An Answering Machine on Hold

"We were fodder," lamented Beverly Herter, a freelance book editor from Portsmouth, R.I., who went down in flames against Jennings earlier this week. "We found out when we got there. The contestant-coordinator didn't have the heart to tell us. She made Ken tell."

By then, Herter said, Jennings had notched 28 wins.

She said she and some of the nine other contestants bulldozed in that day's taping sessions later gathered to commiserate at the one place they knew their teetotaling nemesis would never find them -- the hotel bar.

Like other veterans of "Jeopardy!," Herter maintained that victory is more a matter of reflex than intellect. "Even though he made mincemeat out of us, we all know 90 percent of the answers," she said, but Jennings is uncatchable on the buzzer, locking out his opponents.

Still, she allowed, Jennings was likable.

"It would've been easier losing to him if I could hate him."

That love-hate relationship is one that extends to Internet message boards where admirers fawn ("Ken, I think you are cooler than Fabio") and foes rant about how much they hate him ("with the passion of 1,000 sex-deprived rabbits.")

There are those charmed by his gosh-gee-willikers headshake of dismay each and every time his winnings are announced, and those who snipe back and forth about how deeply irritating they find Jennings's habit of cocking his head and blinking inquisitively with each correct answer, like a robin dangling yet another delectable worm from its beak.

His grin remained the same whether he was clearing entire categories at a time or losing $11,400 on a single tough geography question (Algeria, not Nigeria). Trebek frequently tried in vain to goad the cautious Jennings into upping his ante on the Final Jeopardy! round.

"The one-day record is $52,000. Ken has tied it twice but never gone over it," Trebek intoned before a final round earlier in the week. Jennings had racked up $42,000, with his nearest competitor at $5,200 and the other at $2,000. Neither had the correct answer when asked to name two U.S. presidents whose middle names were the last names of two other presidents. Jennings triumphantly displayed his winning answer (William Jefferson Clinton and Ronald Wilson Reagan). He then revealed his wager: $10,000.

"You're doing this just to bug me, aren't you?" Trebek complained.

On his final appearance of the season, Jennings finally shattered the record for winnings in a single game, adding $75,000 to his tally.

"Will it never end?" Trebek cried.

Jennings just smiled.

A knowing smile.

Staff writer John Maynard contributed to this report.