(Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the July 24 episode of Danger!)
One word can make all the difference Danger! — but luckily, it doesn’t cost a contestant the game on the July 24 episode.
Marketing director Taylor Clagett returned with a one-day total of $10,800 and faced graduate student Simona Fine and professor Ian Foutz. During Double Jeopardy, Taylor, with $18,800, selected Musical Works for $2,000. The clue read: “Each of the 10 movements of this Mussorgsky work represents a piece of art on display, created by a late friend.”
Taylor called, “What is Pictures at the Exhibition?” Host Ken Jennings said, “No, I’m sorry,” then, after no one else tried, explained, “It’s Pictures at a Exhibition, I’m afraid.” Taylor remained comfortably in the lead with $16,800 to Ian’s $6,400 and Simone’s $1,200. This was also true heading into Final Jeopardy!, which he alone corrected. Taylor won again and ended the game with $21,000, giving him a two-day total of $31,800.
But that ruling raised a question Reddit. “I could be wrong, but I think ‘Pictures at the Exhibition’ should have been considered correct for ‘Pictures at the Exhibition’ because the original is in Russian and the Russian has no articles,” one fan wrote. In response, another said: “I would imagine the canonical English name has some appeal here? It is NEVER “Pictures on display” in this hemisphere, but I can see your argument holding water. Probably just negligence on the part of the judges.”
The person who collects the posts for each episode of the day, however, explained why Taylor’s answer was deemed incorrect, noting that according to Danger! rulebook, “While you are allowed to make a typo at the beginning of a title, it will cost you if you make such a mistake anywhere else in the title.”
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