The answer was something like “The name of this gardening instrument also means a loose, libertine person.”
Ken’s response was “What is a hoe?” When Alex stopped laughing (such a response from a Mormon) he said Ken’s answer was wrong. The correct answer was “rake.”
But wasn’t “ho” a correct response?
I would say not. While they’re homonyms, sure, “ho” and “hoe” have different spellings. I suppose an argument could be made that no one said the the words needed to be spelled the same, but absent a clear restriction like that, “rake” would have been the better answer. (All in my opinion, of course; I’m not familiar with the rules of Jeopardy.)
Skip I don’t think you read it right. Ken did not mean it as a homonym. Ken said “Ho” as in “That bitch is a ho”. I don’t think it means “loose, libertine person”, its slang for whore. Not the same as rake in my opinion.
I got the impression that Ken intentionally sacrificed the $600 (or whatever the value of that question was) to make a very funny joke.
He was, as usual, miles ahead of his opponents.
Even if Ken were making a joke (I never saw the episode to say), he’d have to have meant it as a homonym; it doesn’t work any other way as an answer. In fact, only a homonym would have worked for an answer to the question. And, I disagree with you on the definition of “ho.” Both loose and libertine apply; it’s not the same not the same as a rake, sure, but the charges of loose and libertine (as defined as “morally unrestrained”) describe a ho.
All of a sudden, I’m hungry for Hostess HoHo’s.
You’ll have to eat 'em with a rake.
Winky Dinky Ho Cakes!
Hos gotta eat too.
All of a sudden, I’m thinking of Santa Claus.
For the record, the exact clue was
I don’t think Ken intended it to be a joke; his smile immediately after his response looked just like all his others when I knows he knows the right answer. It was just the first thing that came to his mind.
As far as being acceptable – at first I was going to say that spelling isn’t a factor. What he said could be spelled “ho” or “hoe”. But the subject was “tool time”, and homophonics were not used anywhere else in that category, so presumably, the answer would have to be a word that was spelled the same for both meanings, so ho/hoe wouldn’t qualify. And I don’t feel that “loose and libertine”, while that could be applied to a prostitute, define one as well as they do a “rake”.
So Ken is the new Connery?
So… Ken got screwed by his ho?
Disagree. I’ve seen the slang version spelled both ways – check out this slang dictionary under the definition of “hoe.” So, while, I’m not exactly sure that a “hoe” qualifies as a “pleasure-seeker,” I don’t think Ken’s answer was all that off-base.
I agree that Ken paid $600 to tell a funny joke. I also think that he’s growing tired of the game just a bit. On the day he’s ousted (generously assuming that the rumor is true), I’m going to watch for tell-tale signs of his throwing the game.
I’d have had to give it to him.
I don’t think “immoral pleasure seeker” would apply to a “ho” at all, and it would definitely apply to a rake. But I don’t think Ken deliberately gave an incorrect answer as a joke; in fact, it was the first thing I thought of too. But nevertheless wrong.
I just remembered another question from the same show. The clue was asking for the name of a musical piece named after two 19th-century European rulers. The correct response was Johann Strauss Jr.'s Emperor Waltz. The guy next to Ken answered “Emperors” Waltz, plural (or possessive). I have never heard that waltz as anything but the Emperor. Alex gave it to him since it involved two emporers. This is the type of error that normally disqualifies a response.
I’ve seen that, too, but it’s a much rarer spelling than its two-letter sibling. That said, I wonder where one goes to find an authoritative answer about the spelling of slang. 
As for “pleasure-seeker”: was that part of the answer? If so, then I agree with you that “rake” qualifies much more so. Otherwise, I was just working off of Annie-Xmas’ OP and her recollection of the answer.
Come on, now, be honest. Did anybody read that question and not say, “What is a ho(e)?”
I said it. I asked the question to my dad. He said it. I called my best friend and asked him the question. He said it. I called my mom and asked her. She said it. I called my grandparents – my grandparents – and asked them. They both said it.
I know the plural of anecdote is not data, and I’m not saying it’s necessarily a better answer, but really…you hear that question, what are you going to say? My guess is one of the writers was looking for a cheap laugh.
When I saw the clue, I immediately said, “What is a rake?” In Jeopardy, if they want a slang expression, they’ll ask for one. Otherwise, standard English. Funny joke, but no, Ken didn’t get screwed out of a prize.
Ditto. On the other hand, when I asked auntie em, she immediately shouted out, “Ho!”