‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Slam ‘Terrible’ Final Question About Home Depot

The final question on Jeopardy! sometimes causes an uproar, especially when it’s a triple stumper. It happened again with a question involving Home Depot. It all went down as two-day champion Matt Massie tried to get his third win following a dominant game the day before.

Massie, from South Charleston, West Virginia, played against Jam Zimmerman, from Newark, Delaware, and Rob Forrester, from Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, June 11. Massie had a one-day total of $30,000.

The reigning champion found the first Daily Double of the game, and despite losing $2,000 on it, he won the round with $4,400. In “Do The Write Thing,” the clue read, “In 1910 German pen-trepreneurs trademarked this brand name for writing instruments of ‘peak’ quality.” He didn’t give an answer, so he dropped down to $2,400. The correct response was “Montblanc.”

Forrester, a stagehand, was in second with $1,000. Zimmerman, a retired elementary school music teacher, had $800.

In Double Jeopardy, Massie, an attorney, cruised his way to a win when he got both Daily Doubles correct. The first one on clue 15 in “Countries that Start with a Vowel,” read, “The capital cities of these 2 South American nations sit on opposite shores of the Rio de la Plata estuary.” He correctly answered “Argentina and Uruguay,” giving him $12,000 after wagering $6,000.

The second one in “Change and E to an I,” he wagered $5,000. “Another word for sheets & such becomes what you ‘do,’ such as a king’s desire” was the clue. “Betting and Bidding” was the correct response, giving him a runaway of $26,600.

By the end of the game, he had $29,o00. Forrester wasn’t even close, with $6,000. Zimmerman had $3,200.

The final clue was in the category “U.S. Business.” The clue read, “The ‘stencil’ logo released in 1979 for this chain used only 2 colors, one of which emphasized ‘energy’ and ‘value.'” The correct response was “The Home Depot,” which none of the contestants got right.

Zimmerman left with $1 after she wagered $3,199 and answered “What is Staples?” Both Forrester and Massie answered, “What is K-Mart?” Forrester wagered $5,199, leaving him with $601. Massie only wagered $1,000, giving him a final total of $28,000. This made him the night’s winner. He will return for game three on Thursday, June 12 against two new opponents.

Reddit users slammed the question as “terrible.” “Business or product Final Jeopardies are always difficult. Seems like it either pops into your head immediately or you’re not going to get it. I suppose that’s true of every category, but the knowledge needed to get a clue about a logo or specific product always seems hyper specific,” one fan said.

“This was a terrible Final Jeopardy question,” replied another.

“Agreed. I had no place to start deciphering it,” one fan said.

“I didn’t get it. Question was misleading- not that I knew the answer had a logo with a stencil but there was no clue to help you get there,” a fourth pointed out.

 

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“I asked someone I know who worked for the final jeopardy answer (a while ago) and he didn’t get it. I might have put in ‘what is H&R block?’ lol,” a fan said.

Others said they guessed correctly but had “low confidence” in their response.

“Thankfully that shockingly bad FJ clue didn’t affect the outcome of the game or cost anyone too much money,” one last fan said.

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