'Jeopardy' fans are unhappy about a 'misleading' clue that stumped all three contestants
'Jeopardy!' fans are mostly rooting for the contestants to win, and while it's natural for them to be disappointed when none of the players get an answer right, sometimes they blame the question for it. In a recent episode, champion Matt Massie, Jam Zimmerman, and Rob Forrester faced the category “U.S. Business,” with the clue, “The ‘stencil’ logo released in 1979 for this chain used only 2 colors, one of which emphasized ‘energy’ and ‘value.'” Zimmerman shrugged when host Ken Jennings revealed that her answer, "What is Stapes?" was wrong. Both Forrester and Massie came up with “What is K-Mart?” and that was incorrect as well.
According to TVInsider, fans were left unconvinced that the final correct answer was eventually revealed as "Home Depot" by Jennings. They took to Reddit to express their displeasure. "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," a viewer @AtomicFreeze pointed out. "This was a terrible Final Jeopardy question," @BobbyBinBville added further. "I didn’t get it. The 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 user @GoLionJD107 complained.
"It's not that the logo has a stencil. It's the lettering of "THE HOME DEPOT," looking like it is written using a stencil," @the-aleph-null mentioned. Earlier in the game, Massie began with a total of $30,000. He lost $2,000 yet won $4,000 after solving the Daily Double. However, during the "Do The Write Thing" category. The clue read, “In 1910, German pen-trepreneurs trademarked this brand name for writing instruments of ‘peak’ quality.” He didn’t answer, so he lost around $2,400 while the correct answer was “Montblanc.” Forrester followed close behind with winnings of $1,000, and Zimmerman remained last with $800.
During the Double Jeopardy, Massie ended up solving the first puzzle with the clue, “The capital cities of these 2 South American nations sit on opposite shores of the Rio de la Plata estuary.” He answered “Argentina and Uruguay,” which increased his winnings to a total of $12,000 despite wagering $6,000. The second one challenged him with the clue that read, “Another word for sheets & such becomes what you ‘do,’ such as a king’s desire.” In response to this, Massie took the right guess by answering “Betting and Bidding,” taking his winnings to a staggering $26,600. He won the Final Jeopardy! round and proved to be the champion once again.
