"Jeopardy!" Fans Think "Brutal" Episode Could Have Set a New Record
In a twist, host Ken Jennings answered more questions than the players.
Jeopardy! is regarded as America's favorite pop quiz show for a reason. Prospective contestants must advance through multiple rounds of questionnaires and auditions—including a mock version of the game—to earn their shot at hitting the official J! buzzer on the Alex Trebek stage. The show is equally thrilling for viewers at home, many of whom tune in weekly to play along.
But whether you're a former Jeopardy! champion, a longtime fan, or a self-proclaimed genius, sometimes the questions seem too tricky. This was the case in Wednesday night's game, which online fans are calling "insanity" after 21 questions went unanswered.
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Did Jeopardy! players Zach Eckstein, Nella Ballauer, and Jay Fisher just set a new record? According to fans on social media, their episode should go down in Jeopardy! history books as the game with the most triple-stumpers ever.
A triple-stumper occurs when all contestants fail to buzz in their response within the allotted time. This leaves host Ken Jennings to unveil the correct answer himself. Triple stumpers aren't unusual in Jeopardy!, but a tidal wave of unanswered questions certainly raises some eyebrows.
During the first round, there were five triple stumpers—three of which belonged to the Cybertalk category, per J! Archive. The players were off to a rocky start, but things only got worse in the Double Jeopardy! round, where a total of 16 tiles across every category went unanswered. Players neglected to answer questions in categories such as U.S. Place Nicknames, Education, Le Cinéma, World History, and Opera Heroines.
Elsewhere in the episode, Jennings challenged contestants to answer clues whose answers had to include three consecutive letters.
For example, a tile read, "The Brits call this mild analgesic drug paracetamol." The correct answer was "acetaminophen" because the letters "nop" are next to one another in the alphabet.
Eckstein was the only contestant to attempt the Final Jeopardy! question, though his guess was incorrect. When all was said and done, Ballauer ended with $1 to her name, while Eckstein walked away with zero. Fisher, who is on a winning streak, ended the game with $14,400, per J! Archive.
In a post-game Reddit thread, fans admonished Jeopardy! producers for unleashing a "massive step up in difficulty."
"Really brutal Double board today; less than half of the clues in the round even got an attempt," wrote one user.
"Me, yesterday: 'Man, FJ has been easy for a little bit.' Me, today: 'Man, I hate this FJ,'" joked a Jeopardy! fan.
"Is that a record for the most unanswered questions? That was insanity," said someone, to which another agreed, "Well, it definitely was at my house. Tough game."
Meanwhile, one fan questioned the tough choice of categories for Wednesday's game: "Opera, French Cinema, and then Literature for FJ is certainly a choice."
"I'll never be on Jeopardy but man what a rough night to be on, category wise. Brutal," reads a comment.
On X, one fan begged Jeopardy!: "Don't ever put Opera Heroines and French Cinema categories in the same game again. That was painful to watch."
