Well, THAT was cold! Tonight's Final Jeopardy was a shock. No spoiler but if you saw it you might agree with me.

[CTyankee]

They spelled the right answer but ruled wrong because of a transposed letter. I'm usually a big fan but that contestant got royally screwed.

I'm kinda disappointed with the show now.

[Borogove]

1. I agree. That was total bullshit.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. That was picky. Spoiler alert...

Now we have to watch that woman dance and sway and act like a goofball again

[CTyankee]

3. Oh, she was fun!

there is almost always one goofy contestant. I think it contrasts nicely with Ken being the no-drama guy. He ain't no barrel of laughs (which is probably a good thing as Jeopardy host).

[MIButterfly]

4. I thought spelling didn't count in Final Jeopardy;

that contestants were not penalized for misspelled words.

At any rate, that was weird.

[Mad_Dem_X]

6. That's what my husband and I said.

Maybe because it was a proper name???

[CTyankee]

7. The contestant seemed to accept it (I guess he didn't have a choice in the matter anyway) but seemed a bit surprised...

[Jeebo]

5. One Wheel of Fortune contestant got royally screwed.

It happened in the late 1990s, when Bill Clinton was still in the White House. I was really steamed when I saw it happen, and now, more than a quarter-century later, it STILL burns me whenever I think about it, which is often. The contestant was a young black man from Memphis. His name was Jeremy, or maybe it was Jerome. The puzzle was:

THE CLINTONS LIVE AT
1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE.

Now when you solve this puzzle, there are TWO ways you can pronounce it. You could pronounce it with a short i vowel sound in the third word, or with a long i vowel sound. Both pronunciations are valid solves, because both have their own valid but separate meanings. Pronouncing it with a long i vowel sound is not a complete sentence, but there is not and never has been a rule on Wheel of Fortune that puzzles have to be complete sentences. Pronouncing it with a short i vowel sound means that the Clinton family spend their at-home time at that address. Pronouncing it with a long i vowel sound is what a television news announcer might say when presenting the Clintons at their residence. But I repeat, BOTH pronunciations are valid solves of this puzzle. And watching that when it aired for the first time 25-plus years ago, I was wondering, which pronunciation will be Jeremy's?

So you could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather when he used the long i vowel sound solve, and Sajak said, "That is not correct."

I wrote a letter to Wheel of Fortune and told them that they ROBBED Jeremy, that his solve was NOT incorrect, and they ought to have him back on the show again and give him another chance. I also suggested that a Second Chance Week would be a good thing for them to do, and Jeremy ought to be one of the first contestants in that week.

I never got a response.

— Ron