‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to ‘Weird’ Final Jeopardy! Clue
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the October 14 episode of Jeopardy!]
Being dialed in to social media could have helped you out with the Final Jeopardy! clue in the October 14 episode of the syndicated trivia show.
One-day champ Eamonn Campbell (with a total of $13,700), a lawyer originally from Manchester, Vermont, returned to face off against Caryn Radick, an archivist from Kendall Park, New Jersey, and Jack Swansey, a writer originally from Durham, North Carolina. And it was a close game throughout, with Campbell leading at the first break in the Jeopardy! round but Swansey in first heading into Double Jeopardy! But even after missing the third Daily Double of the game—he got the first right and Swansey the second—Campbell was still leading heading into Final Jeopardy!, with $14,800 to Swansey’s $14,600 and Radick’s $4,600.
In Final Jeopardy!, the clue in “Corporate Mascots” read, “A 2014 tweet said that this mascot was the ‘embodiment of a milkshake or taste bud.’” The answer was Grimace, and Both Campbell and Radick answered correctly. Campbell became a two-day champion with a total of $43,200 in winnings ($29,500 for his second game).
If you were surprised by that clue, you’re not the only one. One fan wrote in the Reddit thread for the game that, looking at an article on MentalFloss.com, “it sounds like the content of this FJ is essentially a retcon that arose out of a random quote from a McDonald’s manager and then a couple of vaguely supportive posts from the official McDonald’s twitter account.” That person also noted that the description used in the clue cannot be found on McDonald’s “rather extensive” fandom wiki page for the character: It “makes no mention of the ‘embodiment of a milkshake’ thing, and only one reference to the notion of him being a tastebud (described as ‘yet another argument’).”
One fan suggested that the writers went with this clue due to a TikTok trend from last year and “googled ‘McDonald’s Grimace trivia’ and wrote a clue based on the first couple of hits. I’m amazed 2 out of 3 players got it.” That person wasn’t the only one surprised anyone got it correct, and another viewer admitted, “As a rule, I’m not a fan of any FJs that are primarily based on tweets.”
Another person wrote, “A reference to a ‘2014 tweet’ was weird. Made it seem like it was a new mascot when it was a really old one. Not aware of the TikTok trend you mentioned but Grimace was always THE milkshake mascot as far as I knew, being a tastebud was never part of his lore/ trivia from since my childhood.”
One of the players for the October 15 game, Zoe Grobman, shared, “I remember a lot of us in the green room were laughing pretty hard at the Final Jeopardy clue about Grimace, which led to a hearty debate about why in the world Grimace is purple, which even the contestant coordinators chimed in on.”
Grobman also admitted to being “relieved upon learning that the returning champion was only a 1-time champ,” but went on to add, “That relief lasted approximately 10 seconds until Ken announced that Eamonn beat a 5x champion and I saw how good he was.” Grobman will now be facing off against Campbell as a two-day champ.
What did you think of the Final Jeopardy! clue? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Comments are closed on this story.
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O
It made no sense to me at all.
6
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P
If your mascot is a taste bud and the flavors of your food make you think \"We should call him Grimace!\" It says a lot about your food. And if it makes your tongue purple call the CDC.
6
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G
I think most of the latest Jeopardy clues are unanswerable. They’re too vague.
5
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C
Felt it was purposely confusing clue.
4
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R
I got it. What\'s the problem?
4
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O
I didn\'t like that FJ at all. Alas, on to the next one tonight!
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G
Jeopardy is getting weider and weirder.
3
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R
No, it\'s evolving to reach a younger audience to ensure survival.
2
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C
…and the spelling werser and weirder..
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G
33 almost 34 years old and I have never heard grimace referred to as a taste bud or a milkshake
2
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G
It was so easy
2
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O
My 15 year old grandson got the answer right away.
2
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G
Should have a new replacement for Jennings to go with the new set
2
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P
Stop
Jennings is perfect
What’s strong with you ?
5
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R
Nope. Jennings is perfect for Jeopardy and Ryan Seacrest is perfect for WOF.
11
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C
Half right
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C
Jennings doesn\'t write the clues. He\'s an excellent host.
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C
Agree with you very much @LJ. I\'ve said as much while watching with my family. We are a cross-generational bunch with my mother being a boomer, my wife and I being millenials and our zoomer/gen A kids. We have a large spectrum of knowledge between us. And this McDonald\'s thing is extremely obscure even for us.
On the topic of vagueness, several times this season, there have been clues I dispute due to the fact that MULTIPLE answers could be applied. If they can\'t research or edit their clues well enough to concretely have ONE answer, it\'s a bad clue and should be reworked or removed. Cheers.
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R
Many of these were written during the writers strike likely
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O
To me it was a completely obscure final question. Ive answered hundreds of finals but I had no clue on this one....
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G
It was an idiotic FJ question. A lot of people aren\'t on Twitter, and it\'s not like the post (which is 10 years old) went viral into the mainstream and became well-known.
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