Has ‘Jeopardy!’ Gotten Harder? Fans Think So

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No, you aren’t imagining things. Jeopardy! is getting harder, or at least, fans think so. Viewers recently debated whether the game show has become more difficult over the years, comparing today’s clues and competition to the eras when Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer were on the show.

“You’re not getting stupider; Jeopardy is much harder than it used to be,” a Reddit user shared. “I’m sorry this post has no data, so if you’re looking for that, sorry.”

“I watch Jeopardy! pretty much every day, and I thought I was getting stupider cause the last few years it’s been so hard. Today I watched a couple of the Holzhauer episodes with my dad, and man, they were much, much easier. I could answer like 90% of the questions, when recently it’s been more like 60-70%. I personally think Jeopardy! is too hard recently, and they should make it a bit easier. Thoughts?” they ended.

Despite there being numerous multi-day champions this season, there have also been a lot of one-day champions. And a lot of the multi-day champions made big wagers to stay in the game.

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Fans left their opinions in the comments. “Every day, more trivia is ‘invented.’ New sports stats, new media, new world events, new discoveries, even new geography as countries shift. So yeah, more and more things have the potential to become answers,” one fan said.

Former champion Josh Martin wrote, “When I was preparing for my Jeopardy! taping (I had 7 weeks between finding out I was going to be on and the tape day), I watched all the Jeopardy! episodes I could. The episodes on Hulu at the time were from 2019-2020, and the clues were considerably easier. There’s no question that it’s harder today than it used to be.”

“I totally agree – and just happened to be thinking the same thing last week.. I’ve been seriously wondering if I’ve lost brain cells or something. Lol. I’ve also went back and watched old episodes – the difference is striking,” another commented.

“I completely agree!! I think questions have changed a lot. Watching old episodes makes this very apparent. That being said, I don’t think it should be easier. I like that I get to learn more now and be in awe of the champs on my screen somehow still getting every answer,” a third added.

“I noticed this happening as soon as Ken [Jennings] took over,” a fan said.

“I was JUST saying this! I’ve been watching old episodes and totally agree current seasons are much harder,” a fan agreed.

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“Watching in the ’90s, I could run the entire Jeopardy board more often than not. About 75% for Double Jeopardy. Certainly not doing that anymore!” another fan said. Many others said they don’t know the current-day pop culture questions.

“No, it’s true, watching Ken’s run is shocking; a lot of the questions were so straightforward and easy,” a fan said.

“Not just harder questions, I find that the premise of some categories are hard to understand too. Lately most players start from the bottom of the board, and you get triple stumpers until they are near the top, and when one of the contestants answers correctly you can hear the collective ooohh from the others because they finally realized how to put the clue together to answer,” one last fan said.

However, some fans disagreed with the original poster. “I think it’s easier now,” one fan said.

“I really don’t think it’s gotten harder,” another commented.

“Jeopardy! today is nowhere near as hard as it was c. 2008,” a third fan added.

What do you think? Is Jeopardy! harder now than it was when Holzhauer and Jennings were on it? Let us know in the comments.

Jeopardy!, Season 43, September 2026, weekdays, check local listings