Jeopardy! contestants sometimes come up with a response that the quiz show writers didn’t have as the desired answer and decide it is technically also correct. On Monday, November 4’s episode, such was the case for one player, but fans were torn on whether her alternative should have been allowed.
Returning champ Greg Jolin, a system specialist and accountant from Raymond, New Hampshire who has been on a tear this week, faced Brian Frey, a journeyman (yes, journeyman) originally from Syosset, New York, and Lindsey Simmons, an attorney originally from Marshall, Missouri.
While many viewers were distracted by Frey’s theatrics during the Jeopardy! round, Simmons buzzed in on the $800 clue in the “5/5” category, which Ken Jennings prefaced entailed a correct response consisting of two five-letter words.
The clue was, “It’s the only U.S. state capital that fits the category,” and Simmons responded, “What is “Boise, Idaho?” She was ruled incorrect as the desired response was “Baton Rouge.” However, it was reversed after the commercial break in a $1600 score swing.
Simmons ultimately didn’t win, as Jolin nabbed his third victory, earning $25,000 for an impressive total of $75,002. However, many fans discussed the reversal on the episode’s Reddit thread. Some took issue with the ruling because “Boise, Idaho” isn’t a state capital with two five-letter words, but the capital and then the name of the state.
“But Boise, Idaho isn’t a state capital with two five letter words. It’s the state capital and the name of the state. That ruling seems odd to me,” one Redditor wrote.
“I was wondering what people would say,” echoed another. “I was happy they ruled in her favor. I’m wondering if it is because the wording didn’t specify that it was the city, as opposed to the city and state. Ken’s preface said they had to give two words, which technically she did in response to: ‘It’s the only U.S. state capital that fits the category.’”
“I’m okay with the ruling to accept it, however it was certainly a surprise,” wrote a fourth. “My interpretation would be that the city name would be two words with five letters. Maybe adding “Southern” could have pinned it better?”
“Is Boise, Idaho a state capital? Seems hard to argue it’s not, and this response fits the category: five letter word, five letter word,” agreed a sixth, siding with the judges.
“The saving grace I can see is that the category ‘5, 5’ had a comma explicitly in the category, just like the way (capital), (state) format is written,” agreed a seventh.
“Actually why the hell was this accepted,” one more critic wrote.
“New here….Canadian ..and know nothing about Idaho….I was watching Football and said “Wait a second, Is the City called Boise or Boise Idaho?!”” wrote a ninth.
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An additional fan said they understood how the player could have been tripped up, “The tricky thing is that the category specifically had a comma “5, 5.” Capital with the state has a comma; capital by itself doesn’t.”
What do you think, was “Boise, Idaho” fair game as an alternate response? Should the Jeopardy! writers have added more specificity to the clue to avoid the raised eyebrows? Let us know in the comments section below.
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