JEOPARDY! viewers have stormed social media over a questionable math clue during the 2024 Tournament of Champions.

The ruling against the 21-day champ Cris Pannullo, whom many fans thought would win it all, was a turning point in his shocker defeat.

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Ken Jennings is hosting the 2024 Tournament of Champions with upset after upsetCredit: JEOPARDY!

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A gigabyte/megabyte snafu during Cris Pannullo’s shock first-round loss was deemed ‘objectively wrong’Credit: Jeopardy!
As Jeopardy! fans know the 2024 ToC has been sheer chaos, with brief winners and actors ousting the biggest names left and right.

The first of many upsets in this year’s tournament, which is now one game away from the finale, came way back on February 26’s episode.

Cris, the fifth-winningest contestant ever, faced three-day champ Jared Watson and six-day champ Ben Goldstein.

He buzzed in on a clue under “MEMORY” in the first round for $1000.

It read: “In comparing computer memory info, think before you give us this, the number of megabytes in a gigabyte.”

Cris was ruled incorrect with “1000,” and Jared swept in with “1024,” which was ruled correct.

From there, Jared got control of the game, finding all three Daily Doubles and soundly defeating the tournament’s top seed.

‘AWFUL CLUE’

Some poindexters, however, took to social media, arguing that Cris’ “1000” – a neg that knocked him off his heels – should have been accepted.

One X user wrote: “Absolutely shameful of the Jeopardy! judges not to accept 1000 for the number of megabytes in a gigabyte last night.”

Another wrote: “Without question 1000 and 1024 should have both been accepted.”
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A third defended: “I can actually see how this clue could have technically only accepted 1024, but then that just makes it an awful clue.”

A fourth wrote: “This is just objectively wrong wtf one of the worst mistakes I’ve ever seen them make.”

A fifth wrote: “As the contestant I would have lost my s**t and started yelling about gibibytes.”

A sixth wrote: “Screaming crying throwing up rn.”

A seventh joked: “What is ‘it depends on which unit you are using the commonly accepted answer when referring to…’ ‘We’re going to cut to a commercial now and will be back with the results after these messages.'”

TOURNAMENT OF CHAOS

At long last, Jeopardy! fans are getting the strike-delayed 2024 Tournament of Champions, the game show’s most treasured tradition.

It finally returned with an unprecedented 27 contestants (the largest playing field ever), having premiered on February 23.

But no one predicted an execution-style quarterfinal round with nearly every frontrunner and fan-favorite getting sent packing.

21-day champ and golden boy Cris lost in a blowout to three-day champ Jared.

Then, eight-win trans sensation Hannah Wilson lost on an oversized Daily Double bet to four-day winner David Sibley.

Comeback queen and fan-favorite Juveria Zaheer lost to five-day champ Luigi de Guzman.

Then, the only super-champion left, the gentlemanly Ray LaLonde (13 wins), lost to none other than Celebrity Jeopardy! winner Ike Barinholtz.

Fans on social media called Ike’s win “the craziest thing to ever happen in the history of Jeopardy!”

Even Matt Amodio joked on X: “Losing your #Jeopardy ToC debut from the first podium was cool when I started it, but now it’s just getting old…”

DOWN TO THE WIRE

Now, the tournament has one semifinal match left before the finals begin.

The finalists are the controversial three-day champ Yogesh Raut and the frisky college professor, nine-day winner Ben Chan.

The last finalist will be decided by Monday’s match between Luigi de Guzman (3 wins) faces Brian Henegar (3 wins) and powerhouse Troy Meyer  (6 wins).

The finals will begin on Tuesday, March 12, and conclude mid-March.

All’s to say, this is quite a departure from the last ToC which 40-time champion Amy Schneider – the highest seed going in – won.

Instead, it’s looking like a battle between the big names in the trivia world outside of Jeopardy!.

As one social media user recently wrote: “As I expected, it’s most likely going to be Ben/Yogesh/Troy in the finals. Luigi might be able to pull an upset if he has a perfect game and the DDs fall in his favor, but Troy is the heavy favorite.

“I will be retroactively praying that Ben wins this (I rather root for someone not so deeply entrenched in the competitive trivia scene), but it’s not looking likely.”

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Fans argued the early math clue, which may have thrown Cris off his game, was ‘shameful’ and his answer should have been acceptedCredit: JEOPARDY!

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After the ‘most dramatic tournament in history,’ as even Ken Jennings put it, just one finals slot is leftCredit: Jeopardy!