Jeopardy! contestants must phrase their answers in a particular way on the game show
One of the most famous things about Jeopardy! is how contestants have to phrase their answers on the game show.
To properly answer a question on Jeopardy! a player must form their response in the form of a question. It usually doesnt pose an issue but does get complicated when the answer to the clue is already formed in a question format such as beginning with a who is, what is, or whats.
For example, if the clue is a film title such as Who Is Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? would a contestant have to start with a what is or who is? This isn’t a regular occurrence on Jeopardy! so its not something that Ken Jennings often has to tackle.
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However, on Friday a fan asked the million-dollar question in a thread on Reddit. Lets say the board says This book series features a hidden stripped protagonist, and someone just says Wheres Waldo and not What is Wheres Waldo, would they accept it? the person wrote. Since its in the form of a question? What are the rules?
Jeopardy! players must answer clues in a question format
Fellow fans openly answered the genuine query, explaining that if a response already comes as a question it doesnt need to be phrased for the show.
As long as your answer is in the form of a question, it is acceptable, one fan shared. For example, if the correct answer was the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, you would not need to add anything to the title of the movie when you answered since it is already a question.
However, another fan disagreed: I dont think thats correct? Youd have to say What is ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’. The ‘what’, ‘who’ etc are not part of the solution. If you use this example, youre saying the movie is called ‘Framed Roger Rabbit’.”
A third person expressed: Somewhat surprisingly, they really do only require the response to be in the form of a question, so Who Framed Roger Rabbit? alone would be acceptable, though of course there is nothing wrong with adding What is to the beginning of that either.
Someone else mentioned: Ive seen them accept answers that way if the answer itself is a question and thats all you give Ive seen it accepted.
There have been entire categories where all the answers were in the form of a question, a fifth person noted. Contestants usually dont get the hint and still add what is to the front.