JEOPARDY! fans have called out the beloved game show for getting "incredibly inconsistent" with its clues.
Devotees flooded a Reddit thread citing a $400 prompt that was "crazy hard" and a $2000 prompt that felt like it was from a "Kid's Week."
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Jeopardy! fans are an extremely protective bunch who never hesitate to clock the long-running game show for anything and everything online.
Whether it be rulings that don't sit well or clues that have a debatable detail, hardcore viewers don't let anything slide in the post-Alex Trebek era.
But one Reddit user took a step back to look at how dollar amounts are being assigned to the five clues in each category in general.
They titled their internet thread "The clue writers need a serious revamp."
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CLUES ARE FEELING 'VERY OFF'
They wrote: "I've noticed at least two or three times a clue that is WAY too high on the board, with harder ones hidden behind the $200 or $400 clues.
"Has anyone else noticed this trend? I know there's always been a few off clues in a week, but it feels like ever since the High School Reunion Tournament [earlier this month] it's been incredibly inconsistent.
"Am I overreacting? Probably. But it feels like the clue writers are losing steam as the season goes on."
Other Jeopardy! lovers felt the user was not overreacting and the forum wound up with 165-plus responses.
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One replied: "I wonder if this is in response to the overall strategy change of jumping around the board looking for Daily Doubles."
Another wrote: "You may well be right. Personally, it really grinds my gears when the clue difficulty levels are disjointed."
A third wrote: "Some of what they are considering high value versus low value lately have indeed seemed very...off."
A fourth fired off: "Writing has been garbage lately" and a fifth wondered: "does anyone else feel like the questions are just dumber in general?"
FOR $2000: IDENTIFY NEBRASKA
Multiple fans mentioned a clue during March 23rd's episode for $2000 that asked the contestants to identify Nebraksa on a map.
The video clue under the category "The Lincoln Highway" showed South Dakota marked above the U.S. State in question and Colorado under it on-screen.
"The Nebraska question was . . . Jeopardy Kids' Week level of difficulty," one wrote. "There was literally a question just like that on Celebrity Jeopardy that had Maryland as the state," wrote another.
FOR $400: HANS WHO?
Others brought contestant Karen Morris's now-infamous Daily Double flub last week in which the new contestant bet and lost $10,000 despite having a runaway or ensured win.
The clue under: "Hans, Solo" read: "This artist the younger was working on yet another portrait of Henry VIII when he died in 1543."
Karen's shockingly huge wager took her from a locked victory to third place, she could not get to "Hans Holbein" - and just shook her head.
While Redditors agreed that Karen definitely wagered a mistakenly large amount, they felt "Hans Holbein" should not have been placed as the second easiest in the category.
"One of the Daily Double clues the other day was behind a $400 clue and it ended up being way harder than I had expected (this is the woman who bet $10k when she was way ahead and ended up losing)."
"That was SO painful to watch. She had an untouchable runaway game (I think) and gave it away with that bet. Perfect opportunity to bet 1 dollar and throw in a 'hi mom' for an answer."
[But] "that question was crazy hard!" fans in the thread agreed. "Yeah, she deserved to lose after that blunder. But I was cringing so hard. Felt so bad for her."
WWE CATEGORY GETS SMACKED DOWN
On last Friday's episode, WWE superstars - such as Rey Mysterio, Alexa Bliss, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, and Triple H - appeared on video and asked questions to the players.
Host Ken Jennings said to contestant- and champ at the time- Alec Chao: "I bet you didn't think that was going to happen!"
A $200 clue in the "WWE" round read: "Awesome doesn't begin to describe this legend at seven foot four" - and showed a video of what was looking for Andre The Giant.
Another saw Rey Mysterio ask for the "alliterative name" of the wrestling style Lucha Libre.
When Jeopardy! shared the video category to YouTube fans dismissed it as dumbing down their favorite show.
One wrote there: "I miss the old Jeopardy. Most people who watch Jeopardy are not going to be watching WWE. Why even bother with a category like this? Must be trying to bring in the 'cool' people."
"I think that category was a paid promotion," wrote another.
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And a third: "I rarely comment, but to have the WWE on Jeopardy is so absurd, It doesn’t even compute. Shame on you."
Ken and Mayim Bialik replaced the late Alex last year as hosts and in 2021, the treasured trivia show also scored a new executive producer who's had mainly his eye on new tournaments, "horrible" errors abounding along the way.
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