Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 23, 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 noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category World Geography) for Thursday, January 23, 2025 (Season 41, Game 99):
In the Orenburg Oblast, a bridge over this 1,500-mile river has monuments labeled “Asia” & “Europe”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
| Mehal Shah, a software engineer originally from Buffalo, New York |
Drew Goins, a journalist from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
|
Will Yancey, a lecturer of history from Banquete, Texas
|
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
It is now time for the finals of Champions Wildcard, as Will Yancey, Drew Goins, and Mehal Shah will battle over two games for spots in the Tournament of Champions. That being said—and this is incredibly important to the strategy that we’ll see play out over the next two games—our three players do not know that a second spot will open up in the Tournament of Champions; as of taping, both staff and players still believed that Lisa Ann Walter would be participating in the Tournament. Thus, strategic decisions are going to be made assuming that only one Tournament of Champions spot is available. (And, any criticisms of the players for not “playing for second” are undue and completely inappropriate.)
As I mentioned in my game recap yesterday, Drew is a slight favorite to win, with a 38% chance, compared to 33% for Mehal and 29% for Will; the prediction model says Drew is 70.5% to finish first or second, compared to 64.8% for Mehal and 64.7% for Will. This one will very likely come down to the eight major clues seen over the next two days.
(Content continues below)
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Correct response: What is the Ural River?
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.)
Most sources consider the Ural River (and Ural Mountains) to be the continental border between Europe and Asia; this is reinforced by a pedestrian bridge in Orenberg having permanent “Europe” and “Asia” monuments on each side.
As far as world geography clues go, this is a relatively straightforward clue without any curveballs; however, one must know more than just the Volga River in order to get this clue correct. Remembering that the continental border is the Ural Mountains (and that there is also a Ural River) will be the best way for both players and viewers to get this clue correct.
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, January 23, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Our Colorful World; For The “Gram”; From Page To Screen; The Night Sky; Curls; Just Wanna Have Fun)
An extra “S” on a place name led to Will dropping the Daily Double; he rebounded well to tie for the lead after 15 clues. At the break, the scores were Will $2,000 Drew $2,000 Mehal $1,600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Drew 3 correct 0 incorrect
Will 6 correct 2 incorrect
Mehal 3 correct 0 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Mehal was announced as originally from Buffalo today.
Drew thought he was hallucinating on November 30, 2004 when Ken lost.
Will was disappointed and irritated for about 9 minutes when he lost.
Incorrect responses from Will kept things close as Mehal got the last clue of the round on a rebound to take the lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Mehal 11 correct 1 incorrect
Will 11 correct 3 incorrect
Drew 5 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Mehal $5,200
Will $4,800
Drew $2,800
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: History Of Britain; Alliterative Lit; 9-Letter Words; January Babies; News Personalities; This One Time, At Orchestra Camp)
Will found both Daily Double, getting one correct and one incorrect. Proving the judges are consistent, Drew got dinged for adding an extra “S” this round. Mehal led going into Final, but all three players were in five figures going into Clue 61.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Mehal 21 correct 1 incorrect
Will 19 correct 6 incorrect
Drew 13 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 26 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Mehal $15,200
Will $11,600
Drew $10,800
Drew and Mehal were both correct in Final; Mehal made a big wager and has a good-sized lead going into Day 2 tomorrow!
Tonight’s results:
Drew $10,800 + $6,800 = $17,600 (What is the Ural River?)
Will $11,600 – $6,000 = $5,600 (What is the Volga?)
Mehal $15,200 + $12,000 = $27,200 (What is the Ural River? Ural River?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) OUR COLORFUL WORLD $1000 (clue #3)
Will 800 -1000 (Drew 0 Mehal 600)
2) ALLITERATIVE LIT $2000 (clue #13)
Will 7600 +3800 (Drew 8400 Mehal 8000)
3) JANUARY BABIES $1200 (clue #21, $10000 left on board)
Will 13400 -3000 (Drew 7600 Mehal 11600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: -72
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Will 3 5*
Drew
Mehal 4
DJ! Round:
Will 1 4 5* 2† 1† 3*
Drew 4 5 3 2 1 4 4
Mehal 4 3 2 5 3 4 3 2
† – selection in same category as Daily Double
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Mehal 3.33
Drew 3.29
Will 3.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 26 (0.26 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Mehal $15,200 Coryat, 21 correct, 1 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Drew $10,800 Coryat, 13 correct, 2 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Will $13,800 Coryat, 19 correct, 6 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $39,800
Lach Trash: $6,400 (on 5 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $7,800
Lead Changes: 11
Times Tied: 2
Player Statistics:
Will Yancey, career statistics:
142 correct, 32 incorrect
10/13 on rebound attempts (on 24 rebound opportunities)
34.84% in first on buzzer (139/399)
10/15 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $15,600)
4/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,171
Drew Goins, career statistics:
159 correct, 19 incorrect
6/8 on rebound attempts (on 27 rebound opportunities)
38.60% in first on buzzer (154/399)
8/9 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $25,400)
4/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,886
Mehal Shah, career statistics:
135 correct, 17 incorrect
12/12 on rebound attempts (on 26 rebound opportunities)
37.06% in first on buzzer (126/340)
6/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $31,200)
1/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,067
Andy’s Thoughts:
- Because anything earned tomorrow can be doubled in Final Jeopardy, Mehal’s “effective lead” is $4,800 over Drew and $10,800 over Will.
- Per the prediction model: Will Yancey: 8.280% to win, 34.770% to advance to ToC. Drew Goins: 32.252% to win, 76.300% to advance to ToC. Mehal Shah: 59.468% to win, 88.930% to advance to ToC.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
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