Contestant Suffers ‘Brutal’ Loss in Final Round After Missing Answer by 1 Letter: ‘Just a Syllable Away’

“I’m afraid we cannot accept that,” host Ken Jennings told a disappointed Mehal Shah after he misspelled the answer to the final Jeopardy! clue

Mehal Shah on Jeopardy!. Photo:Jeopardy!

A Jeopardy! contestant’s small mistake led to a big loss.

Mehal Shah appeared on the Jan. 30 episode of the game show’s Tournament of Champions, where, in the final round, he misspelled his otherwise correct answer. When host Ken Jennings said they couldn’t accept it with the missing letter, Shah was left speechless.

The clue from the “Latin Phrases” category read: “After Camillagate, a fire at Windsor Castle & marriage problems in her family, Queen Elizabeth II dubbed 1992 this.”

Shah was first to answer, writing: “What is an annus horriblis.”

“I’m afraid we cannot accept that, Mehal,” Jennings said before moving on to the next contestant.

Later, when sharing the answer, Jennings revealed just how close Shah had gotten to a win.

“Mehal, you were just a syllable away, it’s annus horribilis,” Jennings said. “But because you dropped a vowel, you were a syllable off, and we cannot accept that response.”

Shah had wagered $7,001 after going into the Final Jeopardy! with $7,400. The loss left him at $399 and finishing his run in the competition in third place.

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Viewers in the comments of the clip posted to the Jeopardy! YouTube channel reacted to the loss, with one calling it “brutal.”

“Mehal will NEVER forget this day,” one user wrote.

Another said: “Poor Mehal 😢😢”

Mehal Shah on Jeopardy!.Jeopardy!

Others used the comments section to debate whether the judges made the right decision.

“Misspelling is allowed ONLY if it still SOUNDS correct, missing a vowel that drops a whole syllable is unfortunately an incorrect answer,” someone wrote. “And this is the Tournament of Champions after all.”

“Rules are rules,” someone added.

A different user disagreed: “That is a really weak enforcement of the rule.”

Someone else argued, “I’m a stickler for Latin spelling but I would have given him the points he was close enough I would say.”

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Latin Phrases on Jeopardy!.Jeopardy!

In 2023, contestant Ben Chan made a similar mistake, ending his nine-day winning streak due to a misspelling. “Both of the names of these two lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for ‘blessed’” the clue read.

Chan answered, “Beatrice and Benedict,” but the correct spelling was “Beatrice and Benedick.”

After the mishap, Chan tried to look at the positive side. “It’s a very memorable miss, right? So if you’re going to go out on a miss, go out on a memorable miss.”

Jeopardy! airs weeknights on ABC (check local listings).