Turns out contestants on Jeopardy have to know a lot before they even get airtime.
As if writing a column about video games and tech wasn’t nerdy enough, here’s something else to add to the list: I’m obsessed with trivia. From mobile games like Trivia Crack to board games like Trivial Pursuit to Snapple facts, I feel like I always gravitate toward something with trivia or useless knowledge. It’s fun to see what kind of random information you know.
This is also why I’m sort of obsessed with Jeopardy, a long running TV game show. I do my best to watch it as frequently as I can (it’s on at 7:30 p.m. every weeknight if you’re wondering) and I’m always trying to play along with the questions. If I can answer one that none of the contestants can, I’m a very happy camper.
Side note: for other Jeopardy fans, there are a ton of apps for your phone that allow you to play along and score how you would be doing in the round. You could see how much money you’d be winning if you were actually playing!
If you’re a fellow Jeopardy fan, you’ve probably noticed the advertising for the online test that was happening the past few months. Essentially, to get on the show, you must take the online test. If you pass, you might get an in-person audition and then you have the opportunity to possibly get on the show and on television. The test was offered three days in a row, last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It featured 50 questions from 50 different categories and you have 15 seconds to answer each. Total, the quiz takes less than 15 minutes. As soon as I found out about the test this year, I registered. I figured it would probably be fun to see how I would do and see if I’d even be qualified to be on the show.
Spoiler alert: the test was really hard.
The 15-second time limit didn’t seem like a lot when I was researching the test, but let me tell you: 15 seconds is NOT a lot of time. It’s barely enough to read the question, think of an answer and type it out. Thankfully, it didn’t require a “what is …” at the beginning of each answer. There wasn’t much room for deliberation.
Having the questions in different categories was pretty helpful. I would have been totally screwed if it had been the normal Jeopardy set up (with six questions in six categories) and I had gotten some super hard categories like physics or 14th century British history. Sure, there were questions that were on the practice exam, but there were also easier ones that were more up my alley (like literature, grammar and TV shows). I feel like I can generally keep up when watching the show, but the online test made me feel like I knew nothing.
While you don’t receive a score for your online test, I think it’s safe to say I’m not going to be getting an audition call from the producers anytime soon. However, it was a super fun thing to do and I’ll definitely be doing it again.
Sophie Kruse is a junior studying journalism. Email her at sk139011@ohio.edu or tweet her @kruseco
