'Jeopardy!' honors Alex Trebek on anniversary of his death

Tuesday's edition of "Jeopardy!" can only be described as a very special episode. Not only did it feature a match among last season's top three winners Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider, but previous host Alex Trebek was honored with a special category to mark the second anniversary of his death.

"Remembering Alex Trebek," which was part of a freewheeling exhibition game among the three seeded players before heading into Wednesday's first Tournament of Champions semifinal match, featured five clues dealing with many things Trebek.

Also on Tuesday, the show posted a clip of the clues on Twitter with the caption: “The man, the myth, the legend. We miss you, Alex. We’re honoring Alex Trebek’s memory in tonight’s special exhibition game." Trebek died at 80 years of age on Nov. 8. 2020, following a long bout with pancreatic cancer.

The clues dealt with everything from Trebek's Canadian hometown (the "Nickel Capital" of Sudbury, Ontario) to his hobbies. “Alex’s favorite parody of himself was this fellow Canadian on ‘SCTV’ who spoofed him as Alex Trebel, host of ‘Half Wits,' ” was the first clue read by host Ken Jennings. "What's Levy?" responded Amodio, referring to comedian Eugene Levy.

Viewers also got to learn about Trebek's version of the breakfast of champions: a Diet Coke and a Snickers bar, which he changed to a Diet Pepsi and a Kit Kat after a lecture from his doctor.

The one stumper was a visual clue featuring a half-moon-shaped object called a woodruff key from Trebek's tool collection. Amodio incorrectly responded "What's semilunars?" Schneider followed with "What's demilune?" and then Roach with "What are hemilunes?"

Jennings finished with "You were each not close at all on that."