‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React After Misspelling Drama

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[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, December 23, episode of Jeopardy!]

A spelling mistake caused controversy among Jeopardy! fans during the Second Chance Tournament. Despite giving the correct answer in Final Jeopardy, it was spelled wrong, but still deemed right. Whoever won this episode would get to join Guy Branum in the finals on Thursday and Friday after this win on Monday.

For the second episode of the second week of Second Chance, Michelle Tsai, from Honolulu, Hawaii, returned. Tsai, a tutor, originally played on May 7 and lost against Dan Moren. On December 23, she was joined by Molly Murray from New York, New York. Murray, an English professor, who lost to Allegra Kuney on November 6.  Bob Callen, from Lexington, Kentucky, was the third challenger on December 23. Callen, a retired librarian, was a fallen soldier against Liam Starnes on April 21.

The first two clues were Triple Stumpers. Tsai took the lead on the third clue when she answered correctly. On clue six, she had $1,800 and found the Daily Double. She made it a True Daily Double in “C.B.” The clue read, “When you analyze information in a manner that tends to bolster your preexisting beliefs, it’s called this.” “What is confirmation bias?” she answered correctly, giving her $3,600.

She had a wide lead by the first commercial break with $7,200. Her opponents didn’t even pass $2,000.

By the end of the round, Tsai kept the lead with $10,800. Murray had $2,800. Callen wasn’t too far behind with $2,200.

In Double Jeopardy, Tsai found the first DD on clue two. She wagered $4,000 from $12,000. In “Hitting You With Hard Science,” the clue read, “Latin for ‘hair’ gives us the name of these blood vessels.” “What are capillary vessels?” she answered correctly, giving her $16,000.

She had a runaway lead with $22,400 when she found the last DD of the game. She wagered $6,000 in “Lady & The Stamp.” The clue was “The ‘Columbian Expositio’ series features the first U.S. commemorative postage stamps, including 7 stamps that feature her.”

“Who is Sacagawea?” she answered incorrectly. Tsai dropped down to $16,400 since the correct response was Queen Isabella.

Tsai ended the round in the lead with $22,800. Murray was in second place with $13,200. Callen did not qualify for Final Jeopardy as he had -$1,800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Authors.” The clue read, “Before his sudden death in 2004, this journalist & author was researching the unsolved assassination of PM Olof Palme.”

The correct response was “Who was Stieg Larsson?” Both contestants got it right, but one of them spelled his name wrong.

After answering “Who is Steig Larsson?” Murray wagered $13,200, giving her $26,400. Tsai wrote, “Who is Larsen?”

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“Yes, misspelled, but we will accept that,” host Ken Jennings said. She wagered $3,601, which gave her $24,401, just $1 over Murray’s amount. A misspelled clue can be accepted if it sounds the same.

This made Tsai the night’s winner and finalist, moving on to the finals on Thursday.

“Go Michelle!” many Reddit users said.

“I’m glad Michelle’s response was ruled correct despite the spelling,” a Reddit user said. One more finalist will make it through on Wednesday’s game.

“Should Michelle have been ruled right if she spelled it wrong?” asked another.

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