Recommended Jeopardy study materials?

[DoorNumberFour]

I'm going to NY on June 29th for my follow-up interview/written test after passing the online Jeopardy test a few months back. I went into the online test rather unprepared, and I really want to prepare for this second test (my current strategy is to watch the back episodes and write down the questions I don't know).

Have any recommendations for study materials, either in print or online?

[chad1m]

I wrote a blog on the online and in-person audition experience about a year ago. This is what I had to say about that:

Before the test, you might find it to be a good idea to study. My  personal philosophy is that studying everything you can is useless, as Jeopardy!  could ask on the tests or on the show about anything that has ever  existed in the world. I feel it's hard to prepare for that, but it is  indisputable that they often go back to certain categories. Current  events are something you should always touch on... They also love their pop culture: Know  the Oscar and Emmy winners of the past year and what shows and actors  they're associated with. And, of course, there's the brilliant William  Shakespeare. Familiarize yourself with the main characters and plots of  his most noted works. Sure, a question on seventeenth century Russian  monks could sneak in there, but at least you'll have your common bases  covered.

That's just my personal philosophy; hopefully some of that helps a bit. I honestly don't find it that helpful to cram for a trivia test, but I always advise studying in areas you know you're weak in. For me, that's world bodies of water. It wouldn't be too hard to look at a list of the 25 or 50 biggest lakes but trying to spot every lake in each country wouldn't be very helpful in my opinion.

[PYLdude]

From my experience two years ago, I would add to what Chad suggested the following:

- try at least spending a little time on current authors and their works

- to expand on pop culture, try to bone up a little on current songs- there's usually one or two questions they ask about them

- Bible, Bible, Bible! Can't stress that enough

But don't overdo it with the studying. I agree that cramming probably won't help you as much as it may seem.

Other than that, there's really nothing more that I can tell you that Chad's blog post won't- I'd just be repeating what he said (well done, Chad). Just don't be nervous, have fun with it, and if they're holding the auditions in the same place they did last time, two things- 1) bananas are expensive, and 2) take the elevator, otherwise you might get lost.

(don't ask)

[Jimmy Owen]

If you can't pass the test with the knowledge you already have, you won't do well on the show.  Better to focus on having an attractive personality. Take the test and let the chips fall where they may.

[beatlefreak84]

One other big thing:  Presidents, Vice Presidents, and who the Presidents defeated to become President.  This last one doesn't come up as often, but I can't tell you how many times questions about our nation's leaders have come up!

IIRC, Ken Jennings thought the two most important topics to know were Shakespeare and Presidents/Vice Presidents.

Anthony

[Fedya]

I'd agree with Presidents; one of the things I've complained about a number of times is the number of clues in the bottom row that boil down to asking who was President in year XXXX.

The other thing that I think shows up a lot is state capitals.

[TLEberle]

My  personal philosophy is that studying everything you can is useless, as Jeopardy!  could ask on the tests or on the show about anything that has ever  existed in the world.

They could, but they don't. They have a sphere of knowledge that they work with, and if something isn't in that canon, you don't need to worry about it. Knowing what you need to know and what you don't is as big a skill as knowing the stuff you need to know. If you're studying things that they won't ask, you're wasting your time. On the other hand, if you're brushing up your Shakespeare but stare uncomprehendingly when you see the clue "He was The Merchant of Venice," then you did it wrong also.

To that end, if you've read the same books as I have, I don't need to spend a lot of time on the tried-and-true categories or knowing your one-to-ones "this Grand duchy" or "this Swedish playwright," but in reading about the IBM challenge, I found something interesting that Roger Craig used to prepare: a computer flash card program called Anki. You figure out a subject that you don't know well, make up a set of flash cards (or if you're lucky, someone will have made it for you already) and you run review sessions. The ones you got correct go to the bottom of the stack, and the ones you got wrong float at the top, waiting to be drilled again until you have the right answers branded onto your cerebellum.

If you took the online test then you know what clues stumped you, and that's the stuff to bone up on.

[gameshowcrazy]

I always say study what you don't know.  Someone like me studying television trivia is a waste of time, but I do need to study on art & literature.

Of all the Jeopardy tests I've taken, when trying to place all the questions into the classic 6 Trivial Pursuit categories, I find the tests are top heavy on A&L.  If that's your strong point, you've got a good start.

Things to memorize:

Presidents, elements, world capitals.

All three are manageable lists and come up often.

Shakespeare also tends to come up, so if you're lacking in that category, it's good to get a small list of the popular shows with characters and a brief synopsis of each.

this is about all i can suggest on the short-term you have a month to go study strategy, but if you pass this test, I would suggest doing what I've done and read the World Almanac cover-to-cover.

On a side note, I thought Jeopardy had already been to NYC in April, does anyone here know if that's true (I just find it interesting if they came twice, and heartbreaking if they came twice and I still didn't get randomly pulled to go test there this year).

[TLEberle]

I would suggest doing what I've done and read the World Almanac cover-to-cover.

Really? That sounds remarkably labor intensive for a minimal payoff.

[Matt Ottinger]

Thank me later.

[davidbod]

This article http://www.pisspoor.com/jep.html mentions "On the Tip of Your Tongue" by Irene M. Franck.

If you don't mind a similar volume with a British flavour, you could do a lot worse than "Pears Ultimate Quiz Companion" by Jim Hensman, which contains thousands of pertinent questions listed in precis form. Highly recommended.

[gameshowcrazy]

I would suggest doing what I've done and read the World Almanac cover-to-cover.

Really? That sounds remarkably labor intensive for a minimal payoff.

Wasn't hard at all.  I love trivia, I love reading, I pack my lunch every day and it only takes me about ten minutes to eat.  That leaves 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week to read, plus two 15 minute breaks as well.

I didn't say I read the book quickly, it took about 14 months.

[Matt Ottinger]

I would suggest doing what I've done and read the World Almanac cover-to-cover.

Really? That sounds remarkably labor intensive for a minimal payoff.

Wasn't hard at all.

"Remarkably labor intensive" does not equal "difficult".  Aside from the fact that the plot is kinda weak, there's nothing particularly challenging about reading The World Almanac cover to cover.  The question is whether that's a useful way to digest information, especially in the context of our Jeopardy conversation.  Strikes me that the vast majority of it is charts and tables that, even if you could memorize it all, would never come into play in a Jeopardy game.  Or normal human conversation, for that matter.

[PYLdude]

...there's nothing particularly challenging about reading The World Almanac cover to cover.  The question is whether that's a useful way to digest information, especially in the context of our Jeopardy conversation.  Strikes me that the vast majority of it is charts and tables that, even if you could memorize it all, would never come into play in a Jeopardy game.  Or normal human conversation, for that matter.

As someone who's read his fair share of almanacs over the years (The World Almanac is a favorite), I would be inclined to agree with you, Matt. I would expand upon the charts and tables point with "a fair trove of entirely trivial information". I'm sure an almanac would be of some use if you were studying up for a test like the one they give you for your tryout, but like Travis said- whatever you'd get out of it would probably be of minimal benefit to you. Unless you really think that the year Montana Senator Jon Tester was sworn into office, the leading export of Palau, or the home countries of every single United Nations Secretary General will help you win on Jeopardy, I would keep the almanac out of the study materials.

(although I'm pretty certain the third example I used has been a category at least two or three times)

[gameshowcrazy]

I would suggest doing what I've done and read the World Almanac cover-to-cover.

Really? That sounds remarkably labor intensive for a minimal payoff.

Wasn't hard at all.

"Remarkably labor intensive" does not equal "difficult".  Aside from the fact that the plot is kinda weak, there's nothing particularly challenging about reading The World Almanac cover to cover.  The question is whether that's a useful way to digest information, especially in the context of our Jeopardy conversation.  Strikes me that the vast majority of it is charts and tables that, even if you could memorize it all, would never come into play in a Jeopardy game.  Or normal human conversation, for that matter.

Just from casual observation, since reading the Almanac it has upped my game.  As far as being labor intensive, it's no more labor than I would have done reading something else in the same time frame anyway.