JEOPARDY! contestants have been stumped by a final question that left the reigning champ with zero points and saw his reign end.
The returning Jeopardy! champion, Jesse Chin, had entered Friday’s game with a one-day total of $24,810.
The accounting director was joined by Alice Ciciora, a political scientist and researcher, and Diandra D’Alessio, a technical writer.
Jesse failed to establish an early lead as the contestant scores leading into the first break were fairly close across all the competitors.
While the champ had garnered a total of $2,800, Diandra was hot on his heels with $2,000, and Alice trailed the leaders with $800.
The game was still close between the two leaders as the contestants reached Double Jeopardy!
The Bayside, New York accounting director still held the lead with $5,400 as the technical writer from Quebec, Canada kept things close with $4,600.
It was a back-and-forth battle between the pair throughout Double Jeopardy! with Jesse losing and then retaking the lead from Diandra.
Surprisingly though, it was Alice who somehow managed to gain the upper hand against her opponents with the scores heading into Final Jeopardy! being Alice with $8,900, Jesse with $8,600, and Diandra with $7,800.
Final Jeopardy!’s clue read: “The third-most famous group that invaded Britain in the 5th century, they gave their name to the continental part of Denmark.”
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Surprisingly, the final question ended up being a Triple Stumper as all contestants responded incorrectly — the correct response being: “Who are the Jutes?”
Jesse bet big and was left with $0 as Alice also lost the majority of her winnings.
However, Diandra only wagered $4,501, leaving her with $3,299 and the W.
Defeated champion Jesse shared his thoughts on the Final Jeopardy! clue on a Reddit board dedicated to the game show.
Responding to a fan, he wrote: “Hey man! I had no clue and just wanted to write something down! Third most famous invaders is just a wild clue to me.”
CONTROVERSIAL DEFEAT
Viewers were recently upset over another Final Jeopardy! question after nine-day champion Ben Chan’s streak ended over an “incredibly harsh” Final Jeopardy spelling ruling.
Ben’s shocking defeat on Tuesday after a record nine runaway wins and $256,000 came down to just one wrong letter and left viewers up in arms.
Lynn Di Vito – who technically beat Ben – faced Joyce Sun, a retired lawyer from Bloomfield, New Jersey, and Ed Petersen, a planning technician from Orlando, Florida.
Lynn- a retired museum educator from Colorado Springs, Colorado won with $11,800 after the controversial call.
Opening Wednesday’s show, Mayim Bialik complimented Lynn for her win against Ben and didn’t mention the tough way Ben went out.
“She defeated the seemingly undefeatable 9-game winner Ben Chan in a come-from-behind victory! We are happy to welcome her back,” she said at the time.
All three Daily Doubles went missed, and the timer ran out with three clues left on the board.
Newcomer Joyce lead going into Final Jeopardy! with $10,800 while Ed had $10,400 and Lynn $6,400.
Final Jeopardy! under “Classical Music” read: “When the opera ‘Lohengrin’ premiered in 1850, this man, a future in-law of the composer, was the conductor.”
Everyone was incorrect and no one could guess it was composer Franz Liszt.
Ed made the smallest wager of $2,401 and became the new winner with $7,999, looking thrilled to do so.
‘I WILL NO LONGER WATCH’
Fans were less thrilled, and people on Twitter were still not buying the results of the earlier game.
One person tweeted at the time: “Ben Chan was cheated and Jeopardy! fans are furious he lost a 9-day winning streak over a rotten final ruling.
“I no longer watch Jeopardy! after being a super-fan for 40 years.”
Another person wrote: “I’ll watch again when Ken Jennings returns. Jeopardy! is messy and will not change until Mayim leaves!”
A third wrote: “I’ll skip this, and I won’t watch ONE MORE episode until you say why Ben Chan was robbed!”
According to Jeopardy!.com: “Jeopardy! is not a spelling test – unless, of course, the category requires it.
“Written responses to the Final Jeopardy! clue do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables.”