Final Jeopardy! Clues Disappoint Viewer Expectations

Lately there’s been a proliferation of articles based on the “outrage” of “furious” Jeopardy! fans over clues that are not up to expectations. It’s been blamed on everything from the writers’ strike to Mayim Bialik’s hosting. The nitpicking and complaining has been going on forever. The only thing that changes is who it’s directed at. As for the clues, as a long-time Jeopardy! recapper, I’ve seen plenty of clues that left something to be desired and nothing has changed about that.

To illustrate the point, I’ve collected 10 random Final Jeopardy! clues between 2012 and 1990. These clues were all triple stumpers for one reason or another, but most needed another hint. Some of them are accompanied by remarks from Alex Trebek when revealing the correct response.

The links in the dates go to J-Archive. Click on the links for the correct response. The only one of these games I recapped is the first one (MUSEUMS).

2012-04-17 MUSEUMS: For 2010 & 2011, it’s gotten more visitors than any other single museum in the U.S.
• Wouldn’t it have been better to make the category “Smithsonian Museums”? Two players picked the Smithsonian anyway but only one specified “of American History”. Alex said: “It’s part of the Smithsonian…. We’re in the Space Age!”

2008-06-26 THE OSCARS: He holds the record for total acting, directing & writing Oscar nominations–1 acting, 6 directing, 14 writing
• Perhaps adding a reference to one of his works would have helped–even an oblique one! Alex acknowledged the insufficiency of the clue: “Don’t you all hate yourselves now for missing that one? And you know something? The folks at home missed it too. Everybody misses it.”

2003-01-20 PATRON SAINTS: It’s believed that this patron saint founded many monasteries, including one at Mynyw
• I didn’t get this although I was raised Catholic and loved reading up on the lives of the saints. It was the first name of one of my grandfathers so I must have looked it up! Alex must have said this when revealing the final category: “Say a prayer, make a wager!”

2003-04-01 WORDS: It’s the common English word that is pronounced differently when it becomes the name of a language
• How about narrowing it down to a continent?

2003-07-11 FICTIONAL PLACES: Wilton, Connecticut, a quiet, affluent town near New York City, was the basis for this title town in a 1972 novel
• Alex: “So I suppose it would help if you had read novels extensively.” Maybe, but even a tiny reference to the author would have helped a lot more

1999-06-24 RECENT MOVIES: The young John Webster, who grew up to write “The Duchess of Malfi”, is a character in this 1998 film
• Alex said: “Alright, we all go to the movies, don’t we?” A time frame for the Duchess play may have resonated with a player or two

1996-04-25 HISTORIC NAMES: The name of this ancient ruler translates as “It is well with the sun disk”
• Alex told the player who answered “Pharaoh” that wasn’t good enough because “we wanted a specific ruler”. The players wanted a better clue.

1993-10-18 U.S. PRESIDENTS: He was the first president to visit all 50 states while in office
• How about this one? At least they narrowed it down to 9.

1990-09-13 POETRY: The last words spoken by this title character were “I ‘ope you liked your drink”
• Alex thought you had to be a Rudyard Kipling fan to get this one. I thought the “last words” part of the clue may have made the players think it was the poem’s last line.

1990-06-08 THE CALENDAR: The 3 days named after a mythological father & 2 of his sons
• Viewers often complain that the players will run out of time when the clue asks for 2 responses. Here’s one where they wanted 3 days of the week. If they were able to figure it out, abbreviations would probably have been accepted, but the players are often unsure on that point.

Constructing a perfectly balanced trivia clue is not as simple a task as viewers might think. If you think it is, try writing 620 clues (a month’s worth of clues) and see how far you can get. The Jeopardy! cluewriters do a great job but nobody’s perfect and misfires will happen now and then. What always amazes me is how some viewers out there feel they have a right to expect perfection. To them, I say “You don’t.” You might want to reevaluate your viewing habits if your main reason for watching any show is to pick it apart.

That being said, one thing that has definitely changed for the better these days is the boards are completed most of the time. If you clicked on that POETRY FJ!, you may have noticed that 7 clues were left on the board and it wasn’t a Celebrity game!

Did you know? You can see clues from old categories every weekday on Spoiler Talk posts.