‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Reacts After Pop Culture Clues Stump All 3 Contestants

Kelli Boyle May 7, 2024, 8:07 pm

Allison Gross plays in the May 7, 2024 episode of 'Jeopardy!' — Jeopardy, Inc.

Jeopardy! fans weren’t the only ones who noticed a larger-than-usual number of triple-stumper clues in the Tuesday, May 7 episode.

The winner of that night’s game told viewers on the Jeopardy! Reddit discussion board that she noticed the high volume as well while playing, noting that even though she won, she’s “not particularly happy” with how she played. It’s lucky, in that case, that her win allows her to play again and try to redeem herself.

Playing in this matchup were returning champ Matthew Smith, a paramedic from New York City; Allison Gross, a data scientist from Cleveland, Ohio; and Daniel King, a Brown University graduate from Parsippany, New Jersey. Their scores were pretty neck-and-neck by the time of the first break, but Gross took the lead by the end of the first round. At that point the scores were Gross with $5,800, Smith with $2,600, and King with $1,200.

Gross maintained her lead for the rest of the night, but Double Jeopardy was a tough round for all three of them. There were still three clues left on the board by the time they had to go to break, an uncommon occurrence in this game show, and there was a pop music category that stumped them all.

The first three clues in the category were about The Strokes, Beyoncé‘s “Break My Soul,” and Diane Warren‘s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” No one even attempted to guess the answers. Two of the final three clues left on the board at the end of the round came from that category. The third was from the category “Tear U-S Apart.”

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Final Jeopardy’s category also involved famous names (in this case, book characters), and it stumped two of the three competitors. The clue in the “Famous Characters” category was, “She’s introduced in an 1845 novella in which she wears a short skirt with her mantilla thrown back to show her shoulders.” The right answer was, “What is Carmen?” Only King answered correctly. Still, Gross finished in first place with $9,599. King came in second, and Smith in third.

The frequent stumpers is what made Gross unhappy with her performance, she told fans on Reddit.

“Bit of a comedown after yesterday’s barn-burner–today’s combined Coryat of 21,200 was barely over half of yesterday’s 42,000,” one user wrote on the discussion board. “Allison was definitely the strongest player, so I was glad to see her get the win.”

“I completely agree,” Gross wrote back/ “I was not particularly happy with how I did, though there wasn’t much I could’ve done. Even during the game I noticed how many triple stumpers there were. Fun experience and I was happy to get the win.”

There was another pop culture triple stumper earlier on in the game involving Oscar-winner Hilary Swank. “I was surprised about the Hilary Swank triple stumper, but you did well and deserved this win!” one fan wrote to Gross. And that wasn’t the last celebrity these players couldn’t recall.

“This was not a strong day for pop culture, at least for music/movies/TV,” noted one fan. “So many triple stumpers about actors and pop music. I can’t believe nobody knew Jim Morrison either.”

One fan was disappointed at the rock music misses. “What a brutal set of clues,” they wrote. “That being said as a rock fan, missing Jim Morrison and the Strokes hurts.”

What did you think of all the pop culture triple-stumpers in tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments below.

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