Final Jeopardy: Brand Names (10-28-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (10/28/2025) in the category “Brand Names” was:
This brand got its name in 1940 after a distillery executive took friends on a hunting trip
New champ Aaron Levine, a sports anchor from Seattle, WA, won $20,600 yesterday. In Game 2, his challengers are: Cynthia Appiah, an Olympic bobsledder from Toronto, Ontario; and Alan Turner, a peanut butter artisan from Rohnert Park, CA.
Round 1 Categories: American History – Locks & Keys – The Name Behind the Middle Initial – A Novel Setting – Death? No, Thank You! (Movie Edition) – Let’s Speak Canadian
Aaron found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “American History” under the $600 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. He was the only one on the board with $1,800. Aaron bet $1,800 and he was RIGHT.
He made his fortune selling gear to miners in California, expanded it with railroads & founded a university show
Aaron finished in the lead with $8,400. Alan was second with $7,800 and Cynthia was last with $1,200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Seas the Day – Publishing Pros – Significant Mothers – Geology – Pop Goes the Music – “AP” Exam
Aaron found the first Daily Double in “Significant Mothers” under the $2,000 clue on the 10th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $14,800 now, $9,000 more than Alan in second place. Aaron bet $6,000 and said Catherine de Medici. That was WRONG.
Catherine of Aragon was the youngest daughter of this royal mom show
Aaron got the last Daily Double in “Publishing Pros” under the $1,600 clue on the 12th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $8,800 now, $3,000 more than Alan in second place. Aaron bet $4,000 and he was RIGHT.
In an unpredictable move, this publisher merged with Penguin in 2013 show
Aaron finished in the lead with $15,200. Alan was in second place with $11,000 and Cynthia was last with $2,400. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS WILD TURKEY?
According to Adweek Magazine, Thomas McCarthy was a Nichols executive who took along “some of his personal stash” of 101-proof bourbon on turkey hunting trips. Conbining the purpose of the hunt with the bourbon, his friends asked him to bring more of “that wild turkey bourbon,” and a brand name was born.
Jimmy Russell, the company’s Master Distiller and the Buddha of Bourbon, explains that the bourbon on the hunting trip was 101-proof because it was “pulled out of the barrel.” That’s what made it different (and presumably better) than the usual 100-proof Nichols bourbon.
Cynthia had Johnnie Walker. She lost $2,300 and finished with $100.
Alan went with Jaegermeister. He lost $4,000 and left him with $7,000.
Aaron drew a blank. He lost $6,801 but won the game with $8,399. Aaron’s 2-day total is $28,999.
A triple stumper from each round:
SEAS THE DAY ($1600) Major ports in this Balkan nation include Sarandë on the Ionian Sea & Durrës on the Adriatic
SIGNIFICANT MOTHERS ($1600) His first wife, Maria, gave birth to 7 of his 20 children, including Wilhelm Friedemann & Johann Gottfried Bernhard
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “NAME’S THE SAME”
This first name is shared by a character introduced in 1941 & a member of royalty who is sixth in line to the British throne show
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Saw only the last few clues and Final. Said Jim Beam just to have a guess. Got the first and last DDs. I don’t understand Alan’s FJ wager at all. Either bet $4201 or go all-in. Or bet $0 and win the game as it turned out. (I did guess the FJ answer from 2 years ago, which the players all missed.)
The hotel key clue was a cinch. “Abner” gave me that stumper right away. Knew the Ivy League press and the Mifflin Harcourt name.
2/3 on DD and got FJ. In fact, it came to me in real time as it was read.
I missed the Aragon DD. I seriously don’t know much about royalty from 5-600 years ago!
I like Aaron’s swagger.