Today’s Final Jeopardy – Monday, September 29, 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 Medieval Names) for Monday, September 29, 2025 (Season 42, Game 16):

He was accused of killing William de Heselrig & also pled not guilty to being a traitor, saying he was never a subject of the King of England

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Rebecca Thompson, a French teacher & researcher from Buffalo, New York

Zach Knecht, a law clerk originally from Spring Hill, Florida

Prasad Patil, an assistant professor of biostatistics from Burlington, Massachusetts (1-day total: $35,600)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

It’s time for the start of Week #4 of Season 42; this week begins with returning champion Prasad Patil taking on Zach Knecht and Rebecca Thompson.

I think that many fans want to see 1-day champions such as Vickie Talvola, who departed the show on Friday, back in Champions Wildcard; that being said, I’m extremely concerned that she (and many others) won’t be. As things appear to be shaping up right now, the show has an issue in the respect that the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics is scheduled for February 6, 2026, with the Olympics going until February 22. It would not surprise me if the show’s intent in pushing up the start of the postseason was done to conclude the Tournament of Champions over with minimal Olympic pre-emptions. However—and this is where my concerns regarding the field makeup lie—the show’s taping schedule (4 tape days between the postseason cutoff and what appears to be the start of Second Chance) would imply that Second Chance is set to start December 15. From there, a schedule of “15 episodes of Second Chance, a 2-week Champions Wildcard, followed by a 21-player Tournament of Champions” would bring us to the tournament most likely ending on February 5 or 6. (with a chance of February 3, 4, or 9.). If that 2-week Champions Wildcard was constructed similarly to last season, that means only 12 non-qualifying champions will be joining 3 players from Second Chance. In my opinion, 12 is much, much too small of a number and will only serve to anger the fanbase.

There is a solution to this issue, though: I would like to remind the show that when Harry Friedman was operating things, episodes were sometimes taped out of order, in that tournaments sometimes were taped on a shorter lead time to airing than regular play episodes were. Thus, I would urge the show to act similarly here; if it is so concerned about having the Tournament of Champions complete in order to avoid possible Olympic pre-emptions, rearrange the airing schedule: expand the Champions Wildcard field to fit 3 weeks (either by having a 27-player tournament or by following my editorial suggestion from last weekend), push up the start of the postseason by a week, and have a few episodes of regular play taped prior to, but air after, the postseason. I believe that this simple change will make the largest number of viewers happiest overall.

Unrelated to the above two paragraphs, but still an important thing to say after this weekend, from Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1986: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

Correct response: Who is William Wallace?

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.)

William Wallace is best known today as a Scottish knight who served as one of the major leaders of the First War of Scottish Independence, and was the protagonist of the 1995 Oscar-winning film Braveheart.

During that war, a Wallace-led uprising at Lanark in May 1297 led to the killing of William de Heselrig, Sheriff of Lanark. Evading capture by the English until 1305, his defense against treason was that he had never sworn allegiance to Edward I, and thus could not be guilty of that crime. Nonetheless, Wallace was found guilty and sentenced to death via hanging, drawing, and quartering.

I could see this Final Jeopardy playing anywhere from 0-for-3 to 3-for-3, and I’m interested to see what happens!

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Monday, September 29, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The 20th Century; Fictional Females; Propositional Phrases; Writing Material; 5, 5; Second Chance QBs)

Prasad had the best start to the round, picking up 8 correct before the break. At the interviews, the scores were Prasad $5,200 Zach $800 Rebecca $600.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Prasad 8 correct 0 incorrect
Zach 3 correct 1 incorrect
Rebecca 2 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Rebecca knows how to knit in the dark.
Zach met his fiancée in high school; he broke his arm on their first date rollerblading (because he didn’t know how).
Prasad joined a pipe & drum band at NYU.

Prasad continued picking up more than half of the correct responses, also getting $3,000 from the Daily Double en route to a big halftime lead.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Prasad 16 correct 2 incorrect
Rebecca 6 correct 1 incorrect
Zach 6 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Prasad $11,400
Rebecca $2,200
Zach $2,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Science & Nature; A World Of Mountains; I Married My Co-Star; Near & Far Phrases; Caveat; Mentor)

While Prasad was much quieter this round, Zach found both Daily Doubles; splitting them. That split was likely enough to ensure that Prasad still led going into Final Jeopardy, but there wasn’t a runaway.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Prasad 22 correct 4 incorrect
Zach 16 correct 5 incorrect
Rebecca 10 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 3 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Prasad $13,400
Zach $8,400
Rebecca $3,800

While Rebecca was close, Zach was the only player correct in Final Jeopardy, and that makes him the new Jeopardy! champion! He’ll be back tomorrow to defend his title.

Tonight’s results:

Rebecca $3,800 – $500 = $3,300 (Who is Braveheart)
Zach $8,400 + $5,001 = $13,401 (Who Wallace) (1-day total: $13,401)
Prasad $13,400 – $3,401 = $9,999 (Who is Beckett?)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) WRITING MATERIAL $800 (clue #18)
Prasad 6200 +3000 (Zach 800 Rebecca 600)
2) A WORLD OF MOUNTAINS $1600 (clue #4)
Zach 2400 -2400 (Prasad 10200 Rebecca 1800)
3) CAVEAT $1600 (clue #16, $14000 left on board)
Zach 1600 +2000 (Prasad 13400 Rebecca 1800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 48

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Prasad 4 5 3 2 3 4 5 1 3 3 4*
Zach 4 5 3 5 4
Rebecca 2 2

DJ! Round:
Prasad 3 4 5 2
Zach 4 3 4* 4 3 2 5 5 3† 3 4*
Rebecca 1

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Zach 3.81
Prasad 3.40
Rebecca 1.67

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 3 (0.19 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Zach $10,400 Coryat, 16 correct, 5 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Prasad $11,200 Coryat, 22 correct, 4 incorrect, 43.86% in first on buzzer (25/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Rebecca $3,800 Coryat, 10 correct, 2 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $25,400
Lach Trash: $16,800 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $11,800
Lead Changes: 3
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Prasad Patil, career statistics:

40 correct, 8 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
38.60% in first on buzzer (44/114)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $13,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,800

Zach Knecht, career statistics:

17 correct, 5 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,400

Rebecca Thompson, career statistics:

10 correct, 3 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $3,800

Zach Knecht, to win:

2 games: 31.541%
3: 9.948%
4: 3.138%
5: 0.990%
6: 0.312%
Avg. streak: 1.461 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Certainly, that $1,000 clue in PROPOSITION PHRASES, referring to “come up and see my etchings”, is definitely a clue that would play easier for the viewing audience at home than players in studio. I bet many at home will recognize it!
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Prasad $13,400 Zach $8,400 Rebecca $3,800)

Prasad: Standard cover bet is $3,401. I wouldn’t go any higher than this, just in case Zach chooses to lock in second place. (Actual bet: $3,401)

Zach: Bet at least $1,600 to have any chance of victory. (Actual bet: $5,001)

Rebecca: If you think Zach is going to bet to pass Prasad’s pre-Final Jeopardy score by $1, you’re safe to bet up to $399. Otherwise, if you think he’ll go with a minimum $1,600 bet, bet at least $3,001. (Actual bet: $500)

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