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The Jeopardy! world is on edge this morning after a Wednesday night show where judges allowed a word variation that has fans wondering if the show is playing too fast and too loose with the rules. 

In Final Jeopardy, with Evan and Lois in a dead heat with $14,600 each, the contestants were presented with this clue: “It’s the geographic word in the title of a Robert Burns poem about ‘the mountains …covered with snow…the straths & green valleys below’.

Answer: 

What are the HIGHLANDS?

Here’s where the controversy comes into play. Evan’s answer of ‘Highland’ was accepted to host Ken Jennings and sent the message boards into a tailspin. 

The Jeopardy Reddit community has questions for the judges. Should contestants get credit for similar words?

“I’m confused. If a FJ contestant gives a singular name though the correct title is plural, it’s accepted. But if they write that singular and are starting to add s when time runs out, it isn’t?” one fan wrote. 

Singular vs. plural answers isn’t a new topic for the show. Fans have been debating this for years. 

“I think this was a the-ends-justify-the-means ruling,” a fan added in last night’s Reddit discussion. “Evan was the best player today so he deserved to win, but under a strict interpretation of the rules and the wording of the clue, I don’t think ‘highland’ was a correct response.”

What would’ve happened if judges didn’t accept ‘Highland’ from Evan? 

Lois, who risked $2,600, would’ve won. 

Here’s a way to settle this: Write a better clue. 

Is there any going back to strict rules for Jeoparday and ‘Wheel’?

Between Jeopardy accepting singular words instead of plural and Ryan Seacrest accepting pronunciation errors, fans are left wondering if there’s any going back to strict rules. 

Let’s not forget Alex Trebek and Jeopardy Arthur going at it back in 2014. Will we ever see something like this out of Ken Jennings or Ryan Seacrest or are they too weak to make a tough ruling? 

Email: joe.kinsey@outkick.com