Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 4, 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 The Supreme Court in the 19th Century) for Thursday, December 4, 2025 (Season 42, Game 64):
Citing the “language of the people whether sellers or consumers”, in 1893 the S.C. ruled on the botanical designation of this
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Marie D’Avignon, a VP of operations from Durham, North Carolina
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Andy Luo, a student success coach originally from Johns Creek, Georgia
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Ron Lalonde, a medical physicist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1-day total: $15,201)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It’s been a great week for siblings on the Alex Trebek Stage; Ron Lalonde—brother of famed superchampion Ray Lalonde—defeated Libby Jones—sister of Season 41 1-time champion Evan Jones—in yesterday’s game. Ron now goes for victory #2 against Marie D’Avignon of Durham, North Carolina and Andy Luo of Johns Creek, Georgia.
Since this topic has come up recently in various discussion spaces, this is a reminder that nobody is able to pay money to Sony Pictures Television in order to put content on a Jeopardy! board. Any promotional categories must fit in with the editorial bent of the show and are not paid opportunities; the show considers this similar to how actors and actresses will do the late night talk show circuit in order to promote an upcoming project of theirs. Therefore, statements made by the show that sponsored categories do not exist is correct and the show should not be mocked for saying as much. This is also a reminder that we are nearly three full months into Season 42 and that we have only seen six unplayed clues all season. Timing is not nearly as much of an issue as it has even been in the recent past—as I’ve mentioned in the past, these sorts of categories are crucial for the show gaining new fans, and any potential timing complaints have been rendered moot. Fans need to give this topic a rest.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is a tomato?
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.)
Is a tomato a fruit? (But Andy, you say, the VeggieTales Final was back in October.) Or, is it a vegetable? When vegetables faced import tariffs and fruits didn’t after Chester Arthur signed the Tariff Act of 1883, such a distinction became very important. Thus, John Nix (of John Nix & Co.) sued Edward Hedden, Collector of the Port of New York in attempt to recoup the tariffs he paid on his tomato imports, citing the botanical definition of a fruit—technically correct, as tomatoes are seeds emanating from a plant’s flower. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which held unanimously that tomatoes were vegetables, citing the ordinary meaning and usage of tomatoes—consumed as parts of main courses, as vegetables generally are, instead of as parts of desserts, more the domain of fruit.
Certainly, “tomatoes are technically fruits” is something that got passed around as “fun facts” throughout most of my lifetime; from there, this feels like a straightforward Final Jeopardy clue to me—and certainly, one that has somehow suddenly regained relevance in 2025 with a lot of reintroduction of import tariffs into the American economy.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, December 4, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: The 21st Century; Which Cabinet Department?; The Films Of Diane Keaton; On The Maine Land; Have A Seat; The Song Of One Lonely Consonant)
Things were very close for most of the round, but Andy found the Daily Double just before the break. He doubled up to take a good-sized lead through 15 clues, with scores sitting at Andy $4,000 Ron $2,600 Marie $2,200.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Andy 4 correct 0 incorrect
Ron 6 correct 2 incorrect
Marie 5 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Marie would play a drinking game to the show in college.
Andy spent a year teaching in Taiwan.
Ron started running marathons at the age of 50.
Ron and Marie passed and got close to Andy’s score, respectively; the game was within $1,200 between first and third after 30 clues.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Ron 15 correct 3 incorrect
Andy 6 correct 2 incorrect
Marie 8 correct 2 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Ron $5,600
Andy $5,000
Marie $4,400
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Starts With A Greek Letter; Hot Dam!; The Thread Of The Story; Annual Events; Extinct Creatures; Different Artists, Same Hit Song)
After Ron got off to a good start in the round, Andy had a chance at the lead, but a Daily Double miss dropped him back down. From there, Ron found DD3, getting it correct and cruising to a runaway.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Ron 29 correct 3 incorrect
Andy 12 correct 4 incorrect
Marie 12 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 6 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Ron $24,400
Andy $5,400
Marie $5,200
Surprising to me, this Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper; Ron’s runaway, though, makes him a 2-day champion! He’ll go for win #3 tomorrow.
Tonight’s results:
Marie $5,200 – $4,999 = $201 (What is tobacco?)
Andy $5,400 – $5,001 = $399 (What is tobacco?)
Ron $24,400 – $4,000 = $20,400 (What is tobacco?) (2-day total: $35,601)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) ON THE MAINE LAND $800 (clue #15)
Andy 2000 +2000 (Ron 2600 Marie 2200)
2) THE THREAD OF THE STORY $1600 (clue #15)
Andy 9800 -4000 (Ron 13600 Marie 3200)
3) STARTS WITH A GREEK LETTER $1600 (clue #22, $9200 left on board)
Ron 18800 +4000 (Andy 5800 Marie 3200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 80
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Ron 5 1 4 3 2 4 5
Andy 2 3 4*
Marie 2 2 3 4 3
DJ! Round:
Ron 1 3 4 5 4 5 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 3 4*
Andy 2 3 3 4* 5†
Marie 2 1
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Ron 3.23
Andy 3.25
Marie 2.43
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 6 (0.09 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Ron $22,000 Coryat, 29 correct, 3 incorrect, 50.88% in first on buzzer (29/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Andy $8,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 4 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Marie $5,200 Coryat, 12 correct, 3 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,400
Lach Trash: $9,600 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,000
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 3
Player Statistics:
Ron Lalonde, career statistics:
45 correct, 7 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 9 rebound opportunities)
39.47% in first on buzzer (45/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $5,800)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,200
Andy Luo, career statistics:
12 correct, 5 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $8,200
Marie D’Avignon, career statistics:
12 correct, 4 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $5,200
Ron Lalonde, to win:
3 games: 57.167%
4: 32.681%
5: 18.683%
6: 10.680%
7: 6.106%
Avg. streak: 3.335 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Ron $24,400 Andy $5,400 Marie $5,200)
Ron: Bet no more than $13,599. (Actual bet: $4,000)
Andy: In the battle for second, standard cover bet over Marie is $5,001. (Actual bet: $5,001)
Marie: In the battle for second, bet no more than $4,799 and take second if Andy is incorrect. (Actual bet: $4,999)
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I wonder if just “Fruit” or “Vegetable” would have been accepted.
Absolutely not.
Misread the clue – didn’t see ‘the’ and read S.C. as South Carolina, and thinking deep south, I said cotton.
I didn’t understand it at all. To show how much I didn’t understand this after Marie’s response of “What is tobbaco?” was shown, and, of course found to be wrong, I guesed “What is Marijuana?” Which might even further from “What is tomato?” than tobbaco.
LOL
Gotta be honest, this whole case reads like something you’d see on Sesame Street.
That said, I love this clue and I’m glad to get it.
I remembered that tomato being a vegetable had been decided by the Supreme Court, from some list of silly factoids.
Random vibe check: does it seem to anyone else like we’ve had just a series of awesome players this season, not just among the champs (Paolo Pasco and Harrison Whitaker especially), but among challengers too? Scores feel (and are) noticeably higher this season than last.
That said, can’t wait to go another round with Lalonde tomorrow!
I’ve cited this very Supreme Court case when relatives and friends argued with me when I called a tomato a vegetable. That usually convinced them. Since the Supreme Court was able to settle this dispute as far back as 1893, isn’t it about time that we’ve had a S.C. ruling on whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich? 🙂
it would be a 6-3 decision! Maybe 5-4 if Coney-Barrett comes to the other side. lol
Fascinating! Is there a term for a Triple Stumper, in Final Jeopardy!, where all three contestants offer the same incorrect question?
No; I don’t think the community has cared enough to coin or use a term for it, to be quite honest…
Well, the French have a term folie a trois, meaning a delusion shared by three. So perhaps a FAT? Maybe not.
Here’s a ‘No Vote” for FAT, but I love “folie a trois” for it!
Kid you not – during the commercial break before double jeopardy I flipped over to a Good Eats episode that displayed this exact fact, including the date.
I didn’t get this FJ, but perhaps should have! I think this recently came up at work and someone mentioned that the US Supreme Court decided this. And it was only like 2 to 3 weeks ago. I can remember events from 1981 though.
You are so funny! I really don’t think I’d ever heard the Supreme Court thing (though I couldn’t swear to it), but I was well aware of the “technically a fruit, not a vegetable” thing, so the phrases “botanical designation”, “language of the people”, and “sellers or consumers” just screamed TOMATOES to me.