A JEOPARDY! contestant has taken to social media after a ruling in her favor caused yet another fan frenzy.
Xanni Brown won with a misspelled Final Jeopardy! response, which didn’t sit well with all viewers.
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Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Xanni shared her thoughts, saying: “I sure am glad the Jeopardy! judges deemed that anglicization [was] acceptable.
“But I would have understood if they didn’t, and an excellent player would have won the tie-breaker.
“Going forward, I’ll be dropping the H and sparing us all some consternation,” she concluded.
On December 28’s episode of Jeopardy!, the contestants faced a final clue under the category: “Those Zany Ancient Romans.”
Host Ken Jennings, 49, presented: “In the 20s B.C., the emperor’s sister Octavia had a sitcom-worthy home, including the boy and girl twin children of this man and woman.”
The correct response, “Antony and Cleopatra,” was achieved by both of Xanni’s competitors.
However, uproar ensued when Xanni’s misspelled answer (“Who are Anthony + Cleopatra?”) was accepted by the judges.
Ken ruled: “She spelled it with an H, but we’re gonna accept it.”
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CLEOPATRA CHAOS
Fans erupted on X, expressing disbelief at the decision, which won Xanni the game.
One viewer exclaimed: “Someone just won Jeopardy! despite writing ‘Anthony & Cleopatra’ instead of ‘Antony,’ but they accepted it, and when did society just give up caring about everything?”
Another chimed in: “His name wasn’t Anthony. #Jeopardy,” while a third questioned: “Wait. Last month, a contestant got penalized because he said Anthony Blinken and it was Antony.
This contestant said Marc Anthony, and he accepted it. What the heck, Jep?”
A fifth fan wrote: “Still waiting to see #bringbackbenchan especially after tonight’s “Antony/Anthony” fiasco.”
However, a defender argued: “Spelling has never been important in Final Jeopardy; they’re only sticklers for phonetic pronunciation.”
Indeed, the official Jeopardy! website clarifies that: “Written responses to the Final Jeopardy! clue do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables.”
Brown, a post-doc researcher from Cincinnati, Ohio, emerged victorious with $23,000 after wagering $6,000 on Final Jeopardy.
Now, she faces a two-part Second Chance final, with the potential to advance to the next Tournament of Champions.
Fans remain on edge about Final Jeopardy spelling rulings, especially following the Ben Chan incident last May.
Chan, a nine-day champion, faced a harsh defeat over a one-letter discrepancy, sparking a wave of criticism against what some deemed a “petty” and “awful” ruling.
BYE-ALIK
Meanwhile, earlier this month co-host Mayim Bialik was let go, leaving former champ Ken as the sole host.
The Big Bang Theory alum, 48, dropped the bombshell that she was fired personally in a statement on Instagram.
She heavily implied leaving was not her decision, but did not explain her exit.
Mayim has since removed “co-host @jeopardy” from her Instagram bio.
An hour after her statement, the official Jeopardy! account confirmed the news.
“It took me off guard, because I loved working with my Mayim and I’m gonna miss her. I can’t speak to her decision-making process or her opinions about it,” Ken since told the Hollywood Reporter.
“But on my end, I’m just a fan of Jeopardy! and I’m always delighted to host when they call upon me. I just feel extremely lucky to have even been considered for this job as a non-broadcaster.”
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