Ken Jennings tries to maintain a straight face when studying out contestants’ solutions on Jeopardy!, however even he couldn’t cover his shocked response on the finish of Thursday’s (October 12) episode.

The contestant in query was lawyer Steve Clarke, a former two-day winner from Season 38, who was taking over former three-day champ Josh Saak and one-day winner Valerie Castelo as a part of the at the moment airing Champions Wildcard event.

Clarke and Saak went backwards and forwards all through the episode, with Clarke touchdown the ultimate Day by day Double, giving him a slight lead heading into Ultimate Jeopardy! with $19,100 to Saak’s $16,400.

The Ultimate Jeopardy!, which got here beneath the “Phrase Origins” class, appeared comparatively easy on the floor. The clue learn: “Although it meant ‘seasickness’ in Latin, this 6-letter phrase now refers to a extra basic feeling of illness.”

Saak and Castelo wrote the right reply, “Nausea,” with the previous including an additional $2,701 to his complete. At this level, it appeared like a positive factor that Clarke would stroll away because the episode’s winner… till he revealed his reply.

Clarke wrote “Malaise,” which was not solely the flawed reply but additionally a 7-letter phrase, making it doubly incorrect.



Jennings failed to carry in his shock, saying, “Oh no… ‘What’s Malaise,” as Clarke appeared on in disappointment.

“He is perhaps arising with nausea proper now,” the host quipped as Clarke misplaced $13,701 from his complete, placing him in second place and handing the victory over to Saak.

Followers loved the aggressive nature of the episode, regardless that many had been shocked that Clarke tousled his closing reply.

“Best closing jeopardy shortly,” wrote one viewer on the Jeopardy! Reddit discussion board, with one other responding, “I assumed the identical factor and was shocked when Steve didn’t get it. I’m not excellent at that class and bought it immediately.”

“That was the simplest closing Jeopardy clue I’ve seen this season… I used to be in between nausea or queasy for a second however I made a decision on nausea,” added one other commenter.

Castelo, who bought the reply right, defended her fellow opponent, commenting on the Reddit thread, “It’s additionally tremendous straightforward to get caught on a solution or simply proper one thing down that you already know is flawed as a result of that’s what you have got and it’s higher to guess than not guess.”

“All in all, that was an exciting sport to look at. Among the finest I’ve seen this season to this point,” mentioned one other fan.

“I’ve been wanting ahead to this sport because the subject was introduced, and it didn’t disappoint as I used to be massive followers of each Josh and Steve throughout their authentic runs,” one other added.

“Nice sport! Primarily based on the gamers’ respective stats coming into this match, I used to be anticipating Saak to dominate, however it appeared like he and Steve had been principally evenly-matched by way of information, and Steve had a slight edge on the buzzer,” mentioned one other viewer.