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‘Jeopardy!’ contestant Karen Morris called ‘dumbest player in history’ explains blunder

Karen Morris explained on Twitter what made her the 'dumbest player in history' in a lengthy Twitter thread

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: During Wednesday's episode of ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant Karen Morris made some trivial blunders which earned her the nickname “dumbest player in history." Naming a 16th century artist as “Hans Picasso” and not attributing Joseph Heller were two of the few mistakes. Her mistakes also dropped her earnings from $21,800 to $5,399 and a third-place finish.

While the other competitors had earned $7,100 and $6,400, Morris was in the lead with $21,800. She decided to place a large wager ($10,000) during the Double Jeopardy round to win the game.

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When presenter Ken Jennings revealed the clue, "This artiste the younger was working on yet another portrait of Henry VIII when he died in 1543," the veterinary student struggled, her head shaking, to come up with an answer before time ran out. Jennings said, "I'm sorry — Hans Holbein the Younger, the painter," to which Morris whispered, "OK."

When it came to the Final Jeopardy round, the Virginia native only had $11,400 to her credit, and the category was "American Novelists." The hint is, “He served with an airman named Yohannan in World War II, and despite what readers might think, he enjoyed his service.” Author of 'Catch-22' Joseph Heller was the right response, and Jennings stressed the significance of Morris' ensuing response by saying, "She had a big lead before tangling with that last Daily Double — she needs to get Heller her." With that she finished third in the game.

'I know. I KNOW'

Soon after, Morris took to Twitter to explain what had happened in a thread. She started with, "Ok I'm gonna run down the episode step by step and then I will look up who "Cliff Clavin" is." Then she wrote, "In the beginning I was worried about buzzing because motor skills are not my jam, and I have two brothers who are pretty serious gamers (one PC, one console) whereas this freakin game has only one button, yet was so intimidating to me."

After a detailed break down of her stint in the show, she then said, "But what you really want to know about is The Big Wager." Giving the explanation she said, "Making an appropriate wager requires considering the likelihood of knowing the correct response, which requires assessing your competency in the category, which requires awareness of what the category is, which, at that moment, I DID NOT HAVE," continuing, "I know what you're thinking. "But you already got Hans Zimmer without knowing anything about the oeuvre of Hans Zimmer or recognizing his face, simply by guessing the only film composer you could think of whose first name is Hans. 'Believe me, I know. I KNOW.'" To answer the question she wrote, ""Why did you keep choosing that category, then, hm?" Because 1) it was a Star Wars joke and 2) Slan Slolo. If you know, you know."

Her explanation then took an interesting turn as she said, "Afterwards, I decided to challenge my sister to cite an artist named Hans on demand. Producers told us to always say something, ANYTHING, because silence is never correct. Naming any artist, or any person named Hans, would've been better than saying nothing." Then comes the climax of the story as she writes, "My sister said 'Hans Picasso.'" In a very Brontesque way, she then explains, "Maybe you're thinking "Hans Picasso is a stupid guess" but I assure you, gentle reader, that "who is Hans Picasso?" would have been a MASSIVE upgrade because in that moment I was thinking "name an artist! NAME AN ARTIST!" and THE ONLY NAME I could think of was Justin Bieber." She herself made fun of this incredulity.

Then, she continued to explain her final mistake that earned her the infamous epithet, "And then when it came to final, I very carefully wagered based on the algorithm that my cousin David taught me, but I just didn't have the goods. I never read Catch-22; I picked an American guy who wrote about badass stuff and was younger than Hemingway." As an afterthought, she added, "(came *thiiis close* to writing "Who is Hunter S. Tomcat?" and once again, if you know, you know)". "Heller? I hardly even know 'er!" she wrote sheepishly. In a self-castigating manner, she further added, ""BUT THE WAGER, KAREN. YOU IDIOT. YOU EMBARRASSMENT. YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???" with a funny animated clip.

Ultimately, however, she informed her "gentle readers" that she had the most fun in the game show and was not "sorry but not sorry" for the Big Wager. She wrote, "Ultimately, I did what I did, and I had THE MOST FUN, and at the end of the day (I'm sorry Mom, I know you hate that phrase) it's a game, and it's a show, and it's a game show." Imbibing the true spirit of a sportsperson she then apologized to all of them she wronged, "Sorry to Paraguay, sorry to Justin Bieber, sorry to Joseph Heller, and sorry to Zach's wife for not letting him have the Krebs cycle, and #SorryNotSorry for The Big Wager." She also apologized to the bygone era's artist. 

'Such a Karen thing to do'

Netizens did not lose the opportunity to express their opinions. A fan wrote, "Karen Morris might be the dumbest #jeopardy player in history. She had a $14k lead with only $2400 in clues left on the board, and she wagered $10k on a daily double she got wrong LMAO," to which another fan commented cheekily, "Such a Karen thing to do." One person commented, "I like bold players but she could have put the game away with a $3000 bet". 

However, there were many supporting Morris too, with one saying, "OMG, what an asinine statement. At least SHE was on Jeopardy, able to compete. She made a mistake and owned it. And I have seen many other competitors do the same thing." "I won’t call her dumb, but would like to know what she was thinking when she gave up a “for sure” win only to come in last. I’m thinking greed got her. She missed an easy Daily Double question. But, did anyone find out what she was thinking when she made that $10k wager?" wondered another user. "I mean she got that far in the lead, so she certainly doesn't qualify for "dumbest." But yeah that was pretty stupid lol," another added.

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