Jeopardy! champion Ben Chan admits the judges 'maybe' ruled unfairly ending his 9-day run

JEOPARDY! contestant Ben Chan has admitted that the judges may have been in the wrong in ruling him incorrect on a minor spelling error.

Fans were livid after the "petty" judgment call on Ben's otherwise correct Final Jeopardy response ended his record-setting streak.

Ben tweeted his thoughts one day after the shock ruling ended his impressive $252,600 winning streak.

He wrote while sharing a photo of the response Jeopardy! deemed incorrect: "Soooo... if we could go back in time, maybe the judges could have okayed "Benedict" as a historically acceptable alternative form of the name."

He slightly backtracked and added: "But they wouldn't have to because I'd just write the indisputably correct response: 'Benedick'"

One fan replied: "Maybe they'll realize their error and invite you back. Again."

CONTROVERSIAL CALL

As covered upon airing by The U.S. Sun, the philosophy professor at St. Norbert College from Green Bay, Wisconsin was leading going into Tuesday's Final Jeopardy round.

In fact, Ben had entered the game with nine straight runaway wins, or uncatchable leads by Final Jeopardy- the first contestant to ever do so.

Most read in Entertainment

This was the first time the last clue proved crucial for him and he had $17,400 while Lynn Di Vito had $14,800, and Danny Leserman had $2,400.

Final Jeopardy under "Shakespeare's Characters" read: “Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for ‘blessed’.”

Danny wrote down “Romeo and Juliet” which was deemed incorrect, as did Lynn, who wrote “Romeo and Juli” which Mayim read as “Romeo and Juliet.”

Mayim finally turned to Ben who revealed he wrote “Beatrice & Benedict Benedict,” striking out the first “Benedict” but then writing it the same the second time.

After a moment of pause, Mayim ruled it was incorrect: “Unfortunately that is not correct. The correct response [is] Beatrice and Benedick.”

“From Much Ado About Nothing,” Mayim concluded- but she didn't go further in explaining the judgment call.

Ben revealed he wagered $12,201 and slapped the podium in disappointment as he was left with $5199 and in second place.

Lynn who wagered $3000 leaving her with 11,800 - was declared a one-day champion and looked thrilled as Ben kindly clapped for his victor.

Mayim concluded: "Ben what a terrific run we will see you in the next Tournament of Champions."

“It’s a very memorable miss, right?” he told the show afterward. “So if you’re going to go out on a miss, go out on a memorable miss.”

'AWFUL RULING'

According to Jeopardy!.com: “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.”

Fans were less than pleased by how Ben was penalized for what he wrote and fanned out their fury on Twitter.

Many debated if Ben's response did change the pronounciation enough to be wrong.

"Awful ruling against Ben Chan on tonight’s #Jeopardy," one person wrote.

“Since when does being off by one letter count in final jep? There’s no other character he could have meant,” another person pointed out.

"@Jeopardy wow. Ben Chan loses over a t??????” wrote a third.

"I can’t believe @Jeopardy made a contestant lose for writing 'Beatrice and Benedict' instead of 'Benedick.' I’m not even that petty, and I’m a Shakespeare professor," wrote a fourth.

"A good example of why Mayim sucks as a Jeopardy! host: her not taking the time to simply say 'it’s actually Benedick with a k, not Benedict' and showing some compassion for how close and unlucky he was on this one," accused a fifth.

"I had to Google it because her pronunciation wasn’t clear either."

A sixth wrote: "Nothing against Ben, but Jeopardy! really needs to be consistent with their leniency on pronunciation."

A seventh wrote: "The thing I hate about Jeopardy! is if Ben had said that response he would have got it correct, but writing it was wrong. The inconsistency has always bugged me."

And an eighth: "Lynn doesn’t finish spelling 'Juliet' yet it’s ruled as a complete (albeit incorrect) response, and Ben misspells Benedick by one letter and is ruled incorrect.

"Clearly they knew what he was going for and yet ended his run on a terrible technicality. #Jeopardy"

'I WAS SOO CLOSE'

Ben wrote on Reddit that he stood by Jeopardy!’s ruling initially.

"1: Benedict is incorrect. The character's name is Benedick. As Ken (presciently) noted on my first episode, there is no partial credit on Jeopardy! (Yes, I was sooo close!)."

"2. I made some bad flashcards. The 'Benedict' misspelling is common, and it worked its way onto a couple of my flashcards."

RECOVERY FROM SUDDEN ILLNESS

Ben had earned his first three runaway wins by Friday, April 11's game.

However, was mysteriously absent from April 14th's episode despite being the reigning champion.

In a rare occurrence, three new contestants faced off instead and Ben took a leave of absence - he later clarified the real reason he did not return as scheduled.

“Before yesterday’s episode taped, I had tested positive for Covid; it was a very mild case, as you can see, I’m fine.

"Most importantly, my buzzer finger is fine, so I’m excited to watch what happens over the next few weeks, see who I’ll be competing against on May 15," he said during a virtual appearance on Good Day Wisconsin.

There have only been four episodes since the early 2000s in which there have been two returning champions in one game.

Ben's fourth runaway win and return last Monday led to the loss of 8-day champion Hannah Wilson in an unfortunate but not purposeful scheduling move by the show.

Ben however dominated the show these past two weeks with his classic close-to-the-vest buzzer stance- a tribute to his hardworking father who gifted him his watch.

He became first player since 2001 to win his first five games in runaways- and then won in the same fashion the next four episodes.

Ben also shared he beat - then lost to- Aaron Rodgers at Wisconsin pub trivia, and shares two foster dogs with his wife, apparently Ben's college campus is "buzzing about him right now," according to another recent Reddit user.

Ken Jennings is hosting Jeopardy! Masters - while his co-successor to Alex Trebek, Mayim, finishes out the regular season until the summer.

GleamBlog