Jeopardy! dedicates entire category to Ontario but one question stumps every contestant
Jeopardy! turned the spotlight on Ontario on Monday night with a category entirely dedicated to the province.
“Worst Case Ontario” made its game show debut, with one question stumping every contestant and proving Canadian geography is not universal knowledge.
“If you’re not Ontarian, these are imaginary situations,” Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings said on the show.
Sam Meehan, an attorney from Santa Cruz, picked the first clue about Ontario for $1,000.
“Zombies (& not the slow ones) are making their way from Detroit to this city across the Ambassador Bridge,” the question read.
Meehan quickly snagged the correct answer, guessing “Windsor” for the clue.
Here is the clip from last night's @Jeopardy with #Windsor as the answer. #WhatisWindsor #YQG @mikelisa800 @am800cklw @ProducerEd pic.twitter.com/2ifVxQ3Hj7
— Mike Kakuk (@radiomike519) January 31, 2023
The next question about Ontario tested the contestants’ sports knowledge.
For the $800, Jennings asked, “The intra-province rivalry between the national capital's Ottawa Senators & these provincial capital NHLers comes to a fever of hate.”
Jake DeArruda, a delivery dispatcher originally from Ludlow, Vermont, slipped up on his chance.
“What are the Flames?” DeArruda said before Meehan swooped in with the correct answer, “What are the Toronto Maple Leafs?”
That streak continued when Meehan identified Toronto’s tallest landmark, with the winning $600 after correctly guessing this clue: “King Kong, he's real, & he's climbing this 1,815-foot structure, his eye filling the window of the revolving restaurant.”
“What is the CN Tower?” Meehan said.
However, Meehan’s success took a downward turn when Canadian geography took front-and-centre for $400.
“This province directly to the west makes a series of nighttime cow-tipping raids, causing general chaos,” Jennings said.
“What is Saskatchewan?” DeArruda tried.
“What is Alberta?” Meehan attempted next.
“Sarah?” Jennings asked the final contestant, a PhD candidate from Durham, North Carolina. Her response: silence.
“Let me narrow it down for you. Manitoba,” Jennings finally answered himself.
For the second last question of the game, DeArruda had more luck with the provincial category.
“Worst case? Ill-tempered aquatic creatures emerge from this Great Lake upon which Thunder Bay sits,” Jennings said.
“Superior,” DeArruda answered.
Earlier this month, Toronto-based scenic artist Ray Lalonde's ended an impressive winning streak on Jeopardy!
Lalonde, who was hoping for his 14th victory on the long-running trivia game show, had amassed winnings of US$386,400 going into his final show in early January.
Lalonde is among only 16 contestants in the show's history with winning streaks of at least 10 games, according to Andy Saunders, the Guelph, Ont.-based blogger behind "The Jeopardy! Fan."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Donald Trump indicted; 1st ex-president charged with crime
Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, prosecutors and defense lawyers said Thursday, making him the first former U.S. president to face a criminal charge and jolting his bid to retake the White House next year.

BREAKING | Ottawa gives final approval for Rogers $26B purchase of Shaw
Rogers Communications Inc's $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. cleared the last regulatory hurdle Friday, more than two years after the deal was first announced.
Police find 6 bodies, including 1 child, in St. Lawrence River
The bodies of six people, including one child, were found in the St. Lawrence River Thursday afternoon after an air search involving the Canadian Coast Guard, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police said.
BREAKING | Oscar Pistorius denied early release from 13-year prison sentence: parole board
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, still believe he is lying about their daughter's killing and opposed the former Olympic runner's application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
House abandoned by couple who 'disappeared' years ago nightmare for neighbour on upscale street
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole not seeking re-election, leaving this spring
Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole says he will not seek re-election and plans to resign his seat this spring. The Ontario MP led the Conservatives and served as official Opposition leader from August 2020 until February 2022, when a majority of his caucus voted to remove him from the post.
Trump's indictment in New York: Here's what to know
The vote of a Manhattan grand jury to indict the Republican former president on charges related to hush money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign catapults the now-candidate Donald Trump into a new era of legal risk and complicates his attempts to return to the White House.
Lack of data on transit violence amounts to 'blanket of ignorance': Researcher
Canada needs standardized data on violence on transit systems to help tackle issues ranging from a lack of mental health supports to eroding public trust, say researchers, citing the recent stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy at a Toronto station as the latest example of random attacks on commuters.
'Nova Scotians' sense of safety was rocked': RCMP failures dominate inquiry's final report into 2020 mass shooting
A long list of failures by Nova Scotia RCMP leadership and policing systems dominate the final report into Nova Scotia's April 2020 mass shooting.