# Jeoprady -- I got Final Jeoprady tonight with only the category **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199 "2015-01-29T05:12:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/1 "2015-01-29T05:12:40Z")
Just a brag. The category was medieval literature. As is the custom at the Stone household, everyone yells out the question based only on category prior to the commercial break. As I only know a dozen or so names of pieces of medieval literature I guessed The Song of Roland. Upon return from our sponsors, the question gives away that it is French with clues about Riems and a French Duke and it being 4000 lines long. My roommates were convinced prior to this that I watched earlier in the day, now they are mad with jealousy! Mad I say! One contestant got it, the losers guessed The Canterbury Tales. Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/2 "2015-01-29T05:27:11Z")
The…😕 _checks_ OK, yes, as the name indicates, those aren’t French. Were the people who guessed those guessing before or after the clues were given? Because if it was before I can see it, but if it was after it was bad… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/3 "2015-01-29T05:38:07Z")
The players guess after the clue, “the answer” in jeopardese, is given. Guessing “the question” before the answer is provided is only done at my house. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/4 "2015-01-29T06:42:45Z")
Bace when I was in grad school, my house mates and I watched Jeopardy pretty much every night. We used to play that game too. I think I was the only one ever to win and it was just one time. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/5 "2015-01-29T06:42:53Z")
Just a brag, I can spell “jeopardy.” I would never have guessed the answer. It being French would have nullified any medieval literature I could remember. Impressed with your knowledge but not your spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/6 "2015-01-29T07:03:51Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Just a brag. The category was medieval literature. As is the custom at the Stone household, everyone yells out the question based only on category prior to the commercial break. As I only know a dozen or so names of pieces of medieval literature I guessed The Song of Roland. Upon return from our sponsors, the question gives away that it is French with clues about Riems and a French Duke and it being 4000 lines long. My roommates were convinced prior to this that I watched earlier in the day, now they are mad with jealousy! Mad I say! One contestant got it, the losers guessed The Canterbury Tales. Ha! Well bully for you, little guy. Now get back to work. - Alex Trebek ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/7 "2015-01-29T07:22:54Z")
I managed this once a long time ago. The F.J. category was “Oscar-Winning Actor/Directors” and I correctly guessed “Kevin Costner”. Granted, it was a helluva lot easier than French Literature. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/8 "2015-01-29T08:10:15Z")
You’re a lawyer, right? ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/9 "2015-01-29T08:35:07Z")
I did too, but my best performance was when I guessed the clue (in essence) from the category name, which was “household products”. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/10 "2015-01-29T08:58:04Z")
I’m going to move this over to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/11 "2015-01-29T12:37:41Z")
I have also had that minor nerd moment of awesomeness. Category was Women in History or something similar. My default answer to that category (before the clue is revealed) is Joan of Arc. One time, it was. (State is Vermont, American President is Chester A. Arthur, Literature is Herman Melville/ Moby Dick.) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/12 "2015-01-29T13:58:41Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Just a brag, I can spell “jeopardy.” It’s not jeppurdee?:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/13 "2015-01-29T14:14:20Z")
Damn I thought I was the only one who did this game. I’ve been able to do it twice. “Famous years” and “U.S. Landmarks.” Not nearly as hard as you category. But, twice. If you want to play along: 1066 and the Statue of Liberty ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/14 "2015-01-29T14:16:17Z")
Not quite on par with the OP, but once on Wheel of Fortune I guessed “Gone With The Wind” before any letters were turned. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/15 "2015-01-29T14:26:04Z")
_ **Jeopardy!** _ seldom deals with really arcane works, and there just aren’t that many examples of “Mediaeval Literature” that aren’t obscure. This limits the selection considerably. I knew it would have to be _ **Song of Roland** _, _ **Canterbury Tales** _, or maybe (maybe!) _ **Beowulf** _ or _ **Morte d’Arthur** _. The French references in the answer once it was revealed were a dead giveaway. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/16 "2015-01-29T14:38:22Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The French references in the answer once it was revealed were a dead giveaway. For me, too. And yet two of the contestants missed it, both responding with _The Canterbury Tales_. And several people on another message board that I frequent said that they had never heard of _The Song of Roland_. I suspect that for a lot of people, _The Canterbury Tales_ is the only Medieval literature they know of. I’m not sure whether to lament how the kids today just don’t know their Medieval French _chansons de geste_, like we did when I was a boy, or if that just makes me sound insufferably smug. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/17 "2015-01-29T14:51:05Z")
I got it once with World Capitals and Reykjavík. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/18 "2015-01-29T14:53:43Z")
wrong account ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/19 "2015-01-29T14:53:49Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > Well bully for you, little guy. Now get back to work. > > - Alex Trebek Suck it, Trebeck! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199/20 "2015-01-29T14:53:51Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > For me, too. And yet two of the contestants missed it, both responding with _The Canterbury Tales_. And several people on another message board that I frequent said that they had never heard of _The Song of Roland_. I suspect that for a lot of people, _The Canterbury Tales_ is the only Medieval literature they know of. > > I’m not sure whether to lament how the kids today just don’t know their Medieval French _chansons de geste_, like we did when I was a boy, or if that just makes me sound insufferably smug. 🙂 No, not really. I know very little about literature in general, but I had at least heard of _ **Song of Roland** _, as I suspect anyone who ever sat through an undergrad survey of Western history has. College nowadays is what high school used to be until around 1965, and your average _ **Jeopardy!** _ contestant is a lot sharper than that. About all a BA does for most people is qualify them to watch PBS.\* \*Quote: Alex P. Keaton. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeoprady-i-got-final-jeoprady-tonight-with-only-the-category/711199.md?page=2)