Final Jeopardy: U.S. Towns (9-25-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (9/25/2025) in the category “U.S. Towns” was:
This southern town known for big watermelons is the birthplace of the politicians who were govs. of its state in 1983, 2003 & 2023
4x champ Steven Olson, a band director from Princeton, IL, is now up to $74,382. In Game 5, his opponents are: Erik Nielsen, a substitute teacher from Hollywood, CA; and Vickie Talvola, a quantitative trader from Jersey City, NJ.
Round 1 Categories: Port is in Session – Song Lyrics of the Aughts – Prisons – Cooking With Cayenne – Book Character Inspo – Foreign Bodies
Steven found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Book Character Inspo” under the $600 clue on the 2nd pick of the round. He had $800 from the first clue. Nobody else had a nickel. Steven bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
The boar-shevik Snowball from “Animal Farm” was based on this man who got got in 1940 show
Vickie finished in the lead with $4,200. Steven and Erik were tied in second with $2,800. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Truman Capote’s Black-&-White Ball – Plant Facts – That’s My Philosophy – Word Origins – Beastly History – Before & After at the Movies
Erik found the first Daily Double in “Word Origins” under the $1,600 clue on the 3rd pick of the round. He was in the lead with $5,600 now, $1,400 more than Vickie in second place. Erik bet $2,300 and he was RIGHT.
From Latin for “bad condition”, it’s a 6-letter synonym for a disease or disorder show
Vickie got the last Daily Double in “Plant Facts” under the $1,200 clue on the 11th pick. In second place with $9,400, she had $2,100 less than Erik’s lead. Vickie made it a true Daily Double and she was RIGHT.
Also a make of car from Toyota, it’s the inner petals of a flower taken collectively show
Vickie finished in the lead with a runaway $26,400. Erik was second with $12,700 and Steven was last with $6,400. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS HOPE, ARKANSAS?
Watermelon.org has a list of 7 U.S. cities famous for huge watermelons. Hope, Arkansas is No. 2, having set a record for the World’s Heaviest Watermelon (268.8 lb) in 2005. (The current record of 350.5 lb is held by Chris Kent of Sevierville, TN.) Watermelons are such a big deal in Hope that the Chamber of Commerce has one in its logo, as well as a list of all the award-winning watermelons.
The city’s other claim to fame is as the birthplace of the 42nd U.S. president and Arkansas’s former governor Bill Clinton. Former Governor Mike Huckabee was also born in Hope as was his daughter, Arkansas’s current governor (since 2023), Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Steven wrote down Big Melon Town. He bet $6,399 and finished with $1.00.
Erik went to Arkansas but chose its capital, Little Rock. That cost him $200 and left him with $12,500.
Vickie got it right. She bet $7.00 and won the game with $26,407. Vickie Talvola is the new Jeopardy! champ.
2 triple stumpers from TRUMAN CAPOTE’S BLACK-&-WHITE BALL:
($800) You know how to whistle, don’t you? Well, you would have for Jerome Robbins & this “To Have & Have Not” actress, as the 2 danced divinely
($1600) The guest of honor, this newspaper publisher, felt like a prop as she thought Truman was going to give the ball anyway
2 years ago: ALL of the players got this FJ in “SYMPHONIES”
Debuting at Carnegie Hall in 1893, it was written by a European living in New York & partly inspired by “The Song of Hiawatha” show
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OH my, I missed first 5 minutes but what a performance by the challengers. They were super smart and prevented Steven from finding the last 2 DDs. I guessed the first and blanked on the 2nd–couldn’t get malaise out of my mind. Thought Little Rock for Final. Still dazed by that all-in wager by Vickie on the DD, even after her interview tale about the poker bets. A very worthy champion.
Knew the whistling actress and the newspaper publisher, also got the Matthau/Burns/trans boy clue. Those song lyrics of the aughts were a mystery to me, except for the $800 one.
Erik is an actor who played Garrett on Community with Joel McHale and Ken Jeong
1/3 on DD and missed FJ. I mean, I had no idea that Hope was known for watermelons!
I would guess, in a word, Steven looked tired.