Spot the Mistake? 12-Year-Old 'Jeopardy!' Contestant Now Says He Was 'Cheated' After Disqualified for Misspelling Correct Answer

There was plenty of heartbreak last week when Thomas Hurley III, a Connecticut eighth-grader, correctly answered the Final Jeopardy question on a Kids Week episode of "Jeopardy!" only to have it disqualified because of a misspelling. And while last week the boy seemed okay with it, now he's speaking out and saying he was "cheated."

Hurley, 12, correctly answered a question about the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln.

But he spelled it "emanciptation" and was ruled out by host Alex Trebec:

"I was pretty upset that I was cheated out of the final `Jeopardy!' question. It was just a spelling error,'' he told The News-Times of Danbury.

"It's just upsetting to have lost that way. I don't know why it would have counted as the wrong answer," he added.

Thomas Hurley, whose answer on the Kids Week version of 'Jeopardy!' was disqualified because of a misspelling. (Source: YouTube)

Still, Hurley only wagered $3,000 of his $9,600 in winnings and a correct answer would not have affected the show's outcome: He came in second after losing to a rival who amassed $66,000 and got the answer right.

Producers of Jeopardy! said in an email to the Associated Press that the show would penalize other players if it credited a contestant's incorrect response.

But many have sided with the boy.

"It didn't change the nature of the answer, as it would in say `dessert vs. desert' since we all knew what the kid was trying to say," Susan Jackson told the News Times. "'Jeopardy!' has never really discounted answers because of adults' misspellings."

As for Hurley, he said he's no longer a fan of the show.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.