Final Jeopardy: 21st Century (12-26-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (12/26/2025) in the category “The 21st Century” was:
In 2015 a foreign govt. said this would be abolished to “increase labor supply & ease pressures from an aging population”
Week 2 of the 2025 Second Chance Tournament wraps up today with these players: Melanie Hirsch, a lawyer from Silver Spring, MD; Michelle Tsai, a tutor orig. from Honolulu, HI; and Guy Branum, a writer and comedian from West Hollywood, CA. These scores from yesterday will be added at the end of today’s game to determine the winner:
Melanie $12,000 Michelle $19,200 Guy $16,000
Round 1 Categories: History “P”s & “Q”s – Soil, Breeze & Conflagration – 4-Letter Businesses – Why So Blue? – All Kinds of Sports – One More Time
Melanie found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “History “P”s & “Q”s” under the $1,000 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. At $800, she was the only one with any money. Melanie bet the $1,000 allowance and she was RIGHT.
Surname of General Grigory, wooer of Catherine the Great; he was said to have fabricated fake villages to win her favor show
Melanie finished in the lead with $6,200. Michelle was second with $5,400 and Guy was last with $800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Alphabetically First – Around the World – A Riddle – Rapped – In a Mystery – Inside an Enigma
Guy found the first Daily Double in “Alphabetically First” under the $1,600 clue on the 5th pick. He was in last place with $3,600 now, $3,000 less than Michelle’s lead. Guy made it a true Daily Double and came up with agate after time was up. That was WRONG anyway.
of the traditional birthstones show
Guy got the last Daily Double in “In a Mystery” under the $1,600 clue on the 9th pick. In last place with $1,600, he had $6,200 less than Michelle’s lead. Guy bet the $2,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
In this short story by Edgar Allan Poe, C. Auguste Dupin solves the mystery of an apparently stolen item being used for blackmail show
Michelle finished in the lead with $14,600. Melanie was next with $10,600 and Guy was in third place with $9,200. All clues were shown.
ALL of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS THE ONE-CHILD POLICY
In the late 1970s, with the country’s population approaching one billion, Chinese leaders decided to implement a One-Child Policy, permitting only one child per family. How they went about this is a horror story in many ways. Nevertheless, it was the law of the land for several decades until it became necessary to deal with problems the policy caused, such as a shrinking labor force. In 2016, couples were allowed to have 2 children. That was increased to 3 children in May of 2021 and fines for exceeding the limit were abolished in July of 2021. The 3-Child Policy was formally made a law in August 2021 and it’s still the law, however ineffective.
Old Memories: I remember asking my Mom what not having “a Chinaman’s chance” meant when I was 8. She said it meant one chance in hundreds of millions because the population of China was so big. I’ve never seen that explanation anywhere else but it’s always made the most sense to me.
Guy bet $3,801 and finished with $13,001. Yesterday’s $16,000 gave him a grand total of $29,001.
Melanie bet $10,500 and finished with $21,100. She had $12,000 from yesterday for a grand total of $33,100.
Michelle bet $601 and won this match with $15,201. She won the whole tournament with $34,401 after yesterday’s $19,200 was added in.
Guy and Melanie each won $15,000. Michelle won $35,000 and a spot in Champions Wildcard.
A triple stumper from each round:
HISTORY “P”s & “Q”s ($600) A 1680 rebellion named for these indigenous people overthrew Spanish rule in New Mexico for a time
A RIDDLE ($1600) One of the riddles of the universe: what exactly are these 2 mysterious components that make up 95% of everything?
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “FAMOUS NAMES”
In 2023, shortly after his death, his name was added to a Brazilian dictionary to describe one who’s superior or out of the ordinary show
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It was another exciting game, and Michelle excelled as usual. Congratulations Michelle! Personally, I didn’t do well in the game, and missed the FJ. Regarding the one-child policy, China did have a serious overpopulation problem on its hands at the time.
Guy was his own worst enemy. Two not P or Q responses in that category? I mean, if Ken has to remind you, you’re behind in the count.
Also, Guy’s final wager didn’t make sense. Michelle only had to wager $401, so, if he was figuring she would get it wrong, and he would, he would win, well, he was WAY off.
Kevin, Melanie bet everything save $100. Had she bet that, even then, she wouldn’t have won. Even before FJ, Michelle had her beat.
I was 2/3 on DD (the first, I wasn’t paying close attention), but missed FJ. I also said “Mandatory Retirement”.
The French wind, despite my Francophilia, I had never heard before this show. After it was said, I thought of the book by Judith Krantz, from 1982.I also got the NATO country and Koepka.
And I agree, again – Michelle just has that charisma!
I knew the French wind, too. Never read the Judith Krantz book but I saw the 1982 miniseries with Stacy Keach. It’s actually his last name in the miniseries. I also thought Michelle’s sweater was great.
This whole week was a good one. Congrats to them all.
Guy rallied nicely after some early gaffes and inability to ring in first. Glad Michelle moved on, she just seems so darn nice, as were the others, and I loved that M sweater. Final stumped me, I thought maybe mandatory retirement age. I got only the middle DD.
This sports junkie knew Brooks Koepka and guessed the first NATO country alphabetically. Definitely knew the French wind.
Neither Guy nor Melanie didn’t bet enough if Michelle was incorrect but it ended up not mattering because Michelle won the whole thing. She is heading to Champions Wildcard and will be competing on the January 6 game. We have one more week of Second Chance next week.