14 Jeopardy! Questions Even Champions Got Wrong
Updated: Feb. 18, 2020
We curated a list of 14 questions that the champs got wrong. Test your knowledge and see how you stack up.
Jeopardy! GOAT
Past Jeopardy! champions are competing for the ultimate title of Jeopardy! GOAT. They are Brad Rutter, the largest money winner from Los Angeles, Ken Jennings, the champion of 74 consecutive games from Seattle, and James Holzhauer, who set 20 Jeopardy! records from Las Vegas, Nevada. All amassed fortunes for their quick and correct responses, however, there have been a few misses along the way. Read up on the 10 people who have made the most money on Jeopardy!
Category: I Just Took a DNA Test
Rutter bet and lost $3,800 on this Double Jeopardy in The Greatest of All Time Game on January 8, 2020. He answered, “What is 2?” The correct response was, “What is 22?” Find out the difficult Jeopardy! categories that seem to stump everyone.
Category: GOAT (Greatest of All Time)
Not one of the champions knew the correct response to this $2000 clue on January 8, 2020. Rutter answered, “Who is Enda Kenny?” and Jennings responded, “Who is Adams? The correct response was, “Who is John Hume?” Find out 15 pop culture trivia questions people always get wrong.
Category: Haute Coutre
Jennings and Rutter competed in this game on May 2, 2004, with Jerome Vered, a writer from Los Angeles. Rutter incorrectly answered, “Who is Noor?” and lost $600. The correct answer was, “Who is Rania?” See if you can answer these trivia questions only geniuses get right.
Category: Business & Industry
Jennings winning streak came to an end on November 30, 2004, when he gave the incorrect response to this Final Jeopardy! clue, “What is Federal Express?” His opponent Nancy Zerg, a realtor from Ventura, California dethroned the champ with the correct answer, “What is H & R Block?” Test your trivia knowledge with these dictionary questions from Jeopardy!
Category: Gemstones Meet Gemstones!
Holzhauer bet $5,000 on this Daily Double on the Greatest of All Time game on January 9, 2020, and sparkled and waved an imaginary magic wand with the response of, “What is diamond?” The correct response was, “What is garnet?”
Can you pass this quiz of 4th grade science questions?
Category: It Comes Third
Jennings answered, “What is Emperor?” in the Greatest of All Time game on January 9, 2020. The correct response to the $1,200 clue was,” What is Eroica?” Test your health knowledge with these medical trivia questions only geniuses will get right.
Category: The Dam Bill
Holzhauer lost $1,600 when he responded, “What is the Columbia?” in the Greatest of All Time Game on January 9, 2020. The correct answer was, “What is the Snake?” See if you can answer these real Jeopardy! questions about words.
Category: I Wrote
Rutter tried to answer the triple stumper in the Greatest of All Time Game on January 9, 2020. If he answered, “Who is Walter Issacson?” he would have been correct, however, he responded, “Who is Irving Stone?” and lost $1,600. Find out why Alex Trebek has never wanted to retire.
Category: Word Origins
Rutter lost $3,400 on this Double Jeopardy clue in the Greatest of All Time game on January 9, 2020, with the incorrect response of, “What is the black plague?” The correct answer was, “What is melancholia?” Take our word power challenge—test your knowledge of insect terms.
Category: 20th Century Americans
Back on May 25, 2005, Jennings gave the wrong response of, “Who are Cooper and Shepard?” while Rutter chimed in with the correct response of, “Who are Carpenter and Cooper?” Find out why Alex Trebek has a bounced cheque framed on his wall.
Category: The “Gold” “Bergs” (Each response either begins with “Gold” or ends with “berg”)
On January 8, 2020, Greatest of All Time show, Holzhauer responded to this $600 clue with “Who is Goldwyn?” Ken Jennings answered with the correct response,”Who is (Irving) Thalberg?” Can you pass this 4th grade spelling words quiz?
Category: Novels by Character
Back in November of 2019, Holzhauer played a round with Rachel Lindgren, an astronomy interpreter from Bend, Oregon and Steven Grade, a sports industry consultant from Atlanta. James’ response of, “What is War and Peace?” was incorrect, but Steven’s book smarts helped him announce the correct response, “What is Doctor Zhivago?” Think you know your Academy Award winners? Put your knowledge to the test with the Reader’s Digest Oscars quiz.
Category: State School, That Great School
On May 2, 2019, James Holzhauer answered,” What is Indiana?” The correct answer was, “What is Iowa?” Try your hand at these real Jeopardy! questions about geography.
Category: What’s Being Measured?
In November of 2019, James Holzhauer played against Emma Boettcher, a user experience librarian from Chicago and Francois Barcomb, an 11th-grade physics teacher from New Paltz, New York. He first responded, “What is liquor?” Alex asked him to be more specific and he responded, “What is whisky?” The correct answer was, “What is volume?” The clue was a triple stumper. Next, read on for Alex Trebek’s most memorable moments from Jeopardy!
