All of it got here all the way down to a single syllable on Jeopardy!‘s Match of Champions quarterfinal on Thursday (January 30).
The episode featured Tennessee political organizer Will Stewart, Ohio-based programs administrator Ryan Manton, and Washington software program engineer Mehal Shah competing for a coveted spot within the semifinals, they usually all got here to play.
Issues acquired off to a strong sufficient begin for Shah, who nabbed the primary Day by day Double and appropriately recognized hummingbirds as the reply to the clue, “These avians can rotate their wings to generate raise whereas flapping each up & down, enabling them to hover within the air.” He had a few incorrect solutions however nonetheless led the pack on the midway mark with $4,200 to Manton’s $4,000 and Stewart’s $2,200.
Then, the second spherical noticed Stewart and Manton soar previous Shah to almost double his rating every. Manton nabbed each Day by day Doubles and acquired each proper. (Within the class “Communication,” he appropriately named Estonian as the reply to, “The Baltic-Finnic languages embody Finnish & this nationwide language spoken due south throughout the Viro Strait,” and doubled his $7,400. Then within the class “Authors,” he knew that Babbitt was the character described as, “Sinclair Lewis created this man, an emblem of supplies conformity; Matthew Broderick performed him on stage in 2024.” For the latter, although, he solely wagered $100.)
Heading into Remaining Jeopardy, Will Stewart and Ryan Manton have been neck and neck with $14,900 and $14,400 respectively, with Mehal Shah trailing behind with $7,400. The latter was nonetheless very a lot in it, although, so Remaining Jeopardy was clutch, particularly given the closeness of the 2 highest scores — a miscalculated wager may change the dynamics fully.
Within the class “Latin Phrases,” the Remaining Jeopardy clue was: “After Camillagate, a hearth at Windsor Citadel & marriage issues in her household, Queen Elizabeth II dubbed 1992 this.” The reply, after all, is annus horribilus, and solely Shah appeared to understand it… however there was a giant drawback. He misspelled his reply by writing, “What’s an Annus Horriblis?” and since the typo additionally eliminated a syllable from the reply, it was counted as improper.
Shah had wagered $7,001, which meant if he’d simply gotten the opposite “i” in there, he would’ve gained. Alas, Manton (who incorrectly guessed “What’s annum no grata”) wagered small and misplaced simply $501, leaving him with $13,899 and a ticket to the semifinals as a result of Stewart’s incorrect reply (“What’s anno terribilis”) was way more expensive at a lack of $14,900 and a complete rating of $900.
After the episode, Stewart took to Reddit to lament his Remaining Jeopardy outcomes, writing, “My highschool Latin instructor appreciated my Fb put up about my look on this episode. I’ve already mentally composed a heartfelt apology for letting him down.”
In the meantime, followers on the identical thread pointed to the rule e book to guarantee different viewers that the choice to mark Shah’s reply improper — regardless of him clearly understanding the reply — was the appropriate transfer on the producers’ half. Referencing the official rule that whereas incorrect spelling doesn’t invalidate a solution, it nonetheless must be “phonetically right and never add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables,” one commenter wrote, “Leaving out the center ‘i’ in ‘horribilis’ drops a syllable. The present was right to rule in opposition to Mehal’s response.”
One other added, “Ugh, a type of ‘powerful however finally honest’ rulings for the FJ response…. I feel the talk over this clue is extra if it ought to have been on this ToC or Masters as a substitute.” The person went on to say, although, “Will certainly deserves kudos for main earlier than FJ, and Mehal was this near a come from behind win. All three gamers positively made it a detailed recreation!”
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