‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Calls Out Show For ‘Poorly Worded’ Clue
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the September 16 episode of Jeopardy!]
Some Jeopardy! clues can be confusing, and that was definitely the case during Monday’s (September 16) game.
Returning champ Evan Suttell, a nonprofit program assistant originally from Lakewood, Ohio, with a one-day total of $20,200, faced off against Aiden Orzech, a teacher from Thornhill, Ontario, and Sam Watson, a pharmacy software salesman from Westwood, Kansas. It was one of the clues during the Jeopardy! round (which Suttell correctly answered) that had fans on Reddit confused about what the show wanted.
In 1964 Firsts, the $800 clue read as follows: “The first courtroom verdict on live network TV was when this assassin’s assassin was found guilty & sentenced in Dallas.” Suttell rang in and was right with Ruby, for Jack Ruby.
However, one viewer called that clue “poorly worded,” explaining, “It could mean ‘this assassin of an assassin’ [Jack Ruby] or ‘the assassin of this assassin’ [Lee Oswald].” Another person thought that was “a very good point” and suggested that would mean that a guess of Oswald would have had to be given to them. (That didn’t come up during the game, since Suttell was the only one to ring in and answered Ruby.)
But for another fan, there was no confusion. “I didn’t notice that because it was a picture clue so I was just listening to Ken’s read and it made sense in the moment. Listening to it again, I think Ken was able to emphasize it in such a way that made it clear which one they were looking for: this assassin’s assassin,” the person wrote, referring to host Ken Jennings, but did acknowledge, “The clue should be able to stand on its own, so I agree with you that the clue could use a rewrite to be more clear.”
It was in reply to that comment that the person who noted that Oswald would have had to be deemed correct added, “The photo was of a courtroom scene so that did not determine the correct answer. They would have had to have ruled both Ruby and Oswald correct since this assassin’s assassin refers to Oswald and this assassin’s assassin refers to Ruby. For Ruby to be correct, think there should be a hyphen between the two assassins. If so, Oswald is actually more correct.”
Orzech won the game, becoming a one-day champ with a total of $27,599.
What did you think of the clue? Let us know in the comments section below.
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B
But Oswald wasn't sentenced on live TV in Dallas. The grammatical uncertainty is cleared up immediately by the rest of the clue.
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O
How could the answer be Oswald? He was never found guilty and sentenced in a court room? Read the whole question, not just 2 words!!
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P
Even without the end the assassin's assassins. Means the killer of the person who killed.
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C
Oswald was an assassin, but HIS assassin (the assassin's assassin) was the clear clue and the answer was Ruby. I didn't need the courtroom drama to understand the question.
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G
Maybe it depends on if you were a sentient being at the time. I immediately said "Jack Ruby" without another thought. The wording was not confusing to SOME of us.
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G
Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't tried in a Dallas courtroom because he was murdered right after assassinating JFK so the answer HAS.to be Jack Ruby.
10 1
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R
HeyJeopardy fans. Please stop whining about every little detail on Jeopardy. Things happen and people are human, can we not just enjoy the game and not nit pick. The constant belly aching ruins the show for me. I love Jeopardy and I think Ken Jenninags does an excellent job so can we please let him do it.
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G
Yes, Oswald must be the answer EXCEPT he never appeared in a courtroom since Ruby shot him before he could go to trial!
6 1
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A
Quit your whining. The contestant who answered got it right so who cares what you overthinkers at home thought it should be.
7 2
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G
Nobody.whined. Why are you so bothered?
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R
You’re right. It’s my own fault for taking the bait from summary articles posted on Google. Next time I will do better.
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R
I think it was very clear. The picture was of a courtroom with a Dallas flag displayed. Oswald was dead so he was not convicted of his crime. Ruby was convicted on TV. A first for television.
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R
I think it’s time for all of you nitpickers to give it a rest! Jeez, do you all wait for something to complain about???
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G
It couldn’t possibly be Oswald because he was assassinated.
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R
When I first heard the question I immediately thought it was Oswald, but if you listened to the entirety of the clue, the part about being convicted in a Dallas courtroom (which Ruby obviously was and Oswald was not), then the correct answer is Ruby. It could have been worded a bit better, but anyone claiming that Oswald was the correct answer obviously didn't take the entirety of the clue into account.
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P
I still think "ape" should have been an acceptable response as well as "mug" for making faces in front of a camera. Ken Jennings himself had the whole "rake/hoe" incident, where again, both responses should have been accepted.
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G
Omit the 's and rewrite:
This assassin's assassin -->
The assassin of [this assassin]
= The assassin of [Oswald]
(Like "this boy's mother" -->
"the mother of this boy"
Same meaning either way)
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O
Oswald - he was the assassin who was assassinated!
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O
It was in 1964. Oswald was dead by then: they clearly meant Ruby.
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C
I was not confused at all. Seems there are some people who are quick to offer criticism on so many aspects of Jeopatdy. Perhaps they should try out to be a contestant. Or . . . quit watching. I've been a fan for several decades and schedule my days so I can watch Jeopardy 💝
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P
Even without a picture 1964 the placement of the apostrophe told me the person killed someone else who then got killed. Then sentenced in Dallas so I obviously it wasn't the person who died.
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B
Terrible clue!
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R
I was born in Dallas in 1960 and I'm not the smartest but bright enough I knew that answer right away.
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G
I immediately called it out when I heard the question. The correct answer was Oswald.
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P
But Oswald was not convicted on live TV. Ruby was. That part of the clue removes the ambiguity.
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G
But even with Oswald never going to trail, couldn't the clue also be read in a way to think that the answer that was wanted was the name of the assassin that the assassin assassinated? 😉 If they'd just used an instead of this it probably wouldn't have been confusing.
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G
The correct answer was Lee Harvey Oswald. Very terribly worded if you want the answer to be Jack Ruby, but the way I heard it and my wife heard it, Oswald should have been the correct answer.
5 16
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G
The category was 1964 Firsts. The question was "The first courtroom verdict on live network TV“. Which makes the answer Jack Ruby. Oswald didn’t make it to court…bc Ruby assassinated him.
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