# Jeopardy: two questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-two-questions/557193 "2010-10-14T23:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-two-questions/557193/41 "2010-10-20T20:15:05Z")
> [@Number](#): > > Another aspect to this is a technique called the “Forrest Bounce”, popularized by 5-time winner Chuck Forrest. Instead of the usual pattern of going straight down a single category, he would pick clues from random categories. This would throw off opponents enough to give him an advantage. Unfortunately it also threw off the camera crew, as it made it harder for them to know which monitor to focus on. > > This and other interesting tidbits are related in Bob Harris’s book _Prisoner of Trebekistan_. IIRC, this was also the strategy employed by Ken Jennings. He zig-zagged around the whole board at random. > [@](#): > > I was literally screaming “MARY MARTIN” at the tv, but I knew damn well they were all too young to remember her. I knew the role immediately, but my mind got stuck on Sandy Duncan (who was nominated, but did not win, for the _revival_.) ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-two-questions/557193/42 "2010-10-20T22:02:02Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > When did they stop trying? The final answer tonight was “one in Europe, the other in North America, these are the only two countries with an X in their name” … which took me about 3 seconds to think of, and all 3 contestants naturally had it too. This sounds more like a Wheel of Fortune type question… That’s an example of one type of question the occasionally use for FJ; that is, the kind that anyone who makes it onto the show will certainly answer given enough time, but is very possible to fail to answer in thirty seconds if the right answers don’t just pop into your head. A clue such as yesterday’s, category “Holiday History”-- _Cuba removed Christmas from its list of national holidays in 1969 & restored it in 1997 in anticipation of a visit by this man_, where the correct answer-- who is Pope John Paul II? …is immediately, screamingly obvious and the only conceivable thing to guess (barring the obvious joke answer) is, IMO, orders of magnitude easier than your example. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-two-questions/557193/43 "2010-10-20T22:52:32Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > That’s an example of one type of question the occasionally use for FJ; that is, the kind that anyone who makes it onto the show will certainly answer given enough time, but is very possible to fail to answer in thirty seconds if the right answers don’t just pop into your head. > > A clue such as yesterday’s, category “Holiday History”-- _Cuba removed Christmas from its list of national holidays in 1969 & restored it in 1997 in anticipation of a visit by this man_, where the correct answer-- who is Pope John Paul II? > > …is immediately, screamingly obvious and the only conceivable thing to guess (barring the obvious joke answer) is, IMO, orders of magnitude easier than your example. I knew it was a pope, but didn’t know the name. I’m not Catholic and not familiar with most things relating to religion. I thought other recent FJ’s were much more obvious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-two-questions/557193.md?page=2)