recaps

Season 42

Today’s Final Jeopardy – Friday, November 28, 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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Warning: This page contains spoilers for the November 28, 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 10:30 AM Eastern today in some U.S. television markets.

Today’s game is the traditionally the most pre-empted throughout the United States. Please check your local listings, or Matt Carberry’s spreadsheet detailing pre-emptions throughout the United States here.

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category The European Union) for Friday, November 28, 2025 (Season 42, Game 60):

The smallest member in both area & population, this island nation joined the EU in 2004

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Samantha Meier, an assistant principal from North Reading, Massachusetts

Samantha Meier on Jeopardy!

Wilder Seitz, a cashier & writer from Los Angeles, California

Wilder Seitz on Jeopardy!

Harrison Whitaker, a researcher originally from Terre Haute, Indiana (13-day total: $352,000)

Harrison Whitaker on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Will Harrison Whitaker get to the end of November as Jeopardy! champion? He goes for victory #14 today against Wilder Seitz of Los Angeles and Samantha Meier of Massachusetts.

On this Black Friday, I’d like to take the time to point out that large language models and generative AI is one of the largest scourges affecting today’s society. A lot of my friends—even myself—are having to battle against work put out by generative AI every day, as well as consumers who find it perfectly acceptable to sidestep artists and creators. A lot of people’s livelihoods are at stake here—and I haven’t even said anything about the increased power demands on the data centers, leading to increased electricity costs throughout North America. (And, yes, I am mentioning this because The Jeopardy! Fan itself is being negatively affected by this, and I figure that if I speak more personally on matters affecting the site in this section, it will make this information seem incredibly out of place if it happens to be plagiarized elsewhere.)

(Content continues below)

My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.

Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.

Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2026? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!

You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!

You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!

Correct response: What is Malta?

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.)

With a population of 516,100 and an area of 316 square kilometers, Malta was one of 10 countries that joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, alongside Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The crux of this question here is basically knowing that Malta is smaller than Cyprus—Cyprus is about 30 times larger in area.

Tying this back into Jeopardy! and my own personal interests here at The Jeopardy! Fan, recent 1-game champion Lisa Mueller won Division B at the 17th Malta International Scrabble Open a few weeks ago in Valetta. (And, if anyone ends up seeing this over on other websites later, you know who had the information first.)

In order to redesign our merchandise area to serve you better in 2026, all merchandise sales have been temporarily taken offline. Look for a return in late 2026! All previous orders will still be supported.

Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, November 28, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Not The State Capital; Rough Times In The Bible; Tropical Fruits; Starts With 2 Vowels; Baby, I Can’t Fight This Feeling; Any Moore)

Even though it was Wilder who found the Daily Double early in the round, Harrison’s correct response total was a snowman at the first break and he held a big lead. After 15 clues, the scores were Harrison $6,200 Wilder $1,800 Samantha $1,000.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Harrison 8 correct 0 incorrect
Wilder 3 correct 1 incorrect
Samantha 2 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Samantha is a Coast Guard veteran and can tie a bowline knot behind her back.
Wilder took clown classes in college.
Harrison often loses treasured possessions in comedic ways.

Harrison kept his correct response total near 50% of the round’s clues as he extended his lead.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Harrison 15 correct 0 incorrect
Wilder 7 correct 1 incorrect
Samantha 6 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Harrison $9,200
Wilder $3,200
Samantha $3,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Unmitigated Gaul; Clothes In Books; Animals’ Scientific Names; Architects; “J”ams; Alliteration)

Things got exciting in Double Jeopardy; Wilder pulled close to Harrison’s lead and had a chance on DD2 to take the lead; unfortunately for his chances, an incorrect response dropped him out of contention. Samantha came close, but it wasn’t enough to keep Harrison from cementing a runaway on the round’s final clues.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Harrison 26 correct 0 incorrect
Samantha 10 correct 2 incorrect
Wilder 15 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 6 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Harrison $18,400
Samantha $7,400
Wilder $500

Wilder and Harrison were both correct in Final Jeopardy; that makes Harrison a 14-day champion! He’ll go for #15 on Monday.

Tonight’s results:

Wilder $500 + $499 = $999 (What is Malta?)
Samantha $7,400 – $0 = $7,400 (What is Iceland)
Harrison $18,400 + $3,599 = $21,999 (What is Malta?) (14-day total: $373,999)

Harrison Whitaker, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the November 28, 2025 game.)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) ROUGH TIMES IN THE BIBLE $800 (clue #2)
Wilder 600 +1000 (Harrison 0 Samantha 0)
2) CLOTHES IN BOOKS $800 (clue #18)
Wilder 10800 -8000 (Harrison 14800 Samantha 7000)
3) ANIMALS’ SCIENTIFIC NAMES $2000 (clue #22, $4000 left on board)
Wilder 3600 -3500 (Harrison 15600 Samantha 7000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -71

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Harrison 3
Wilder 4*
Samantha

DJ! Round:
Harrison 5 5 3 4 4 3 5 4 5 2
Wilder 3 4 4 3 3 2* 2 5*
Samantha 4 2 3 5

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Harrison 3.91
Samantha 3.50
Wilder 3.33

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 6 (0.10 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Harrison $18,400 Coryat, 26 correct, 0 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Samantha $7,400 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Wilder $11,800 Coryat, 15 correct, 5 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,600
Lach Trash: $9,200 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,200
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Harrison Whitaker, career statistics:

409 correct, 41 incorrect
25/27 on rebound attempts (on 59 rebound opportunities)
47.49% in first on buzzer (379/798)
17/30 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,100)
10/14 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $23,357

Wilder Seitz, career statistics:

16 correct, 5 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$10,500)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,800

Samantha Meier, career statistics:

10 correct, 3 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $7,400

Harrison Whitaker, to win:

15 games: 65.685%
16: 43.145%
17: 28.340%
18: 18.615%
19: 12.227%
Avg. streak: 15.914 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:


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