Jeopardy spelling controversy

[Buffacuse]

For those who haven't heard, an 8th grader on Kid's Week got the answer correct -- "Emancipation Proclamation"-- but spelled it incorrectly (added an extra T but it was clear he knew the answer and got it right) and Alex ruled it out. Kid/folks very upset.

To me at least, as a former contestant, this cements Alex's rep as a real "rhymes with stick." C'mon--why go out of your way to do this to a kid and humiliate him over a spelling mistake? It would be one thing if he mangled the spelling so badly you couldn't tell if it was right--but this was IMHO gratuitous and done to make Alex look smart at the kid's expense. Man I really don't like Trebek and I can't understand his appeal/longevity.

[zachhoran1]

As has been mentioned on Jboard.tv:

1. If the kid was ruled right or wrong, he'd have been in second place either way.
2. The big story on that show should have been Skyler winning $66600, betting $30K on a Civil War FJ! after mentioning he likes Lincoln in his interview. It's the fourth highest one day total in J! history.
3 If FJ! was a triple stumper, THomas(the kid ruled wrong for spelling) and SKyler would have tied(third place girl got FJ! wrong). During kids' weeks, they don't declare co-champions, they play a tie-breaker instead. Doesn't make a lot of sense to play a tiebreaker when the Kids' week games play like normal J! games except for a $15K guarantee for the winner.

[mrkelley23]

I know Alex has really put his imprimatur on the show, but I can't believe he would be the primary decision maker on things like this. They have, IIRC, at least one and perhaps a small panel of judges who rule on things like this. They are apparently trying to be consistent on the misspelling final jeopardy thing. You may remember that in the past, they have said that if the misspelling changes the apparent pronunciation significantly, then it is incorrect. Since it didn't change the outcome, I can live with that.

What I didn't like was Trebek effectively rubbing it in by pointing out that the winner DID spell his correctly, and a couple of other snarkish comments directed at the misspeller. If these were adults, okay, it's just Alex being Alex, but to do that to a 12-year-old? Bush league.

[MarleysGh0st]

You may remember that in the past, they have said that if the misspelling changes the apparent pronunciation significantly, then it is incorrect. Since it didn't change the outcome, I can live with that.

I haven't seen the episode, but that's what I recall, particularly if it changes the number of syllables. Exactly how was it misspelled?

[littlebeast13]

What about misspellings that don't change the pronunciation?

lb13

[jarnon]

What about misspellings that don't change the pronunciation?

lb13

Found it!

[Buffacuse]

What I didn't like was Trebek effectively rubbing it in by pointing out that the winner DID spell his correctly, and a couple of other snarkish comments directed at the misspeller. If these were adults, okay, it's just Alex being Alex, but to do that to a 12-year-old? Bush league.

Precisely my point--humiliate a kid to make yourself look smart.

[Buffacuse]

You may remember that in the past, they have said that if the misspelling changes the apparent pronunciation significantly, then it is incorrect. Since it didn't change the outcome, I can live with that.

I haven't seen the episode, but that's what I recall, particularly if it changes the number of syllables. Exactly how was it misspelled?

"Emanciptation"

How could anyone say they didn't know what the kid meant?

[ghostjmf]

I'm happy I'm not the only one upset at AT snarking at the kid. Rules is (are) rules, they apply the "you changed the pronunciation" rule to kids just like they do to adults, OK. And the kid getting it right wouldn't have changed the final score. But rubbing it in like that stunk, big time. The kid's smart enough to have got on J! in the 1st place, he's smart enough to go over that rule at some later, calmer time. A gentle mention of the rule for the benefit of the watching audience wouldn't have hurt, but the on-air snark was awful.

And by the way Alex was babbling about bad spelling, which does not change the result by J! rules, not changed pronunciation, which does.

[zachhoran1]

If the misspelling changes the pronounciation, then it's generally called wrong. Bejamin(leaving the first N off) Franklin wasn't accepted on another Kids' week FJ! response. Leaving off the last S in Buenos Aires cost a game in 1997 in a regular game.

[silverscreenselect]

If the misspelling changes the pronounciation, then it's generally called wrong. Bejamin(leaving the first N off) Franklin wasn't accepted on another Kids' week FJ! response. Leaving off the last S in Buenos Aires cost a game in 1997 in a regular game.

As I recall, Alex (and presumably the judges) see the answers before he pretends to read them, and I would guess that a ruling on acceptable spelling would be made before the tape is made of revealing the contestant's answer.

If you watch the regular show, you'll sometimes notice an awkward pause after the time the contestand answers a question and Alex say "Yes." That usually occurs when they have to stop the tape to allow the judges to rule on an answer that wasn't quite what they were looking for.

[Bob78164]

If the misspelling changes the pronounciation, then it's generally called wrong. Bejamin(leaving the first N off) Franklin wasn't accepted on another Kids' week FJ! response. Leaving off the last S in Buenos Aires cost a game in 1997 in a regular game.

As I recall, Alex (and presumably the judges) see the answers before he pretends to read them, and I would guess that a ruling on acceptable spelling would be made before the tape is made of revealing the contestant's answer.

I don't think this is true. When 'Skoop nearly beat David Madden, they stopped tape for several minutes after 'Skoop's Final Jeopardy! response was revealed before ruling it incorrect. --Bob

[TheConfessor]

Alex had nothing to do with the decision. He's just a hired hand on the Sony farm. Rules are rules, even if the kid is cute. This ridiculous non-story has been beaten to death by many knowledgeable fans and former contestants on the JBoard, with nearly 300 posts on the subject so far, so for anyone who can't get enough of it, check this out:
http://jboard.tv/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1489

[TheConfessor]

Ken Jennings supports the ruling:
http://www.parade.com/60722/viannguyen/ ... ing-error/

Note that on today's Teachers Tournament rerun, a contestant was ruled wrong for her response, "What is Waitin For Godot." Same rule, or a variation thereof.

[Buffacuse]

Alex had nothing to do with the decision. He's just a hired hand on the Sony farm. Rules are rules, even if the kid is cute. This ridiculous non-story has been beaten to death by many knowledgeable fans and former contestants on the JBoard, with nearly 300 posts on the subject so far, so for anyone who can't get enough of it, check this out:
http://jboard.tv/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1489

The thing that is making this a story, aside from the ruling itself, is Trebek's heavy-handed, snotty, condescending treatment of the matter...all he had to say, to a 12-year-old, was something along the lines of "I'm so sorry, but we have to rule your answer wrong..." Instead, he stayed true to form and was a snotty pr**k.

[Buffacuse]

Ken Jennings supports the ruling:
http://www.parade.com/60722/viannguyen/ ... ing-error/

Sorry, I like Ken, but not a shocker that he didn't bite the had that's fed him...

[etaoin22]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

Or if you knock down your hurdles?

Or if you drop the baton on the relay on the way to a state championship?

Or, intellectually, if you make a really really dumb chess move and lose your queen, instead of immediately checkmating your opponent.?

The answer, of course, is "none of the above". And so should it be with "Emanciptation".

[mrkelley23]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

Or if you knock down your hurdles?

Or if you drop the baton on the relay on the way to a state championship?

Or, intellectually, if you make a really really dumb chess move and lose your queen, instead of immediately checkmating your opponent.?

The answer, of course, is "none of the above". And so should it be with "Emanciptation".

A.) Nope. But if the umpire then stood over you and said, "Aw, if only you'd slid like you're SUPPOSED to, you might not have let your whole team down," people might be a little upset.

B.) Nope. But if the official then says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you understood that "hurdle" meant you were supposed to jump OVER them," people might be upset.

C.) Nope. But if your coach hands you the baton and says, "Wow, way to lose the state championship for your teammates," people might be upset.

D.) Nope. But if your opponent's father later tweets, "Queen sacrifice at move 15, epic fail lolz," people might be upset. In fact, at the mandatory training we've had recently, all these people would be considered bullies, and up for censure.

Look, I realize that there are people at the jboard who think the question shouldn't have been ruled incorrect. But nobody here has really made that claim.

[Buffacuse]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

Or if you knock down your hurdles?

Or if you drop the baton on the relay on the way to a state championship?

Or, intellectually, if you make a really really dumb chess move and lose your queen, instead of immediately checkmating your opponent.?

The answer, of course, is "none of the above". And so should it be with "Emanciptation".

A.) Nope. But if the umpire then stood over you and said, "Aw, if only you'd slid like you're SUPPOSED to, you might not have let your whole team down," people might be a little upset.

B.) Nope. But if the official then says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you understood that "hurdle" meant you were supposed to jump OVER them," people might be upset.

C.) Nope. But if your coach hands you the baton and says, "Wow, way to lose the state championship for your teammates," people might be upset.

D.) Nope. But if your opponent's father later tweets, "Queen sacrifice at move 15, epic fail lolz," people might be upset. In fact, at the mandatory training we've had recently, all these people would be considered bullies, and up for censure.

Look, I realize that there are people at the jboard who think the question shouldn't have been ruled incorrect. But nobody here has really made that claim.

Bingo.

And oh, BTW, in any of those examples, is the 13-year-old kid on national television?

[christie1111]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

Or if you knock down your hurdles?

Or if you drop the baton on the relay on the way to a state championship?

Or, intellectually, if you make a really really dumb chess move and lose your queen, instead of immediately checkmating your opponent.?

The answer, of course, is "none of the above". And so should it be with "Emanciptation".

A.) Nope. But if the umpire then stood over you and said, "Aw, if only you'd slid like you're SUPPOSED to, you might not have let your whole team down," people might be a little upset.

B.) Nope. But if the official then says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you understood that "hurdle" meant you were supposed to jump OVER them," people might be upset.

C.) Nope. But if your coach hands you the baton and says, "Wow, way to lose the state championship for your teammates," people might be upset.

D.) Nope. But if your opponent's father later tweets, "Queen sacrifice at move 15, epic fail lolz," people might be upset. In fact, at the mandatory training we've had recently, all these people would be considered bullies, and up for censure.

Look, I realize that there are people at the jboard who think the question shouldn't have been ruled incorrect. But nobody here has really made that claim.

Bingo.

And oh, BTW, in any of those examples, is the 13-year-old kid on national television?

I think this is the crux of the matter. However the article speaks to the ruling and not Alex's snotty attitude.

The ruling is consistant with other rulings of the past. And would not have changed the amount of money the kid earned.

Unfortunately Alex's superior attitude is also consistant and really obnoxious when displayed at the expense of a 13 yo kid.

I think there should be more said about the gutsy move of the winner. Bravo for deciding to go for it because you thought you knew your area of knowledge!

[smilergrogan]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

Or if you knock down your hurdles?

Or if you drop the baton on the relay on the way to a state championship?

Or, intellectually, if you make a really really dumb chess move and lose your queen, instead of immediately checkmating your opponent.?

The answer, of course, is "none of the above". And so should it be with "Emanciptation".

A.) Nope. But if the umpire then stood over you and said, "Aw, if only you'd slid like you're SUPPOSED to, you might not have let your whole team down," people might be a little upset.

B.) Nope. But if the official then says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you understood that "hurdle" meant you were supposed to jump OVER them," people might be upset.

C.) Nope. But if your coach hands you the baton and says, "Wow, way to lose the state championship for your teammates," people might be upset.

D.) Nope. But if your opponent's father later tweets, "Queen sacrifice at move 15, epic fail lolz," people might be upset. In fact, at the mandatory training we've had recently, all these people would be considered bullies, and up for censure.

Look, I realize that there are people at the jboard who think the question shouldn't have been ruled incorrect. But nobody here has really made that claim.

Come on, Mr. K - where did Alex say anything remotely akin to this type of snarky comment? I don't know what the winner's father tweeted, but surely Alex can't be blamed for that. Maybe I am missing something since all I have seen is the clip on youtube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvl7uKysaE
He said the answer was misspelled "badly" - probably could have chosen a better word, but I think the point was that it was misspelled in a way such that by long-standing Jeopardy practice it had to be ruled incorrect. Alex has very limited time for comments at the end of the show, and he wanted to leave time to comment on the winner, including the coincidence of him getting a topic that he had expressed interest in earlier on the show. So he didn't have time to explain the misspelling practice. He did say the misspelling was unfortunate. I don't interpret his comment that the winner had spelled his answer correctly as rubbing it in - it was just to emphasize that the correctly spelled answer could be counted correct even though it was otherwise no better than the answer that had to be counted wrong.

[silverscreenselect]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

What if you almost guess the number of rows of stars on the American flag?

[christie1111]

So in the age 13 bracket, if you fall down two feet from home plate and get tagged out instead of scoring the winning run, you get a do-over? After all, you almost made it.

Or if you knock down your hurdles?

Or if you drop the baton on the relay on the way to a state championship?

Or, intellectually, if you make a really really dumb chess move and lose your queen, instead of immediately checkmating your opponent.?

The answer, of course, is "none of the above". And so should it be with "Emanciptation".

A.) Nope. But if the umpire then stood over you and said, "Aw, if only you'd slid like you're SUPPOSED to, you might not have let your whole team down," people might be a little upset.

B.) Nope. But if the official then says, "Oh, sorry. I thought you understood that "hurdle" meant you were supposed to jump OVER them," people might be upset.

C.) Nope. But if your coach hands you the baton and says, "Wow, way to lose the state championship for your teammates," people might be upset.

D.) Nope. But if your opponent's father later tweets, "Queen sacrifice at move 15, epic fail lolz," people might be upset. In fact, at the mandatory training we've had recently, all these people would be considered bullies, and up for censure.

Look, I realize that there are people at the jboard who think the question shouldn't have been ruled incorrect. But nobody here has really made that claim.

Come on, Mr. K - where did Alex say anything remotely akin to this type of snarky comment? I don't know what the winner's father tweeted, but surely Alex can't be blamed for that. Maybe I am missing something since all I have seen is the clip on youtube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvl7uKysaE
He said the answer was misspelled "badly" - probably could have chosen a better word, but I think the point was that it was misspelled in a way such that by long-standing Jeopardy practice it had to be ruled incorrect. Alex has very limited time for comments at the end of the show, and he wanted to leave time to comment on the winner, including the coincidence of him getting a topic that he had expressed interest in earlier on the show. So he didn't have time to explain the misspelling practice. He did say the misspelling was unfortunate. I don't interpret his comment that the winner had spelled his answer correctly as rubbing it in - it was just to emphasize that the correctly spelled answer could be counted correct even though it was otherwise no better than the answer that had to be counted wrong.

Hmmm, in watching the clip, he wasn't all that snarky. He could have been a bit more sympathetic, but not Alex's normal MO.

And he did focus more on the impressive acheivement of the winner.

[Catfish]

where did Alex say anything remotely akin to this type of snarky comment? I don't know what the winner's father tweeted, but surely Alex can't be blamed for that. Maybe I am missing something since all I have seen is the clip on youtube?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSvl7uKysaE
He said the answer was misspelled "badly" - probably could have chosen a better word, but I think the point was that it was misspelled in a way such that by long-standing Jeopardy practice it had to be ruled incorrect. Alex has very limited time for comments at the end of the show, and he wanted to leave time to comment on the winner, including the coincidence of him getting a topic that he had expressed interest in earlier on the show. So he didn't have time to explain the misspelling practice. He did say the misspelling was unfortunate. I don't interpret his comment that the winner had spelled his answer correctly as rubbing it in - it was just to emphasize that the correctly spelled answer could be counted correct even though it was otherwise no better than the answer that had to be counted wrong.

Hmmm, in watching the clip, he wasn't all that snarky. He could have been a bit more sympathetic, but not Alex's normal MO.

And he did focus more on the impressive acheivement of the winner.

Indeed. I was beginning to think the video I saw was some truncated version of the actual video, in which Alex goes off on some kid for being an idiot. If the video in the above is all there is, then WTF?

[elwoodblues]

If the FJ answer is Phoenix and someone writes "What is Feenicks?" would they accept it? Grossly misspelled but still pronounced the same.