‘Jeopardy!’ Favorite Loses After Brutal Mistake In Finals
Heading into the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, there were clear favorites. Other than the three players who got byes in the first round, there were other players that fans not only liked but also thought they had a chance to win it all. One of these players just lost a game thanks to a brutal mistake, one that many fans felt wasn’t fair.
Here is a look at what happened to Mehal Shah during his loss on the popular game show.
Mehal Shah Loses On Jeopardy! Thanks To A Misspelling
Mehal Shah was a fan-favorite who had proven to be a great Jeopardy! player. However, he lost in his Tournament of Champions match thanks to spelling the answer wrong. The most brutal part of this loss is that he had the right answer, but he just left out one letter.
Mehal Shah appeared on the January 30 episode of the Tournament of Champions. In Final Jeopardy!, the clue was, “After Camillagate, a fire at Windsor Castle & marriage problems in her family, Queen Elizabeth II dubbed 1992 this.” Mehal knew the answer and wrote it down.
He wrote, “What is an annus horriblis.” He was right – but he spelled it wrong. Ken Jennings said, “I’m afraid we cannot accept that, Mehal.” They then moved on to the next answer, and then Mehal learned what was wrong with his answer. The answer was, “What is annus horribilis.”
Ken explained, “Because you dropped a vowel, you were a syllable off, and we cannot accept that response.” Because Mehal had wagered $7,001, he dropped all the way to $399 and finished in last place for the game.
Jeopardy! Fans Comment On Brutal Loss
It didn’t take fans long to chime in on the loss and talk about how rough it was to lose by just missing out on one vowel in the spelling. However, there were others who were less sympathetic and said that the rules were clear on these things.
Here is a sample of the fans’ comments (via PEOPLE):
- “Misspelling is allowed ONLY if it still SOUNDS correct, missing a vowel that drops a whole syllable is unfortunately an incorrect answer.”
- “That is a really weak enforcement of the rule.”
- “I’m a stickler for Latin spelling but I would have given him the points he was close enough I would say.”
This was similar to a moment in 2023 that cost Ben Chan a win in what was a nine-game winning streak. His answer should have been “Beatrice and Benedick,” but he wrote, ““Beatrice and Benedict.” That was also a one-letter difference, but it made his answer wrong.
What are your thoughts on Mehal’s loss in this Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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