Jeopardy! Those who are trivia buffs take pride in their knowledge and intelligence. Some viewers were disappointed when, instead of the Invitational Tournament of Champions, a special exhibition was aired following Neilesh Vinjamuri’s win.
In this special, Adriana Hartmeyer, Isaac Hirsch and Drew Basile faced off in practice rounds, or as Ken Jennings referred to it “rehearsals” for the players who had reached the semifinals without competing in the quarterfinals. This exhibition match, which was previously broadcast by TuneIn Radio On January 24, contestants had the chance to solve 61 puzzles.
Jennings explained, “The contestants will have the opportunity to solve 61 puzzles. This ensures that they are all on an even playing field when it comes time for finals.” But the level of difficulty for some clues caused debate among die-hard fans. Jeopardy! fans.
Some viewers thought the answers were easier than they would expect for potential Tournament of Champions contestants. In the category “Sounds Like an Actor’s Name”, one example was cited: “Sounds Like a Batman: 3 letter term that means to prohibit plus a company symbolized by a duck.” Critics criticized the correct answer, Ben Affleck’s (Aflac).
Others categories raised an eyebrow as well. Some viewers found the questions in categories such as “Vice Presidents”, “Newspaper Terminology” and “Give me some Backups” to be too simplistic.
It’s even the final Jeopardy! clue, under the category “Mythology”—”On an early book of Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator’s maps, an image of this titan holding the world was used”—seemed comparatively straightforward to some.
It was a positive sign that three of the contestants had correctly identified “Atlas”. Online Jeopardy! The subreddit became the center of conversation, as many players expressed their disappointment in spite of this game being non-competitive.
One user said, “The clues to this show seemed easy than normal. Especially FJ.” One user commented that a 6th grader would have been able to answer Final Jeopardy. “What a joke!” Other people countered the claim that this lower level of difficulty was intentionally chosen, since it was intended to serve as a preparation game.
The episode sparked a lot of discussion among the fans, whether the ease in which it was perceived by the public was deliberate or not. Jeopardy! community. Invitational Tournament fans eagerly awaited the beginning of this tournament, which started on February 17th.