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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, October 29 episode of Jeopardy!]
Jeopardy! viewers got a new champ on October 29 — but it wasn’t pretty. The player twice forgot the show’s sacred phrasing, leading to a “cringeworthy” Daily Double that nearly cost him the game even after a warning from Ken Jennings.
Ian Taylor, a food sales rep originally from Cleveland, Ohio, entered as the returning champ with a one-day total of $19,601, facing John Liu, a marketing analyst from Santa Monica, California (graduating college at 15!), and Aimée Record, a middle school teacher from Long Island, New York.
In the Jeopardy! round, Taylor dropped $1000 on the Daily Double, while Liu responded to a clue by forgetting to add “what is,” only answering “Claw machine?” He was ruled correct with a reminder from Jennings: “Remember your phrasing, John,” With this foreshadowing, Liu finished with $2,600, Taylor with $1,000, and Record led with $3,800.
In Double Jeopardy!, Liu had a rip-roaring start and led with $5400 when he found the second Daily Double, deciding to go all-in. “Oh, wow,” Jennings said presenting the clue. It was, “Broca’s & Wernicke’s are 2 types of this condition in which language use & speech are impaired.”
Liu correctly responded with “Aphasia” but once more, forgot his phrasing, and this time, he was ruled incorrect. After a lengthy pause with time to right his wrong, Jennings said: “I’m sorry, no, you forgot your phrasing, John. ‘What is: Aphasia.’ So important.”
Forgetting his phrasing dropped him from the lead to $0. Still, all players struggled with the material, leading to 21 triple-stumpers and Liu (correctly getting the last Daily Double) regaining his lead by Final Jeopardy with a mere $5,600, Taylor with $3,400, and Record with $600.
The “NEWS FROM THE STORK” clue was, “One of the 10 or so babies born at Argentina’s Esperanza Base in this place was fittingly named Marisa de las Nieves.” Taylor and Liu correctly responded “Antarctica,” with the latter adding $2,201 to become the new champ and win with $7,801.
Fans flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, where they were stunned by Liu’s Daily Double blunder after the previous reminder from Jennings, and how the game still played out in a way where he won.
“I’m relieved for John that he ended up winning because I can’t even imagine how agonizing it would be to get on Jeopardy!, have the lead, find a Daily Double, wager everything, and know the correct response but lose because I forgot to say “What is…” Especially after already having been warned in the Jeopardy round!” one fan wrote.
“I was genuinely appalled at the quality of clues, category gimmicks, and overall board composition today,” wrote another. “Most of them were either really difficult or phrased in a very puzzling manner. John’s mis-phrasing on that DD made me cringe (with the utmost sympathy) and I congratulate him on his ability to claw back from this unfortunate error.”
“It was really unpleasant/uncomfortable to watch,” echoed a third.
“Glad he kept his spirits up after that tough DD ruling, I would have been too dejected and found it hard to come back,” wrote a fourth.
Other fans questioned why Liu was allowed no phrasing the first time, but not the second.
“I am also very confused as to why John got credit for “a claw machine” without the full phrasing,” a fifth Redditor wrote. “I even went back and re-watched that part with closed captions (in case I didn’t hear it) and I didn’t see the phrasing there either.”
According to Jeopardy.com, this is well established as the rule: “If a contestant gives a response to a non-Daily Double clue in the Jeopardy! round that is not in the form of a question, the host will give them a reminder. However, if a contestant forgets their phrasing in the Double Jeopardy! round, during Final Jeopardy! or for any Daily Double clue, they will be ruled incorrect.”
Taylor chimed into the thread to write: “It was a tough game to watch I’m sure, and it was a tough one to play. So much of the game is rhythm, and none of us were able to get one going. Some boards are easy for some people and hard for others, and it felt like I hit a brick wall with this one.”
Others had to agree on the overall difficulty level: “Horrible game today. The worst Jeopardy! game I’ve watched since Suresh Krishnan’s 2nd game,” and “Hard game… congrats to everyone though for not ending up in red at the end of Double Jeopardy.”
What did you think of the game? Were you surprised John Liu eaked out the win? And what did the Final Jeopardy category have to do with the clue itself? Questionable, no? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!