Final Jeopardy: 20th Century Science (10-17-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (10/17/2025) in the category “20th Century Science” was:
Calling it “a particle that cannot be detected”, physicist Wolfgang Pauli 1st proposed this in 1930; it was detected in 1956
New champ Cindy del Rosario, a hospice & palliative care nurse from Denver, CO, won $23,201 yesterday. In Game 2, she competes against: Sondra Venable, a standardized patient from New Orleans, LA; and Dargan Ware, an attorney & writer from Bessemer, AL.
Round 1 Categories: How’s Your Gulf Game? – A Brief History of Time – Don’t Tell Me to Calm Down – This is What We Trained for! – Movie Improvisations – Daddy, is There Really a…
Cindy found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Don’t Tell Me to Calm Down” under the $600 clue on the 10th pick of the round. She was tied for the lead with Dargan at $2,600, $1,400 more than Sondra in last place. Cindy made it a true Daily Double. She took a stab at it with “Hotel California” but that was WRONG.
As the title of a 1972 Eagles song, this phrase is pretty innocuous; as an imperative to calm down, it may raise some hackles show
Dargan finished in the lead with $5,200. Sondra was second with $4,200 and Cindy was last with $3,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: History – TV Personalities – Sold! To the Highest Bidder – Philosophy ABCs – Cat of 5 Tales – “Pass”words
Dargan found the first Daily Double in “History” under the $1,600 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. He was in the lead with $6,400 now, $2,200 more than Sondra in second place. Dargan made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
For 4 days in 1863, New York City was the scene of riots over inequitable exemptions in this process show
Dargan got the last Daily Double in “Philosophy ABCs” under the $1,600 clue on the 6th pick of the round. In the lead with $16,000 now, he had $11,800 more than Cindy and Sondra, who were tied in second place. Dargan bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.
F: Non sequiturs & vicious circles are types of these from the Latin for “deceit” show
Dargan finished in the lead with $35,200. Cindy was in second place with $11,400 and Sondra was last with $7,400. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS A NEUTRINO?
In a 1930 letter, Wolfgang Pauli first addressed “the possibility that there could exist in the nuclei electrically neutral particles, that I wish to call neutrons, which … do not travel with the velocity of light.” James Chadwick discovered a heavier particle in 1932 and also named it a neutron, leading Enrico Fermi to rename Pauli’s smaller particle neutrino.
Fast forward 26 years, physicists Frederick Reines and Clyde Cowan “definitely detected neutrinos from fission fragments” and let Wolfgang Pauli know about it in a 6/14/1956 telegram.
Sondra went with a quark. She lost $4,001 and finished with $3,399.
Cindy got it right. She bet $3,401 and finished with $14,801.
Dargan thought was quark, too. He lost $9,400 but won the game with the remaining $26,200. Dargan Ware is the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN ($1000) Leave this phrase of 3 4-letter words in the ’50s, when it may have originated in dialogue on TV’s “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet”
CAT OF 5 TALES ($1200) Jiji is a cat that helps this girl’s “Delivery Service” in Eiko Kadono’s fanciful tale, later adapted by Studio Ghibli
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “LANGUAGES OF ASIA”
Meaning “palace”, this word in the name of a UNESCO World Heritage Site follows Jal & Lal in the names of other historic structures show
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I was 3/3 on DD but missed FJ. I said “photon”. I’m not a nuclear physicist, but I know a bit more than the average bear, so, a little bit of embarrassment – but only a little bit!
Dargan really took it to town. I found it a little funny that, for both his DD, Cynthia picked a $600 clue, he got it right, and the $800 was the DD!
The ladies played well but were no match for the champ. I found the first 2 DDs easy; Cindy, unfortunately did not. (I saw the Eagles in ’72 when they were new and an opening act.) Final had me all over the place: quasar, double helix, quark. The few stumpers listed here stumped me too.
It was another fascinating game, but heavily lopsided in favor of Dargan. As for me, I performed above average during the game, and also went with ‘neutrino’ in FJ.
Congrats on getting FJ! right, Cindy! I wish Ken had just said that instead of “you may have to settle for second today…” OMG! I think you already knew that.
Years ago, someone on Reddit griped about Alex Trebek saying a player with a runaway “could not be caught” at the end of the Double Jeopardy! round, claiming it spoiled the FJ! round. Alex was told to stop doing that so he did. I’m not really sure why it has bugged me ever since, but maybe because it’s one thing not to mention the runaway. It’s another to pretend it won’t make a difference in the outcome.
I wouldn’t be too hard on Alex VJ. After all, Art Fleming never matured into the game as Alex did. Then again, Alex had some ~36 years to develop the game into a more leisurely pace.
I wasn’t being hard on Alex, Rick.
The host should never mention the runaway before Final because there’s always the possibility the leader will err in his/her wager. The gal who beat me took no chances and bet $0, and of course it did me no good to get FJ right and she did not.
What are the odds, Howard? Slim to none, I’d say. I agree that the host doesn’t have to say it’s a runaway. He doesn’t have to say so and so has A BIG LEAD either. Conversely, he always says IT’S NOT A RUNAWAY, when second place can win if the leader gets FJ wrong or screws up the bet.
Just my opinion.