Bad Clue

I just watched the March 20th episode of Jeopardy! on the DVR. (I’m a little backed up.) I think I may have found an error in one of the clues.

The category was Battle Cries and the $2000 clue was as follows:

“Per Shakespeare, the British battle cry in this Oct. 25, 1415 battle was ‘God for Harry! England & Saint George!'”

The response given was “What is the Battle of Agincourt?” This was accepted as correct. However, I believe this question has no correct answer.

The Battle of Agincourt is depicted in Shakespeare’s Henry V, and the date in the clue is the correct date of the battle. But the quote comes from an earlier scene in the play, before Henry’s troops take Harfleur. The more famous St. Crispin’s Day speech is given before the Battle of Agincourt later in the play.

I imagine there is a lot of pressure being a writer for this show. If you’re interested in the topic, Ken Jennings just posted to his blog an interview he did with former writer Carlo Panno, which you can read here and here.

7 Responses to “Bad Clue”

  1. Gedaly Says:

    Quite right! That’s a bit of a booboo on the part of Jeopardy’s writers. Even if the question is wrong, the answer they’re looking for is still apparent.

  2. Bill Says:

    Actually, being more familiar with the play than with the specific dates of the battles, I called out “Harfleur” when the clue came up. (I call out answers while watching the show.)

    But that’s not right either, since the date for Agincourt is given.

    So if I had been the contestant, I guess I would have gotten it wrong and lost the $2000. They might have allowed me to appeal, though.

  3. Gedaly Says:

    Good point. I can’t say I’m very familiar with the specific dates either. But I do love it when there’s a question about Shakespeare in Jeopardy.

    A few months back there was a Final Jeopardy question, the subject was “Shakespearean Geography.” The question was something to the effect of, “This land, named for an Italian, is mentioned once in The Comedy of Errors.” Only one person got it right and was just a lucky guess.

  4. Bill Says:

    More recently, there was a show that had a category “Opening Lines From Shakespeare.”

    The clues stuck with well-known plays, and all of the responses given in this category were correct.

  5. Craig Says:

    Well, that’s just ghastly. That kind of disregard for the facts is only acceptable in a Shakespeare play, not when discussing one. But did they _want_ the answer “Agincourt,” or were they just willing to _accept_ it? That’s the difference between being flat-out wrong and just being too lenient on the grading. Glad I found your blog; I’ll be back!

  6. Bill Says:

    Welcome Craig!

    I think “Agincourt” was the answer they were looking for, since the date for Agincourt was given. They just took the quote from the wrong speech.

    I just checked out your blog and I can’t say I’ve read much Middleton, though I did see a good production of The Changeling in London about 15 years ago. I’ll look forward to following your journey.

  7. Shakespeare Teacher » Blog Archive » End of the Year Reflection Says:

    […] March: Bad Clue […]

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