Below you’ll find the Final Jeopardy clue for Thursday, January 15, 2025. Journalist Drew Goins continued his streak in yesterday’s match and became a semi-finalist for the Jeopardy Champions Wildcard. For today’s match, three past champions will have their shot, including software engineer Mehal Shah from Washington, development engineer Joey DeSena from North Carolina, and lawyer Eamonn Campbell from Vermont. You can also check out last night’s Final Jeopardy clue for Celebrity Jeopardy too. Here are the question and answer for Final Jeopardy on 1/16/2025, in addition to wagers and the winner of the match.

Final Jeopardy Question for January 16

The Final Jeopardy question for January 16, 2025 is in the category of “Trees” and has the following clue:

Order Arecales, this tree gets its name from Roman times; a leaf from one was placed in a victor’s hands after a contest was won

The right answer to this clue is located at the end of this guide to prevent spoilers.

Final Jeopardy Wagers and Winner for January 16

In an interesting turn, Joey won the January 16 match with every contestant answering the Final Jeopardy clue incorrectly with the same response. The wagers were unusual compared to regular Jeopardy games, but a few of the contestants knew that their totals would stand up well in the wildcard standings.

Joey amassed $24,000 by the end of the second round and risked nothing with his guess of “laurel.” He becomes a semi-finalist heading into the next bracket.

Mehal also did well throughout the game, getting $19,600 and also risking nothing. While he leaves in second place, his total is high enough to keep him in contention.

Meanwhile, Eamonn was behind with $9,600 and wagered his entire total. Sadly, he leaves with $0 and will be out of the tournament.

Final Jeopardy Answer for January 16

The correct answer for Final Jeopardy on January 16, 2025 is “What is a palm tree?”

As the clue notes, palm trees are in the order Arecales and are in a family of plants called Arecaceae. In classical antiquity, the branch (or frond) of the palm tree was used for victory with the Romans giving them to champions and generals. The reverence of the plant by the Romans can also be seen in the word “palma,” which they used almost synonymously with victory, and the “toga palmata” or a toga with a palm motif was worn by citizens during military triumphs.