A 'Jeopardy' contestant lost thousands for saying 'gangster' instead of 'gangsta'

NBC

Contestant Nick Spicher on "Jeopardy."

• "Jeopardy" contestant Nick Spicher lost out on $3,200 after saying "gangster" instead of "gangsta," in an answer referencing Coolio's 1995 rap hit, "Gangsta's Paradise."
• The "Jeopardy" judges initially gave him points for the answer before taking the money back after reviewing his pronunciation.

A "Jeopardy" contestant lost thousands on Monday after mispronouncing the name of Coolio's 1995 rap hit, "Gangsta's Paradise."

On the show, host Alex Trebek read the following clue from a category in which contestants must combine well-known works of music and literature: "A song by Coolio from 'Dangerous Minds' goes back in time to become a 1667 John Milton classic."

Contestant Nick Spicher correctly identified the substance of the answer by responding, "What is Gangster's Paradise Lost," and took the lead with $11,200.

Moments later, however, Trebek interrupted the game to say that the judges had reviewed Spicher's answer, and decided that it couldn't count.

"You said 'Gangster's' instead of 'Gangsta's' on that song by Coolio," Trebek said. "We take $3,200 away from you so you are now in second place."

"Jeopardy" later wrote a blog post explaining the difference between "gangsta" and "gangster."

"Although Nick's response of 'Gangster's Paradise Lost' was initially accepted, the hard R sound caught the ear of one member of the onstage team, who immediately followed up with a quick check," the blog post reads. "It turns out that 'gangsta' and 'gangster' are both listed separately in the Oxford English Dictionary, each with its own unique definition."

Spicher would nonetheless go on to win the game.