TONIGHT’S Jeopardy! episode has set the record for the most amount of wrong answers in a game so far in season 41 after a series of rough triple stumpers.
The trio of trivia buffs also missed all three Daily Double clues and two of the players ended with less than $4,000 in the low-scoring game.
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Returning champion Mike Dawson was looking to extend his winnings of $35,000 after coming out on top in back-to-back games.
The technology manager from Portland, Oregon went up against Anise K. Strong-Morse, a history professor from Kalamazoo, Michigan and Joe Lancour, a quality and export compliance manager from Agawam, Massachusetts.
Right off the bat, Joe found the first Daily Double under the category “Chapter.”
Host Ken Jennings, 50, read the clue: “In this novel Chapter 10 is “The Shell and the Glasses” & 12, ‘Cry of the Hunters.’”
Joe failed to guess “What is Lord of the Flies?” – dropping him $1,000.
Going into Double Jeopardy!, Mike maintained his lead with $4,800.
Jon stayed in second with $3,000 while Anise was in the red with negative -$1,000.
Anise made a big comeback in the Double Jeopardy! round after getting a series of clues correctly.
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However, once she found the second Daily Double – her score of $4,200 dropped substantially.
Under “Ditch the X” category, the second DD read: “Remove the X from within a statement of a basic principle & you do this, inflict a severe injury.”
She did not correctly guess “What is maim?” – dropped her score $2,500.
Joe found the last of the Daily Doubles under “The National Road” category – risking nearly his entire prize pot on a risky wager.
“The National Road was also called this for the Maryland city where construction began in 1811 heading west,” Ken read.
Joe failed to answer with “What is Cumberland?” – dropping his score massively from %6,600 to just $600.
While his opponents missed on on high-priced clues and Daily Doubles, Mike continued to build his lead going into Final Jeopardy!.
He had the most amount to snag a runaway lead with $16,400 while Anise had $2,900 and Joe dropped to third with $1,800.
Ken then introduced the category as “honors” as the players placed their wagers.
“Burt Lancaster and Joanne Woodward were among the first eight honored at a 1958 ceremony held on this street,” the host revealed as the last clue after the commercial break.
Unlike the Daily Doubles, all three players were accurate – answering “What is Hollywood Boulevard?”
Mike won the game with $21,400 – marking his three-day total a whopping $57,000.
However, both of his opponents were far behind him – with Joe finishing with $3,600 and Anise with $3,607.
In total, the contestants missed 16 different clues during tonight’s game – the most so far in season 41.
Jeopardy! Set Secrets
Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:
- Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
- After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
- Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
- The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
- Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
- To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
- All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
- There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
- Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
- The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
- Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
- Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
- Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
- Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.
While Mike only got two clues incorrectly and 19 correctly, his opponents missed 7 clues each.
Fans reacted to the tough game, with one writing: “This was an abnormally tough board for me today. All around difficult, even in categories I’d normally do well in.
“You could tell the contestants were struggling, too. Hard clues, hard DDs, and a surprisingly easy FJ. Still, great work from our returning champ. He’s starting to seem like he could be a contender for the TOC!”
A second stated: “Rough game. Ten triple stumpers. 16 wrong responses including all three DDs and two of the three players had under $3,000 going to FJ. Yikes!”
Another added: “Tough board today, really. The challengers especially drew a tough hand by finding those DDs, which were especially tough today IMO.”
While a third complained that it was a “frustrating game to watch.”
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