I have noticed that Jeopardy! Final Questions go from 1-10 on the easy-difficult scale. I am sure it is by design. The producers want to put some doubt into the contestants minds on what to bid.
I was surprised that I could not come up with Luxembourg, all I could think of was Z countries, Switzerland, Czech Republic. It was a category that i would have risked a lot. But sometimes I can come up with the right response on categories in which I have little knowledge.
BTW, I watch Jeopardy! alone most of the time. I always say my answers out loud, in the form of a question. Is that “geeky” or do other people do that as well?
No, I did that too when I was a regular watcher of the show. Haven’t watched much since I was on and learned a bit about it (behind the scenes, it’s not just what you know, etc.).
I got Mexico right away but for some reason my brain just couldn’t come up with Luxembourg. I suppose I probably need to start watching again to stay sharp.
On Final Jeopardy, the pattern is (usually) that they’ll either have a category that sounds obscure with a not-very-hard question, or a category that sounds easy with a rather-obscure question. I didn’t see the episode with the ‘X’ countries, but I’m guessing the category they attached it to didn’t make them think it would be an easy question.
I think they do it this way to make the wagering interesting. The contestants make their wagers after seeing the category, but (obviously) before seeing the question. The four opportunities to bet your winnings (3 DDs and FJ) are what make Jeopardy strategy differ from other quiz shows.
You want geeky? I frame my answers in the form of a question - using the appropriate interrogative. If the answer was Mexico, I answer “where is Mexico?” not “what is Mexico?”
Interesting. I haven’t watched it much since I was on either. Actually doing it takes away the fantasy aspect, I think.
I got both really quickly, but when I lived in Africa we went to a restaurant owned by a guy from Luxembourg which was the only place in Leopoldville where you could get ketchup.
When I tried out, the AD or whoever who gave the quiz said that the producers really, really liked when the board was cleared. He said that viewers were unhappy when there were questions which were hidden and thus couldn’t see at the end of the show. When I was on, we cleared both boards, and the show got rerun on a Saturday (and on GSN, no doubt.)
As for categories, it is important to pick since you can run categories. There is momentum you pick up, sometimes you just get what the question writers were going for when they wrote the questions. It also could be in an area where you know slightly more about than the other contestants do. When I was on I ran a category called “Famous Freds” before the first break, which was especially sweet because one of the other contestants was named Fred.
Daily Doubles are risky, since you can lose. I was the only person who answered one correctly on my show, and that was just luck.
It’s random what types of Final Jeopardy questions will come up. Mine was fairly obscure and the one guy who answered correctly had pretty much lucked into it.
The other FJ questions from that week seemed to get harder with each successive day, based on how easily the other waiting contestants answered them. The Monday question was fairly simple and the Friday (mine) was very difficult. That’s not always the case, but it just happened to work out that way.
It’s preferable if the board clears, especially since that usually means the tapings go that much quicker, but sometimes the questions are more difficult than usual.
I’ll reiterate that it’s ridiculously easy to freeze up on stage. You could be a world class quiz master and end up looking like a complete loon because your brain decides to lock up at the worst possible moment. Having to perform with virtually no prep under stage conditions just ups the pressure.
They gave the category and went to commercials like they always do, so I started trying to think of alliterative athletes. The first name I thought of was Mark McGwire. That brought to mind the 1998 home run chase and Sammy Sosa. I’d never really noticed before that they both have alliterative names.
Being able to pick just makes for better television. I remember one episode where one of the categories was spelling, and it was clear that none of the contestants was a very good speller because they all avoided it like it was the plague. It was funny to see the big board with every other category picked clean.
And for the record, I remembered Luxembourg, but not Mexico.
I would want control of the board and to power through my best categories early because having a lot of money and hopefully a big lead will make the other players behave with more desperation. Larger daily double bids because they have to. Answering when they’re less sure because they have ground to cover,
A hard question is one you don’t know the answer to. If the subject is "the bible’ and you are a Muslim, that is a hard category. If you are a reverend, that category is a walk. Sports are like that too. Often a sports geek gets a free category to walk through. Sometimes they have questions about a state or a country. If you are from that area, you are home free.
My problem with that one is that I sussed out the right play, but couldn’t remember who played the role. I would’ve responded: “Who is that woman that played Peter Pan?”
This varies from person to person, I’m sure. I’ve never been on Jeopardy, but I was on a high school quiz show once. There was one question that I buzzed in on, but wasn’t sure of the right answer, and spent about five minutes thinking it through before answering. Or at least, that’s what it felt like. It really surprised me when I watched the recording later, and discovered that it was less than a second between buzzing and speaking.
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.
