Today’s Final Jeopardy – Wednesday, September 10, 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 Historic Phrases) for Wednesday, September 10, 2025 (Season 42, Game 3):

In 1914 Belgium’s queen gave this phrase a political meaning, saying one had descended between her & Germany

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Leslie Oakerson, a financial services manager from Red Bank, New Jersey

Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer originally from San Diego, California

Ian Morrison, an airline ramp agent originally from Aurora, Colorado (1-day total: $22,009)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Day 3 of Season 42 of Jeopardy! sees Colorado’s Ian Morrison return as champion; in his title defense, he faces off against Leslie Oakerson of Red Bank, New Jersey, as well as a familiar name to crossword puzzle fans in Paolo Pasco. Paolo is a relatively well-known crossword solver and constructor, skills that have led to success on Jeopardy! in the past. Of course, that never means that victory is guaranteed.

Correct response: What is “iron curtain”?

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.)

Although the political term “iron curtain” was used most famously by Winston Churchill to describe the divisions between West and East at the beginning of the Cold War, the term had political connotations before that. When Germany invaded Belgium in 1914 at the start of World War I, Elisabeth of Bavaria, then Queen of Belgium, said that an iron curtain had descended between the two countries, according to the BBC’s History Extra.

It’s hard to say how this Final Jeopardy clue will play, in my opinion. A lot of viewers and players might have an internal debate between “What else could it be?” and “But Churchill popularised it…”; I’ll guess we’ll see in a few hours how it plays!

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Wednesday, September 10, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Finish Him!; A Stone Quarry; Presidential Doin’s; TV Reboot Camp; A Quick Workout; The World Of Downton Abbey)

Ian got off to a strong start, but Leslie did quite well in the Downton Abbey category to lead at the first break. At the interviews, the scores were Leslie $3,000 Ian $2,800 Paolo $1,000.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Leslie 5 correct 0 incorrect
Ian 6 correct 1 incorrect
Paolo 3 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Leslie has been riding horses for most of her life.
Paolo is obsessed with pigeons.
Ian has done lots of Jeopardy! cosplay.

Leslie went to a $200 clue, giving control over the board over to Paolo—who found a Daily Double immediately. Unfortunately, an incorrect response dropped him to $0 as he sat third after 30 clues. Meanwhile, Ian picked up another six correct to lead at the midpoint.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Ian 12 correct 2 incorrect
Leslie 7 correct 1 incorrect
Paolo 8 correct 3 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Ian $4,000
Leslie $3,600
Paolo $2,400

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Hope Geography Is Your 4-Te; She Wrote That; From The National Weather Service Glossary; In Concert; Media Anniversaries; Anagrams Of Each Other)

Double Jeopardy started with a number of incorrect responses keeping the scores down, including Paolo missing DD2. However, Paolo did get DD3 correct, and Ian went on a good run at the end of the round, getting 9 of the last 11 clues correct to make sure the game wasn’t a runaway.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Paolo 20 correct 5 incorrect
Ian 23 correct 5 incorrect
Leslie 8 correct 3 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Paolo $14,800
Ian $10,000
Leslie $1,200

Leslie and Paolo were correct in Final Jeopardy, and that makes Paolo your new champion! He’ll be back tomorrow to defend.

Tonight’s results:

Leslie $1,200 + $1,000 = $2,200 (What is an Iron Curtain?)
Ian $10,000 – $7,991 = $2,009 (What is a dark cloud?)
Paolo $14,800 + $5,201 = $20,001 (What is Iron Curtain?) (1-day total: $20,001)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) PRESIDENTIAL DOIN’S $600 (clue #18)
Paolo 1200 -1200 (Ian 2800 Leslie 4000)
2) SHE WROTE THAT $2000 (clue #10)
Paolo 9600 -3300 (Ian 3600 Leslie 3600)
3) FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLOSSARY $1600 (clue #14, $17600 left on board)
Paolo 8700 +2100 (Ian 2000 Leslie 800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -110

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Ian 3 4 4 5 2 2 4 2
Paolo 3 5 3 3*
Leslie 1 2 3 4 5 1

DJ! Round:
Ian 1 4 3
Paolo 4 3 5 2 3 2 5* 3 4 3 4*
Leslie

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Paolo 3.47
Leslie 2.67
Ian 3.09

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Paolo $18,800 Coryat, 20 correct, 5 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Leslie $1,200 Coryat, 8 correct, 3 incorrect, 14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
Ian $10,000 Coryat, 23 correct, 5 incorrect, 47.37% in first on buzzer (27/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $30,000
Lach Trash: $9,600 (on 7 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $14,400
Lead Changes: 6
Times Tied: 4

Player Statistics:

Ian Morrison, career statistics:

44 correct, 9 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
39.47% in first on buzzer (45/114)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $3,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $11,800

Paolo Pasco, career statistics:

21 correct, 5 incorrect
3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
1/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,400)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,800

Leslie Oakerson, career statistics:

9 correct, 3 incorrect
2/3 on rebound attempts (on 8 rebound opportunities)
14.04% in first on buzzer (8/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $1,200

Paolo Pasco, to win:

2 games: 42.111%
3: 17.733%
4: 7.468%
5: 3.145%
6: 1.324%
Avg. streak: 1.727 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Paolo $14,800 Ian $10,000 Leslie $1,200)

Ian: Your best chance of winning happens if you bet between $0 and $400 and hope that Paolo misses Final. (Actual bet: $7,991)

Paolo: Standard cover bet is $5,201. If you really think that Ian will bet small, you can best defend against that with a bet between $2 and $4,398. (Actual bet: $5,201)

Leslie: You need a pair of overbets to have any chance. Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $1,000)

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