This 1980s ‘Jeopardy!’ legend just returned to the game — and the final clue stumped all 3 contestants

If it hadn’t been for the five-game rule, “Jeopardy!” fans would have likely seen a lot more of Chuck Forrest in 1985.

The formidable competitor won five straight games by a landslide during the show’s second season with host Alex Trebek. But thanks to a five-wins-and-out rule, Forrest’s “Jeopardy!” domination ended there. That rule would later change in 2003, shortly before Ken Jennings went on to win a staggering 74 games — a record that remains unbroken 20 years later, the Deseret News previously reported.

Forrest is widely regarded as one of the game’s best players. A recent piece in Vulture describes him as “the show’s first breakout star.” He was one of the first contestants to find success in jumping around the board to pick clues rather than sticking with a single category all the way through — a tactic dubbed the “Forrest Bounce,” The Jeopardy Fan reported.

A year after his “Jeopardy!” debut, Forrest went on to win the 1986 Tournament of Champions. Over the years, he’s competed in a few “Jeopardy!” tournaments, his most recent appearance being a semifinalist in the Battle of the Decades in 2014, per “Jeopardy!” archives.

Now, a decade later, Forrest has returned to the game. This time, he competed in the “Jeopardy!” Invitational Tournament, which gets the winner a $100,000 prize and an invitation to compete in the upcoming “Jeopardy!” Masters tournament, the Deseret News previously reported.

Here’s a look at how Forrest fared in his “Jeopardy!” return Thursday night — and who landed a spot in the semifinals of the Invitational Tournament.

Chuck Forrest returns for ‘Jeopardy!’ Invitational Tournament

For Thursday night’s quarterfinal game, Forrest competed against fellow “Jeopardy!” greats Sam Kavanaugh, who won the “Jeopardy!” 2021 Tournament of Champions, and Monica Thieu, the 2012 College Championship winner.

Both Forrest and Kavanaugh got off to a fairly slow start. By the end of the first round, Thieu had a large lead with $8,200 (Forrest, in second, had $2,600), per “Jeopardy!” archives. The game evened out in the second round, though, with all three contestants having a good shot at winning: Thieu was in first with $15,800; Kavanaugh came up second with $12,000, and Forrest finished close behind in third with $11,000).

It all came down to the Final Jeopardy clue (see the clue in the section below). The clue stumped all three contestants, so the winning contestant moving on to the next round was the one who wagered the least: Kavanaugh.

Although Forrest’s time in the Invitational Tournament is over, this won’t necessarily mark the last fans see of him on the show.

“Whenever they invite me, I’ll come back,” Forrest told Vulture. “I think everybody who’s been on the show says the same thing. It’s just a lot of fun — it’s a great experience to be up there whether you win or lose. Nobody will turn it down unless they’re in the hospital. It’s not about the money. Well, once you’ve won and got some money, it’s easy to say that. It’s about the competition. It’s a great group of people. When you’re there with the other contestants, especially people who have been on the show before, there’s a lot of camaraderie.”

‘Jeopardy!’ clues that stumped Chuck Forrest, Sam Kavanaugh and Monica Thieu

Per “Jeopardy!” archives, the following 10 clues stumped all three contestants Thursday night (answers are at the very bottom of the article):

1. Two-word pop culture: “Barney on ‘How I Met Your Mother’ often implored his friends with this command that superheroes might receive.”

2. Definitions from the Devil’s dictionary: “Under P: A play in which the story is told without violence to the language.”

3. Free for all: “The Wilmot Proviso, which wanted no slavery in newly acquired Mexican lands, was a precursor to this political party.”

4. Alphanumerics: “This technology introduced in 2019 brought faster connectivity all over an area.”

5. Round here: “This numeral is topmost center on a standard circular dartboard.”

6. Tough vocab: “It can mean a horse carriage for rent; add -ed to mean made commonplace by frequent use.”

7. Round here: “In legend, the Siege Perilous was a seat at King Arthur’s round table reserved for the knight destined to do this.”

8. Science: “In thermodynamics this letter stands for entropy.”

9. Hip-pop: “Hip-hop artist Chris Rivers is the son of this ‘Big’ guy born Christopher Rios, the first Latino solo rapper to go platinum.”

10. Tough vocab: “Meaning reverse or opposite, it’s also a rhetorical device using contrast, such as ‘Give me liberty or give me death.’”

The Final Jeopardy clue also stumped all three contestants:

• 20th-century books: “TIME mentioned ‘cruelty and enforced conformity’ when summing up this novel with a ‘stonily silent narrator.’”

Who are the ‘Jeopardy!’ Invitational Tournament semifinalists?

So far, the following “Jeopardy!” Invitational Tournament contestants have earned a spot in the semifinals, which begin April 2:

• Andrew He, who was a fourth-place competitor in the Masters tournament last year.

• Larissa Kelly, who sits at No. 9 for all-time winnings on the “Jeopardy!” Leaderboard of Legends.

• Matt Jackson, who sits at No. 10 for both highest winnings in regular season play and all-time winnings on the “Jeopardy!” Leaderboard of Legends.

• Schneider, who sits at No. 4 for highest winnings in regular season play, and No. 5 for all-time winnings on the “Jeopardy!” Leaderboard of Legends.

• David Madden, who sits at No. 7 for all-time “Jeopardy!” winnings, No. 8 for highest winnings in regular season play and No. 8 for most consecutive games won, per the Leaderboard of Legends.

• Jennifer Quail, a Season 36 eight-game champion and 2021 Tournament of Champions first runner-up.

• Forrest.

Answers: (1. Suit up; 2. pantomime; 3. the Free Soil Party; 4. 5G; 5. 20; 6. hackney; 7. find the grail; 8. S; 9. Big Pun; 10. antithesis; Final Jeopardy: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”)