“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings issued a rare on-the-spot apology for an awkward clue that put a female contestant on the spot Monday.

In the $400 category of “Complete the Rhyming Phrase,” contestant Heather Ryan chose a clue that read “Men seldom make passes at...”

She didn’t answer, but opponent Will Wallace did, correctly saying, “What are ‘Girls who wear glasses’?”

It so happened that Ryan was wearing glasses.

“A little problematic, sorry Heather,” Jennings said.

“Very,” Wallace chimed in.

Several outlets leaned into the controversy.

While the line is credited to the long-ago feminist writer Dorothy Parker, a few viewers took the game show to task for using such an outdated phrase. Commenters on X, formerly Twitter, called it “sexist,” “stupid” and “extremely” problematic. Another wondered why the potential cringe moment wasn’t spotted beforehand by Jennings.

The fleeting moment may have overshadowed an exciting Final Jeopardy in which Ryan successfully doubled her sum of $9,800 to $19,600 but lost to Ian Taylor by $1.

Defending champion Wallace finished third.