‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Not Happy After Ken Jennings Allows ‘Illegible’ Answer
Another week of Jeopardy! is underway, and another controversy followed Monday’s (September 19) episode after host Ken Jennings accepted a final answer that some fans deemed “illegible.”
The moment in question came during Final Jeopardy! when returning champion Emmett Stanton, who won last Friday’s game, wrote his answer to the clue: “The governor of Massachusetts wrote, it ‘is a poor document, but a mighty act…wrong in its delay till January, but grand & sublime after all.'”
It was a crucial answer as the game was pretty much even heading into Final Jeopardy, with fellow contestants Suzanne Goss and Jason Freeman ahead with $8,600 and $8,400, respectively, while Stanton had $8,000. The closeness of the game made Jennings’ ruling that much more controversial to the viewers watching at home.
Stanton revealed his response to the final clue, where he had written the correct answer, “Emancipation Proclamation,” but his handwriting was barely legible. He had crossed out one attempt at spelling “Proclamation” and then scribbled it again in the corner of the screen.
Despite seeming to struggle with what exactly Stanton wrote, Jennings deemed the answer acceptable. This gave Stanton the victory as he’d wagered his entire $8,000. While Goss and Freeman both answered incorrectly, Goss would have won on a technicality had Stanton’s answer been voided, as she only bet $6,000.
“I’m not sure how the judges accepted the writing on Final Jeopardy today. The first half worked, but the second… whew,” one viewer wrote on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum. “Unbelievable lol.” added another user.
“There’s no possible way to translate that last half into Proclamation, regardless of observed intent,” said another fan, while another stated, “I am surprised they accepted Emmett’s FJ response. That was very illegible to my eyes.”
Speaking on the handwriting concerns, Stanton himself commented on the Reddit thread, stating, “Conveniently the good folks at Jeopardy! have a podcast that has, at various times, gotten into the specifics of how handwriting is adjudicated by the independent legal team that looks at everything borderline on the show.”
This latest controversy came after last week when some fans complained that Jennings showed favoritism to contestant Luigi de Guzman for allowing him to correct a wrong answer.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Suzanne Goss had $8,400.
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Conversation32 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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Contrary to what the title of the article implies, Ken (or anyone else hosting) is not the judge as to whether an answer is acceptable. Remember that these are taped in advance, and the actual judges have reviewed the show. If something had been wrong with the final segment, it would have been scrapped and replaced or edited in some way. That it aired meant that the judges were able to discern the handwritten answer and deemed it acceptable. But Ken had nothing to do with that decision.
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Ken did a horrible job. The optics were awful. It looked like he wasn’t being fair to the woman. It’s on Ken.
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AMEN!!! You have said what is applicable to almost all these "fan" nitpickers! I have given up on these baseless social media attacks (like the Luigi "Constant" controversy), but can't help but support those of reason when I can.
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This is Suzanne -- I was in the lead with $8600, please correct the article
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I was ready to say it’s on Ken - who often quickly rules on things himself, as opposed to the other host who is gun shy and frustratingly waits for a signal from the judges on nearly every answer. But I’ve seen a bts program about Jeopardy and the control room and judges can view Final Jeopardy answers as they are written. So this was likely a team decision or at least it wasn’t overruled.
Whether the rules should be changed re: submission format- is another question. I haven’t seen this episode yet but looking at the screenshot above…wow.
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I read the answer just fine. Where’s the controversy ?
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I didn't even watch the episode or read this article, other than to confirm what took me like 1 second to figure out: Emancipation Proclamation.
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I could read it
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If the judges deemed the messed up, they’ll bring Suzanne Goss back.
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Who are these upset people? What else could his answer has been? Could it have been confused for something else???
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Sloppy but still able to be read , try reading physicians orders, this was a piece of cake!
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I could read it.
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...sorry to the people claiming there's "no way" to make out the answer, but I made it out just fine before even reading the article, so.... just because you suck at it doesn't make it impossible.
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The judges have the ability to see the answers as the contests write their responses. It's a back up in case the pens don't work correctly. Yesterday was not the first time it has happened. What really should be done is for the show to eliminate this obsolete technology and replace it with a keyboard on which the contests can type their answers. This solution has been used for contests who are unable to use the pens do to physical limitations.
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due not do. dang i hate auto correct sometimes.
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I agree
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I agree that the second word was completely illegible, but I'm thinking that because Ken could read the first word as 'Emancipation', maybe he logically figured the second word would be 'Proclamation'.
That's the word I logically came up with when I saw the first word myself.
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I read it with no problem
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Ken is doing a great job, second only to Trebek. They really do need to permanently install keyboards (they did it temporarily for Eddie Timanus).
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Mistake tonight 12/20/22- Los Angeles Rams were originally the Cleveland Rams , then st. Louis, and then, Los Angeles. I know my dad played for Cleveland Rams.
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I think Kent Jennings does a good job. He is not Alex. He is who he is you either like him or continually compare him to Alex or others
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Okay with it. Even “Emancipation “ alone was closer than anyone else got, unless I’m mistaken (didn’t see it). And yes, the judges are the judge. It helps, though, that Ken is an expert himself (in addition to having the answers on the card).
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They should just allow block lettering and increase the time to 40 seconds
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I wrote in block lettering and it didn't take longer than 30 seconds😄
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Another reason to go to keyboards instead of handwriting
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Get a life! Maybe some fans can't read cursive!
Where are the judges who should be making those calls when
there is doubt?
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Most of my high school students can't read or write cursive. Apparently it is no longer taught.
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Lordy!!! Will the fans never be happy with anything? Get over it people! We are so lucky to have Ken, stop being so critical. That answer was readable! Pour yourself a drink and sthu.
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Methinks some can't read script. Apparently it's not being taught anymore which is shameful and likely came from one of our ever so intelligent politicians.
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Honestly, it came more from the fact that cursive--not script--is obsolete. It's no longer a necessity in daily life, or even an acceptable form of formal communication. It's been replaced by typing, much like the telegraph was replaced by phones. There's nothing "shameful" about it, it's simply the way societies work.
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The responsibility is on Ken. As a former player he has no excuse. The optics were horrible. He made it look like he wasn’t being fair to the woman. Poor job Ken.
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Having him as host was a mistake!
Give the gig to Mayiam she deserves it.
She has real class, something he'll never have.
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