The Tuesday episode of the long-running television game show Jeopardy! had a category filled with clues about places and names familiar to Oregonians.
But while the contestants supplied correct responses for a somewhat respectable three of the five clues, they missed at least one that is probably a slam dunk for most Oregon residents.
“THIS RIVER FLOWS THROUGH EUGENE & PORTLAND,” went the clue, which was the first selected in the category.
“What is the Bend?” was the hesitating—and wildly incorrect—response from one contestant.
Another rang in more confidently with “What is the Columbia?”
Also incorrect, noted host Ken Jennings.
The third contestant decided to stay out of it altogether, and Jennings informed viewers that the correct response was–as you probably knew–the Willamette River. And yes, Jennings pronounced it correctly.
The next clue selected was about the “Humongous Fungus” of Malheur National Forest. The clue contained a rhyming pattern that made the answer relatively obvious even if someone had never heard of it before. The correct response was provided quickly.
At that point, the contestants decided they had enough of Oregon, and moved on to other categories before returning to the column near the end of the round.
The last batch of Oregon clues began with an incorrect answer to a query about a city on the Columbia River that was “named for a fur tycoon.”
This stumped the contestants, although the only one who rang in came very close to the correct response, with “What is Astor?”
When no one else rang in, Jennings noted that “Astor” was the tycoon, but the correct response needed to be the city: Astoria.
Subsequent clues looking for the University of Oregon’s mascot (a duck, obviously) and a “Beaverton-based apparel company” (Nike) were both answered quickly and correctly.
