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
BREAKING | Donald Trump indicted by Manhattan grand jury: CNN sources
Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter -- the first time in American history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges.

EXCLUSIVE | Security increased for prime minister's advisers after break-and-enter incidents
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
'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.
Meet the Canadian astronauts up for a seat on the Artemis II mission to the moon
This Sunday, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will announce the four astronauts that will be blasting off to fly around the moon for the Artemis II mission, one of whom will be a Canadian astronaut.
Gwyneth Paltrow not at fault for ski collision, jury decides
Gwyneth Paltrow won her court battle over a 2016 ski collision at a posh Utah ski resort after a jury decided Thursday that the movie star wasn't at fault for the crash.
Memes, ski etiquette and that missing GoPro video: Highlights from the Gwyneth Paltrow trial
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
Research points to common infections as cause of liver disease outbreak in kids
Scientists think they may have pinpointed the cause of a mysterious outbreak of liver disease that affected children worldwide last year.
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.
Trump indictment: What will the arrest process look like?
Every day, hundreds of people are taken into law enforcement custody in New York City. Former President Donald Trump is expected to become one of them next week.