"Dumb and kind of annoying": Jeopardy! fans divided over show's "questiony" format

Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! Host Ken Jennings | Image Source: Instagram/ @jeopardy

Since 1964, Jeopardy! has become such an iconic and globally popular game show. Viewers must know how the trivia show works in a unique way, where players are given general info about a particular thing, person, or place. It could even be an idea. For that, players are supposed to make a phrase as a question - that's all.

Over the years, some viewers have become hard-core fans of Jeopardy! Many dream of being on the iconic show to compete and attend the show.

However, along with popularity, Jeopardy! has also been in the middle of various discussions where fans can't quite agree on the show's "questiony" format. Often, fans could be seen as being involved in various forums and discussions about the right answer rather than a clue to a specific question.

In one such instance, there has been yet another discussion about Jeopardy's "questiony" format between fans. In one of the Reddit forums dedicated to Jeopardy!, users could be seen divided over the show's format and more details.

One of the Reddit users, marpocky, shared,

"It's dumb and kind of annoying, but your response does not have to be a question that logically and grammatically matches the clue. It just has to be any old question that includes the "right answer" while also not being obnoxiously contrived to the point that the producers will step in and ask you to cool it with the overwrought phrasing."
Comment byu/lurebat from discussion inJeopardy

Another user, PSXer, wrote,

"There have been entire categories where all the answers were in the form of a question. Contestants usually don't get the hint and still add "what is" to the front."

Referring to one of the recent episodes, a Reddit user, CheckersSpeech wrote,

"Seems to me like in the last six months I've seen Ken accept a response along the lines of "Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolff?" by saing, "Yes, that is a question!"

To the same thread, another user, Learnmegooder, shared,

"I've just always wondered if a contestant answered "Yoda, who is?" - if that would be ruled correct or not "questiony" enough."

One more Reddit user wrote, referring to Jeopardy!'s question format,

"I have heard one of their staff say they do not accept simply "Who?" as a response to "The band responsible for the rock opera Tommy." The acceptable response is "Who is Who?" "

To that, ThisDerpForSale answered,

"*What's Who?"

A Reddit user, RegisPhone, referred to Matt Amodio's game and wrote,

"The FAQ they posted during Matt Amodio's run says that just "The Who?" would be acceptable, and the rules about leading articles should make just "Who?" acceptable too. I'm pretty sure i remember someone doing exactly that back in the 90s, but i haven't been able to find it on j-archive yet."

To which Squirrel_Q_Esquire shared,

"The rules went out the window when Matt Amodio said "What's (blank)" a thousand times improperly, so if they didn't accept Wheres Waldo then they'll have to strike a lot of Matt's records."

Jeopardy! fans discuss the show's clue/ question format

Many Jeopardy! fans have been discussing controversial questions/ clues from the show. One of them was for the answers that start with "Who is" or "What is."

For instance, if the given is "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in such a case, fans discussed whether the correct answer would be: "What is: Who's?" or something else?

On Jeopardy!, the show host Ken Jennings addressed the same and referred to it as an "irregular occurrence."

Many users talked about the clue, "This book series features a hidden stripped protagonist," where another user answered, "Where's Waldo?" rather than "What is Where's Waldo?" which is the "regular" show format for the clues.

Throughout the entire discussion, many fans shared their views and wrote about such controversial clues and their possible answers.


Fans can stream Jeopardy! Season 41 on regional channels and ABC, depending on their location.

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Edited by Sarah Nazamuddin Harniswala