'Jeopardy' contestant fails to decode clue about James Bond — but fans think it was 'confusing'
Two of the players got it right, and while the player who lost didn't mind, fans were not satisfied.
July 17 2025, Published 1:45 p.m. ET
Contestants and fans of "Jeopardy!" are usually well-versed in pop culture references, and trivia about history, sports, as well as current affairs. But sometimes, the clues tend to leave everyone puzzled. Something like that happened to Ashley Caval Curto, who was stumped by a clue about James Bond, which caused her winnings to decline from $7,400 to $4,200. The clue was, “The last 2 Best Song Oscar winners whose titles were the same name as the movie they were in had this man in the leading role.”
After 30 seconds ran out, Ken Jennings reached out to Curto, who had written down, “Who is Timothée Chalamet?” which turned out ot be incorrect. She was probably referring to Chalamet's movie "Dune," which won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2022. "It was going to be, I think? I'm afraid that's not it, Ashley," Jennings reacted. He then moved to Carter, who correctly wrote down, "Who is Daniel Craig?" since he got the James Bond reference. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell won Best Original Song for the Bond movie "No Time to Die" in 2022, and Adele won the same for "Skyfall" in 2013. "What did you wager, Vince? -$11,001 gives you the lead by $1," Jennings declared after Carter scored $25,001 from $14,000.
Riccardi also gave the right answer and scored a big number, making him the lucky third-time winner. His earnings went from $25,000 to a whopping $96,001. "Wow. He wagered $3,001, giving him $28,001. However, according to TVInsider, fans were not happy about the "Jeopardy!" clue. They felt that it was unfair to the contestants since it was vague and 'poorly worded'. “A very confusing clue. It took me more than the ‘think music’ time to even figure out what it said,” a viewer @pquijote557 mentioned on X. “I finally realized it wanted the name of the actor. Good thing there’s a pause button! (I still didn’t know the answer, though).” "More Science and Math, less pop," another user, @WaldoOtto89432, complained.
"Ugh. Being a Bond fan and an Oscar buff, I should have known it, but I instantly blanked on nearly all Original Song winners for the last 40 years," @markintexas3030, a fan of the game, commented on YouTube. "Bond films MUST have the most awarded songs that match the titles... that's a genius element! Honestly, I don't know many other classic films that even do the same thing (?)," @jmason61 asked. "I wasn't sure if they wanted Daniel Craig or James Bond. The last 3 Bond themes have won the Oscar, but the Song from Spectre that won was called 'Writing's on the Wall'", @teelink204 pointed out. "They're looking for Craig as the correct response, but I wonder if they would have accepted Bond as an answer. When the clue says leading role, it doesn't specify if they are asking for an actor or a character," @irishbugs argued.
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