Jeopardy! fans mock contestant's age after mysterious claim about the USSR

Sam Buttrey's age fell into question after the quiz guru opened up about his journey .

A fan on Reddit noticed that on the Jeopardy! podcast, Sam said: “Some of us are from the days when the USSR didn't have a Kazakhstan."

The fan went on to argue: "Now on one hand, the USSR never had a Kazakhstan, the area we know as the country changed its name from the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to Kazakhstan when it left the USSR ... but the USSR had a Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic up until December 16, 1991, going back to … 1925! Is Sam 100 years old?"

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They clarified that the question wasn't serious and they were simply joking around. "I don’t think Sam is 100 years old, nor do I care to really know how old he is," wrote the Redditor. "I’ll just say he’s the same age as Steve Martin - was just something I chuckled at while listening to the pod."

Another user pointed out this wasn't the first comical swipe taken at Sam's age. The first came from host Ken Jennings himself. During Season 1 of Jeopardy! Masters, the contestants' Final Jeopardy! question fell under the category "The First Millennium." "Cast your minds all the way back," Ken said, adding, "That's old even for you, Sam" which was met with a laugh from Sam and the live audience alike.

Based on that joke, a fan noted, "We can conclude he is less than 1,024 years old." Another pushed back against the original posters comparison to Steve Martin, saying Sam was "much younger." After a quick Google search, they concluded that he was 63/64 which is quite different that Steve who is "pushing 80."

Fans continued with the banter with one writing: "This is like when the Genie says that 10,000 years will give you such a crick in the neck--hinting that Agrabah is not some forgotten place in the past, but is actually a vision of a place thousands of years in the future, presumably after nuclear weapons bombed the world into sandy, untechnological oblivion."

"Old enough for an AARP platinum membership," laughed one. Another kindly downplayed Sam's age, writing: "He's 27. It's been a hard day's night on Jeopardy! for him."