‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Shocked at College Professor Missing an “Extremely Easy” Clue: “Freaking Disgrace!”

Things are knot looking up for one Jeopardy! contestant as viewers of the hit game show are ripping him for missing what was supposed to be an “easy” question.

The category, “World of Water,” was at play during Wednesday night’s (June 21) Final Jeopardy! round, with host Mayim Bialik reading the clue, “The Bass Strait divides Tasmania & mainland Australia & hydrographers have disputed which of these two larger bodies it’s part of.”

Returning champion Ben Goldstein — who ultimately won the episode, raking in a whopping four-day total of $37,293 — as well as Nabeela Rahman, a cooperative education coordinator from Ontario, both answered correctly with, “What are the Indian and Pacific Oceans?”

However, the third contestant — New Jersey-based professor Lee Papa — incorrectly guessed, “What are the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans?”

The snafu brought his earnings down to a mere $3,199, putting him in last place. Meanwhile, Jeopardy! fans took to social media to rebuke the professor for missing the clue.

“How is that man qualified to be a professor when he thinks the Pacific and Atlantic oceans are connected!” one commented on the Jeopardy! YouTube channel. “Easily one of the stupidest answers given this season.”

Another added, “Lee’s probably kicking himself after he missed this one.”

Sadly the writers have been dumbing down Final #Jeopardy too much lately.

— Ron Waxman 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦 (@RonWaxman) June 22, 2023

“Oh my GOD! What just happened? I mean I’ve heard my fellow Americans stunk at geography but I thought it was an urban myth!” a third person exclaimed in the YouTube comments. “But I can’t deny that a college professor, who is supposedly learned enough to teach young people, who doesn’t know where the Indian Ocean is located is a freaking disgrace!”

Another viewer wrote on Twitter, “This was extremely easy but I do want to know what that man is a professor of. He thinks Australia is in South America,” while one posted to Reddit, “Could this have been the easiest FJ clue in a while? All the more amazing that someone thought Australia was next to the Atlantic Ocean.”

Other social media users were quick to notice the “tough timing” of Jeopardy!’s tweet, which was captioned, “Sink or swim.” While it was clearly a reference to the “World of Water” category, many couldn’t help but relate it to the Titan submersible that went missing — and likely ran out of oxygen this morning — during an expedition to the Titanic wreckage.

“Uh, read the room,” one wrote, while another added, “The timing of this tweet… 😬”

A third person asked, “Is this what the people on the sub were told before they got on?” before someone else noted, “Too soon jeopardy 😬.”

Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7/6c on ABC. You can watch the full clip above.