‘Jeopardy!’ Fans ‘Judging the Writers’ for Puzzling TV-Themed Clues in ToC

Kelli Boyle January 31, 2025, 7:50 pm

'Jeopardy!' Tournament of Champions 2025 lineup — Jeopardy, Inc.

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the January 31 episode of Jeopardy!]

Clues about famous TV shows have Jeopardy! fans questioning the writers room after the Friday, January 31 installment of the 2025 Tournament of Champions. The clues were about Bosch and I Love Lucy, with the former prompting questions about why it’s frequently mentioned and the latter being posed as too easy a clue for a tournament like this. An Alex Trebek-themed TV clue also lost a player money because she failed to make one of the words plural.

The Lucille Ball clue came up in the second round, and the Bosch clue was part of the third Daily Double. The second-round category was “Playing Non-Sports’Ball,'” meaning that the answers to each clue would involve the word ball. The clue, answered correctly by player Allison Gross, was, “She starred as the title character on TV’s No. 1-rated show from October 1952 to April 1955.” This 1,200-point clue being played in Double Jeopardy meant that it was meant to be medium-level difficulty. One viewer thinks this clue was too easy for the tournament.

“Judging the writers,” a fan wrote in their recap of the episode on the Jeopardy! Reddit discussion board on Friday. “Yes, in the ToC, they offered 1,200 for knowing Lucille Ball was the biggest sitcom star of the 50s, after spotting everyone the word ‘Ball.'”

Bosch also came up in this round. It was the 1,600 square in the “What an Artist Dies in Me” category. The clue: “If this northern renaissance painter of wild imagery was alive, he’d ask, ‘A TV cop has my name? & What’s TV?'” The answer, as player Mark Fitzpatrick correctly answered, was, “Who is Bosch?”

A fan on Reddit noted that Bosch gets frequent mentions on the show.

“Somebody in the writer’s room really likes that show Bosch,” they wrote. “Unless I’m missing something, I feel like it comes up way out of proportion to its popularity/awards/cultural significance, relative to the many other shows out there.”

‘Jeopardy!’ ToC Player Admits ‘I Got Wrecked’ by Buzzer & Daily Doubles

One Reddit user replied, “It’s another one of those streaming shows where Jeopardy! is the only place I ever hear about it.” Another said they’ve “never heard of Bosch either.” One viewer “hates” the Daily Double clue.

“I hope I’m not the only one who hates clues like DD3. A Daily Double in a painters category, and then the clue is really a TV question. That could’ve been very misleading for an important clue like a Daily Double,” they wrote on the Reddit board.

A Trebek and High Rollers-themed clue became a triple stumper in the opening round. In the “H.R.” category, the 600-point clue read, “Gamblers who wager a lot of money at a casino, or before Jeopardy!, a game show hosted by Alex Trebek featuring Ruta Lee and some dice.” Gross answered, “What is a high roller?” The correct answer was, “What is high rollers?” Leaving an “s” off of her answer cost her 600 points.

The Final Jeopardy clue was also a triple stumper. The category was “US Place Names,” and the clue was, “Before 1867, this city that lends its name to a type of tree was known as Novo Arkhangelsk.” The correct answer was, “What is Sitka?” Gross ended in second place with 8,399. Fitzpatrick won with 11,999 and will advance to the semifinals, and Kevin Laskowski ended with just 1.

Were these TV clues not befitting the Tournament of Champions? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

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