"Jeopardy!" Fans Divided Over Controversial Final Clue, "Not Appropriate"

Jeopardy! fans can be a pretty rigorous bunch, but they're seriously up in arms about the final-round clue on Wednesday's episode, taking to message boards and social media to complain that the question was confusingly phrased—and that another clue made no sense at all. "'I've just made something up in my head and now you have to guess what I'm thinking' is a terrible format for a Jeopardy clue,'" one viewer harrumphed.  For Final Jeopardy!, the category was "World of Water." The clue: "The Bass Strait divides Tasmania & mainland Australia & hydrographers have disputed which of these two larger bodies it's part of." Read on to find out why fans say the supposedly correct answer didn't wash.

Returning champ Ben Goldstein, a content marketing specialist from Michigan, and Nabeela Rahman, a cooperative education coordinator from Ontario, gave the correct answer: "What are the Indian & Pacific Oceans?" The third contestant, Lee Papa, a professor from New Jersey, got nixed when he guessed, "What are the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans?"

"I'm going to open by saying that I hate this Final," a recapper wrote on thejeopardyfan.com. "Even depending on whether or not you're in Australia, there may be many possible answers to this one."

The recapper unpacked their case: "On its west, depending on who's making the definition, the body of water is either the Great Australian Bight, the Indian Ocean, or the Southern Ocean. (The Southern Ocean definition is used mainly by Australia.)"

"On its east, it's either the Tasman Sea or the Pacific Ocean," they added. "Considering that either half of this response has multiple possible responses, I don't think that it's an appropriate subject for a Final."

Several viewers joined the debate on Reddit. A number of them thought the clue was too easy.  "Could this have been the easiest FJ clue in a while? All the more amazing that someone thought Australia was next to the Atlantic Ocean," one fan wrote about Papa.  "It was easy if you didn't overcomplicate it like I did," another viewer said. "At first I was wondering if they wanted Great Australian Bight (objectively wrong) and Tasman Sea (too specific), but then I settled on the Pacific and Southern Oceans, as the strait's western edge empties into Australia's south coast."  They added: "Of course, Australia's south coast is on the Indian Ocean — the Southern Ocean doesn't extend as far north as I thought (it's defined as the waters below 60 degrees south)."

That wasn't the only controversy on Wednesday's episode, as several Redditors took issue with the Daily Double clue: "In 2022, getting a chance to see Taylor Swift in concert was the definition of this challenging phrase."  Goldstein was utterly stumped, saying, "I have no idea."  The "correct" answer was: "What is a tough ticket?"  Reddit did not approve.

"Tough Ticket is weird phrasing, and given it barely shows up on Google," wrote one Redditor. "Where are the writers getting this from?"

"I'm an old timer and I can see saying something like, 'that's a tough ticket to come by.' But I don't think of tough ticket as a phrase," said another. "Golden ticket, ticket to ride, ticket out of here— those are phrases. The writers have been simply terrible lately and I feel for the contestants this past week in particular."

"'I've just made something up in my head and now you have to guess what I'm thinking' is a terrible format for a Jeopardy clue," complained another. "Yesterday's movie category was basically the same thing."

Some members of Jeopardy!'s devoted fanbase have complained that the show has gone downhill since the 2020 death of Alex Trebek, who had helmed the show since 1985. (Mayim Bialik and former champion Ken Jennings now share hosting duties.). "It really does feel as if the show is on wobbling wheels," one commenter wrote on the New York Post's website. "The contestants are weaker, the clues not as interesting and the double host concept, clearly impedes the building of a bond between host and audience as well as creating the rhythm/beats of a nightly show."

"A lot of clues seem to be poorly written as of late (I believe they were recorded before the current writers strike)," another said.  "The occurrence of multiple controversies since the passing of Alex Trebek is either remarkably random or suggests that Trebek, directly or indirectly, did a lot more for Jeopardy! than read "answers," listen to producers through his earbud and make casual conversation with contestants," another opined.