It turns out that knowing the answers on Jeopardy! isn’t always enough.
One contestant found that out the hard way on the New Year’s Day episode, when a mispronunciation cost him $3,200 (£2,600).
Nick Spicher was trying to answer a question in the Music & Literature Before & After category, which required contestants to link to separate titles with a common word, when he made the costly mistake.
The clue read:
“A song by Coolio from ‘Dangerous Minds’ goes back in time to become a 1667 John Milton classic.”
Spicher quickly responded:
“What is Gangster’s Paradise Lost.”
His response was accepted as correct – at first – before host Alex Trebek had to break some bad news.
Because the name of the chart-topping song is Gangsta’s Paradise, and not Gangster’s Paradise, the judges had decided Spicher’s answer was no longer valid.
https://twitter.com/roywoodjr/status/948210103316025346
Alex Trebek told him told him:
“Our judges have re-evaluated one of your responses a few moments ago, Nick.
“You said ‘gangster’s’ instead of ‘gangsta’s’ on that song by Coolio, so we take $3,200 away from you.”
It’s gangSTA’s paradise, not gangSTER’s paradise#Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/i43SUYNJ0K
— Alyanna Tenorio (@alyannaoreo) January 2, 2018
Th move saw him drop from first place with $12,000 to second place with $8,800.
Jeopardy explained in a blog post:
“Although Nick’s response of ‘Gangster’s Paradise Lost‘ was initially accepted, the hard R sound caught the ear of one member of the onstage team, who immediately followed up with a quick check.
Jeopardy taking $3200 away from a contestant because he called Coolio’s song “Gangster” instead of “Gangsta!” Alex is truly living the Thug Life. #Jeopardy #coolio #thuglife pic.twitter.com/T2i2AtZNqg
— Ricardo (@rave323) January 2, 2018
“It turns out that gangsta and gangster are both listed separately in the Oxford English Dictionary, each with its own unique definition.
“Nick changed not only the song’s title, but also its meaning – making his response unacceptable.”
According to TIME, Spicher went on to win the episode on New Year’s Day with $15,201.
