LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Jeopardy!' fans, aligning with the nerdy trivia nature of the game show, keep coming up with different theories about the show's rules and policies. On various occasions, they have discussed loopholes and bizarre situations of "what ifs" about Alex Trebek's trivia game show.
A thread on Reddit revealed more discussions around another strange question which many 'Jeopardy!' contributed to. The question brought up the rule of specific contestants on the game show being asked to pick a clue of their choice to answer depending on various other requirements.
Redditor asks interesting 'Jeopardy!' question
The discussion was opened by a Redditor in the 'Jeopardy!' subreddit where every day, fans come over to discuss new updates and other related curiosities related to the game itself. It was titled, "Rule Question: What Happens if a Contestant Doesn't Pick a Clue?" It's a strange but valid question that not many people could have come up with. The question further asked, "Is there a time limit to picking a clue? Can a contestant (for instance, if they're way ahead and controlling the board and there are no daily doubles left) wait as long as they can to take up the game clock? (is that even a good strategy and has anyone tried it?)"
In the known history of the show, it probably has not happened yet that a contestant refused to choose a clue from a specific category worth a certain amount. The questions picked by them are supposed to work in their own favor as getting hold of the clue board can help you with a streak of correct answers which are according to your best knowledge of trivia. However, the user still seemed to wonder, "What happens if a contestant with control of the board just flat-out refuses to pick a clue?"
Fans respond to the 'Jeopardy!' rule question
Many 'Jeopardy!' fans flocked to the thread to share their individual takes on the hypothetical situation. A simple answer written by one user was, "There are behind-the-scenes posts from time to time explaining the process, which is fascinating. Sometimes, the answer you hear or the reading of the question isn't the first take. The show isn't live in any sense. The 'running out the clock' is whether they have enough footage to fill out the 30 minutes. So if someone refuses to pick, they would just be asked to kindly play the game, and the delay would be edited out." Another one wrote, "Are they holding a sit-in? They went through the whole process of getting on the show to just stand there and boycott it? If they're truly unable to continue playing, I suppose the show could replace them with another player and start a new game." A fan also brought up a previous contestant who might have used a similar strategy, commenting, "You know I’m convinced this was actually part of Alex Jacob’s strategy. He’d always take maximum time on his daily doubles, waiting until Alex was about to rule him for time when he answered. Then after he bet big and had a lead it always seemed like he’d take it real slow when he picked the remaining clues."
Some were quick to joke about the possible situation of a fan refusing to pick a clue. One wrote, "They bring in Will Ferrell, who sighs and picks Members of Simon and Garfunkel for $200." Another one wrote, "I imagine it like that scene in Casino: You can either have the money and the hammer or you can walk out of here. You can't have both." And finally, one fan wrote, "I think they would stop taping and escort the contestant out onto the sidewalk and say goodbye."
