Jeopardy fans can’t believe all 3 players flubbed Wizard of Oz clue: ‘Not one contestant saw Wicked?’

Boq who?

Ken Jennings on ‘Jeopardy’; Ethan Slater as Boq in ‘Wicked’. Credit:Christopher Willard/Disney; Universal Pictures

Not even a Wicked resurgence could help last week’s Jeopardy contestants.

Fans of the trivia show are no stranger to raging over a flubbed clue, but they were especially baffled during the April 3 Final Jeopardy episode, when Mary Walheim, Alfred Wallace, and returning champ Bryce Wargin were all stumped by a Wizard of Oz reference in the “Fictional Characters” category.

“Boq is one of these fictional people,’ said host Ken Jennings, reading the clue. “‘Not as big as the grown folk… but neither were they very small.'”

The trio quickly got to writing, but appeared confused by the clue. Meanwhile, anyone familiar with the 1939 movie, L. Frank Baum’s classic book, or last year’s Oscar-nominated phenomenon, Wicked, already knew what was coming.

Unfortunately, none of those groups included the Jeopardy contestants, who immediately thought that the answer was “Lilliputians,” the six-inch inhabitants of Lilliput from Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel Gulliver’s Travels.

Mary Walheim, Alfred Wallace, and returning champ Bryce Wargin on ‘Jeopardy’.Jeopardy!/YouTube

Walheim wagered $5,999 on her guess, leaving her with $1 while Wallace put up $10,000 on his answer, and didn’t complete his guess, writing, “What are Lili?” He was left with $600.

Wargin was thinking along the same vein as his competitors but while he initially wrote “What are Lilliputians?,” he crossed it out for a new guess: “Dwarves.”

“You were kind of on the right track,” Jennings told him, before revealing the answer: “What is a munchkin?”

Though all three contestants were incorrect, Wargin went on to win the night’s episode — and extend his winning streak into four days — with nearly $10,800 left in his pocket after wagering $5,201.

But not even victory can keep Wargin safe from the raging Jeopardy fans, who immediately took to social media with their disbelief over the missed clue.

“You’re telling me not one contestant on Jeopardy tonight saw Wicked,” complained one X user.

Another wrote, “My entire household was shouting MUNCHKIN!!!”

Indeed, 2024’s Wicked movie saw Ethan Slater star as Boq Woodsman, a munchkin student at Shiz University who falls in love with Ariana Grande’s Glinda. He also has a significant part to play in the sequel, Wicked: For Good, which will continues the origin story of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), best known to Wizard of Oz fans as the Wicked Witch of the West.

In other words, Boq exists in the original Baum novel, it’s famous movie adaptation, the Gregory Maguire-penned prequel Wicked, the Tony-winning musical of the same name and now, two movies — none of which were any help to the three Jeopardy contestants.

Watch the players flub the Wizard of Oz clue above.