Jeopardy – Ryan Benbow's Blog

Jeopardy: The Hebrews-Romans Question

November 26, 2022November 26, 2022
by Ryan

One of the shows I enjoy watching is the TV quiz show “Jeopardy.” I actually have a few previous Jeopardy-related posts on this blog, most notably my post from 2020 which explores Jeopardy math. Although the contestants on Jeopardy consistently know way more than I do, I like to test my own knowledge while watching the show – especially in categories in which I feel like I can do well – usually math, sports, U.S. history or geography, and categories on the Bible. After a recent Jeopardy tournament, and one Bible question in particular, has generated a lot of fan reaction and discussion, I thought I would provide my own thoughts on here on the topic.

The 2022 Jeopardy Tournament of Champions, which concluded this past week, was the culmination of a memorable season of super-champions. It was an interesting tournament with a different format and an exciting conclusion; however, a controversial finish to one of its games leaves a bit of a stain that I would like to see rectified. I am, of course, referring to the Romans-Hebrews debate from their November 16 episode.

Jeopardy

Jeopardy Volume 3

October 16, 2021
by Ryan

For those of you who have been reading my blog since last year, you may recall that I have two previous posts about Jeopardy Math, which combine two of my areas of interest – math and the TV game show Jeopardy. Last year, my original post on this topic explored the question of the highest possible score in a game of Jeopardy, and I followed that up with another post in May which explored some mathematical scenarios regarding proper wagering on the show. You can go back and find those previous posts here and here.

Today, for those of you who follow the show, I have some more thoughts to share on Jeopardy. However, this won’t be a math-related post. Rather, I’d like to focus into another subject we learn in school – grammar. (If you’ve watched the show with any regularity over the last several weeks, you probably already know exactly where I’m going with this.) While I’m at it, I would actually like to explore two separate questions here. First, what should constitute an acceptable response on Jeopardy? And second, who should be the permanent host of Jeopardy?

Jeopardy

Jeopardy Math: Volume 2

May 29, 2021October 16, 2021
by Ryan

As a former math teacher and academic teach coach from several years ago, and also as a bit of a trivia fan, two of my areas of interest are math and the TV game show Jeopardy. In a previous blog post from September, I wrote about Jeopardy Math. In that post, I explored the mathematical question of what the highest possible score would be in a game of Jeopardy. Here, as I write this one, I have recently watched the conclusion of Jeopardy’s 2021 Tournament of Champions. A couple of events from this year’s tournament have prompted me to share some more Jeopardy thoughts, much of which are math-related.

Before I get too far into this, I should mention that this post contains spoilers. So, if you are a fan of Jeopardy and have not watched this year’s Tournament of Champions, but you intend to, and you don’t want to know what happens until you actually watch it, you may not want to read any further just yet. Watch it first, then come back and read this. (I believe all the episodes can be found on YouTube.) Otherwise, if you’re okay with finding out information before (or without) watching the tournament, you may go ahead and read further.

Jeopardy

Jeopardy Math

September 13, 2020October 16, 2021
by Ryan

Since I first started this blog, one of the great mysteries of the universe has been what exactly this is supposed to be about. However, I have preferred not to make it about any one thing in particular, as I have mainly covered a certain range of topics within my areas of interest. As a former math teacher and academic team coach several years ago, and also as a bit of a trivia fan, two of my areas of interest are math and the TV game show Jeopardy. Here, I will combine these topics to present you with the following math problem: What is the highest possible total you can get in a game of Jeopardy?

This question was originally inspired in my head in 2019 as Jeopardy contestant James Holzhauer became famous with one record-breaking performance after another as he won 32 games in a row. Prior to James’s arrival on the show, the single-day record was $77,000, but he obliterated that record time after time with several results of over $100,000 each. This led me to wonder what the highest possible single-day total was. Suppose someone were to answer every single question correctly. How much money would they earn in one game? Let’s explore this question here. If you’re the mathematically curious type, perhaps you’d like to see if you can figure this out for yourself before reading any further. Or maybe you’d just like to read further.

Category: <span>Jeopardy</span>

Jeopardy: The Hebrews-Romans Question

Jeopardy Volume 3

Jeopardy Math: Volume 2

Jeopardy Math