I was cheated over 'Jeopardy!' spelling


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NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? A Connecticut eighth-grader who misspelled the correct answer to a "Jeopardy!" question and lost money over it says he was cheated.

Thomas Hurley III correctly answered the Final Jeopardy question about the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln. But Thomas spelled it "emanciptation" and was ruled out by host Alex Trebek.

He bet $3,000 of his $9,600 in winnings and finished well behind a rival who amassed $66,600.

"I was pretty upset that I was cheated out of the final 'Jeopardy!' question," he told The News-Times of Danbury (http://bit.ly/13KTg7D). "It was just a spelling error."

The Newtown Middle School student won $2,000 as the runner-up.

In an email, producers of Jeopardy! defended Trebek's decision.

"If 'Jeopardy!' were to give credit for an incorrect response (however minor), the show would effectively penalize the other players," they said. "We love presenting young people as contestants on our show and make every effort to be fair and consistent in their treatment."

Hurley's mother, Suzanne, said her son was "a little stunned" by the loss.

"He felt embarrassed," she said. "It was hard to watch."

Hundreds vented their anger at "Jeopardy!" and Trebek on the game show's Facebook page.

"Bad form, Jeopardy," said one comment. "Every game show has bad calls ... this takes the cake."

The Kids Jeopardy! program was filmed in February and broadcast last week.

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Kid should learn how to spell.

so he had 1 extra letter in the word, big freakin deal

 

i'd like to see you spell random big words that are hardly ever used correctly on the spot.

 

they should have cut the kid a break, seriously

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so he had 1 extra letter in the word, big freakin deal

 

i'd like to see you spell random big words that are hardly ever used correctly on the spot.

 

they should have cut the kid a break, seriously

 

 

Big deal? I guess we should just throw out dictionaries altogether, because spelling is not a big deal.  

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The problem is that contestants in the past have gotten their answers judged as correct when they had spelling mistakes.

 

They need to either make a discreet rule that says spelling mistakes will be automatically marked as incorrect, or give leniency.

 

Plus this is a middle school kid. so give him some slack.  Obviously his answer was correct, regardless of the simple spelling mistake. Had he given the answer verbally, he would been rewarded for the correct answer.

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No, he should not have won; unless Jeopardy now changes the rules so that misspellings do not count.  Good time for this kid to learn about rules.

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so he had 1 extra letter in the word, big freakin deal

 

i'd like to see you spell random big words that are hardly ever used correctly on the spot.

 

they should have cut the kid a break, seriously

 

No. Correct spelling is essential. There is no reason for the guy to throw a tantrum - he misspelt the word, he lost. It's that simple. Whether he is just a high school student or not doesn't matter either.

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No. Correct spelling is essential. There is no reason for the guy to throw a tantrum - he misspelt the word, he lost. It's that simple. Whether he is just a high school student or not doesn't matter either.

 

That's bull, there have been responses in regular jeopardy where you couldn't even make out the chicken scratch and the spelling was horrible, but the answer was correct and those people would still be credited with the correct answer.

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The problem is that contestants in the past have gotten their answers judged as correct when they had spelling mistakes.

 

They need to either make a discreet rule that says spelling mistakes will be automatically marked as incorrect, or give leniency.

 

Plus this is a middle school kid. so give him some slack.  Obviously his answer was correct, regardless of the simple spelling mistake. Had he given the answer verbally, he would been rewarded for the correct answer.

This. I'm the biggest 'grammar Nazi' I know, but I still feel this wasn't fair.

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No. Correct spelling is essential. There is no reason for the guy to throw a tantrum - he misspelt the word, he lost. It's that simple. Whether he is just a high school student or not doesn't matter either.

Exactly. He sounds like a big whiny baby to me.

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so he had 1 extra letter in the word, big freakin deal

i'd like to see you spell random big words that are hardly ever used correctly on the spot.

 

Emancipation is hardly a large word. I don't hear people say it all that often, but people seem to use it correctly most of the time. Don't see how usage correlates to ease of spelling.

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He would have lost anyway so why does it matter? What a crybaby.

Because he lost $3000 over it. And given that the episode was filmed in February, and only aired now, and gained attention now, shows that it's not the boy who is the crybaby, but the news media which is choosing to make it a story.

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Because he lost $3000 over it. And given that the episode was filmed in February, and only aired now, and gained attention now, shows that it's not the boy who is the crybaby, but the news media which is choosing to make it a story.

 

Perhaps that's the real problem. Shouldn't the media be focusing on things that actually matter?  :)

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Emancipation is hardly a large word. I don't hear people say it all that often, but people seem to use it correctly most of the time. Don't see how usage correlates to ease of spelling.

looking from a middle schooler's perspective I'd say it's a fairly lager word

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i hate to say it but i am on Jeopardy's side on this one. the if you spell the word wrong it cannot be the right answer.

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