diff --git a/anatomy/models.py b/anatomy/models.py
index df63765b..65787cfd 100644
--- a/anatomy/models.py
+++ b/anatomy/models.py
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ class CidUserAnswer(models.Model):
             self.answer = self.answer.strip()
 
             s = self.answer.lower()
-            s = s.translate(str.maketrans("", "", string.punctuation))
+            s = s.translate(str.maketrans("", "", string.punctuation)).strip()
 
             self.answer_compare = s