Final Jeopardy: Relics (10-24-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (10/24/2025) in the category “Relics” was:
Missionary William Ellis reported in 1825 that his “bones were preserved… & were considered sacred by the people” of Hawaii
3x champ Tom Devlin, an attorney from Washington, D.C., has now won $73,199. In Game 4,
his challengers are: Kristina Pohribnij, a stay-at-home mom from Palatine, IL; and Shaan Mishra, a mgmt. consultant from Carmel, IN.
Round 1 Categories: Sometime Last Century – The National Toy Hall of Fame – Comparative Words – Movie Last Lines – Let Your Greek Flag Fly – USC & UCLA
Tom found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Movie Last Lines” under the $600 clue on the 6th pick of the round. He was in second place with $1,600, $1,000 less than Kristina’s lead. Tom bet that $1,600 and he was RIGHT.
1987: “Grandpa? Maybe you could come over & read it again to me tomorrow”; “As you wish” show
Tom finished in the lead with $9,000. Kristina was second with $4,400 and Shaan was last with $2,600. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Those Are Pillars! – Chicken Disc Jockey – European Cities – Acronyms – Women Authors – You “SC” & You “CLA”
Tom found the first Daily Double in “Acronyms” under the $1,200 clue on the 6th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $11,000 now, $6,400 more than Shaan in second place. Tom bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
5-letter acronym for an Aussie or Kiwi soldier show
Shaan got the last Daily Double in “You ‘SC’ & You ‘CLA'” under the $2,000 clue on the 20th pick. He was in last place with $7,800 now, $12,200 less than Tom’s lead. Shaan bet $5,000 and he was RIGHT.
If you don’t fire ‘til you see the whites of their eyes, you’re waiting to see this, which covers 5/6 of the eyeball show
Tom finished in the lead with $22,800. Shaan was in second place with $15,600 and Kristina was last with $10,800. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS CAPTAIN COOK?
British explore James Cook was killed on Feb. 14, 1779 at Kealakekua Bay on the island of Hawaii. Legend has it that the natives were initially friendly, supposedly believing Cook was a deity. Cook and crew wore out their welcome soon enough and hostilities on both sides culminated with Cook’s death. The natives made off with Cook’s corpse, reducing it to bones. In the 1820’s, missionary William Ellis claimed to have seen some of the bones, regarded as sacred by the natives, in “a small basket of wicker-work, completely covered over with red feathers.”
Did Ellis make this up to enhance Cook’s legacy? Perhaps. For one thing, no one really knows what happened to Cook’s bones. For another, Cook is not held in high regard in Hawaii by any means. In fact, some even celebrate the anniversary of his death every year.
Kristina thought it was Father Damien, who wasn’t born until 1840. She lost $5,000 and finished with $5,800.
Shaan got it right, much to his surprise! He didn’t bet anything though, so his score remained 15,600.
Tom also went with Father Damien. He lost $8,401 and finished with $14,399. That made a super-surprised Shaan Mishra the new Jeopardy! champ!
A triple stumper from each round:
USC & UCLA ($800) UCLA’s music school is named for this generous ’60s trumpeter, “A” in A&M Records
THOSE ARE PILLARS! ($800) His dedication for “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom” says, “I… wrote my will across the sky in stars”
2 years ago: Only ONE of the players got this FJ in “FAMOUS AMERICANS”
On March 23, 1779 he became the first U.S. diplomat to serve overseas by presenting his credentials to a foreign government show
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It was another exciting game, and Shaan emerged as the new Jeopardy champ. Congratulations Shaan! Well, I performed less than satisfactorily in the game, but I would have to confess that I was stunned that the response for FJ would be as slam dunk as that one.
What began as a seeming runaway turned into a stirring battle. I had no idea on Final, said King Kamehemeha just to say something. 3rd DD easy, other two they answered before I could come up with them. Not surprised they didn’t know the A in A&M records, but he’s someone I know well and is still performing at age 90. Coming to my town very soon, in fact. I think someone should have known “Nobody’s perfect” film; it’s a cinematic classic and that line is so well-known.
I agree about the movie, Howard. They could have added one of the stars to that clue. That was the 1st B&W film I showed my kids so they would see Monroe, Curtis & Lemmon. I thought they could have added The Lonely Bull to the A trumpeter clue. The only stumper I didn’t get was the Greek island. Nikki was 13 when that ‘soda on the side’ song came out.
As for FJ!, I paid no heed to the 1820 date as a possible mislead. I thought the bones story was common knowledge. In retrospect, the relics category was another mislead toward Catholicism that I missed. Hawaii does have relics of Father Damien.
Ironically, this old Father Damien clue was a triple stumper: In 1936, 47 years after his death, his body was moved from Molokai to Leuven, Belgium. One player said Captain Cook!
Molokai would have given me that answer immediately.