Final 'Jeopardy!' Clue Causes Argument Among Fans, Many State Answer Was Incorrect
Tuesday night’s episode of “Jeopardy!” featured Jennifer Quail, who improved to a five-game win streak and correctly answered a clue that some fans argue was incorrect.
Many “Jeopardy!” fans are fiercely devoted to the game show and are quick to detect a clue that may be confusing, inaccurate, or, in Tuesday night’s case, may have more than one correct answer.
Under the category of Oscar-winning films came this Final Jeopardy! clue: “The first words spoken in this 1970 Best Picture Oscar winner are ‘Ten-hut!’ ‘Be Seated.’”
The response that Quail correctly gave and Trebek confirmed as accurate was, “What is ‘Patton’?”
Quail only wagered $1,000 on her response, the lowest bet she had made in her five-game win streak, indicating that she was not entirely confident in her knowledge of that category.
Some fans found the response of “Patton” to be inaccurate, arguing the correct answer was “Midnight Cowboy,” because it did win the 1970 Academy Award for Best Picture according to Oscars.org. “Midnight Cowboy” debuted in 1969.
“Patton” won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Picture, but premiered in 1970, so technically, the answer was correct based on the way the game show phrased the clue.
Frustrated fans argued that the way the clue was written seemed to be looking for the name of the film that won the Best Picture Oscar award in 1970, not a film that was debuted in 1970 and went on to win an Oscar in a different year.
Quail, who ended up winning the episode, gave her two cents on Twitter in response to a fan who asked her for her thoughts.
Is this one of those “year it came out versus year the ceremony is held things?” I have no idea, I bet low because as a general rule I will only start caring about Oscars if I’m nominated for one.
— Author Jennifer Quail (@jenniferquail) December 11, 2019
“Is this one of those ‘year it came out versus year the ceremony is held things?’” she wrote. “I have no idea, I bet low because as a general rule I will only start caring about Oscars if I’m nominated for one.”
“Jeopardy!” has shown no sign that a second correct answer could have been plausible, leaving “Patton” as the correct answer, regardless of the opinion of a few fans.
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