Final Jeopardy: Medieval Names (9-29-25)
The Final Jeopardy question (9/29/2025) in the category “Medieval Names” was:
He was accused of killing William de Heselrig & also pled not guilty to being a traitor, saying he was never a subject of the King of England
New champ Prasad Patil, an asst. professor of biostatistics from Burlington, MA, won $35,600 yesterday. In Game 2, he’s up against: Zach Knecht, a law clerk orig. from Spring Hill, FL; and Rebecca Thompson, a French teacher & researcher from Buffalo, NY.
Round 1 Categories: The 20th Century – Fictional Females – Propositional Phrases – Writing Material – 5, 5 – Second Chance QBs
Prasad found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “Writing Material” under the $800 clue on the 18th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $6,200, $5,400 more than Zach in second place. Prasad bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
Magazines were once differentiated as either shiny “slicks” or these, cheaply made with rough wood show
Prasad finished in the lead with $11,400. Rebecca was second with $2,200 and Zach was last with $2,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: Science & Nature – A World of Mountains – I Married My Co-Star – Near & Far Phrases – Caveat – Mentor
Zach found the first Daily Double in “A World of Mountains” under the $1,600 clue on the 4th pick. He was in second place with $2,400 now, $7,800 less than Prasad’s lead. Zach bet it all and guessed Portland. That was WRONG.
Found in Table Mountain National Park, Lion’s Head & Lion’s Rump are peaks overlooking this coastal city show
Zach got the last Daily Double in “Caveat” under the $1,600 clue on the 16th pick. In last place with $1,600, he had $11,800 less than Prasad’s lead. Zach bet the $2,000 allowance and, this time, he was RIGHT.
Rattlesnakes warn us by shaking their a tails; the sound is the motion of this fibrous stuff that makes up hair & nails show
Prasad finished in the lead with $13,400. Zach was next with $8,400 and Rebecca was in third place with $3,800. All clues were shown.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHO IS WILLIAM WALLACE?
William Wallace was a Scottish knight and resistance leader in the First War of Scottish Independence against England’s King Edward I, aka Hammer of the Scots. As noted on Historic Environment Scotland, not a whole lot is known about William Wallace. He did lead a 1297 attack on Lanark, then a royal burgh located some 29 miles south of Edinburgh. Whether he killed the English Sheriff Heselrig or not, Wallace gets the credit.
It took the English until 1305 to catch Wallace. He was convicted of treason despite his assertion that he never was a subject of Edward I. Traitors were hanged, drawn and quartered in Merry Olde England at the time. Wallace was one whom the English wished to make a proper example of so he was also beheaded and his head was displayed on a pike on London Bridge.
Mel Gibson portrayed William Wallace in “Braveheart” (1995), a film often criticized for its historical inaccuracies.
Rebecca came up with Braveheart. She lost $500 and finished with $3,300.
Zach got it right. He bet $5,001 and finished with $13,401.
Prasad thought it was Becket. He lost $3,401 and finished with $9,999. That made a delighted Zach Knecht the new Jeopardy! champ.
A triple stumper from each round:
THE 20th CENTURY ($1000) Born Angelo Roncalli, he became this Pope in 1958, embracing openness & change in the church & convening a Second Vatican Council
CAVEAT ($2000) Shakespeare used this word for the unnamed character who warned Julius Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March”
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS”
Both issued in April, 80 years apart, the first proclamations by these 2 presidents each declared national days of mourning show
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Great comeback by Zach, well-played. He hit that last DD for $2K and took off from there. I thought the 1st/3rd DDs were easy. Guessed the country on the 2nd but not the city. I thought Final required a REALLY medieval name, so I said Beowulf just to say something. Zach wrote “Who Wallace” which was unpleasantly reminiscent of Matt Amodio and Yogesh. Surely they must be allowed to write “who” or “what” during the long break before Final.
Knew the 1958 Pope; the acid-incised plates (I knew this bunch was too young for that one); and the $1600 Mentor clue from the photo. The annual ritual and the Frost line weren’t too tough to guess.
I gave a passing thought to ‘Beowulf’ for FJ, but thought that it would never leave home plate.
It was another exciting game, and Zach became the new Jeopardy champion. Actually, I was surprised as I surely thought that Prasad would have remained as the champion. As for the FJ, I came up with William, but it wasn’t Wallace.