Jeopardy! Tragedies

Today at 3:22 PM

Things That Stumped Anderson Cooper, Chris Matthews, and Chuck Todd on Jeopardy! Last Week

By Sarah Frank

Last week, Jeopardy! set up shop in Washington, D.C. and invited a gaggle of smarty-pants D.C.–types to play for charity. Anderson Cooper — who is apparently still reeling over his loss to Cheech Marin during Celebrity Jeopardy! in 2010 — saw the game as bit of a redo, crushing opponents Tom Friedman and Kelly O'Donnell on Friday. But no one had a perfect game and plenty of questions had the entire group stumped. Below, some of the questions (er, answers) that your power-player contestants answered (uh, guessed) incorrectly. But first, some video highlights:

Day five: Anderson Cooper, Kelly O'Donnell, and Tom Friedman

CATEGORY: 21st Century Lingo ($600)
CLUE: In 2011, BusinessWeek said European government bonds were this "poisonous" kind of debt.
(Friedman: "Sub-prime?")
CORRECT RESPONSE: What is toxic? (Guessed correctly by O'Donnell.)


CATEGORY: 21st Century Lingo ($800)
CLUE: It's the "tiny" term for a person who writes short posts about one's personal life on Tumblr or Twitter.
(Friedman: "What is a Tweeter?")
CORRECT RESPONSE: What is a micro-blogger?


CATEGORY: Stock Ticker ($800)
CLUE: This company providing energy products and services is HAL.
(Cooper: "What is IBM?")
CORRECT RESPONSE: What is Haliburton? (Guessed correctly by Friedman.)


Final Jeopardy!
CATEGORY: Inventors
CLUE: The National Inventors Hall of Fame said his work "brought the South prosperity" but he was out of business within five years.
(O'Donnell: "Who is Carver?", Friedman: "WHO" — either shorthand for the World Health Organization or having no clue, Cooper: "Who [gibberish.])
CORRECT RESPONSE: Who is Eli Whitney?