Final Jeopardy: Famous Names (9-8-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (9/8/2025) in the category “Famous Names” was:
On June 12, 1942 she wrote, “I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone”
New champ Jonathan Hugendubler, an adjunct professor & trivia host from Baltimore, MD, won $23,601 when he took down 16-day champ, Scott Riccardi. In Game 2, he’s up against: Josh Jackson, an urban planner from Pasadena, CA; and Caroline Paul, an HR specialist from Washington, D.C.
Round 1 Categories: Edible Idioms – Business History – Biology – Bicycles on the Big Screen – Plain – Simple
Josh found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Biology” under the $600 clue with 8 clues left after it. He was in last place with $2,000, $3,400 less than Caroline’s lead. Josh bet all of it, and he was RIGHT.
“By means of” this 2-word process was fit enough to survive as a subtitle for Darwin’s “Origin of Species” show
Caroline finished in the lead with $5,600. Josh was second with $3,800 and Josh was last with $3,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: African History – That Adds Up – Streaming TV – Plays & Playwrights – Same First & Last Letter – A Platonic Category
Jonathan found the first Daily Double in “African History” under the $800 clue on the 13th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $10,600, $3,000 more than Caroline in second place. Jonathan bet everything and he was RIGHT.
1896’s Battle of Adwa saw an Ethiopian army defeat an attempt by this European country to take control of it show
Just two clues later, Jonathan got the last Daily Double in “That Adds Up” under the $1,200 clue. He was in the lead with $22,800, $16,800 more than Caroline in second place. Jonathan bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
Barnard, Wellesley & 5 other schools banded together as these a century ago to address the need to fund women’s colleges show
Jonathan finished in the lead with a runaway $29,800. Caroline was second with $7,200 and Josh was last with $5,600. All clues were shown.
TWO of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS ANNE FRANK?
Today’s final Jeopardy! clue contains the first words written by Anne Frank in the diary she received on June 12, 1942, her 13th birthday. Just a month later, the Frank family was forced into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Even as she lived in fear of imminent death, cut off from a normal teenage life, Anne continued to write about daily life in hiding and confide her hopes and dreams for a future that was never to be. The Frank family and others hiding with them were arrested on August 2, 1944.
Anne’s father, Otto Frank, was the only family member to survive the Holocaust. Through his efforts, Anne’s diary was published in 1947 in Dutch. An American edition came later in 1952. The award-winning 1955 stage adaptation of the book led to it becoming a best-seller. Actress Susan Strasberg, then 18, made her Broadway debut as Anne Frank.
Josh got it right. He bet $426 and finished with $6,026.
Caroline thought it was Queen Elizabeth. That cost her $1,000 and left her with $6,200.
Jonathan also got it right. He bet $10,200 and won the game with $40,000. Jonathan’s 2-day total is $63,601. Wowee!
2 triple stumpers from PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS:
($1200) A play by Branden Jacobs Jenkins shares this title word with a 19th century drama about a girl who’s one-eighth Black
($2000) This contemporary who outlived Shakespeare coined the term “playwright”, though he meant it as a pejorative term
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “BRITISH MONARCHS”
The most recent British monarch not to succeed a parent or a sibling was this ruler who succeeded an uncle show
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Hello to all out there for another season of frivolity and frustration.
I rarely get to say this, but I thought all 3 DDs were creampuffs, as was FJ. Seeing the Frank hideaway in 1971 has stuck with me all these years.
Jon’s all-in DD wager was ballsy, to put it mildly. Caroline killed any chance of staying in range with some bad answers. “Chicago 7” for the blacklisted screenwriters made me wanna puke. Somewhere tonight Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin et al are having a good laugh over that one.
I was stunned early when no one knew the Kroger shoppers’ service. It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread and the remote control. The Shoeless Joe clue was tough, but I knew the title. Pretty sure I saw the film long ago. Knew the military word for “explore” but that was a tricky one. The $800 clue in Edible Idioms was another softball they all passed on.
Jonathan seemed very nervous and/or stressed, to me, at least. I saw him obviously struggling with the buzzer at times. He wasn’t as abrupt as Matt Jackson, but had a similar sort-of frantic manner.
I was 3/3 on DD, but missed FJ. For some reason, I said Marilyn Monroe.
Agreed, he was darn annoying at times. It may or may not have been 6 weeks between tapings, but there’s definitely a buildup of nerves when you know you will be on first when they resume. In 1974 I easily won the last 2 games of the day on “Split Second.” Then had to wait another 6 or 7 days till the next game. I was pretty nervous that whole time. They took the two best candidates from the new contestant pool and put them against me. It was a great battle, but I lost. I was hoping to be on for the max 5 days, break the scoring record, and automatically win a new car. Instead I got $1075 and a box of Z-bricks. (Which is more than “Jeopardy!” gave me 13 years later!)
Buddy, you always make me laugh! Kudos!!
Jonathan was eventually on a roll, and ultimately left the challengers far behind. Congratulations Jonathan! Say, it sure is nice now that we’re into the new season! I mean, it was a long time coming. Anyways, the FJ seemed rather cryptic to me, but I went with Eleanor Roosevelt for lack of a better choice.
I’m still without Internet so I’ll post more comments whenever I can.
Caroline started very strong and then Jonathan got rolling and neither she or Josh were able to catch him.
Jonathan sure made the right move when he landed on that DD in African History under the $800 clue. He correctly assumed it would be a softball and was it ever!
Josh’s score was 5,600 going into FJ! What a way to begin Season 42 for Jonathan. He ended last season taking down a superchampion and he began the season with the first runaway game in his first title defense. I tbelieve that 40,000 is the third highest score of the season premiere.