‘Jeopardy!’ Player Reacts to Ken Jennings’ Frustrating Ruling That Cost Him Game
Jeopardy! contestant Mehal Shah is still trying to get over the sting of that devastating loss on Thurdsay’s (January 30) Tournament of Champions, where a controversial syllable ruling cost him a spot in the semifinals.
In the episode, which saw Shah take on Tennessee political organizer Will Stewart and Ohio-based systems administrator Ryan Manton, the software engineer from Seattle, Washington had a chance to win the episode despite trailing with $7,400 to Stewart’s $14,900 and Manton’s $14,400.
That’s because he was the only one who knew the answer to the Final Jeopardy clue, which read, “After Camillagate, a fire at Windsor Castle & marriage problems in her family, Queen Elizabeth II dubbed 1992 this.”
The correct answer was “annus horribilis,” and with Shah wagering $7,001, it would have won him the episode, as both Manton (who wagered $501) and Stewart (who wagered his whole $14,900) answered incorrectly. However, Shah misspelled his answer, writing, “What is an Annus Horriblis?
Because of the missing ‘i’ removing a syllable from the answer, host Ken Jennings ruled the response as incorrect, therefore ending Shah’s dreams and sending Manton through to the semifinals.
Following the episode, Shah took to the Jeopardy! Reddit forum, where he opened up about the heartbreaking loss. While the ruling was obviously devastating, Shah said he didn’t disagree with the show’s decision.
“The show was 100% right to rule the way they did. Anyone who think otherwise can explain to me why the “Mimi Dolphins” would be an acceptable FJ response to the clue ‘It’s Mehal’s least favorite football team,'” he wrote.
Shah added that Jennings came up to him after the episode finished filming and told him “delivering rulings like that is the least favorite part of his job,” adding, “I believe him.”
“My heart broke pretty hard when he explained why I was ruled incorrect though, and I’m not proud that I appeared frustrated,” he continued. “I wasn’t mad at the judges at all, even though my face may look frustrated.”
He added, “In the post game chat, I remarked that I had a ruling go in my favor in [Champions Wildcard] Semis that was arguably the difference in the game there – Polyharmonic was worth a swing of $4000.”
Shah shared that he “felt pretty bad going back into the Green Room, but having my fellow competitors there, particularly my fellow Wildcards Drew and Will really made a difference.”
Even though Shah’s Jeopardy! journey has come to an end, he spoke highly of his experience, telling fans, “What a long, strange journey it’s been for me. I’m so glad to have met my fellow competitors and the excellent Jeopardy staff. Even though I’m leaving in defeat, I feel like I accomplished most of my Jeopardy related goals that I made before I went on the first time.”
“So ends this wonderful side quest,” he concluded. “As I rejoin my main plotline, I bring wonderful memories, new allies, a $60 Delcom Buzzer that I will loan to anyone in Seattle who gets the call, and a greater appreciation of the wider world. I wish you all a happy postseason – may all your Daily Doubles be true.”
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What a gracious loser!
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O
Why are all these kind of my things always say Jennings made the rulings. The judges make the rulings, Jennings just announces it.
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B
We were surprised because we thought spelling errors were acceptable in Final Jeopardy.
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O
They are, but not if it changes the pronunciation. Leaving out a syllable constitutes a wrong answer
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C
It wasn't a spelling error, per se, it was a dropped syllable. So he gave three syllables, when it was four.
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O
He knew the answer
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G
What if he had spelled it 'horribolis'? Would that have been more literate?
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P
This is ridiculous. Had it been a verbal response it wouldn't even have been noticed. Jeopardy needs to review their rulings.
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B
Well, no; they don't.
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If it were a verbal response that wasn't understood, he would have been asked to repeat his answer and would have been ruled incorrect for mispronunciation.
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The decision was, actually, simple. Spelling was not the problem. He didn't write it with enough syllables.
Ho-ri-bi-lis, not horiblis.
That has always been a disqualify.
Always.
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O
Definitely a bad decision. -they always say that spelling doesn’t count. He was royally screwed for sure!!
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The word horriblis has no translation into English as it is not a Latin word.
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G
Not one person in 500 could have heard a distinction between Ho-ri-bi-lis and horiblis. This linguist (moi) certainly did not, especially when pronounced rapidly by Jennings. It is clear that Mehal knew the answer to the question! This was a raw mis-adjudication of the prize! I am furious, and feel terrible for Mehal!!
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C
I saw the game. thought it was odd that almost 10 minutes after saying the answer it was corrected by not saying it right. He should of got a pass for that, and the fact it was 10 minutes later it was acknowledged
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P
I think that since the answer needed was in Latin, some leeway should have been given, even if a letter was missing while the pronounciation was on target.
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C
I thought spelling didn’t count in Final Jeopardy. He should have won.p
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G
They have ALWAYS said they don't count off for spelling and have used that on numerous occasions. He was clearly correct and should have won. You explain it to me.
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O
They've aways said spelling errors weren't allowed in Final Jeopardy
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G
He was arrogant the entire time he was on. After every response he made that little smirk. Maybe that ruling will humble him a little bit.
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G
He was so sweet and understanding! Me? Not so much. He missed ONE letter, but he KNOWS/KNEW the response. People misspell my last name ALL the time, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to pronounce it!
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I've never enjoyed the show after Alex passed away 😔 it certainly doesn't seem like rules are followed consistently, one minute he's ruling an answer wrong almost immediately, then again if someone else forgets to say 'what is' he'll remind them of their phrasing & let them answer, I thought that was an automatic incorrect 🙄 I don't enjoy wheel either, Ryan sucks lol 😒
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In the overall picture, I think Jeopardy has lost their viewer directions since the passing of Alex Trebek. I believe the executives at Jeopardy should have selected the new host as done in the past with other game shows. Instead they chose to shirk their responsibility by allowing outside audiences to make the decisions for them, thereby creating a three ring circus effect. Today this mistep has snowballed effecting the games everyday activity/operation, with all of the commentary offered on social media. Today I'm not an avid viewer as I was in earlier times.
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C
Jeopardy is hella inconsistent and thats the huge issue. Their judges should be fired by executive order
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R
That was a bad ruling and Ken should know better.
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Know better? 🤣🤣🤣🤣. The judges read the answers before the episode continues and they made a ruling.
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O
I'm 70 and remember when spelling didn't matter. He got screwed
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This was a Latin word that he misspelled not English. In which case, spelling DOES matter. I took two years of Latin in high school. Did you?
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G
They don’t rule it an incorrect answer when you misspell something so a mispronounced word shouldn’t be ruled as incorrect.
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O
BULLSHIT!!! Show has gotten really bad since Ken got on there.
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Oh, cry me a river! Jennings did NOT make the ruling, he delivered the news. Ken is doing an excellent job taking over hosting duties. He’s not Alex, but he’s doing a fine job nonetheless.
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Should they have kept mayim? An entire 30 minutes would go between a contestant's answer and her ruling them correct or incorrect
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