How to Win Big on “Jeopardy!”
Hint: There are Two Ways — and One of Them is a Lot More Fun
Iam in Jeopardy! heaven these days. Ken Jennings has become the permanent host and he’s absolutely crushing it. Of course, we all loved Alex Trebek but it’s nice to see Jennings so ably carry on the tradition, especially as he was a champion contestant himself. Correction: the champion contestant. No, he’ll never completely fill Alex’s shoes, but who could? Still, as the old saying goes, the show must go on.
Watching the show is great fun and a terrific workout for the brain. Playing along at home is simple — you just shout out answers (or, technically, questions) to the TV screen. Think you’re ready to actually go on the show, though? That’s a different matter.
The first thing you really need to ask yourself is, are you good enough? Modestly aside, I am. And I’ll share why. In fact, there are actually two ways to get really good at Jeopardy! I mean good enough to get on the show and win money.
Question: how can you win big on “Jeopardy!”?
Answer: be generally smart and also know a lot of diverse stuff.
The two ways to acquire all that knowledge are : (1) Sit at home and become a data sponge/couch potato, or (2) Get outside in the real world and absorb information firsthand.
Guess which is more fun? Yes, Option #2. It’ll cost a bit more, at least the travel part of it, but it’s way healthier and as you’re experiencing life on the road you can bring along some reading material. That’s the other thing you can be doing for real — reading source material (e.g. books) in the original. Or dancing to music (you’ll need to know bands and their songs for the show too).
Trust me — it’ll be a lot more rewarding to know the answer to questions by having lived and breathed the knowledge. And you’ll be a lot sexier and more interesting to your (potential) mate.
Here’s a sample question, to show you what I mean.
Clue: This one-armed Civil War veteran led the first expedition down the Colorado River.
Response: Who is John Wesley Powell?
Now I suppose you might know the answer to that by reading about Powell on your digital device at home while surfing Wikipedia. Look, don’t get me wrong — I love Wikipedia. I really do. But…
… it’ll be way more satisfying to know the answer because you’ve actually visited the Grand Canyon in person, and even hiked down from the rim to the river. Hell, you might even go on a rafting trip from below the Glen Canyon Dam to the headwaters of Lake Mead. And while you’re spending time rafting or hiking, you can bring along a copy of one or both of my favorite books about the expedition: “Down the Great Unknown” by Edward Dolnick and “Beyond the Hundredth Meridian” by Wallace Stegner. (The story of the adventure that Powell and his colleagues undertook is absolutely riveting, by the way.)
Okay, I can hear you saying, that’s a lot of bravado from a guy who posts articles on Medium. Can I put my money where my mouth is? Well… I will say in all truth that I did meet Alex Trebek at a Jeopardy! roadshow tryout in San Francisco some years back where I did pass the difficult contestant test to get on the show. Beyond that, I’ll say no more!
