Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, January 3, 2025

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

August 12: S42 E98 (January 21, 2026)
August 13: S42 E99 (January 22, 2026)
August 14: S42 E100 (January 23, 2026)
August 15-16: S41 E141 (March 24, 2025)
August 17: S42 E101 (January 26, 2026)
August 18: S42 E105 (January 30, 2026)
August 19: S42 E102 (January 27, 2026)
August 20: S42 E103 (January 28, 2026)
August 21: S42 E104 (January 29, 2026)
August 22-23: S41 E142 (March 25, 2025)
August 24: S42 E106 (February 2, 2026)
August 25: S42 E107 (February 3, 2026)
August 26: S42 E108 (February 4, 2026)
August 27: S42 E109 (February 5, 2026)
August 28: S42 E110 (February 6, 2026)
August 29-30: S41 E143 (March 26, 2025)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Andrew He $534,365
17. Scott Riccardi $533,000
18. Jerome Vered $499,102
19. Julia Collins $495,767
20. Austin Rogers $493,000
21. Ben Ingram $449,201
22. Paolo Pasco $448,717
23. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
24. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
25. Juveria Zaheer $441,000

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 19th Century Fiction) for Friday, January 3, 2025 (Season 41, Game 85):

In Chapter 9 of an 1851 work, a preacher in a New England port city delivers a sermon about this Old Testament prophet

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Kaitlin Tarr, a ceramic artist from Denver, Colorado (Yesterday’s total: $1)

Colleen Matthews, a speech-language pathologist from Hillsboro, Oregon (Yesterday’s total: $8,400)

Will Yancey, a lecturer of history from Banquete, Texas (Yesterday’s total: $20,000)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

After a very strong first two rounds yesterday where he picked up 23 correct responses, Will Yancey holds a large—but certainly not insurmountable—lead going into Day 2 of this 2-day final over Colleen Matthews in second and Kaitlin Tarr in third. Will’s “effective lead” is only $5,800 over Colleen—meaning, if Colleen leads Will by more than $5,800 today going into Final, she would win if both players get Final correct and bet everything. Kaitlin, having left $1 behind in Final Jeopardy yesterday before her miss, starts today effectively a shade under $10,000 behind Will. (Editor’s note: This math is in fact correct, due to the fact that only half the deficit must be made up before Final Jeopardy.)

Correct response: Who is Jonah?

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.)

Chapter 9 of Herman Melville’s 1851 work Moby-Dick describes Father Mapple giving a sermon at the Whaleman’s Chapel in the port city of New Bedford about Jonah and the whale (from the Old Testament Book of Jonah)—obviously fitting considering the overall cetacean theme of this famous Melville work.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, January 3, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Historic Americans; 10-, 11- & 12-Letter Words; Sci-Fi Fill In; Clothing Time; Named For A Place; & The Emmy Goes To…)

It took all of 15 clues for Colleen to reel in much of Will’s advantage; after 15 clues, she led with $5,000; Kaitlin had $2,800 and Will $200.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Colleen 7 correct 0 incorrect
Kaitlin 4 correct 0 incorrect
Will 2 correct 2 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Kaitlin would like to thank her mom, dad, and brother.
Colleen would like to thank her son Evan.
Will would like to thank his birds and his wife.

As he always seems to, Will found the Daily Double and used it to pick up another $1,000. He went 4-for-5 in the 10-, 11- & 12 LETTER WORDS category to claw back some of the deficit today to Colleen (he still holds the 2-day lead, though.)

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Colleen 11 correct 0 incorrect
Kaitlin 8 correct 0 incorrect
Will 8 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Colleen $6,400
Kaitlin $6,000
Will $3,400

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Your 19th Century Beard Tickles!; Models; Slang From Your Start-Up Job; “R” We There Yet?; Only Birders…; In The Building)

Colleen gained only $3,000 on DD2, while Will went conservative on DD3, picking up just $1,000. Coupled with 10 correct responses from Kaitlin, this led to an end of the Double Jeopardy round where all three players were nearly tied overall with four clues to play. As it was, a pair of late correct response from Will gave him the effective lead going into Final Jeopardy.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Kaitlin 18 correct 1 incorrect
Colleen 17 correct 2 incorrect
Will 17 correct 6 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Kaitlin $16,000
Colleen $12,600
Will $7,600

Will and Colleen were correct in Final; that makes Will your champion! He advances to Champions Wildcard, beginning January 13!

Tonight’s results:

Will $7,600 + $7,600 = $15,200 + $20,000 = $35,200 ($35,000 + Champions Wildcard) (Who is Jonah?)
Colleen $12,600 + $12,000 = $24,600 + $8,400 = $33,000 ($15,000) (Who is Jonah?)
Kaitlin $16,000 – $11,605 = $4,395 + $1 = $4,396 ($15,000) (Who is Joseph?)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) 10-, 11- & 12-LETTER WORDS $800 (clue #22)
Will 1000 +1000 (Colleen 5800 Kaitlin 3600)
2) “R” WE THERE YET? $800 (clue #17)
Colleen 10400 +3000 (Will 3000 Kaitlin 11200)
3) SLANG FROM YOUR START-UP JOB $1200 (clue #20, $11200 left on board)
Will 3800 +1000 (Colleen 13800 Kaitlin 11200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 155

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Will 5 3 3 4 2 4*
Colleen 4 2 5 2 3 2 1 5 1 3
Kaitlin 1 5 4 4 3 2

DJ! Round:
Will 3 4 1 3 4 5 3*
Colleen 5 2 3 4 5 2* 1† 2
Kaitlin 1 2 3 4 5

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Will 3.38
Colleen 2.89
Kaitlin 3.09

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.31 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Will $7,600 Coryat, 17 correct, 6 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Colleen $10,400 Coryat, 17 correct, 2 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Kaitlin $16,000 Coryat, 18 correct, 1 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $34,000
Lach Trash: $10,400 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $9,600
Lead Changes: 4
Times Tied: 1

Player Statistics:

Will Yancey, career statistics:

83 correct, 20 incorrect
5/7 on rebound attempts (on 14 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (82/228)
8/10 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,000)
2/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,650

Colleen Matthews, career statistics:

65 correct, 9 incorrect
3/5 on rebound attempts (on 16 rebound opportunities)
26.75% in first on buzzer (61/228)
2/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
4/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,650

Kaitlin Tarr, career statistics:

84 correct, 15 incorrect
4/6 on rebound attempts (on 15 rebound opportunities)
37.28% in first on buzzer (85/228)
2/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,200)
0/4 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,000

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Friendly reminder to Kaitlin: The site is called “J! Archive, not “Jeopardy! Archive”.
• Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Kaitlin $16,000 ($1) Colleen $12,600 ($8,400) Will $7,600 ($20,000))
Kaitlin’s current score: $16,001
Kaitlin’s maximum possible score: $32,001
Colleen’s current score: $21,000
Colleen’s maximum possible score: $33,600
Will’s current score: $27,600
Will’s maximum’s possible score: $35,200

Will: Standard cover bet over Colleen is $6,001. If you want to tack on a little extra, that’s okay—but going more than $6,599 means that you might leave yourself open if Colleen bets zero. (Actual bet: $7,600)

Colleen: Standard cover bet over Kaitlin is $11,002. However, being that an incorrect response means a defeat, you might as well go all in to force a cover bet out of Will. (Actual bet: $12,000)

Kaitlin: You have to be correct to have any hope of victory. You might as well go all in to force a cover bet out of Colleen. (Actual bet: $11,605)

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