‘Jeopardy!’ Boss Details Handwriting Policy After Backlash

There was some major controversy on Jeopardy! last week during Rishabh Wuppalapati’s run as champion. While he picked up some fans thanks to his young age and enthusiasm, he also had a problem with fans thanks to a specific Final Jeopardy! moment. It was all about his handwriting.

Here is what one of the show’s producers had to say about the moment, as well as the game show’s stance on handwriting.

Jeopardy! Producer Answers Handwriting Controversy

Last week on Jeopardy!, Rishabh Wuppalapati was showing that age doesn’t matter, as the college student dominated in his first win as champion. However, while defending his title, he found some naysayers. He quickly changed his final answer, and his handwriting left something to be desired.
Rishabh Wuppalapati on Jeopardy! | YouTube
In the College Towns category, the clue was: “2 schools in the Southeastern Conference are located in cities with this same name but in different ‘states.’” The answer was Columbia.

Two of the three players got it right, with challenger Cassidy and the defending Rishabh getting it correct. However, many fans at home felt that Rishabh didn’t deserve the correct answer because they deemed the written response to be “illegible.” This was because he didn’t have the right answer initially, but changed it before time ran out.

When he showed his answer, he said that he wrote “Columbia.” Ken Jennings looked at it and said, “I can read every letter.” As a result, he got the right answer and won by $300 with $20,201. However, many fans at home couldn’t read it and thought he deserved to lose as a result.

According to one Jeopardy! producer, the answer was right, and Rishabh deserved the win.

The Rules On Handwriting On Jeopardy!

According to Jeopardy! producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss, the people who determined these close calls all ruled in favor of Rishabh. “I felt, as Ken did, as did our co-head writers Billy [Wisse] and Michele [Loud] — we all reviewed this before the ruling was made,” Foss said. “We could make out every one of those letters in ‘Columbia.’ And as a result, Rishabh goes on to win.” (via TV Insider).

Retired champion Sam Buttrey was on the official Inside Jeopardy! podcast with Foss and pointed out the official rules. “I’ve been here for a lot of these,” Buttrey said. “And there are times where we feel like the word wasn’t completed or the letters that were chosen change the pronunciation of the word.”

However, the rules state that written responses don’t have to be spelled correctly. They must only be “phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables.”

Buttrey also said not to jump right to a stylus but added that it could cause problems if they hit the wrong letter when typing quickly and lose because of a typing error.

What are your thoughts on the Jeopardy! controversy? Do you think it was as big a deal as many fans made it out to be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Shawn S. Lealos has been a freelance writer for over 25 years and is a voting member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. He is also a published author with a book about the Stephen King Dollar