“Jeopardy!” Fans Divided by Final Clue Which Has a ‘Familial Tie’ to Winning Contestant: ‘Not Fair’

“Jeopardy!” Fans Divided by Final Clue Which Has a ‘Familial Tie’ to Winning Contestant: 'Not Fair'

A Final Jeopardy! clue — which unexpectedly had a tie to one of the contestants’ pasts — has fans divided.

On the Monday, June 23, episode of the long-running quiz game show, three contestants were given a clue and one of them, Emily Croke, answered correctly and became the champion — partially because the clue referred to an ancestor of hers.

The clue that host Ken Jennings read out during the final round was: “In 1896, the Vassar-educated wife of this man wrote, ‘Thousands of dollars may be paid for a copy of Shakespeare.’ ”

Croke wrote down “Folger,” which was the correct answer. When asked about her answer, Croke noted that the woman referred to in the clue Jennings gave had been her “great, great, great-aunt Emily.”

In a clip shared to the official Jeopardy! Instagram account, a stunned Jennings, 51, could be seen asking the contestant, “Emily Folger, the one we mentioned in the clue is the person you, Emily Croke, are named after?”

Croke nodded her head multiple times and said, “Yes,” to which Jennings responded, “Wow.”

She ended up winning the game thanks to the final clue, ending her run with a total of $13,201, and is set to return to see if she can continue her winning streak.

“Just her luck! Emily has a familial tie to her Final Jeopardy! clue,” the account captioned the video.

Several people on Instagram noted how serendipitous it was that she was the contestant that received the clue. One person wrote that the incident was “the most amazing coincidence in the history of Jeopardy!”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Another said, “How fitting! That’s so lucky AND she played so well.” One person commented that there was “nothing wrong here.” They continued, “Good for her for knowing that! That’s how you win trivia, know things others don’t.”

However, others in the comment section felt that the woman’s connection to the final clue gave her an unfair advantage over her other contestants. One said that the contest was “rigged,” while another said it was “not fair” and that she should be “disqualified.”

Another replied: “How is anyone not a family member supposed to deduce the correct reply? What am I missing? Is the library at Vassar named for Folger, I wonder.”

Jeopardy! airs weeknights on ABC (check local listings).

Read More…