Warning: This page contains spoilers for the April 18, 2025, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Presidential Nominees) for Friday, April 18, 2025 (Season 41, Game 160):
The year the Democratic nominee gave his “Cross of Gold” speech, the GOP nominee was this man who backed the gold standard
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Liam Starnes, an undergraduate student from Barrington, Illinois
Steven Hoying, an attorney-at-law from Hilliard, Ohio (1-day total: $29,403)
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Steven Hoying is your new champion on Jeopardy! after a resounding runaway victory yesterday, ending the 6-win streak of Andrew Hayes. Steven picked up $14,000 on the three Daily Doubles yesterday; things will probably look good for him again if he can find them. However, there are two challengers in Rachael Gray and Liam Starnes, who are hoping that today is a good Friday for them. Liam is on the University of Chicago’s quiz bowl team and has always been good at the game; we shall see how things transfer over to the Alex Trebek Stage.
(Content continues below)
Chag Pesach Sameach! The Unofficial Jeopardy! Haggadah supplement, written by many former contestants, is again available for the Passover Seder for Jeopardy! fans worldwide.My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have introduced a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it’s a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
Correct response: Who is William McKinley?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2025 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
In the 1890s, America was very divided as to whether or not to adopt the gold standard, basing the value of the US dollar on a fixed quantity of gold, in order to match the economies of other nations. At the 1896 Democratic National Convention, William Jennings Bryan gave a speech at the party platform debate suggesting that America ensure that both gold and silver were legal tender, ending the speech with “you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” The speech was popular enough that it propelled the lesser-known Bryan to the 1896 nomination, where he lost to William McKinley in the general election. McKinley and the GOP adopted the gold standard in 1900, which lasted on-and-off until the 1970s.
This is a good American History Final Jeopardy clue, in my opinion, that should still be relatively straightforward for both contestants on stage and viewers at home.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Here are our current featured items, including our new Masters Season 3 Player List T-shirt:
Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Friday, April 18, 2025 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Our Top Story Tonight; Food Brands; Roughly Turn Of The Century Music; “G” In The Middle; Stand; The Liver)
Both challengers got off to a good start, but Rachael led on the strength of five correct responses. After 15 clues, the scores were Rachael $3,400 Liam $2,400 Steven $600.
Statistics at the first break (15 clues):
Rachael 5 correct 0 incorrect Liam 3 correct 0 incorrect
Steven 2 correct 1 incorrect
Today’s interviews:
Liam had a photograph of himself on the International Space Station. Rachael worked on a research vessel worldwide.
Steven is a cyclist who has done what is known as the Tour de Donut.
Steven found the Daily Double and doubled up through, but he was still in third place after 30 clues. Rachael continued to lead a game where all three players were playing very well.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Rachael 10 correct 0 incorrect Liam 7 correct 0 incorrect
Steven 8 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Rachael $6,200 Liam $4,400
Steven $4,200
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Around The Pacific; Prepositions In Book Titles; The Arts; Notable Women; Movie Locales; 6-Letter Vocab)
Liam picked up the first six clues of Double Jeopardy, punctuated by a $6,000 Daily Double to take a big lead. Rachael found DD3 but bet just $4,000, leaving $3,800 on the table. By the end of the round, Liam had a $3,400 lead going into Final Jeopardy over Rachael, with Steven in a strong third place.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Liam 17 correct 1 incorrect Rachael 17 correct 0 incorrect Steven 16 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 30 (0 today).
Scores going into Final:
Liam $19,600 Rachael $16,200
Steven $13,800
Steven and Liam were correct in Final, and that makes Liam your new champion! He’ll be back Monday to defend.
Tonight’s results:
Steven $13,800 + $6,000 = $19,800 (Who was William McKinley?)
Rachael $16,200 – $12,000 = $4,200 (Who was Taft?)
Liam $19,600 + $12,801 = $32,401 (Who is McKinley?) (1-day total: $32,401)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) STAND $1000 (clue #20) Steven 1800 +1800 (Rachael 4200 Liam 3400) 2) THE ARTS $1600 (clue #6) Liam 11600 +6000 (Steven 4200 Rachael 6200) 3) PREPOSITIONS IN BOOK TITLES $1200 (clue #8, $24400 left on board) Rachael 7800 +4000 (Steven 4200 Liam 17600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 203
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round: Steven 4 4 4 4 5* Rachael 3 3 3 2 5 3 1 2 5
Liam 5 4 3 5 3 4
DJ! Round: Steven 4 Rachael 3*
Liam 4 3 4 3 4* 4
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Liam 3.83 Steven 4.17
Rachael 3.00
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None! DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 30 (0.21 per episode average), 0 Daily DoublesGame Stats:
Liam $15,200 Coryat, 17 correct, 1 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity) Steven $13,000 Coryat, 16 correct, 1 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity) Rachael $13,400 Coryat, 17 correct, 0 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $41,600
Lach Trash: $9,800 (on 10 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $2,600
Lead Changes: 1
Times Tied: 0Player Statistics:
Steven Hoying, career statistics:
41 correct, 3 incorrect 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities) 32.46% in first on buzzer (37/114) 4/4 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $15,800) 2/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,600
Rachael Gray, career statistics:
17 correct, 1 incorrect 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities) 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57) 1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000) 0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400
Liam Starnes, career statistics:
18 correct, 1 incorrect 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity) 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57) 1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $6,000) 1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,200
Liam Starnes, to win:
2 games: 58.602% 3: 34.342% 4: 20.125% 5: 11.794% 6: 6.911%
Avg. streak: 2.416 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I may not have liked the Daily Double bets as much today, but I thought Final Jeopardy was bet reasonably well.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Liam $19,600 Rachael $16,200 Steven $13,800)
Steven: A bet between $5,801 and $7,000 both passes Liam’s pre-Final Jeopardy score and keeps enough around to win a Triple Stumper if both Rachael and Liam bet to cover.(Actual bet: $6,000)
Rachael: You can’t both win a Triple Stumper and cover Steven. The cover bet over Steven is $11,401—but, if you think Steven might bet small himself, a bet of $4,601 covers his most likely bet range. (Actual bet: $12,000)
Liam: Standard cover bet is $12,801. (Actual bet: $12,801)
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