Final Jeopardy: Presidential Nominees (4-18-25)

The Final Jeopardy question (4/18/2025) in the category “Presidential Nominees” was:

The year the Democratic nominee gave his “Cross of Gold” speech, the GOP nominee was this man who backed the gold standard

New champ Steven Hoying, an attorney-at-law from Hilliard, OH, won $29,403 yesterday when he defeated a 6x champ. In Game 2, he competes against: Rachael Gray, a graduate student from Cuyahoga Falls, OH; and Liam Starnes, an undergraduate student from Barrington, IL.

Round 1 Categories: Our Top Story Tonight – Food Brands – Roughly Turn of the Century Music – “G” in the Middle – Stand – The Liver

Steven found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Stand” under the $1,000 on the 20th pick of the round. He was in last place with $1,800, $2,400 less than Rachael’s lead. Steven bet it all and he was RIGHT.

Around 1675 he said: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” show

Rachael finished in the lead with $6,200. Liam was second with $4,400 and Steven was last with $4,200. All clues were shown.

Round 2 Categories: Around the Pacific – Prepositions in Book Titles – The Arts – Notable Women – Movie Locales – 6-Letter Vocab

Liam found the first Daily Double in “The Arts” under the $1,600 clue on the 6th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $11,600, $5,400 more than Rachael in second place. Liam bet $6,000 and he was RIGHT.

Grand Rapids, Michigan has a public sculpture by this man–a 42-ton stabile show

2 clues later, Rachael landed on the last Daily Double in “Prepositions in Book Titles” under the $1,200 clue. She was in second place with $7,800, $9,800 less than Liam’s lead. Rachael bet $4,000 and she was RIGHT.

It’s the title of Demi Moore’s memoir; Bruce Willis & Ashton Kutcher are characters, but not joy, anger, sadness or bing bong show

Liam finished in the lead with $19,600. Rachael was second with $16,200 and Steven was last with $13,800. All clues were shown.



TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS WILLIAM McKINLEY?

William Jennings Bryan became the Democratic candidate for president in 1896 after speaking at the Democratic National Convention. He denounced the gold standard and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with his fiery “Cross of Gold” speech, that ended with “You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” William McKinley, his Republican opponent, defeated Bryan in 1896, as well as in the next election.

More info: Competing American Myths compares Bryan and McKinley, explaining that “the gold and silver debate was about more than stabilizing the American dollar.”



Steven got it right. He bet $6,000 and finished with $19,800.

Rachael went with Taft, the other Republican who beat Bryan. That cost her $12,000 and left her with $4,200.

Liam also got it right. He bet $12,801 and won the game with $32,401. Liam Starnes is the new Jeopardy! champ.

Final Jeopardy (4/18/2025) Steven Hoying, Rachael Gray, Liam Starnes

2 triple stumpers from the last round:

THE ARTS ($2000) When this Nijinksy ballet premiered in 1911, Nijinksy played the title puppet

MOVIE LOCALES ($1600) The Cafe des Deux Moulins is where this winsome Parisienne waits tables while awaiting her fabulous destiny

More clues on Page 2

2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “HISTORIC GROUPS”

Originally a term for security escorts for commanders, in 27 B.C. this group was designated an official imperial force show

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5 Responses

  1. VJ says:

    I sure didn’t think Steven would be one and done. Liam looked like he had a cold or something. They all looked like they had a decent shot at winning at one point or another.

    My money was on Rachael until she failed to go all in on her Daily Double. In the end, it didn’t matter.

  2. Jason says:

    I was 3/3 on DD, and got FJ. However, TS mostly evaded me

    I don’t think I might say “too obvious”, Rick. I mean, I might guess that a number of folks at home said WJ Bryan. Just sayin’.

    • Rick says:

      Well, I couldn’t help but think that there was some trick involved as I really couldn’t imagine that the response would be that clear-cut.

  3. Howard says:

    I was airborne during the show and missed it. Knew FJ and the 2nd DD only. Got the garden structure and the rupture. Seems I missed a very competitive game.

  4. Rick says:

    It was a good competitive game to be sure, and Liam was sharp. Regarding the FJ, it was rather too obvious that William McKinley was the correct response. I mean, I read the answer back twice as I thought that I probably had missed something.

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