recaps

Season 41

Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, December 26, 2024

Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 26, 2024, game ofJeopardy!— 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.

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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 Movies & Their Soundtracks) for Thursday, December 26, 2024 (Season 41, Game 79):

“Catch It” was a tagline for this 1970s film whose iconic soundtrack became one of the bestselling albums of all time

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Brad Grusnick, a voice actor from Aurora, Illinois

Brad Grusnick on Jeopardy!

Carole Portas Keane, an education researcher originally from Jersey City, New Jersey

Carole Portas Keane on Jeopardy!

Laura Faddah, a manager from Memphis, Tennessee (5-day total: $58,400)

Laura Faddah on Jeopardy!

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

We’ve got a 5-day champion on Jeopardy! after Memphis manager Laura Faddah picked up a singleton get on yesterday’s Final Jeopardy clue. Today, she faces off against New Jersey’s Carole Portas Keane and Illinois’s Brad Grusnick.

There seemed to be a lot of Montrealers online yesterday complaining about how American-centric Jeopardy! is. To that—as a Canadian—I say: of course it is! It’s an American program! Imagine me going on Au Suivant and complaining about Québécois content on the show—the complaint would be just as absurd.

(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 Saturday Night Fever?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2024 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

The soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, which contained such iconic disco tracks as “Stayin’ Alive”, “A Fifth of Beethoven”, “and “Disco Inferno”, was the best-selling album in music history before it was overtaken by Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The film itself starred John Travolta as Tony Manero, “king of the discos”.

I really enjoyed this Final Jeopardy clue; it’s definitely one where the major clue becomes readily apparent after the correct response is heard—after all, what does one “catch”?

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 Thursday, December 26, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Bodies Of Water; Destiny’s Other Children; The 18-School Big Ten; Cleaning Up; The Simpsons Character Who Said…; From J To K)

All three players got off to a good start, but Laura took an early lead. At the interviews, the scores were Laura $2,000 Carole $1,200 Brad $800.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Laura 4 correct 1 incorrect
Carole 5 correct 2 incorrect
Brad 4 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Brad is also a novelist who self-describes his works as “gross”.
Carole first tried out for the show 30 years ago in Atlantic City.
Laura does Wordle, Connections, and the Spelling Bee.

Brad, after doing well in the Simpsons category, found the Daily Double. Unfortunately, he fell back to $0 after an incorrect response. He recovered well, but sat third after the round. Laura continued to lead after another three correct responses.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Laura 7 correct 1 incorrect
Carole 8 correct 2 incorrect
Brad 11 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Laura $4,000
Carole $3,400
Brad $2,400

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The Gadsden Purchase; Literary Geography; Science News; Differing By A Letter; It’s A Nice Day For…; A “White” Wedding)

Laura found DD2 midway through the round and picked up $1600 with a correct response. Brad went on a bit of a run, but inexplicably selected a $400 clue instead of a $1200 one, leading to Carole finding the last Daily Double; a minute later, a couple of high-value correct responses from Laura cemented a runaway game for Laura.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Laura 21 correct 2 incorrect
Brad 16 correct 2 incorrect
Carole 12 correct 4 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 23 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Laura $20,400
Brad $9,200
Carole $6,400

Everyone got Final correct; Laura goes for win #7 tomorrow!

Tonight’s results:

Carole $6,400 + $3,000 = $9,400 (What is Saturday Night Fever?)
Brad $9,200 + $0 = $9,200 (What is Saturday Night Fever?)
Laura $20,400 + $600 = $21,000 (What is Saturday Night Fever?) (6-day total: $79,400)

Laura Faddah, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the December 26, 2024 game.)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) DESTINY’S OTHER CHILDREN $600 (clue #19)
Brad 2400 -2400 (Laura 2000 Carole 1200)
2) DIFFERING BY A LETTER $1200 (clue #17)
Laura 12400 +1600 (Carole 3400 Brad 3600)
3) THE GADSDEN PURCHASE $1200 (clue #27, $4000 left on board)
Carole 3400 +3000 (Laura 16800 Brad 9200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 1

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Laura 1 4 1 2 3 2
Carole 1 5 1 2 4 5
Brad 3 3 4 2 5 1 3*

DJ! Round:
Laura 3 5 1 1 2 3 4 5 1 3 5 2 3* 4† 5† 1 2 3
Carole 2 4 3*
Brad 2 4 4 5 2 1

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Laura 2.75
Carole 3.00
Brad 3.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 23 (0.29 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Laura $20,000 Coryat, 21 correct, 2 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Carole $4,600 Coryat, 12 correct, 4 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Brad $11,600 Coryat, 16 correct, 2 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,200
Lach Trash: $11,800 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,000
Lead Changes: 5
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Laura Faddah, career statistics:

106 correct, 18 incorrect
9/9 on rebound attempts (on 26 rebound opportunities)
30.95% in first on buzzer (104/336)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
3/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,233

Carole Portas Keane, career statistics:

13 correct, 4 incorrect
1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,600

Brad Grusnick, career statistics:

17 correct, 2 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,600

Laura Faddah, to win:

7 games: 47.161%
8: 22.242%
9: 10.489%
10: 4.947%
11: 2.333%
Avg. streak: 6.893 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

  • Especially considering Laura’s tendency to bet conservatively from any spot in Final Jeopardy, I think more aggressive endgame play from Brad would have ended with a victory for him today.
  • Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Laura $20,400 Brad $9,200 Carole $6,400)

Laura: Bet no more than $1,999. (Actual bet: $600)

Carole: If you think Brad will bet small, go all in. If you think he’ll bet to cover you, bet no more than $800. (Actual bet: $3,000)

Brad: Cover bet over Carole is $3,601. If you think Carole will bet small, bet $1,999. (Actual bet: $0)


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