A number of Jeopardy! viewers have expressed their shock at a category that was avoided “like the plague” by contestants on a recent episode of the show.

The long-running syndicated quiz show, hosted by Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik, is regularly dissected by die-hard fans, who analyze everything from clues, contestants’ fashion, and style of play to some of the lesser-known Jeopardy! rules.

Things were no different last week when a viewer took to Twitter to voice their disbelief at a particular category that contestants competing on a recent episode appeared reluctant to tackle.

“I HAD to take a picture of this,” wrote the Twitter user, as they shared a photo of a category completely untouched by contestants. “They were avoiding it like the plague.” The category in question? “’80s and ’90s R&B Songs.”

The Twitter user followed up with a video of a contestant subsequently failing to correctly respond to a clue about singer Bobby Brown. A photo of the “My Prerogative” singer was also shown as part of the clue.

Another Twitter user posted an image of all of the clues in the category, which, as well as Brown, looked into the works of some of the music genre’s most famous stars, including Prince, Destiny’s Child, TLC, and Lionel Richie.

With the format of the show requiring that contestants request the categories for which they attempt to find the correct response, a number of Jeopardy! fans appeared surprised that none of the squares about R&B were opened until the end.

“Now they should’ve had me on,” YouTuber Kalen Allen tweeted in response, while another wrote: “Damn, that’d be the category I’d hope to sweep.”

“A board with hip hop/R&B and sports categories would be a dream come true because they’re always the last ones played and they are usually stumpers,” another Twitter user commented.

“Dang it … I’m mad I missed this episode,” said another. “I could have finally gotten a whole category right for once in my life. Would have been a nice change from constantly yelling out incorrect answers.”

“These are the easiest answers for a category I have ever seen,” opined another. “They even have specific clues in them. Royalty? Youthful? Hell they even put up a picture of Bobby Brown and they still didn’t get it.”

Last week, Jeopardy! host Jennings responded in tongue-in-cheek fashion to an author whose work was referenced in a clue on the same episode after the writer quipped that some of the topics covered on the show were “too obscure.”

On Thursday’s installment of the long-running syndicated quiz show, all three contestants lost thousands of dollars after failing to come up with the correct response in the Final Jeopardy round.

Under the category “Modern Words,” Jeopardy! host Jennings read out the clue: “Neal Stephenson coined this word in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. It was later shortened by a company to become its new name.”

After the erroneous guesses were shared, it was revealed that the correct response was, “What is metaverse?” Of course, the shortened version is the name of Facebook’s parent company, Meta.

While it stumped contestants, the clue appeared to be equally baffling for a number of Jeopardy! fans, who took to Twitter to discuss the difficulty of the final round.

One viewer posted a clip from the episode, sparking a debate. A number of viewers admitted that they, too, would have struggled to come up with the correct response. Many others asserted that they would have guessed correctly.

A Twitter user then tagged Snow Crash author Stephenson himself, who reacted by directly addressing Jennings, as he quipped that “these questions are just too obscure. Give these poor people a chance!”

Referencing Twitter’s recent removal of verified blue check marks from the accounts of celebrities and public figures, Jennings playfully hit back: “I have no idea who you are, unverified Twitter user, but for your information, Snow Crash is a classic!”

Original Article