Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 30, 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 Animal Names) for Tuesday, December 30, 2025 (Season 42, Game 82):
Those returning from a 1920s expedition to Asia popularized this name for the buaja darat, or land crocodile
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Ricky Chandak, a financial assurance senior from Boston, Massachusetts
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Dondi DeMarco, an operations executive from New York, New York
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Emily Johnson, a dog walker from Honolulu, Hawai’i
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s Second Chance returnees are Hawaii’s Emily Johnson, New York’s Dondi DeMarco, and Massachusetts’s Ricky Chandak. The Unified Prediction Model does have Ricky as a favorite here; he did have a very strong game against Scott Riccardi
One thing that I would like to say: even though the general community tenor towards Second Chance has trended positively as of late, there is still a loud and vocal minority who chooses to express their displeasure. In my own investigations last evening, it appears the complaints are coming from users posting their views across multiple forums to make it appear that anti-tournament sentiment is more widespread than it is. (As I have said multiple times over the last five years to these sorts of users, this belief stems from their own inability to charm their way out of a wet paper bag with the contestant coordinators, yet they still believe they have some preordained right to contestanthood.)
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is the Komodo dragon?
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.)
The Komodo dragon got its Western name after the Dutch colonial leaders were made aware of the reptile on the island of Komodo; the first live Komodo dragons to arrive in Europe ended up at the London Zoo in 1927. An endangered species, Komodo National Park in Indonesia was formed in 1980 to assist in protection efforts.
Not that I’m saying there’s anything wrong with this type of Final, but this feels rather “you either know it or you don’t” to me—but sometimes you just have to know things.
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Game Recap:
Our opening pair of boards saw Dondi DeMarco pick up 20 correct and 0 incorrect, ensuring he led entering Final Jeopardy without having found a Daily Double.
Final Jeopardy saw Emily and Dondi both be correct, as Dondi is now a finalist. He’ll be back Thursday and Friday.
Scores going into Final:
Dondi $17,200
Emily $13,600
Ricky $12,400
Tonight’s results:
Ricky $12,400 – $5,000 = $7,400 (What is a cayman?)
Emily $13,600 + $13,000 = $26,600 (What is Komodo dragon? Congrats Meg + Court!)
Dondi $17,200 + $10,001 = $27,201 (What is Kimodo dragon?) (Finalist)
Chances of winning Second Chance:
Abigail Arnold 33.783%
Dondi DeMarco 28.285%
Ryan Sharpe 17.696%
Jenna Hayes 9.558%
Dan Puma 10.678%
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Because “Kimodo” and “Komodo” can be prounced the same way, as Ken said on the show itself, the ruling in Final Jeopardy is consistent with past rulings. Tabloids who report on this have the journalistic responsibility as well to inform fans that the specific rule covering this is even on the show’s website. “Written responses to the Final Jeopardy! clue do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables.”
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Dondi $17,200 Emily $13,600 Ricky $12,400)
Emily: You’re in Stratton’s Dilemma; you can’t both cover Ricky and win a Triple Stumper. If you’d rather play for the Triple Stumper, bet between $0 and $1,199 (therefore forcing Ricky to be correct to pass you). Otherwise, bet at least $11,201. (Actual bet: $13,000)
Dondi: Standard cover bet is $10,001. (Actual bet: $10,001)
Ricky: Bet between $4,801 (in case Dondi bets $0) and $5,199 (thereby winning a Triple Stumper if Emily makes a big bet and Dondi covers.) (Actual bet: $5,000)
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