# You're on Jeopardy, what six categories would see you winning the first round? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197 "2004-08-24T01:44:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 24, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/1 "2004-08-24T01:44:17Z")
So as I was hosting SD Jeopardy, this question ran through my mind a couple times. If you were a contestant, which categories would assure you getting almost all of them right in the first round. Categories can be as general or specific as you wish. For me it would have to be The Works of Stephen King. Characters on “The Simpsons” All about Dean Koontz’s “Strangers” Chinese Food “Fight Club” Original Nintendo Games Yours? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/2 "2004-08-24T01:55:36Z")
Winning Categories: The Pogues The Films of the Coen Brothers Georgian History What Not To Say Sam & Max: Freelance Police Types of Gravy And if I can transmogrify the thread a little, my worst possible **losing** categories would be: Sports Calculus Physics Economics Essential Literature What Women Like ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/3 "2004-08-24T01:56:16Z")
Science Nature Computers Louisiana The Civil War Aviation ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Gutgore_Blooddrink)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/4 "2004-08-24T02:01:07Z")
Hmmmm…I’ll take “What MeatBeast ate for dinner” for $1000, please. Hmmmm…six, huh? “Serial Killers” “The Brothers Grimm” “Magickal Grimoires” “Spongebob Squarepants” “Italian Cooking” “The Exorcist III” Nice little hodgepodge. Um… re-reads selections and feels a little more odd than a couple of seconds ago ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/5 "2004-08-24T02:12:14Z")
Some general ones: Science Fiction Photography Bible Astronomy Ancient History World War Two If we need to be more specific, just break down the above generals a little further. Like instead of Sci-Fi, say Star Trek, instead of Bible, say Biblical Word Origins, and so forth… ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/6 "2004-08-24T02:41:55Z")
Craft Supplies Hamlet British Transvestite Comedians 1970s AM Radio Hits Kevin Smith Movies Irish Folk Music ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/7 "2004-08-24T02:58:16Z")
hmmm, “Sports” “Geography” “Weird Al Yankovich” “TV Sitcoms” “sense and sensibility” “Steven Spielberg Movies” ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/8 "2004-08-24T03:00:07Z")
Star Trek Astronomy Marvel Comics Ancient History Greek Mythology Professional Wrestling I’m not an expert in any of those sans the first but consider myself fairly knowledgeable about them. With my luck, I’d probably be competing against the reanimated corpse of Gene Roddenberry and Stan Lee though. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/9 "2004-08-24T03:09:31Z")
> [@drm](#): > > “Weird Al Yankovich” Unless one of the questions involves knowing how to spell his last name correctly. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/10 "2004-08-24T03:19:55Z")
Fire Service & Hazardous Materials Photography Automobiles Cats and Parrots The Security Industry Building Construction ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/11 "2004-08-24T03:32:24Z")
Let’s see… Potent Potables The Works of Robert A. Heinlein Homebrewing Guns & Ammo The Ouevre of Joss Whedon Dave Brubeck ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/12 "2004-08-24T04:33:30Z")
My top six categories? I’ve actually pictured this before… **Alex Trebek** : Your categories are… Dinosaurs Greek Mythology Comic Book Characters The Movies of Kevin Smith Shakespeare Astronomy The United Nations **TOSO** : _falls over_ **Trebek** : Oh my God, are you alright?! **TOSO** : _from the floor_ I’m just so happy… ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/13 "2004-08-24T04:40:22Z")
Geography Botany Anatomy History Anthropology Archeology ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/14 "2004-08-24T04:42:04Z")
Cat Facts Shakespeare’s Tragedies Tori Amos Trivia Gaiman’s _Sandman_ HBO Dramas William Tecumseh Sherman I think Alex Trebek would be more than a bit bemused by that combination. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/15 "2004-08-24T05:20:19Z")
-Books Astroboy14 has recently read. -Movies Astroboy14 has recently seen. -Sexual fetishes of Astroboy14. -Useless trivia that Astroboy14 knows. -Care and feeding of Astrogirl. -Advanced quantum physics and conflicts with String Theory. (Well, OK… maybe not the last one, but up til then the game was too easy! 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/16 "2004-08-24T05:26:43Z")
> [@TheOnlySaneOne](#): > > My top six categories? > > Dinosaurs > Greek Mythology > Comic Book Characters > The Movies of Kevin Smith > Shakespeare > Astronomy > The United Nations Lucky for you one of the categories isn’t “Counting.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/17 "2004-08-24T05:36:56Z")
(Assuming I’m not pitted against any **SDMB** members who also express confidence with regard to any or all of these categories) World Capitals Spelling (as in U-Z-B-E-K-I-S-T-A-N, not Aaron and Tori) Women’s Basketball Primates (monkeys, apes, lemurs, etc., not high-ranking clergymen) Billy Joel Songs Name That Poet I could have really stacked the deck by including more English-major-friendly and geography categories, but opted to construct a board that could realistically be featured on the show. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/18 "2004-08-24T06:12:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by ErinPuff_ > Unless one of the questions involves knowing how to spell his last name correctly. It isn’t the least bit possible that I am right and he is wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/19 "2004-08-24T06:25:44Z")
The Blues Shakespeare Tennis Rock of the 70s The Simpsons The Marx Brothers ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197/20 "2004-08-24T06:42:18Z")
The Simpsons Family Guy Things That Rhyme With “Urple” Current American Presidents Invader Zim The Civil War I’d lose with: Science Mathmatics Word Origins Baseball English Literature Rare African Fossils [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-jeopardy-what-six-categories-would-see-you-winning-the-first-round/261197.md?page=2)