Miles Tepper — a graduate student from Pacific Grove, California
Judith Friedman — a software engineer from Los Angeles, California
Jim Carpenter — a retired music professor and conductor from Charlotte, Vermont (whose 1-day cash winnings total $25,601)
| Player | First Commercial | End of Jeopardy! | End of Double Jeopardy! | Final | Coryat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim | $3,400 | $6,600 | $13,000 |
$25,000
2nd place: $3,000 |
$13,000
15 R, 0 W |
| Judith | $4,400 | $5,000 | $23,000 |
$32,001
New champion: $32,001 |
$17,000
22 R (including 2 DDs), 2 W (including 1 DD) |
| Miles | $400 | $2,800 | $16,000 |
$5,999
3rd place: $2,000 |
$16,000
17 R, 1 W |
| IN THE STARS | NAME CHANGERS | YOU GET A P+ | CULTURE, IN THE POPULAR SENSE | SOUND | ADVICE |
|
$200
[11]
They're the 2 brightest stars in Gemini
Castor & Pollux
Jim
|
$200
[27]
In the decade after Coca-Cola came out, a pharmacist created "Brad's Drink", soon renaming it this
Pepsi
Jim
Miles
|
$200
[28]
Gym class
PE
Judith
|
$200
[29]
If you were curious, according to Cinema Blend, the kill count in the first 4 films featuring this title assassin is 495
John Wick
Miles
|
$200
[23]
Deepwater ports on this inlet include Seattle, Tacoma & Everett
Puget Sound
Judith
|
$200
[30]
In her "Guide to Life", this Muppet gives fashion advice:"Take it from moi... refuse to go along with... apparel trends"
Miss Piggy
Judith
|
|
$400
[10]
Polaris Australis, the closest star to the celestial this, is barely visible to the naked eye & not much use in navigation
the (celestial) South Pole
Jim
|
$400
[12]
It's been Willis Tower since 2009, but many Chicagoans still refer to 233 S. Wacker Drive as this
the Sears Tower
Miles
|
$400
[21]
It signifies that "some material may not be suitable for children"
PG
Miles
|
$400
[17]
It's something many use every day to unlock things online & the nickname of Red Sox prospect Jhostynxon Garcia
a password
Miles
|
$400
[22]
King George Sound off Western Australia is an inlet of this much larger body of water
the Indian Ocean
Jim
|
$400
[24]
Shirley Strawberry serves up relationship advice during the "Strawberry Letter" segment of this man's morning show
(Steve) Harvey
Judith
|
|
$600
[6]
A hard-to-spot star called Lionrock isn't in Leo but in this watery constellation
Aquarius
Judith
|
$600
[8]
In 2013 the NBA's New Orleans Hornets rebranded as this, after Louisiana's state bird
the Pelicans
Judith
|
$600
[20]
Headquartered in London, this firm became one of the world's largest oil companies in 1998 when it merged with Amoco
BP
Judith
|
$600
[16]
Or in the pope-ular sense; Isabella Rossellini made the most of her 7+ minutes onscreen in this 2024 film, nabbing an Oscar nom
Conclave
Miles
|
$600
[14]
Smith Sound separates Canada's Ellesmere Island from this non-Canadian territory
Greenland
Judith
|
$600
[3]
He offered pious advice as Poor Richard; as himself, he advised a friend "on the choice of a mistress"
(Ben) Franklin
Judith
|
|
$800
[5]
Variable stars that briefly increase greatly in brightness are called dwarf these, though not the super kind
nova
Judith
|
$1,000
[9]
In 2011 Sri Lanka's govt. announced it would rename all state institutions still bearing this former British colonial name
Ceylon
Jim
|
$800
[19]
In 2001 Microsoft introduced this new version of Windows that was popular for well over a decade
XP
Jim
|
$800
[15]
A misheard lyric from a song by this band: "You are the Dancing Queen, young & sweet, only 7 teeth"
ABBA
Judith
|
$800
[1]
Horse Island in Connecticut's Thimble Archipelago in this sound is an ecological lab owned by Yale University
Long Island Sound
Jim
|
$800
[25]
Originally an actor & a teacher, he had a huge bestseller with the self-help book "How to Win Friends & Influence People"
Dale Carnegie
Jim
|
|
$1,000
[7]
Mirfak is a bright yellow supergiant in the constellation named for this hero who killed the Gorgon
Perseus
Judith
|
DD
$1,600
[4]
This U.S. president was born with the surname Blythe; he later took the name of his stepfather
Bill Clinton
Judith
|
$1,000
[13]
Thisarmy duty has been used as a form of punishment for some infractions
KP
Jim
|
$1,000
[18]
With a 2025 Best Rap Album Grammy for her mixtape "Alligator Bites Never Heal", shewas one triumphant Tampanian
Doechii
Miles
|
$1,000
[2]
The Exxon Valdez oil disaster occurred when the ship struck Bligh Reef in this royal-sounding sound
Prince William Sound
Judith
|
$1,000
[26]
Abbreviated FBL, it's a system for improving a product by collecting & processing users' comments
a feedback loop
Jim
Judith
|
| IT HAPPENED ONE LEAP YEAR | GERMAN NOBEL LITERATURE LAUREATES | ONE VOWEL, 3 TIMES | YOU SEEM DISTANT | FROM THE MOVIE SOUNDTRACK | GUYS NAMED RICHARD |
|
$400
[27]
The first modern Olympic Gameswere held in 1896, in this city for old time's sake
Athens
Judith
|
$400
[28]
Nelly Sachsaccepted her 1966 prize in this country, her home since she had taken refuge from Nazi Germany in 1940
Sweden
|
$400
[22]
Commercial bunches of this fruit can weigh between about 50 & 140 pounds & consist of 9 hands
bananas
Jim
|
$400
[29]
In 2024 NASA found a new farthest-off galaxy; we see it as it was 13.5 billion years ago, just 290 million years after this event
the Big Bang
Jim
|
$400
[30]
Seal covered "Fly Like An Eagle" for the soundtrack of this '90s Jordan/Bugs film
Space Jam
Miles
|
$400
[25]
Michael Gambon had big shoes to fill when replacing the late Muggle Richard Harris in this film role
Dumbledore
Miles
|
|
$800
[5]
In 1996 Bosnian Serb forces ended a 4-year siege of this capital, the longest in modern European history
Sarajevo
Judith
|
$800
[7]
The masterpiece of 1902 winner Theodor Mommsen was a multi-volume history of this ancient imperial city
Rome
Judith
|
$800
[8]
To withdraw formally from an association, like some states once did
secede
Judith
|
$1,200
[10]
Late distance runner Kelvin Kiptum never reached his goal of breaking this marathon barrier; he set a record at 35 seconds over it
two hours
Miles
|
$800
[2]
This popular '80s soundtrack includes "Hungry Eyes" & The Ronettes' "Be My Baby", which opens the movie
Dirty Dancing
|
$800
[26]
People magazine once called this fitness guru "a lithe, hyperkinetic elf in an emerald-green track suit"
(Richard) Simmons
Miles
|
|
$1,200
[6]
After its top court's landmark Goodridge decision, the first legal same-sex marriages took place in 2004 in this U.S. state
Massachusetts
|
$1,200
[21]
1912 winner Gerhart Hauptmann later wrote "The Heretic of Soana", about a priest who joins the pagan cult of this Greek love god
Eros
Judith
|
$1,200
[9]
You put merchandise on this when you pay a deposit, then pay the rest later
layaway
Miles
|
$1,600
[3]
Daunted by the Appalachian Trail from the start of this book, Bill Bryson ended up trekking about 2/5 of its 2,200 miles
A Walk in the Woods
Miles
|
$1,200
[16]
Picture Ryan Goslingcruising around L.A. when you listen to "A Real Hero" & "Nightcall" from this film's soundtrack
Drive
Miles
|
$1,200
[1]
Video game superstar Richard Tyler Blevinsis known to his millions of streaming followers by this handle
Ninja
Miles
|
|
$2,000
[24]
He administered the first experimental vaccination for smallpox in 1796, to an 8-year-old boy named James Phipps
(Edward) Jenner
Judith
|
$1,600
[20]
He got the prize mainly for his first novel, "Buddenbrooks", which shot him to fame in 1901
Thomas Mann
Jim
|
$1,600
[19]
It's not just chimps that may be into cannibalism; this related knuckle-walker has been known to partake as well
a bonobo
Miles
|
$2,000
[23]
Britain end-to-end is proverbially to John o'Groat's from here in Cornwall; try the journey in a polo & chinos from a clothing retailer
Land's End
Jim
|
$1,600
[12]
The soundtrack for this film includes "Swerve" & the Oscar-winning song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp"
Hustle & Flow
|
$1,600
[11]
This prolific author & illustrator created Busytown, a richly detailed world full of animals doing human-like stuff
Richard Scarry
Miles
|
|
DD
$5,000
[15]
The USA's first public telegraph line opened for business in 1844 with the dispatch of this 4-word biblical message
What hath God wrought
Judith
|
$2,000
[4]
A former seminary student, he won in 1946 for works like "Knulp" & "Demian", combining the sensual & the spiritual
Hermann Hesse
|
$2,000
[18]
This type of demon seduced men while they slept
a succubus
Jim
|
DD
$5,000
[14]
In July 1846 the Mormon Battalion was formed for this war, but they were in Iowa, so they marched about 2,000 miles to San Diego
the Mexican-American War
Judith
|
$2,000
[13]
The Ringer called the cover of "Lady Marmalade" off this movie's soundtrack "a heater, a jam & a bop"
Moulin Rouge!
Judith
|
$2,000
[17]
In 1978, while working for Vogue, he became the first living photographer granted a show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Richard) Avedon
Miles
|
The first 12 sites added to the list in 1978 included Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado & this site 500 miles to the north
Yellowstone (National Park)