Final Jeopardy: Authors (12-23-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (12/23/2025) in the category “Authors” was:
Before his sudden death in 2004, this journalist & author was researching the unsolved assassination of PM Olof Palme
It’s the second game of the 2025 Second Chance Tournament (Week 2). Today’s players are: Bob Callen, a retired librarian from Lexington, KY; Molly Murray, a communications director orig. from Middletown, CT; and Michelle Tsai, a tutor orig. from Honolulu, HI.
The links in their names will take you to each one’s original game, and you can see if their second chance was predicted in the comments.
Round 1 Categories: U.S. Place Names – Young Adult Novels – Christmas Entertainment – A Proverbial Mess – “C.B.” – What’s Your Handle?
Michelle found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “‘C.B.'” under the $800 clue on the 6th pick of the round. She had $1,800 and was the only one with any dough. Michelle bet it all and she was RIGHT.
When you analyze information in a manner that tends to bolster your preexisting beliefs it’s called this show
Michelle finished in the lead with $10,400. Molly was second with $2,800 and Bob was last with $2,200. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: The ’20s – Restar-auteurs – Hitting You With Hard Science – 4-Syllable Words – Toons in Tunes – Lady & the Stamp
Michelle found the first Daily Double in “Hitting You With Hard Science” under the $1,200 clue on the 2nd pick. She was in the lead with $12,000 now, $9,200 more than Molly in second place. Michelle bet $4,000 and she was RIGHT.
Latin for “hair” gives us the name of these blood vessels show
Michelle got the last Daily Double in “Lady & the Stamp” under the $800 clue, with a dozen clues left after it. In the lead with $22,400, she had $11,600 more than Molly in second place. Michelle bet $6,000 and guessed Sacajawea. That was WRONG.
The “Columbian Exposition” series features the first U.S. commemorative postage stamps, including 7 stamps that feature her show
Michelle finished in the lead with $22,800. Molly was second with $13,200. At negative $1,800, the game was over for Bob. All clues were shown.
BOTH contestants left in Final Jeopardy! got it right.
WHO IS STIEG LARSSON?
Stieg Larsson was the author of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2005), “The Girl Who Played with Fire” (2006) and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest” (2007), all published posthumously after he died of a sudden heart attack at age 50 in 2004. Larsson was 35 years old when Olof Palme, the Swedish Prime Minister, was assassinated in 1986 on a Stockholm street. The case has never been solved. After Larsson’s death, a huge trove of research he conducted on Palme’s murder was found. Jan Stocklassa, former diplomat and author, secured the rights to the files with an aim to picking up where Larssen left off. Stocklassa published his findings in “The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin” (2018).
For a deeper dive, I picked Anne Logan’s review on ivereadthis.com because she notes that the book really has little to appeal to Stieg Larsson fans and is “full of names and historical events that won’t have much relevance for the North American reader.” However, it has been made into a documentary-style miniseries so either one might appeal to the true crime buff.
Molly got it right. She bet it all and doubled her score to $26,400.
Michelle got it right, too. She bet $3,601 and won the game with $26,401. Michelle Tsai advances to the finals. Brilliant game, Michelle!
A triple stumper from each round:
TOONS IN TUNES ($1200) In “One Week”, the Barenaked Ladies mention Aquaman & this character, aka Usagi Tsukino aka Princess Serenity
($2000) Nicki Minaj namedrops this autobot nemesis in a 2019 song title & also tells of her predilection for rum
2 years ago: TWO of the players got this FJ in “BOOK CHARACTERS”
Early on in a 1966 novel, this title character beats the protagonist in maze races; later on he bites him show
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2/3 on DD and got FJ. That Final was one that, if you knew it, you did. If Olof Palme didn’t ring a bell, you were, most likely, out of luck.
Concur that Michelle was likable and charismatic. And, she broke the mold for “there’s a reason they didn’t win”.
Props to Molly for staying in range against a strong player. Michelle went for the jugular on that last DD and it could have cost her if she missed Final. I had no clue but figured it might be Stieg Larsson. I got only the easy middle DD.
Michelle was very fast and smart, and eminently likable. (Also one of my favorite names) Stumpers completely stumped me. The proverbs category was a total waste, way too easy. The place names was a much better one.
Today’s the 38th “airaversary” of my close call on the show. 🙁
This match belonged to the M ladies Molly and Michelle. Bob only buzzed in twice in the second round and was incorrect on both and he wasn’t around for FJ! Here’s a strange coincidence, exactly one year ago today we had a dismissal on the same date which is 12/23. And today we saw a dismissal on this date as well. We’ll see who is our third finalist tomorrow.
Michelle’s response of Larsen should be accepted on the spelling list decisions. It’s an acceptable misspelling.