Champions context.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Poker; Your “Bet”; Check; Raise; Call; I Fold)
Chris and Pete got off to the best start; they were tied at the first break. After 15 clues, the scores were Pete $2,800 Chris $2,800 Allison $1,400.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Chris 5 correct 1 incorrect
Pete 4 correct 0 incorrect
Allison 4 correct 2 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Chris thinks “if you can’t win be memorable”.
Allison had to play against a pair of Tournament of Champions players.
Pete did go on vacation with his winnings.
Allison went 3/5 in the Call category, but she still sat third after 30 clues. Pete doubled up through the round’s Daily Double to lead.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Pete 9 correct 1 incorrect
Chris 9 correct 2 incorrect
Allison 8 correct 3 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Pete $6,000
Chris $4,400
Allison $2,600
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Ship Happens; U.S. Cities; Them’s Dancing Words; Podcasts; Classic Novel Add A Letter; Nice Dog You’ve Got There)
Pete went 4/5—and got the Daily Double—in US Cities (and was 3/5 in Dancing Words). Chris went 4/5—and got the Daily Double—in Classic Novel Add A Letter, and led by a small amount entering Final Jeopardy.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Chris 17 correct 3 incorrect
Pete 21 correct 4 incorrect
Allison 12 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Chris $19,200
Pete $17,800
Allison $6,200
Once again, Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper, and this absolutely came down to the wagers. Pete made the best wager of the three and was rewarded when Chris’s random number dropped him $100 behind Pete, making Pete your third finalist.
Tonight’s results:
Allison $6,200 – $5,000 = $1,200 (Who is Jackson Pollack?)
Pete $17,800 – $5,000 = $12,800 (Who is Rothko?) (Finalist)
Chris $19,200 – $6,500 = $12,700 (Who was Duchamp?)
Chances of winning Second Chance:
Eugene Huang: 27.510%
Dave Widmayer: 32.937%
Pete Johnston: 39.553%
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) CHECK $1000 (clue #16)
Pete 2800 +2800 (Allison 1400 Chris 2800)
2) U.S. CITIES $1200 (clue #9)
Pete 10000 +3000 (Allison 3800 Chris 4800)
3) CLASSIC NOVEL ADD A LETTER $800 (clue #17, $11600 left on board)
Chris 10800 +6000 (Pete 12600 Allison 4200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 186
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Pete 3 4 4 5 4 5*
Allison 2 2 2 5
Chris 3 3 3 3 3 4
DJ! Round:
Pete 5 3 3 4 5 3* 3 4 3
Allison 3 4 2
Chris 4 4 4 5 2*
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Pete 3.87
Chris 3.45
Allison 2.86
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:
Pete $14,200 Coryat, 21 correct, 4 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Chris $14,000 Coryat, 17 correct, 3 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 4/5 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Allison $6,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 5 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $34,400
Lach Trash: $9,600 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $10,000
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 3
Player Statistics:
Pete Johnston, career statistics:
42 correct, 7 incorrect
2/5 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (40/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,800)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,900
Allison Willard, career statistics:
31 correct, 12 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (36/114)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $2,000)
0/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,600
Chris Turner-Neal, career statistics:
40 correct, 8 incorrect
7/8 on rebound attempts (on 15 rebound opportunities)
31.58% in first on buzzer (36/114)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,500)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,100
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I’ll be honest: Part of the point of Second Chance to me is to potentially learn from one’s gameplay and not make the same mistakes you made the first time. The fact that Chris obviously did not learn whatsoever from what happened the first time is infuriating to me as a fan, even moreso considering how some of my own personal favorites are not playing in the event.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Chris $19,200 Pete $17,800 Allison $6,200)
Pete: Bet between $2,801 (in case Chris bets small) and $5,399 (thereby keeping Allison locked out.) (Actual bet: $5,000)
Allison: Limit your bet to $3,399 and pass Chris if he makes a cover bet and is incorrect. (Actual bet: $5,000)
Chris: Standard cover bet is $16,401. If you hate the category and want to force Pete to be correct to beat you, I would bet between $2 and $1,399. (Actual bet: $6,500)
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Not familiar with Moore, went with Christo.
My wife and I were both positive it would be Alexander Calder. Ah, well….
I also guessed Calder.
Guessing Chris was pretty sure Pete was going to bet $5,399 to cover Allison. As such, why is a $4,000 bet from Chris (to cover Pete getting it correct) not a good wager (in case both Chris and Pete get it correct?)
That being said, my philosophy is that first place always should bet to cover, as you don’t want to be in the situation where you’re in first place, get it right, and not win.
If Chris isn’t going to cover, the reason $2 to $1,399 is the best play is that it puts major pressure on Pete; if he’s incorrect, Chris wins by default, and considering how difficult Final Jeopardy played in the two semifinals before this one, I wouldn’t blame Chris at all for thinking today’s Final would play at a similar difficulty level and betting accordingly. But any more than $1,399 still allows Pete to escape with the win if he’s incorrect and bets small enough, which defeats the purpose of a small bet from Chris’ position.
Don’t get me wrong, the cover bet is the way to go in almost every scenario. But there are cases where “Just Wager $4,000” is a valid strategy – and this wasn’t one of them.
I was thinking Duchamp as well.
Sad about DD3 – just rewatched after Sunday’s tragedy
I just don’t understand how you can be given a second chance and still not know how to bet in Final Jeopardy; disappointing, at the very least. SMH
On first reading, Andy Warhol popped into my head but, then, some “Jeopardy!” history surfaced in my memory and I recalled that “hole” or “holes” have indicated Moore, just as Andy (Saunders not Warhol) pointed out.
😊
I had a minor nitpick with the $1,200 Podcast clue in the Double Jeopardy! round: as presented, the clue stated: “Zach Lowe’s NBA podcast is punningly called this, like the area near the basket where the big men mix it up”, and the correct response was “What is the Lowe Post?”
The clue is slightly misleading in that it infers the podcast is current. In fact, the Lowe Post podcast ended in fall 2024 when Zach Lowe was let go from ESPN. Earlier this year, he started a new podcast, titled “The Zach Lowe Show”, with the Ringer. The clue would have been more precise if it was written: “Zach Lowe had an NBA podcast punningly called this, like the area near the basket where the big men mix it up”.
Speaking as someone with an on-hiatus podcast, I still say I have a podcast, thus I think I disagree with your objection.
Fair take!