‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Shocked by Contestant’s Huge Blunder After Warning From Ken Jennings
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, October 29 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! viewers got a new champ on October 29 — but it wasn’t pretty. The player twice forgot the show’s sacred phrasing, leading to a “cringeworthy” Daily Double that nearly cost him the game even after a warning from Ken Jennings.
Ian Taylor, a food sales rep originally from Cleveland, Ohio, entered as the returning champ with a one-day total of $19,601, facing John Liu, a marketing analyst from Santa Monica, California (graduating college at 15!), and Aimée Record, a middle school teacher from Long Island, New York.
In the Jeopardy! round, Taylor dropped $1,000 on the Daily Double, while Liu responded to a clue by forgetting to add “what is,” only answering “Claw machine?” He was ruled correct with a reminder from Jennings: “Remember your phrasing, John,” With this foreshadowing, Liu finished with $2,600, Taylor with $1,000, and Record led with $3,800.
In Double Jeopardy!, Liu had a rip-roaring start and led with $5400 when he found the second Daily Double, deciding to go all-in. “Oh, wow,” Jennings said presenting the clue. It was, “Broca’s & Wernicke’s are 2 types of this condition in which language use & speech are impaired.”
Liu correctly responded with “Aphasia” but once more, forgot his phrasing, and this time, he was ruled incorrect. After a lengthy pause with time to right his wrong, Jennings said: “I’m sorry, no, you forgot your phrasing, John. ‘What is: Aphasia.’ So important.”
Forgetting his phrasing dropped him from the lead to $0. Still, all players struggled with the material, leading to 21 triple-stumpers and Liu (correctly getting the last Daily Double) regaining his lead by Final Jeopardy with a mere $5,600, Taylor with $3,400, and Record with $600.
The “NEWS FROM THE STORK” clue was, “One of the 10 or so babies born at Argentina’s Esperanza Base in this place was fittingly named Marisa de las Nieves.” Taylor and Liu correctly responded “Antarctica,” with the latter adding $2,201 to become the new champ and win with $7,801.
Fans flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, where they were stunned by Liu’s Daily Double blunder after the previous reminder from Jennings, and how the game still played out in a way where he won.
“I’m relieved for John that he ended up winning because I can’t even imagine how agonizing it would be to get on Jeopardy!, have the lead, find a Daily Double, wager everything, and know the correct response but lose because I forgot to say “What is…” Especially after already having been warned in the Jeopardy round!” one fan wrote.
“I was genuinely appalled at the quality of clues, category gimmicks, and overall board composition today,” wrote another. “Most of them were either really difficult or phrased in a very puzzling manner. John’s mis-phrasing on that DD made me cringe (with the utmost sympathy) and I congratulate him on his ability to claw back from this unfortunate error.”
“It was really unpleasant/uncomfortable to watch,” echoed a third.
“Glad he kept his spirits up after that tough DD ruling, I would have been too dejected and found it hard to come back,” wrote a fourth.
Other fans questioned why Liu was allowed no phrasing the first time, but not the second.
“I am also very confused as to why John got credit for “a claw machine” without the full phrasing,” a fifth Redditor wrote. “I even went back and re-watched that part with closed captions (in case I didn’t hear it) and I didn’t see the phrasing there either.”
According to Jeopardy.com, this is well established as the rule: “If a contestant gives a response to a non-Daily Double clue in the Jeopardy! round that is not in the form of a question, the host will give them a reminder. However, if a contestant forgets their phrasing in the Double Jeopardy! round, during Final Jeopardy! or for any Daily Double clue, they will be ruled incorrect.”
Taylor chimed into the thread to write: “It was a tough game to watch I’m sure, and it was a tough one to play. So much of the game is rhythm, and none of us were able to get one going. Some boards are easy for some people and hard for others, and it felt like I hit a brick wall with this one.”
Others had to agree on the overall difficulty level: “Horrible game today. The worst Jeopardy! game I’ve watched since Suresh Krishnan’s 2nd game,” and “Hard game… congrats to everyone though for not ending up in red at the end of Double Jeopardy.”
What did you think of the game? Were you surprised John Liu eked out the win? And what did the Final Jeopardy category have to do with the clue itself? Questionable, no? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Conversation19 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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P
I know they go for the big numbers, but quite often don't understand the categories. If they would start at the top, the questions are easier and maybe get a feel for the categories before losing so much money . Many dumb moves in my opinion !!
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G
Rules are rules. It's black and white. No excuses.
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P
Thought some questions were unusually hard (or weird).
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E
I can't remember the last time when all three contestants failed to buzz in on so many clues. Today, however, many of the clues seemed overly wordy and convoluted, which may have accounted for so many non-responses.
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O
It seems recent games have poorly worded questions, which require a detective to find the call of the question. Even as a teacher with MIT, I may know the answer but miss the question because of the wording.
Also, what about categories on the basics, school subjects, topics such as cooking, birds, games instead of ones to point out who watches the most tv dribble. I thought it was closer to knowledge bowl than TV trivia I'd expect to find at a bar on trivia night.
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C
I thought it was fine . After all it was just a game .
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P
I really hated this game. The clues were ambiguous and just downright confusing.
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G
Unable to watch. Several Jeopardy episodes preempted for World Series baseball games.
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G
Clearly not a ;lifelong Jeopardy watcher. Nice recovery, though.
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M
I think some people need to get a life. Who sits there every night just to pick apart a game show? I watch TV and movies for the entertainment. I certainly don't pick everything apart.
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C
It’s called rules of the game dummy
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C
What is “it’s called rules of the game.”
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M
You both miss the point. Not that it surprises me. Ken doesn't make the rules. If there is a mistake, the judges will correct it.
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P
Most of the materials here wasn't hard. Elizabeth Cady Stanton for example and holey Moley. These people are way too young to even watch TV. How the middle school teacher missed that woman made me wonder what is she teaching at school
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B
I dont think a holy man or a priiest
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O
I saw that show. He got away with not phrasing the answer correctly in Jeopardy but in double jeopardy he was told he was incorrect. Need continuity!!! If you do not phrase the answer correctly you are wrong in both Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy. Never would happen with Alex.
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O
I was surprised at the number of triple misses & contestants repeatedly not ringing in. Likely one of the lowest scoring shows this year.
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R
I half expected him to not write "WHAT IS" in Final Jeopardy!
BTW, it's "eked", NOT "eaked".
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P
'BTW, it's "eked", NOT "eaked".'
Well, it doesn't change the pronunciation of the word so Jeopardy says it's fine.
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