'Off by just 1 letter': 'Jeopardy!' fans call foul play as Ben Chan loses 9-day winning streak over ‘rotten final ruling'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Jeopardy!' can be a harsh game at times. Ben Chan who was cruising through with nine wins on the trot had to suffer an embarrassing loss that ended his winning streak on the game show. Ben was deemed incorrect by host Miyam Bialik during the Final Jeopardy segment of the show when he misspelled a word with just one wrong letter. Ben shook his head and looked down after his mistake that ended his winning streak and allowed Lynn Di Vito to become the one-day champion.
During the Monday, May 22 episode of ‘Jeopardy!’, Ben was pitted against Danny Leserman, a policy communications manager from Rancho Palos Verdes, California, and Lynn Di Vito, a retired museum educator from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Ben was the most experienced one out of the three and no one expected him to lose, especially after coming into the game with nine wins on his back. But during Final Jeopardy, everything came to a halt for him.
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What went wrong for Ben?
Ben got off to another strong start, but a missed True Daily Double brought him back to $0. But heading to the Final Jeopardy round, Ben had $17,400, Lynn- who got the second Daily Double correct was not far behind at $14,800, and Danny had $2,400. The question in Final Jeopardy under Shakespeare's Characters" read, “Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for ‘blessed.’” Danny wrote down “Romeo and Juliet” which was incorrect and lost $3000 leaving her with 11,800. Ben was standing firm, contemplating, and then wrote down, “Beatrice & Benedict Benedict,” striking out the first “Benedict” but then writing the same the second time.
Bialik paused and then ruled Ben’s answer incorrect. “Unfortunately that is not correct. The correct response [is] Beatrice and ‘Benedick'.” It was extremely disheartening for Ben who had wagered $12,201 and was now left with $5199. Lynn emerged victorious by taking first place and was declared a one-day champion. However, Ben slapped the podium out of frustration but eventually clapped for Lynn’s victory.
'Ben was cheated'
After the game was over, many angry supporters who had been rooting for Ben’s victories took to Reddit to express their disappointment. “SHOCKER!!!!!! Off by just 1 letter.” One wrote, "That Final Jeopardy ruling was super harsh. A very disappointing way for Ben to lose and he was on the cusp of becoming a super-champ [or 10-day winner].” However, there were a few who argued on technicalities, helping Ben’s cause. "Since Final Jeopardy is supposed to be by pronunciation, I'm not entirely sure why it wasn't given (Benedict and Benedick really sound the same in my opinion). I hope that there's a reversal in the next day's taping, and both are returned as co-champions.”
One user on Twitter wrote, “Very rotten final ruling on Final @Jeopardy tonight. Google the answer and BOTH Benedick and Benedict come up. Both spellings are accepted.”
Very rotten final ruling on Final @Jeopardy tonight. Google the answer and BOTH Benedick and Benedict come up. Both spellings are accepted.
— Ray Bridges (@ColtsTubaGuy) May 24, 2023
If one cites the rules from ‘Jeopardy!.com,’ they will find that, “Written responses to the Final Jeopardy! clue does not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables.” This only reaffirms that Ben should have been given a clean chit by Bialik. But then the nine-time winner has come forward and admitted that he was at fault. “Benedict is incorrect. The character's name is Benedick. As Ken (presciently) noted on my first episode, there is no partial credit on Jeopardy! (Yes, I was so close!)” It was a winning good run until it lasted. Unfortunately, it ended with one misspelled letter.
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