Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings left viewers laughing after cheekily revealing that “tits” was the correct answer to a clue, with some noticing he tried to keep a straight face.
During Tuesday night’s episode, the 50-year-old host stumped contestants Tim Herd, Lindsay Denninger and Neilesh Vinjamuri when he asked a tricky question in the US Areas and Territories category for $1,600.
Reading the question, he said: “Despite the name, these birds are not dumb: the brown-masked type live on Johnston Atoll, a natural wildlife refuge.”
But the track left the three players so bewildered that no one entered before the timer rang.
As a result, Ken was forced to reveal the correct answer.
Ken Jennings left viewers laughing after cheekily revealing that “tits” was the correct answer to a clue during Tuesday’s episode.
“Those are some tits,” he said cheerfully, before turning back to Neilesh who was in control of the board.
The moment delighted viewers across the country, who praised Ken for his performance.
On X, one said: ‘Hehe. He said boobs. You can tell Ken is trying to keep a straight face mischievously right at the end.’
Another wrote: “Ken sounded a little too cheerful in that.”
A third added: ‘One of the @Jeopardy writers, the 12 year old in me, wrote a clue.’
On Reddit, one said: ‘Great speech from Ken, but it was also one of those lines that I can hear perfectly clearly in Alex’s voice and it made me miss him.
‘He had a very specific cadence when he revealed an answer that he found funny or cute.’
Referring to the players who didn’t log in to answer the clue, another said: “Imagine missing out on the chance to say boobs without irony on TV…”
The host read a clue from the US Areas and Territories category for $1600
The three players were perplexed by the question and could not answer.
“Who wants to say ‘What are boobs?’ on national television?” another user responded.
‘I guess I did it for the comedy, but I’m not surprised by the silence.’
At the end of the episode, Neilesh became the reigning three-day champion after winning $11,999. His total now stands at $53,099.
The booby is a seabird whose name derives from the Spanish word “bobo,” meaning clumsy or clown.
There are six species of boobies, including the blue-footed booby, the red-footed booby and the brown booby.
The hilarious response comes after viewers slammed the ABC game show for becoming “too difficult” following a series of “brutal” questions last week.
The moment delighted viewers across the country, who praised Ken for his delivery.
A brown booby flies over Itauna beach in the city of Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro state.
Players Zach Eckstein, Nella Ballauer and Jay Fisher racked up a near-record 21 triple stumpers after Ken presented them with several tricky runs.
Viewers were shocked by the “rough set of clues” and claimed it was too challenging.
“I’ll never be on Jeopardy! but wow, what a tough night for the category. Brutal,” wrote one viewer on Reddit.
Another agreed: “Damn, that was a pretty rough set of clues. Not just for the contestants, there were so many answers I’ve never heard in my life.”