Jeopardy Contestant Reveals Even Ken Jennings Called Out Difficult Final Jeopardy Clue When Cameras Stopped Rolling, And It Definitely Stumped Me

Ken Jennings is shown as guest host of Jeopardy!

(Image credit: CBS Media Ventures)

As the 2024 TV schedule winds down, Jeopardy! remains a beloved staple, as people are still entertained by the clues that cross the board every episode. Those hints can surely vary as well. Whether a clue pokes fun at host Ken Jennings’ viral faux pas or winds up being sexist, you never know what may be presented or how the contestants and Jennings himself will react. On that note, a recent Final Jeopardy! clue stumped the contestants as well as Jennings, and I’m stumped as well.

Monday’s episode of the long-running game show saw another intense game between three contestants. By the time the final round came, everyone was pretty much in their own lanes when it came to the money, and the situation became interesting amid Final Jeopardy! When faced with the category “Poetic Characters,” no one provided the answer correct. Contestant Evan Jones later even revealed on a Reddit thread for the show that after the cameras stopped rolling, Jennings admitted that even he thought it was a hard clue.

The clue in question was “In an 1842 poem, it is said of this legendary character that his ‘quaint attire’ is much admired.” Everyone dropped different answers when it was really, “Who is the Pied Piper?” I was truly stumped on the answer, and the fact that the clever Mr. Jennings was taken aback as well says a lot. It’s likely that at least some people at home came up with the correct answer and, if they did, all power to them.

Even as host of Jeopardy!, you can’t know possibly every single answer when you just look at the clue itself. This makes me wonder just how many Final Jeopardy! clues Ken Jennings hasn’t known in the past and didn’t admit to on air.

If anything, his subsequent admission to the contestants this time around does make him somewhat relatable. He’s been hosting for a while now, though Jennings still flubs a clue or finds one particularly difficult. I mean, no one’s perfect, right?

His knowledge of clues aside, the long-running game show’s host is apparently quite the personality. He’s had more than a few memorable moments on camera. As for BTS tidbits, it was recently claimed that Ken Jennings poked fun at the rivalry between Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. He apparently did so by asking the live audience if they enjoyed their time after a taping and asked them if they wished to see Wheel instead. (Them’s fighting words!)

That aside, as long as Jeopardy! lasts, there will surely be clues that stumps contestants and/or Ken Jennings as well as myself. Yet that’s what makes the show fun to play and fun to watch. Check your local listings so that you’ll know when you can watch the show for yourself.