A game about hot dogs became a Jeopardy! clue, and then a hit, for its St. Louis creators

On May 16, "Jeopardy!" host Mayim Bialik presented a clue to the contestants that stumped them all: “A recipe completion card game in which you build the perfect hot dog is called ‘Turn for’ this.”

The silence stretched for several seconds.

“It’s kind of cute,” Bialik continued. “Turn for … the Wurst.”

The answer may have eluded the contestants, but, in St. Louis, the brother-and-brother team of Phill and Jake Wamser, co-founders of Wam Wam Games and creators of the rummy-style card game Turn for the Wurst, knew their fortunes had taken a turn for the better.

“We're a big 'Jeopardy!' family,” Phill Wamser told St. Louis on the Air. After the episode aired, a relative sent Wamser a clip of the critical moment when Turn for the Wurst became a part of the hugely popular quiz show.

“At first I didn't believe it,” Wamser said. “I thought it was like a deep fake, an AI or something. I thought he had made up something fake.”