Matt Amodio, the reigning wunderkind of Jeopardy!, is certainly a phenomenon, with over $1 million in winnings so far. And he’s still going! I expect him to pass James Holzhauer before long.

But he missed an easy one last night, something that truly puzzled me. You’ll soon see why the clue struck me personally as “easy” in a moment.

It was near the end of the Jeopardy round. The category was “Character Development” and it was the $200 clue. The harder answers had already been dealt with (Amodio usually goes from the bottom up). This category was about coming up with the name of a fictional character. The clue:

In an 1843 story, paranormal activity around the holidays convinces this business owner to stop making his employee’s life hell.

Matt rang in and said in his characteristic manner, “What’s Marley?” That was not correct, of course. Another contestant, Maddie, rang in with the correct answer: “Who is Scrooge?”

Maybe it was the way the clue was worded. After all, Jacob Marley (who was part of the “paranormal activity”) had already been convinced himself before the story opened. Ah, well. In my reimagining of the story, The Truth About Jacob Marley, there is far less paranormal activity to deal with. But in the end Scrooge still manages to become convinced of his failings and gives his employee, Bob Cratchit, a raise. (Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.)