# Jeopardy! Season 42. It is what it is **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [August 10, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905 "2025-08-10T14:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/241 "2026-03-12T03:29:32Z")
I was so sure it was Grissom! Knowing there is a Grissom AFB and Gus Grissom died in a crash. Never would have got Edwards. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/242 "2026-03-12T03:36:04Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Gus Grissom died in a crash. Actually in a fire (aboard Apollo 1, sitting on the launchpad). Maybe you’re confounding Grissom with Elliot See? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/243 "2026-03-12T04:28:48Z")
Aas a big fan of all things aerospces, it was an easy-peasy. But I don’t think I got a single triple rhyme time! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/244 "2026-03-12T04:48:20Z")
No I had been thinking it was an explosion/crash during liftoff. But it was wrong anyways. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/245 "2026-03-12T10:57:01Z")
I totally guessed it, just because the only Air Force bases I could think of were Hanscom in MA because it’s nearby, and Edwards because it’s in the news and movies pretty regularly. Clearly they were focusing too much on the “test pilot” part of the clue. Ironically, Chuck Yeager died in a hospital in 2020 at the age of 97, cause of death basically “being 97”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/246 "2026-03-17T20:58:15Z")
I find it funny that one guy knew “the die is cast” in the original Latin, yet no one recognized a picture of the Smothers Brothers! And, for Final Jeopardy, the winner bet so much on identifying a 20th century novel (there are so many!) just from its epigraph. He got it wring, but he was so far ahead, he still won (barely)…but with about 25K less. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/247 "2026-03-17T21:12:07Z")
I also wanted to smash the TV when no one knew the Smothers Brothers. In a rhyming category. And yeah, I’m thinking Jamie was wishing Andrew had gotten the big Daily Double right so it was a closer game and he hadn’t bet nearly his whole stake on a whim. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/248 "2026-03-17T22:13:53Z")
Not to brag, but I knew the Smothers Brothers. I could’ve spotted the Bee Gees too. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/249 "2026-03-17T22:48:36Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Not to brag, Well, mom always did like you best, ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/250 "2026-03-18T13:33:35Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > And, for Final Jeopardy, the winner bet so much on identifying a 20th century novel (there are so many!) just from its epigraph. He got it wring, but he was so far ahead, he still won (barely)…but with about 25K less. To be fair, the category was just “20th Century Novels.” He didn’t know it would involve epigrams. If you feel confident about the category, and you’re basically wagering the house’s money, why not go big? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/251 "2026-03-18T13:55:05Z")
I get you, but I see that category as inherently big and varied. Maybe that’s just my bias – as a geographer, I’d bet big on, say, “place names,” which is also big and varied. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/252 "2026-03-18T14:18:24Z")
Heck, I didn’t even know what an epigraph is. And I didn’t get the answer. Never read the book\*, never read The Book, so I never made the connection. \*I did see the forgotten 1990 film. It didn’t help. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/253 "2026-03-18T19:56:54Z")
And in Tuesday’s game, Jamie had another monster runaway, but made a very small wager - and got it right! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/254 "2026-03-19T03:59:41Z")
What the heck is a “founder”? I mean, I know what it _is_, but how is it a thing, a career? I guess we’ll never know now. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/255 "2026-03-19T11:56:37Z")
Maybe she worked at a foundry? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/256 "2026-03-19T14:21:47Z")
Tuesday’s episode was like the Far Side with God playing. My wife says she’s not watching again until he loses. I guess I have a future of talking to myself for a few games (have not watched yesterday’s yet). > [@Bayaker](#): > > Maybe she worked at a foundry? Ha! Maybe she’s a member of a shape shifting alien race. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/257 "2026-03-19T18:13:23Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Tuesday’s episode was like the Far Side with God playing. My wife says she’s not watching again until he loses. I guess I have a future of talking to myself for a few games (have not watched yesterday’s yet). Same here. He’s not obnoxious or anything like that but I get tired of watching Super Contestants mowing down each game’s new victims. I have no idea why Amy Schneider has been the only (fairly) recent exception to this rule for me. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/258 "2026-03-19T18:59:02Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I get tired of watching Super Contestants mowing down each game’s new victims. I find I don’t mind many-game winners if the games are competitive. But these scores of 50,000 to 100 to -600 just get annoying. Has something changed? Are they not getting good contestants any more? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/259 "2026-03-19T20:03:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What the heck is a “founder”? She sinks ships. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905/260 "2026-03-19T22:28:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Are they not getting good contestants any more? I do sometimes wonder if they deliberately pit a strong candidate against two weaker ones, in the hopes of getting another Ken or James (and the ratings that go along with a multi-week winner). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-season-42-it-is-what-it-is/1021905.md?page=14)