Jeopardy! Masters fans upset James Holzhauer got away with possible rule violation

It has been a dominating run for James Holzhauer on Jeopardy! Masters. The self-proclaimed "game show villain" has won every game he has played but one and often by massive margins. And this is against some of the best Jeopardy! contestants ever. But a bit of controversy came up as Holzhauer was on his way to another win that has many Jeopardy! Masters fans up in arms.

One of the signature parts of Jeopardy! is that for answers to be correct, you must answer in the form of a question. You can't just say "the Declaration of Independence," you have to respond "What is the Declaration of Independence?" This has been the case since day one. Countless players over the years have been dinged points because of this, but fans were confused when Holzhauer had a couple of instances in his May 23 semifinal game where he avoided such a penalty.

In the Jeopardy round category "Oh, We Have '80s Pop Culture References," this clue came up: "In a 1984 Wendy's ad Clara Peller was not a fan of big buns, hon & asked this three-word question; now you will, too." Holzhauer rang in and quickly responded with "Where's the beef?"

While the phrase is in itself a question, fans believed Holzhauer deserved to be ruled incorrect because his response failed to add "What is" before the answer.

A similar situation occurred in Double Jeopardy in the category "Questionable Music Choices." The clue was "In a 2019 single Sam Smith asked this question of a lying lover," and Holzhauer answered, "How Do You Sleep?" He again got the points. 

Many fans wondered why he was getting away with this apparent violation, with some even claiming Holzhauer may have benefited from judges not properly doing their job. 

Did Holzhauer get away with incorrect responses? Technically no. The official Jeopardy! rules state that "all contestant responses to an answer must be phrased in the form of a question," but as the Jeopardy Contestant Zone points out, you don't necessarily have to start off with "What is" or the like. The example they give is that rock band "The Who" has been accepted as answer all by itself. So, while Holzhauer may not have provided the type of answer that Jeopardy! fans are used to, he was within the rules answering that way. All of his other responses in the game were also in the more traditional format, so he certainly knew what he was doing.

Famously, fellow Jeopardy! Masters contestant Matt Amodio also had some controversy over how he answers questions during his initial run, as in all instances he would start with "What is…", even if it wasn't grammatically correct. Again, it was determined that proper grammar isn't necessary in order to get the answer right. 

Proving that the judges weren't just playing favorites, Holzhauer was dinged points when he answered "This word for a small amount is often found before 'of applause'" with "What is modicum?", even though Ken Jennings pointed out that “modicum” had previously been accepted as an answer on the show.

Will Holzhauer continue his dominant run in the finals to claim the Jeopardy! Masters title, or will Amodio or Roach be able to best him. Find out on Wednesday, May 24, at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC, and then stream on-demand on Hulu.