These Hilariously Bad 'Jeopardy!' Answers Will Have You Feeling Like A Genius

NBC

One thing that has made Jeopardy! so universally loved, besides its host, Alex Trebek, are the wacky clues and Trebek's droll way of asking them. And his responses to the contestants are often why people tune in nightly.

Part of being a winning contestant on Jeopardy! is being fast with the buzzer, as well as coming up with the right answer. There's a lot of stress and money on the line too, which doesn't help matters.

How can anyone keep their cool in such situations? Well, sometimes they can't, and it leads to some priceless responses.

The show likes to poke a bit of fun at things, like double entendres such as this, found on littlethings.com:

Clue: “This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker.”

Contestant question: “What is a hoe?”

Actual answer: "Rake, a shortened form of the old term for a 'rakehell,' or 'hellraiser.' "

We're getting a little too deep on the subject.

Clue: “If Andy yearns for Brenda, and Brenda cares about Charlene, who pines for Andy, the three of them form one of these.”

Contestant question: “What is a threesome?”

Actual answer: "Love triangle."

Wikimedia | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magic_Johnson_argentina.jpg

Clue: “100+ assists in an NHL season has been accomplished only 13 times, 11 times by this player.”

Contestant question: “Who is Magic Johnson?”

Actual answer: Wayne Gretzky, the hockey player.

The phrase "NHL" in this clue was a pretty good clue, but this contestant just glossed over that part.

Wikimedia | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Algonquin_Round_Table.gif

Sometimes it's best to just come out with it and say you don't know the answer. Then again, you could just .... not answer.

Clue: “Harpo Marx was among this group when it met in NYC’s Rose Room for its final time, in 1943, and found there was nothing left to say.”

Contestant question: “What is I have no idea?”

Actual answer: The Algonquin Round Table, which was a group of actors and writers who gathered for lunch regularly at the Algonquin Hotel for lunch for about 10 years.

Wikimedia | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Full_Moon_04-18-19.jpg

A contestant who selected a Daily Double was asked what "selenophobia" was.

The best she could come up with was, "what is fear of Mexican music stars."

Not even close. Selenophobia is actually fear of the moon, a real thing.

Jeopardy! / YouTube

In a Teen Tournament, some guy named Leonard was simply wrong here, but it just didn't matter.

Clue: "On June 6, 1944 he said, "The eyes of the world are upon you." The show was referring to Dwight D. Eisenhower's speech to soldiers in the Allied Expeditionary Force before the Normandy Landings

Barrett said "Dwight D. Eisenhower," the correct answer, which gave him $18,000.

Neli answered "FDR," which now we know is wrong. Still, a somewhat commendable attempt.

Leonard Cooper answered: "Who is some guy in Normandy." Wrong.

But Leonard gets the last laugh, because though he got the answer wrong, he still ended up with a two-day total of $75,000, thus beating the other two guys.

Kudos to Leonard for being smart, and having a personality.

NBC / YouTube

This final question in a Jeopardy! game led to a very strange answer:

"A Christian hymn and a Jewish holiday hymn are both titled this, also the name of a 2009 Tony-nominated musical."

One contestant answered "Kinky Boots." No, that is incorrect.

"Whenever people go to temple or they go to church, they sing 'Kinky Boots,' " said Trebek. Leave it to Trebek to come up with a witty retort.

NBC / YouTube

This question seemed to have an obvious answer.

Tom went with "What is the age of consent."

No.

NBC / YouTube

We'll leave the last one for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His answer for one of the five movie ratings was "X."

Sure, except the answer here was "G."

"You went in the wrong direction," Trebek told Abdul-Jabbar. "We were looking for a G-rating, not an 'X' rating. Remember, Kareem, this is a family show."

Trebek will slam you.