Ken Jennings mocks Jeopardy! contestants buzzkill hobby with sarcastic diss before rival Sam Stap

JEOPARDY! host Ken Jennings has shown no mercy to a contestant whose hobby didn't sound as fun as he intended.

The Jeopardy! champ-turned-host doled out a ruthless reply during Wednesday's episode.

Ken, 49, is hosting the two-and-a-half-month Champions Wildcard Tournament that's airing instead of regular episodes.

The event kicked off last Monday, inviting back one, two, and three-time winners from Season 37 and 38.

Karla Fossett, a senior content administrator from Saco, Maine, faced Robert Won, a math professor from Washington, D.C., and Sam Stapleton, a college consultant from Los Gatos, California.

When Ken interviewed each player, the host brought up Season 38 1-day winner Robert's love of crosswords.

'WEDDING CROSSWORDS...'

Robert divulged: “The first time I was on Jeopardy! I had just had my debut puzzle published in the New York Times.

"Since then, I’ve had another puzzle for the Wall Street Journal."

He added: “And I’ve written a couple of custom crosswords for my friends’ weddings.”

Ken replied: “Hmm, oh, wedding crosswords."

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"Custom crosswords," Robert said once more.

The host zinged: “That’s a hard-partying wedding when everyone’s doing a crossword.”

The audience laughed as Robert sheepishly said: “Absolutely," and the ice-cold host moved on.

MONSTER WIN

Going into Double Jeopardy!, two-time-winner Sam - who revealed he was haunted by initially losing over a Coppola Final Jeopardy - had $8,600, while Robert had $6,600, and Karla $2,000.

Sam bet a big $7,000 on a Daily Double despite already having a wide lead and jumped to a massive score of $26,800.

Robert found the last Daily Double losing $8,000 on it in a sorry sight, though Ken applauded him for his “big swing.”

By Final Jeopardy, Sam had taken his foes to the mattresses with $30,800, Robert $4,600, and Karla $7,600.

Final Jeopardy! under Fine Art read: "An early owner of this 1889 painting full of blue & green noted how well the artist 'understood the exquisite nature of flowers!'"

No one could get to Irises by Van Gogh, and Sam nor Robert even attempted a response.

But Sam bet $0 to advance to the tournament's semi-finals with $30,800.

SEASON OF SETBACKS

Jeopardy!'s Season 40 kicked off on September 11 and runs until July 28, 2024.

Fans have not been pleased with many aspects of the current season.

Producers recently revealed that Jeopardy!, operating under new rules as a result of a WGA agreement, won't return to normal until next spring.

"Apparently we're not getting any regular Jeopardy! until April 2024. Nearly two-thirds of this season will be tournaments. So yeah, way, way too much," one fan complained on Reddit.

"Oh my god, is it really until April?" another replied. "That's absolutely wild."

Another person claimed: "The show got its biggest ratings when they had champions go on winning streaks. That's what builds buzz and excitement. Stop with all the gimmicks."

On the latest episode of the "Inside Jeopardy!" podcast, producers Michael Davies and Sarah Foss discussed the plans for the show's immediate future.

Now that the writers are back to work, their first priority is the post-season content - meaning the tournaments that would have kicked off Season 40 had the strike not begun.

The show originally began the season with recycled clues and clues that writers had submitted before the strike.

Because of that choice, producers believed it wasn't fair to give new contestants old clues, so the Second Chance tournament and the now-airing Champions Wildcard were created.

There will be four winners by the time Champions Wildcard ends on December 18 - with each getting a $100,000 grand prize and a 2023 Tournament of Champions slot, which airs directly after.

But even though the strike ended two weeks ago, it won't be until April 2024 that brand-new regular episodes will begin airing.

"Our number one, sort of, imperative right now is to get the post-season back on track," Davies explained, referring to the expected Season 39 tournaments.

"And then after that, our regular season, as many weeks as possible of the regular season after that post-season.

"We will have 16 weeks of regular episodes at the end of the year."

Schedule aside, some rulings from Ken have bothered fans, too.

During one episode that aired last month, a clue under Real (White House) Wives of D.C. read "She met the future president in 1938 when they both tried out for a local play in Whittier, California."

The correct response was Pat Nixon, wife of Richard Nixon, so when a contestant named Alex buzzed in with "Who is Nixon?" many viewers thought he was good to go.

Ken, however, wanted more from his answer, prompting him with: "More specifically?"

He replied with "Richard Nixon," then quickly realized his mistake, saying, "Oh, uh, sorry" and sighing.

Another player named the First Lady instead and was given the money for the clue.

On Reddit, someone commented: "That is bizarre. What other First Lady with the last name of Nixon did they have in mind that would be a plausible response?"

"It seemed really unfair and illogical to me," someone else agreed. "I'd understand for Barbara Bush, since there are two First Ladies named Bush, but a First Lady named Nixon could only be referring to one person."

WHERE IS: MAYIM?

There's also been a looming issue for fans - the absence of Mayim, 47, who splits hosting duties with Ken, and hasn't appeared this season.

Mayim exited the nightly show and Celebrity Jeopardy! (which was hers last year) because of the strikes.

The former Blossom star is a member of the still-striking actors’ union, Sag-Aftra.

Reports circulated Mayim had no interest in filming anything while the writer's strike continued, as she bowed out last May when the WGA did and before Sag did.

"It’s not for me to personally judge anyone else’s decision [but] I am a union supporter," Mayim told Vanity Fair last month in her first public statement.

"While it’s not for me to personally judge anyone else’s decision, for me, I am a union supporter — pretty much all unions and what they fight for."

Most fans have a host preference, but with Ken at the helm, Mayim criticism has reached a fever pitch.

"[Mayim] is unwatchable with none of the personality that Ken brings to the show," a fan wrote on X.

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