How to Study For Jeopardy - The Ultimate Guide for Contestant Hopefuls (2024)

Last Updated:May27, 2024

So, you’ve decided to take the leap and try out for Jeopardy! Where do you start your Jeopardy study preparation?

For the skimmers and TL;DR crowd, here's a quick outline to the age-old question:

How can I get better at Jeopardy?

• Watch the show as much as possible.
• Study top subjects thoroughly (resources below).
• Acquire the right study materials.
• Take practice tests regularly.
• Practice with a purpose by challenging yourself.
• Learn memorization techniques such as "Pavlovs."
• Get better at the buzzer.
• Write your own clues to understand the writers' mindset.
• Keep your mind sharp with daily trivia, crosswords, and more.

For those looking to dive deeper, this article provides some of the best resources available.

Studying for Jeopardy! can seem overwhelming. With over 400,000 clues and questions throughout its history, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Don’t worry—we’ve done the hard work for you. We've combed through hundreds of episodes, contestant articles, interviews, and books on the subject to bring you the best study strategies and resources.

The Essential Breakdown of the Process to Get on Jeopardy

1. Study the Right Way: This guide offers an 80/20 approach to efficient studying.
2. Sign Up for the Online Practice Tests: Register at the official Jeopardy! site.
3. Pass the Test: Aim to get at least 35 out of 50 questions correct (based on anecdotal evidence, this is the minimum threshold).
4. Enter the Candidate Pool: After passing the test, you're in the general candidate pool. This is the only part of the process where you have full control.
5. Get Lucky: You’ll need luck to proceed to the next steps. You may need to repeat steps 1-4 several times before being selected.
6. Regional Game or Zoom Interview: If chosen, you'll participate in a mock regional game or Zoom interview with the producers.
7. Crush the Practice Game and Interview: Stand out by performing well and having a compelling story.
8. Impress the Producers: If you do well, you’ll make the final contestant pool.
9. Get Selected for Taping Week: Once in the final pool, you must be drawn for a taping week.
10. Go to Taping Week: Attend the taping and get randomly selected for a game.
11. Know Your Stuff and Play Your Best: Be prepared and perform your best during the game.

As you can see, getting on Jeopardy! involves many steps, and most of them, beyond step 4, require a lot of luck combined with preparation.

This article will help you excel at step three (passing the online test) and serve as a valuable practice guide if you progress further.

The first piece of advice from every contestant, Jeopardy! champion, and showrunner is to watch the show religiously. This is crucial for becoming good. We’ve included resources below for where you can catch reruns.

It’s not enough to just know trivia; you must understand the cadence of how questions (or answers) are worded. Each answer often contains two to three clues to guide you to the correct question.

Watching Jeopardy will also get you accustomed to categories that are idiosyncratic to the game. For example,

Potent Potables - category about drinks and co*cktails

Before and After - the answers are phrase mashups with a shared word (ex. Donald Trump Card, Micky Mouse Trap, Good Morning America The Beautiful)

Categories with “ “ - this usually mean that the correct response will begin with the characters in quotes.

Watching the show will also help you if you actually get on the pre-games or actual show since you’ll sync with the rhythm and timing in whichthe hosts asks the questions. We won’t get into buzzer training (it’s crucial to win the show) or the advanced stuff here but can recommend some resources if you’re ready for that stage.

What are the best places to watch Jeopardy!?

As of this writing, there are several places you can catch Jeopardy!. One of course would be in daily syndication in your area. The regular programming typically runs five days a week and hosts several tournaments each year (College, Teen, Tournament of Champions, and Teachers).

Here are a few other places to catch your favorite show:

Hulu:

With Netflix no longer syndicating Jeopardy, Hulu is your main choice for catching reruns of every iteration of the show. They have "Celebrity Jeopardy", "Jeopardy Masters" and the regular show. If you have Hulu Live, you can record and watch new episodes of Jeopardy from national syndication.

Sony TV:

One cool thing about owning a Sony Smart TV is that you can download the SonyPlay appfrom your TV and the accompanyingsmartphone app to play along with popular episodes. Check out this videoto see it in action.

How do you study for Jeopardy!?

Well, we’re a little biased, but we believe J!StudyGuideis a great place to get started on learning the basics you should know to have a well-rounded knowledge base and a good shot at passing the test. If you take a look at the Jeopardy Masters, you can bet that, on average, about one out of four Champions has used J!Study to help them in their journey to get on the Master's stage.

We also recommend learning to practice effectively by practicing with purpose. Check out this video from TED to learn some effective techniques.

Top Resources:

J!StudyGuide.com - Sells a 400+ page guide full of core topics to get better at Jeopardy!.

J-6 on Alexa - If you have an Alexa (Echo), you absolutely must enable the Jeopardy! Skill. You’ll get twelve new clues every single day and see how you rank with players worldwide. This is a great way to practice performing under pressure (since there’s a time element) and train at yelling out the answers in the form of a question. EditorsNote: We miss the old voice with Alex!

Jeopardy! Test PrepCenter - We recommend visiting the official Jeopardy Center and playing through all of the practice tests multiple times. Since the practice tests don’t change much, we suggest waiting a few weeks to re-take the tests.

J! Archive - This is the defacto database for past Jeopardy! episodes. They also go in-depth on game strategy, betting strategy, and more if you want to polish that part of your skillset.

Apps / Other Websites:

J!StudySim- (Online Practice Test Simulator) - This is a greattool forpreparing for the online test and tracking your online test proficiency. You can choose to take a 10, 25, or 50 question test. Each question is timed just like the real thing and there are thousands of practice questions alldesigned to mimic the online test environment. You can also track your score over time since you get one free test per day.Check it out here.

Jeopardy World Tour - This one is the official Jeopardy! app, but it’s mostly multiple-choice and sometimes gimmicky. It’s fun, but we wouldn’t suggest it for the bulk of your study time. Available for iOS and Google Play if you want to have some fun.

Brainscape - This is one of the best flashcard apps out there and one that (we believe), Jeopardy! standout, Buzzy Cohen alludes to using in his book. Brainscape allows you to save timesince the algorithm learns which answers you don’t know well and shows you those more frequently than the ones you're more familiar.

Sporcle -Billed as the world’s largest trivia website, we love to use their custom quizzes around Presidents, Geography, Capitals, and a host of other categories. Sporcle is a fantastic rote-learning based resource to keep your memory fresh.

JBoard.TV - This is one of the largest Jeopardy! forums on the open web. One particular useful thread topic is past Online Tests. There are a handful of old tests linked out as archived Youtube videos. We recommend taking as many as possible and tracking your results in a spreadsheet. Try and find the areas where you’re weak and put study time into those categories.

Podcasts - Want to train your Jeopardy prowess when pumping in the gym or zoning out on a commute? There are lots of great podcasts in the realm of trivia. Check out a good list here. We recommend Quiz Quiz Bang Bang!

Also, if you want to get good at Jeopardy!, you’re going to have to hit the books. There’s no getting around it. Here are some of the best books for Jeopardy training.

Books:

JStudyGuide.com - Available by PDF only, this guide will give you a little bit of everything at the surface level of popular categories and was explicitly designed for Jeopardy! training and study in mind. With over 400+ pages, it provides thousands of facts as well as helpful images to remember the facts or build “memory palaces” (more on that below). The best part is that some of the course proceeds go directly to helping cure pancreatic cancer!

Ken Jennings Books (especially the children's books) - Any list would be incomplete without the Jeopardy! GOAT. Ken has a multitude of fun trivia books and we’d especially recommend buying his children’s books. James Holzhauer admitted that his success was in part due to reading a lot of children’s books!

Cultural Literacy - This is a book that Ken Jennings recommended everyone read. At over 672 pages and 3.2 lbs, it packs a ton of useful information. Use this one to fill in gaps where you’re strong and to get base knowledge for categories where you’re weak.

An Incomplete Education - This book could be considered Cultural Literacy’s big, witty brother. With over 3600 facts and 941 pages, it makes for a great resource in developing your broad-based trivia knowledge.

Buzzy Cohen’s Book - Get Ready - Buzzy’s audiobook is a lot of fun, and while you won’t learn a ton about facts that might appear on Jeopardy!, you’ll learn about how a multi-time Jeopardy! Champion prepares for the challenge. It also has practical advicein which you can use outside of Jeopardy! such aspreparing for an interview, sales call, a presentation, etc.

Moonwalking with Einstein - You’ll have to memorize a ton of information if you want to go anywhere with Jeopardy!. The issue is that rote-learning (repetitive memory cramming) is not the most efficient method. Moonwalking with Einstein will teach you the tips and techniques that the world’s greatest memory champions use to memorize hundreds of decks of cards in a short period. The “memory palace” technique is a must-know for anyone serious about Jeopardy!.

The Answer is Reflections of My Life by Alex Trebek - Alex’s book is packed full of fun anecdotes and stories about his life before and during Jeopardy. It’s not the best study material but it will give you a greater familiarity and appreciation for Alex and how the game has evolved.

Secrets of the Buzzer - This is a must-read if you pass the tests and are lucky enough to make it to the later stages of the candidate process. Both Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer have suggested that buzzer speed is the number one determining factor that will set you apart.

J!Study Score Tracker -If you want to get better at Jeopardy study, you're going to need to actively practice improving your Coryat Score. Coryat is a method of scoring that calculates the raw value of your correct answers minus the incorrect answers (with no penalty for unanswered clues and no Daily Double bonuses). The J!Study Score Tracker book is an excellent way to track your progress on pen and paper. The book also include daily trivia practice!

Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy!- A fantastic book written by one of Jeopardy's biggest winners.Some of the advice is outdated but most of it still holds.You get to see how his brain would decipher a clue and the tactics he used to garner his success.Hisself-deprecating writing style makes this a fun read.

The Intellectual Devotional - A lot of religiouspractitioners keep a spirtual devotional near their bedside. Well, this is book every aspiring trivia contestant should keep by hers. The authors have an entire series, including American history and popular culture.

Answers in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider's Guide to Jeopardy- This is a recent book that chronicles the show's history and gives you a behind-the-scenes look on its success. While it won't help you much in studying, it will give you a greater appreciation ofAmerica's most beloved gameshow.

Very Helpful Puzzles/ Games / Flashcards:

TrivialPursuit (MASTER EDITION)- This is great for just quizzing yourself in categories where you're weak. Be sure to get the most recent Master Edition as the others are built for mainstream audiences.

GeoToys World GEOPUZZLE - Jeopardy Champ and TOC contender, Kevin Walsh, swore by using these geo-puzzles as a great resource to get good at geography. Each piece is shaped like the individual country!

Imagimake: Mapology (World and USA) - This is a highly rate jigsaw puzzle that kills two birds with one stone. You're able to learn countries by completing the puzzle and their capitals with separate flag placements. Warning, thisgame is missing a few countries (namely Israel) but its fun nonetheless if you use to supplement your knowledge.

Amazon's Movie Trivia - I found this one fun to just brush up on movie trivia. Most of the questions are on the easy side, but you're not likely to find too many truly hard movie questions on Jeopardy.

100 PICS (Flags of the World) and (Capital Cities) - These two flash card sets are fun, compact ways of studying if you're tired of flash card apps. Something about being able to touch the cardsmake studying geography more bearable.

CARDDIA Collection of Country Flags - If you want a more complete set and don't mind paying the extra price, CARRDIA has a great deck as well. It has the country and capital on the same side, so it's primarily for flag recognition.

Inventors / Authors / Composers / Scientist Card Game Bundle - These are regular card decks with famous contributors in science, literature, and the arts. There's not the best "flash card"functionalityper se, but they good to peruse while playing solitaire.

The World Game - This is a Geography Card game that does include all countries of the world (as of this writing) and is a lot of fun to play with family. Each card also has facts about each country, including the capitals. Easy clean up!

Anatomy Quickstudy - Thiscard pack is essential if you're not strong in human anatomy like myself. Which one's thetibia and fibula again?

Papersalt Triva Cards: The Presidents - I purchased several flash card packs for US Presidents to test out for my trivia study since it's such a popular category and I can say with confidencethat this set isabsolutelymy favorite. The JStudy Guide presidential section is modeled on this set.

Sparknote's Latin Vocabulary Study Cards - This pack comes with over 1000 study cards. The quality of the cardsarelacking but the quantity is there. Latin often comes up in Jeopardy clues (and surprisingly a lot in FJ) but also knowingsome latin will help with translation in several other languages. The only downside to this pack is that you can only study Latin -> English and not the other way around as they also printed the answers on the English side.

Monarchs of England: 59 Royal Flashcards - This was another useful set as before I was just scrolling through the Wikipedia articles to get the English monarchs in order.This has a lot of cards butI don't think you necessarily need to know all of the Saxon kings (maybe a few pre-Norman kings have shown up as $2000clues?).

CARDDIA Books of The Bible Flashcards - It's hard to find a good Bible study (no pun intended) as most of the Bible study material is spiritual based. Thesewere the most secularizedstudy cardsI've found. Thewoodcut illustrations are nice and is a good 80/20 approach to getting the important facts from the Bible. Since they come up often, I'd also recommend studying the 12 disciples.

If you take the above advice, you should be on your way to passing the online tests in minimal tries. If you don’t get a callback, don’t get discouraged… several Jeopardy! Champions had to take AND pass the test multiple times before they were given a chance to compete. Happy studying and if you're looking for a completeJeopardy study guide, be sure to check ours out!

Other helpful links:
31Jeopardy Study Books

Free Jeopardy Practice Tests

Jeopardy Gifts That Can Help You Study

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do Jeopardy contestants get categories in advance?

No, Jeopardy contestants do not get categories before the show. Every Jeopardy Champion and contestant gets asked this question. They all will confirm that the contestants learn about the categories the moment they show up on the big screen. Game show producers are very careful to not give any one play an unfair advantage. This also could be in violation of 47 U.S. Code § 509 (Prohibited practices in contests of knowledge, skill, or chance).

Do Jeopardy contestants get a study guide?

How Do You Study for Jeopardy?

• J!StudyGuide: Offers a comprehensive guide with core topics.
• Practice Effectively: Use purposeful practice techniques.
• Memorization Techniques: Learn methods like "memory palaces" from resources like "Moonwalking with Einstein."
• Flashcards: Use apps like Brainscape for efficient studying.
• Daily Practice: Engage with daily trivia, crosswords, and more.

What Are the Best Places to Watch Jeopardy!?

• Daily Syndication: Check local listings for regular programming.
• Hulu: Offers reruns and new episodes through Hulu Live.
• Sony TV: Use the SonyPlay app to play along with episodes.

What Resources Can Help with Jeopardy! Preparation?

• J!StudyGuide.com: Sells a detailed guide for Jeopardy! training.
• J-6 on Alexa: Provides daily practice clues.
• Jeopardy! Test Prep Center: Offers practice tests.
• J! Archive: Database of past episodes and strategies.
• Sporcle: Custom quizzes for various categories.
• JBoard.TV: Forum with past online tests and other resources.
• Podcasts: Trivia podcasts like Quiz Quiz Bang Bang.

Recommended Books for Jeopardy! Training

• JStudyGuide.com: Comprehensive guide for Jeopardy! preparation.
• Ken Jennings Books: Fun trivia books, including children's books.
• Cultural Literacy: Recommended by Ken Jennings.
• An Incomplete Education: A comprehensive trivia resource.
• Get Ready by Buzzy Cohen: Practical advice and preparation tips.
• Moonwalking with Einstein: Techniques for efficient memorization.
• The Answer is... by Alex Trebek: Anecdotes and stories from the Jeopardy! host.