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JEOPARDY! fans have been raging that Wednesday’s ‘baffling’ final category was ‘not appropriate’ as returning champ Ashley Chan’s winning streak comes to an abrupt end.
Season 41 of the iconic game show has produced very few five-day champions and viewers were hoping today’s episode would end with one more – but fell just short.
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Ashley, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas, has already pocketed $67,400 after winning four consecutive games.
Due to her impressive gameplay, fun personality and the lack of five-day champ’s this season, fans were rooting for her to score at least one more win on her Jeopardy! resume.
The Texan went up against Eric Weldon-Schilling, a bar manager and sommelier from Houston, Texas and Sarah Rosenthal, a fundraiser from New York City.
Ashley was off to a quick lead however, that changed after she found the first Daily Double.
Under the category “Poli Sci”, host Ken Jennings read out the clue: “Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen gets credit for coining this term for an organized effort to fake a grassroots movement.”
Ashley failed to correctly guess “what is astroturfing?” – dropping her $1,000.
Heading into Double Jeopardy!, Eric secured a hefty lead with $6,400 while Sarah was in second with $3,800 and Ashley in third with $2,800.
Eric had increased his lead to $13,200 and used the buffer to take a big risk – which ultimately didn’t pay off.
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Under the category “Victorian Verse”, Ken, 50, read the clue: “Thomas Hardy really liked this made-up name, writing a poem about its ‘Captains’ as well as a novel about its ‘Mayor.’”
“What is Casterbridge?” was the correct answer however, Eric was wrong – dropping his score $2,800.
Rounding out the trio of Daily Double errors was Sarah – who dropped a whopping $3,000 when she got the third one wrong.
Under the “Before & After” category, Sarah was presented with: “A proverbial admonition not to weep over mishandled dairy that turned into a caramel-&-chocolate Hershey product.”
“What is: Don’t cry over spilled Milk Duds?” was the correct response, which Sarah missed.
After missing all three Daily Doubles, the contestants were hoping to turn their luck around for Final Jeopardy!
Ken revealed the last category to be “ANTHEMS” as the players made their wagers.
“The unofficial anthem of this U.K. territory mentions kelp, penguins and ‘the wind from the horn,’” Ken read.
In a change of events from the Daily Doubles, all three players were correct with writing down “What are the Falkland Islands?”
Eric added $1,400 to his score to win his debut game with $21,000.
Jeopardy! 2025 Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy!’s next Tournament of Champions will take place this winter, midway through Season 41 (exact airdate TBA) and it’s shaping up to be another showstopper. Here’s who is officially eligible so far:
- Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins and $349,600 total)
- Isaac Hirsch (nine wins and $215,390)
- Greg Jolin (five wins and $135,002)
- Survivor alum Drew Basile (seven wins and $129,601)
- Alison Betts (5 wins and $121,500)
- Mark Fitzpatrick (five wins and $107,201)
- Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins and $100,994)
- Ryan Manton (four wins and $83,179)
- Grant DeYoung (four wins and $81,203)
- Will Wallace (four wins and $79,998)
- Amar Kakirde (four wins and $55,899)
- Lisa Ann Walter (winner of Celebrity Jeopardy! 2024)
The prize for winning the ToC is $250,000 and a coveted slot in Jeopardy! Masters.
Jeopardy.com notes: “All 4-time and over winning players starting from 04/10/24 will be eligible for a future Tournament of Champions.”
“Presence on this list does NOT guarantee an invitation to compete. Other eligibility rules apply and final selection is up to the producers’ sole discretion.”
Sarah had $11,400 on the board when she came in second place and Ashley had $2,400 to her score when her winning streak came to an end.
Fans were disappointed with the final clue, and even slammed it as “inappropriate” and “too unserious.”
“This was another FJ for which solving it required no knowledge whatsoever about the category,” one person wrote.
“Agreed that ANTHEMS was not a helpful or appropriate FJ category given the clue. Also, in the POLI SCI category, how on earth did they make the obscure term “Astroturfing” the $600 clue and DD, while assigning $1000 to knowing separation of powers?
“Baffling and unserious,” another critic insisted.
“The FJ clues have been so weak lately. Are the writers on holiday break what’s going on?” a third asked.
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