Jeopardy! fans have called out the show for accepting an inaccurate answer on Wednesday night’s episode.
Evan Dorey, a data analytics director from Toronto, Ontario, was crowned champion on November 13 after judges allowed his technically incorrect Final Jeopardy answer.
He competed against Joey DeSena, a development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Lois Dioro, a realtor from West Haven, Connecticut.
Dorey and Dioro were tied at $14,600 going into Final Jeopardy, while DeSena still had a chance with $7,400.
The make-or-break moment came down to the POETRY & PLACES clue: ‘It’s the geographic word in the title of a Robert Burns poem about ‘the mountains … covered with snow … the straths & green valleys below.’
The correct response was ‘Highlands’ but Dorey’s singular ‘Highland’ answer was accepted, bringing his winnings to $29, 200.
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Jeopardy! fans have called out the show for accepting an inaccurate answer from contestant Evan Dorey on Wednesday night’s episode
The data analytics director from Toronto, Ontario, was crowned champion on November 13 after judges allowed his technically incorrect Final Jeopardy answer
Meanwhile, DeSena was incorrect with ‘Moor??? It was fun,’ the answer that brought his winnings to a measly $199.
He had previous back-to-back wins and a total of $44,698 when he went up against the other two contenders.
Dioro was also wrong as she answered with ‘Scotland’ and dropped to $12,000.
‘And we will accept that,’ host Ken Jennings said when approving Dorey’s winning answer.
He clarified, ‘My Heart’s In The Highlands is the name of the poem.’
Viewers flocked to the internet to discuss the dramatic ending of the game.
One person wrote on Reddit, ‘The judging seems to be rather arbitrary and capricious to me. Can’t accept ‘ichapod,’ but can accept ‘highland.”
Another person added to the thread, ‘If the clue was ‘It’s the fruit in the title of a John Steinbeck novel’, I can’t see how they could reject ‘What is grape?”
Dorey competed against Joey DeSena, a development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina, and Lois Dioro, a realtor from West Haven, Connecticut
Viewers flocked to the internet to discuss the dramatic ending of the game
Another person added to the thread, ‘If the clue was ‘It’s the fruit in the title of a John Steinbeck novel’, I can’t see how they could reject ‘What is grape?”
There was also a viewer who wrote that the judges’ decision was ‘confusing’
The make-or-break moment came down to the POETRY & PLACES clue: ‘It’s the geographic word in the title of a Robert Burns poem about ‘the mountains … covered with snow … the straths & green valleys below’
The correct response was ‘Highlands’ but Dorey’s singular ‘Highland’ answer was accepted, bringing his winnings to $29, 200
There was also a viewer who wrote that the judges’ decision was ‘confusing.’
‘I’m confused. If a FJ contestant gives a singular name though the correct title is plural, it’s accepted. But if they write that singular and are starting to add s when time runs out, it isn’t?’ the person wrote.
Someone agreed, adding, ‘Little confused by that myself. I thought if the answer was a word in a title, the answer needed to be the title word, not a version thereof.’
DeSena joined the online discourse to write, ‘Well, the improbable mini-streak has come to an end. All the credit in this game goes to Evan and Lois, who were two amazing competitors that came to play.
‘I felt like a fan myself during Final, excited to see how the tie would break! I know it’s been said maybe times before, but I have utmost respect for the players that can rattle off 5 wins in a tape day. That is draining!’
