Most common J! Categories and questions....

[weaklink75]

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/16/8226697/jeopardy-answers-categories

(interesting stuff- not one pure pop culture category in the top 10, and they really liked Before and After once they started using it)

[Fedya]

There seems to be one wordplay category every. single. round.  Even if it's as simple as "Starts with [insert letter of alphabet]"

That, the the punny clues in quote marks in the bottom boxes.  Betty White isn't a "colorful" actress, thank you very much.

[Jimmy Owen]

If you are good at Potpourri, you should be golden.

[TLEberle]

There seems to be one wordplay category every. single. round.  Even if it's as simple as "Starts with [insert letter of alphabet]"

I wouldn't call "Starts with D" wordplay as much as general knowledge.

That, the the punny clues in quote marks in the bottom boxes.  Betty White isn't a "colorful" actress, thank you very much.

I think this has done more to neuter the difficulty level of any particular board. How long did it last where somebody who got a bottom level clue right would elicit a small burst of applause, or someone being wrong getting a round of gasps from the crowd?

[BrandonFG]

I remember around the time Ken Jennings made his run, Alex attributed some of the contestants' successes to J! technically being a word association game, where you pick up on keywords from the clues. It kinda makes sense if you consider how Pyramid used just as many lengthy clues to get someone to say "TABLE".